Drunken Chocolate Pound Cake

Boston has been cold and rainy the last few days, and it’s making me want to bake. Here’s one of my favorite pound cakes. It’s ridiculously rich and bourbon-y.

A note on the coffee and booze in the recipe: It doesn’t matter what kind you use, but it should be something you wouldn’t mind drinking.

Drunken Chocolate Pound Cake

1 1/2 cups brewed coffee or espresso, cold
1/2 cup bourbon
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 lb. butter
6 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate
2 eggs
1 Tbls. vanilla
2 cups flour
1 Tbls. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Before you start
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grease a 10-inch bundt pan really well (this one likes to stick if you don’t) and set aside. If you don’t have a 10-inch bundt, you can use a 9-inch cake pan, just keep a good eye on it when it’s baking, as your timing might be a little different.

Mix the coffee, bourbon, and sugar together and set aside.

Make the batter
Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler. (Don’t have a double boiler? Improvise one with a stainless steel bowl set atop a pot of boiling water.)

Add the bourbon mixture to the melted butter and chocolate. Stir to combine until it’s even in consistency.

Beat the eggs and vanilla together. Temper the eggs with the chocolate: Add spoonfuls of the hot chocolate to the eggs to bring their temperature up slowly (otherwise they’ll scramble). When the egg/chocolate mixture is nice and hot, add it back to the double boiler. Stir to mix well.

Transfer the egg/chocolate mixture to a large bowl. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.

Bake away
Pour the batter into your well-greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan on the counter for about 20 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack.

Serve as is, or frost with cream cheese frosting, if you like.