combine bourbon with sugar...

date taken: march 27, 2010

photo by: me

subject: boca negra

One of my mock trial kids, Dara, made this sneaky bet with me, by which he wagered that he would score no lower than a 9 out of 10 on every score from every judge in our final game against Academy last week. The bet? "Black Mouth Cake", which I had never heard of before, let alone made. We won the game, Dara lost his bet, but the recipe looked too good to leave to the idle hands of a self-absorbed 17 year old boy. Made it for the team yesterday. Served with fresh whipped cream. Tasted almost like pudding with a thin crust on top. The deepest, richest chocolate thing ever, in the history of mankind. But really, any recipe with bourbon in it is a friend of mine.

Boca Negra

(recipe courtesy of Baking Bites)
12 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup bourbon (or rum)
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
8 oz (2 sticks) butter, cut in 10 pieces
5 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9 inch round cake pan, line the bottom with a circle of parthment or wax paper and butter again. Set the cake pan in a roasting pan and set aside. Set a kettle of water to boil while making the batter.
Place the chocolate in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.
In a medium sauce pan, combine bourbon and sugar. Cook over high heat, stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Bring it to a full boil and pour over chocolate. Whizz chocolate and syrup until smooth, about 20 seconds.
With the motor running, drop in the butter piece by piece, making sure each is fully incorporated before adding the next. Add in the eggs one at a time.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Place roasting pan in the oven and fill it with boiling water from the kettle until it reaches 1/2 way up the side of the cake pan.
Bake for exactly 30 minutes. (***was still wet when i took it out at 30 minutes. put it back in for 10 more minutes, looked fine and tasted amazing!)
Carefully remove the cake pan from the water bath. Dry the cake pan. Lay a piece of plasti wrap over the top of the pan. Invert cake (and plastic wrap) onto a flat plate and remove the parchment paper circle. Reinvert cake onto a serving platter and remove plastic wrap.
Serve warm, or at room temperature, with whipped cream.


Note: This cake can be stored at room temperature for one day or in the refrigerator for up to three days. It can also be made well ahead and kept frozen for up to a month. If it is frozen, defrost it, wrapped, in the refrigerator overnight. Bring the refrigerated cake to room temperature before serving.