The season of gift-giving is upon us, and what better way to show your affection than with a lovely, soft gingerbread chocolate cake. Gingerbread is a holiday classic, enjoyed by many across the world, so it seems perfectly fitting to create from it something loved even more, a chocolate cake.
Flavoured by the timeless Christmas spices, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves, as well as unsweetened cocoa powder and coffee, and enriched by soured cream and rum, this lovely holiday cake will stay moist and delicious for days, and it will be a perfect companion for the afternoon tea or brunch coffee. If you feel so inclined, serve it with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, it pairs incredibly well with the spices and chocolate.
Ingredients
For the cake
250 grams plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon ground cloves
250 ml hot coffee
30 grams unsweetened cocoa powder
150 grams sugar
100 grams butter
3 eggs
2 tablespoons molasses
50 grams soured cream
150 ml oil
30 ml dark rum
For the chocolate glaze
150 grams dark chocolate (70%)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Preparation
Sift the flour twice with the baking powder, baking soda and spices and set it aside. Pour the piping hot coffee over sifted cocoa powder, add rum and mix really well, then set aside. Beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on high, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until only incorporated, then add in the molasses, soured cream, as well as one third of the flour mix, one third of oil and one third of coffee mix. Beat well, then repeat until all of the ingredients are used up.
Grease and flour well your bundt cake pan (1.2 litre), pour in the mixture, level it and bake in a preheated oven, at 190˚C (375˚F) for the first 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 170˚C (340˚F) and bake for 10 more minutes. Check fore doneness with a skewer or a butter knife after about 25 minutes of baking, just to make sure the cake doesn't overbake. Let it cool down completely. For the chocolate glaze, melt the dark chocolate in a double-boiler or in the microwave, then add the oil, and mix really well. Glaze the cooled cake, and serve it as soon as the glaze sets. Yields 16 servings.