Bourbon Makes Everything Better

• 5 oz unsweetened chocolate
• 2 c sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 c instant espresso powder
•  Boiling water
•  Cold water
• 1/2 c bourbon
•  2 sticks butter (8 oz)
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 2 c sugar
• 3 eggs
•  Additional bourbon (optional)
•  Confectioner’s sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter and dust a 9-inch bundt pan – or any other tube pan with a 10-cup capacity – with flour.  Be astute on covering every nook and cranny of the pan with the butter and flour or the cake might stick.

Place the chocolate in the top of a small double boiler over hot water on low heat. Cover and cook only until melted; then remove the top of the double boiler and let it cool slightly. (You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave; just keep a close eye on it.)

Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a two-cup measuring cup dissolve the coffee in a little boiling water. Add cold water to the 1 1/2 cup line. Add the bourbon. Set aside.

Cream the butter in the large bowl of an electric mixer. Add the vanilla and sugar and beat to mix well. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Add the chocolate and beat until smooth.

Then, on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the liquid; scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition. Be sure to beat until smooth after the last addition. It will be a thin mixture.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan. Rotate the pan a bit briskly, first in one direction, then in the other, to level the top.

Bake for one hour and 10 to 15 minutes. Test by inserting a toothpick in the middle of the cake; the toothpick should come out clean and dry.

Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes. Then cover with a rack and invert. Remove the pan, sprinkle the cake with a little more bourbon (optional), and leave the cake upside down on a rack to cool. Before serving, if you wish, sprinkle the top with confectioners’ sugar through a fine strainer.

• 2 oz bourbon (or rye)
• 1 oz sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes bitters, such as Angostura
• Orange peel
• 2 maraschino cherries

• PUDDING

  1 c fresh persimmon puree, made from about 3 peeled, very ripe (like wrinkly on the outside with creamy flesh) Hachiya persimmons (do not use the squattier, paler Fuyu persimmons)
  2 tsp baking soda
  1/2 c butter
  1 1/2 c sugar
  2 eggs
  2 T bourbon – or dark rum
  1 T fresh lemon juice
  1 c flour
  1 tsp cinnamon
  3/4 tsp Diamond kosher salt
  2/3 c pecans, coarsely chopped

  Grease a 2 quart pudding mold. Combine persimmon puree and baking soda in small bowl and blend well. Cream butter with sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, rum and lemon juice.  Add flour, cinnamon and salt and mix well. Stir in persimmon puree and pecans.

  Spoon batter into prepared mold.  Snap lid onto mold. Set mold on a rack in very large pot. Add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the mold.  Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat until the water is at a simmer.  Cover the pot and steam pudding, maintaining water at a simmer until tester inserted in center of mold comes out clean, about 2 hours.

  SAUCE

  • 1/4 c – 1 c sugar (we go for the 1 c sugar with this pudding recipe)
  • 1/2 c (1 stick) butter
  • 2 egg yolks or 1 whole egg
  • 2 to 4 T bourbon

  Heat the sugar and butter in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring, until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves. Place the egg yolks in a mixing bowl and VERY slowly pour the warm butter mixture into the bowl, whisking constantly.  Stir in the bourbon to finish the sauce, varying the amount of bourbon according to your taste preferences. If you are not serving the sauce immediately, cover and keep it warm.

  Recipe brought to you by BigLittleMeals.com and Andy and Ann