Chocolate Bourbon Cake

I had some bourbon in my pantry and I wanted to use it in a recipe. I did an online search for bourbon cake and stumbled upon chocolate lard bourbon cake. This cake was extremely moist and freaking delicious! It turned out beautifully, unlike the other chocolate cake. I did modify the frosting and it came out delicious as well!

 

CHOCOLATE LARD BOURBON CAKE
For the cake:
1 ¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
¾ cup Dutch process cocoa powder (Hershey's)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk (1/2 cup of half n half and 1/2 cup of 2% milk)
½ cup lard, heated until liquid but not hot
1 Tablespoon bourbon
1 cup boiling water

My recipe for creamy chocolate sour cream frosting
1 ½ pounds chocolate bark finely chopped
16 oz cups sour cream, room temperature
1/4 cup bourbon

1.  Preheat the oven to 375°F and place a rack in the lower third.
2. Spray a 2 10" round cake pans.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar until combined.
   
4. Whisk in the eggs, milk and bourbon until well blended. The mixture will be quite thick at this point. Feel free to switch to a rubber spatula at any point if it’s easier.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Whisk in the liquid lard in a thin, steady stream until well combined.
6. Finally, add the boiling water, carefully mixing until well combined. The batter will be quite liquid. This is perfect.
   
7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and carefully transfer to the preheated oven.
   
8. Bake for 15 minutes (25-30 minutes for 2 10” round pan) until the top is firm with a bit of a spring and a toothpick inserted just off center comes out clean with moist crumbs.
9. Cool completely.
10. For the sour cream frosting: melt the chocolate (the finer the chop, the quicker it will melt) either over a double boiler or in the microwave in 45 second bursts at 50% power, stirring between bursts, until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
    

11. Add the room temperature sour cream (the temperature is important – if the sour cream is too cold, it will cause the chocolate to seize and stiffen) and stir with a spatula until smooth.
12. Stir in the bourbon and set aside.
13. To assemble:
14. Cut the cake the rounding tops off of the cake and flip over onto cake platter.
15. Frost the cake and decorate with toasted sliced almond and cake crumbs
16. The cake is best served at room temperature and keeps very well for several days if tightly wrapped and refrigerated!

↓ Cake Crumbs

                                                 ↓Toasted almonds and crumbs↓