CHOCOLATE ALMOND WHISKEY CAKE || A CHRISTMAS BUNDT

I’m a bundt girl. Like, if my twenties were three-layer sponge cakes with silky butter creams and fresh cascading flowers, the following decade has been more bundt—still beautiful, but wildly unfussy—the kind of cake that turns heads with its smarts, as well as its style.

There have been plenty of layer cake holidays in my years— and years for epic bouche de noels with lovingly crafted meringue mushrooms— but this year I’m craving something a bit fairy tale, like Christmas in Brugge or a small German village. A cake that’s more Hansel and Gretel than Marie Antoinette.

Enter this all-butter-bundt, flecked with chocolate and spiked with whiskey. It’s tender and moist, but with enough structure that it can be wrapped and gifted to neighbors and friends in the days ahead. A brown-paper-package tied up with string, with the heady aroma of chocolate—that, to me, is Christmas.

This cake leans a touch healthyish, made with less sugar and therefore, more chocolate. It welcomes a dollop of freshly whipped cream (or a glass of tea or milk), plus powdered sugar or a lush chocolate glaze. It’s made with a sturdy base of almond flour and gluten-free (or AP flour—your choice), but you can easily swap out rye flour or buckwheat four for the almond instead—one for one. I have tried all three and they all have their charms. Be sure to use cream or half-and-half—not milk here, which gives this cake its tender crumb.

CHOCOLATE, ALMOND + WHISKEY CAKE

CAKE

 1½ cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan

1 cup granulated sugar 

1/2 packed cup coconut sugar or dark brown sugar

5 large eggs, at room temperature

2 Tbsp whiskey

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour, plus more for the pan

1 cup almond flour (or Rye flour, or Buckwheat flour)

¼ tsp baking soda 

1 tsp fine sea salt

1/2 cup cream or half-and-half

2 heaping cups chopped bittersweet chocolate

CHOCOLATE GLAZE (OPTIONAL) 

1/2 cup cream or half-and-half

4 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 to 2 tablespoons hot water

TO MAKE THE CAKE:

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Position a rack in the lower middle. Butter and flour a 10-inch, 12-cup (25-cm, 2.9-L) nonstick Bundt pan. 

Beat together the butter, and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each until uniform. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl, add the whisky, and stir to combine. 

In a separate bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with the cream, and beat on low to combine, scraping the bowl after each addition. Stir in the chocolate. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan (it will come to the top of the Bundt pan) and bake on a baking sheet until the cake springs back lightly when touched, and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with a tiny crumb, 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes (do not overcook it! If using rye or buckwheat flour, especially).

Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Remove from the pan, and let cool completely on the rack. when cool, dust generously with powdered sugar, or drizzle with chocolate glaze.

TO MAKE THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:

Heat the cream or half-and-half over medium heat. Pour over the chopped chocolate and butter, along with the vanilla and 1 tablespoon hot water; whisk to make a slightly runny glaze (adding a bit more hot water as needed so it drips easily off a spoon, but sets quickly). Set the cake on a wire rack on parchment paper and drizzle the chocolate glaze over. Let it set slightly before slicing and serving.

PREP TIME: 25 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR AND 25 MINUTES

SERVES 10 TO 12

GET AHEAD 

This Bundt can be made ahead in two stages: Make the batter, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Or bake the cake and let cool completely on a metal rack, then freeze, well wrapped, for up to 2 weeks, adding the glaze after thawing it.

images belong to Sarah Copeland, and should not be pinned or posted without attribution. **

• Photos // HARRISON LUBIN

• Food + Prop Styling // SARAH COPELAND

• Ceramics // LAIL DESIGN

• Linens // CRATE + BARREL