Chocolate Brandy Cake #BundtBakers

Both rich and somehow also light, this chocolate brandy cake with black pepper and cloves gets better and better each day! And that glaze! Perfection.

This recipe was further adapted from one I found on Cooking @ The New York Times with an introduction explaining that it was adapted for their publication from a recipe created by a pastry chef named Dol Miles. 

Of course, I had to look up Chef Miles. I discovered that she is the executive pastry chef for Frank Stitt’s three restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama and that growing up in Bessemer, Alabama, the chef learned to cook and bake from her mom, Cora Mae, and her aunt, Queen Ester Harris, who spent a career working in a school cafeteria.

A three-time James Beard Award finalist, Chef Miles was named Outstanding Pastry Chef by the James Beard Foundation in May 2018. It really thrilled me that a chef who initially learned her skills at home and not at a culinary institute won! By all accounts, her nominations and award are very well deserved. 

Chef Miles is known for taking southern classics like coconut pecan cake, sweet potato pie and bourbon-glazed pound cake to another level for fine dining, where a single slice will set you back nine dollars. I have no idea if some version of her boozy chocolate cake is served at the restaurants but it sure should be. The original called for whiskey and was served with a dusting of powdered sugar. I decided to kick it up a notch with VSOP brandy and a chocolate brandy glaze.

Chocolate Brandy Cake with Chocolate Brandy Glaze

Since I was baking this Bundt cake for a “celebrating love” theme, I used my Nordic Ware Elegant Heart pan. (<affiliate link) Unfortunately, this cake is so tender that it didn’t want to come out of the narrow part of the pan at the top of the heart. I suggest you use a traditional Bundt pan without a lot of nooks and crannies where the cake can get stuck to avoid this problem. 

Ingredients

For the cake batter:

3/4 cup or 170g unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, plus more for buttering pan 

3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons or 85 grams unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups or 355ml brewed strong coffee

1/2 cup or 120ml brandy

1 cup or 200g granulated sugar 

3/4 cup or 150g light brown sugar

2 cups or 250 grams all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 3/4 oz or 78g dark chocolate candy bar, chopped (I used Ghiradelli 72% cacao.)

For the chocolate brandy glaze:

2/3 cup or 130g semisweet chocolate chips

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons corn syrup

1 tablespoon brandy

Method

Preheat your oven to 325°F or 163°C. Liberally butter a 10-cup Bundt pan and dust it with 1-2 tablespoons cocoa powder, as needed.

In a large pot over low heat, warm the coffee, brandy, butter and remaining cocoa powder, whisking occasionally, until butter is melted. The batter for the cake will be mixed completely in this pot so make sure you use one that will be big enough for all of the ingredients. 

Whisk in sugars until dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper and cloves. 

In another bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. 

Pouring slowly, whisk about a 1/4 cup of the warm chocolate mixture into the eggs.

Now slowly whisk egg mixture into chocolate mixture. 

Add dry ingredients and whisk to combine. 

Fold in the chopped chocolate bar.

Pour the batter into your prepared pan. 

Transfer the Bundt pan to the oven and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes. I also like to carefully turn the pan around about two-thirds of the way through the baking time so the cake browns more evenly. My oven has hotter and cooler spots and I find a rotation is helpful. 

Set the cake pan on a wire rack to cool.

To make the chocolate brandy glaze: Place the chocolate chips, butter, corn syrup and bandy in 2-cup microwavable measuring cup. Microwave uncovered on medium (50% power) for 1 to 2 minutes or until the chocolate chips have softened and the glaze can be stirred smooth.

Loosen the sides and middle of the cake with a toothpick and invert the pan on a serving plate. Hope the cake falls out nicely. If not, remove the stuck pieces and pop them back in their rightful positions on top the cake. Pour the chocolate brandy glaze over the cooled cake. 

Enjoy!

As mentioned above, this month's Bundt Baker theme is "celebrating love" which isn't just for Valentine's Day, of course. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the Bundt cake links: 

• Chocolate Brandy Cake by Food Lust People Love 
• Chocolate Mayonnaise Bundt With White Chocolate Ganache by Sneha's Recipe 
• Death by Chocolate Bundt Cake by Palatable Pastime
• Ferrero Rocher Bundt Cake by Magical Ingredients 
• Full of Love Chocolate Bundt Cake by Making Miracles
• Heart Healthy Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Here's My Heart Amaretto Bundt by Sweet Sensations
• Love & Chocolate Beet Bundt Cake by Patyco Candybar 
• Persian Love Cake, Bundt-Style by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

#BundtBakers is a group of Bundt loving bakers who get together once a month to bake Bundts with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all of our lovely Bundts by following our Pinterest board. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about BundtBakers, can be found on our home page.

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Baby Eggplant Curry (Instant Pot)

This baby eggplant curry is spicy and warming, the perfect dinner on cold night or even a hot one! Serve with brown or white rice to complete the meal. 

It was my birthday last month and one of my gifts was the cookbook Instant Pot Asian Recipes for the Pressure Cooker (<affiliate link) by Patricia Tanumihardja. My husband and younger daughter know how enamored I have become of my Instant Pot – and we all love Asian cuisine - so it was an excellent choice. If you don't have an Instant Pot, you can make this recipe in a traditional stovetop pressure cooker. 

The recipes are pan-Asian with dishes from Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Korea, Indian, Japan, China and, not to get political but also Taiwan. There are even a handful of desserts. I’ve bookmarked several recipes to try so stay tuned to see which one I’ll adapt next. There are so many that look tasty! 

Baby Eggplant Curry

As mentioned, this recipe is adapted from one in Instant Pot Asian Recipes for the Pressure Cooker. The original called for 2 tablespoons of brown sugar but it was just slightly too sweet for us so you will see that I put 1 tablespoon in the ingredients list. It was still delicious regardless but next time I will use only the one tablespoon I recommend below. 

Ingredients

1 lb or 450g baby eggplants 

1 teaspoon ground turmeric 

2 teaspoons salt, divided 

1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil 

1/2 large yellow onion, halved and cut into thin crescents 

3-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced 

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds 

2 teaspoons ground cumin 

2 teaspoons ground coriander 

1/2 teaspoons ground cayenne

Zest 1 lime

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar 

1/2 cup or 120ml water

1 can (13.5 oz or 399ml) unsweetened coconut milk

For the cornstarch slurry: 

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 tablespoons cold water

To serve:

Toasted sesame seeds

Chopped cilantro

Optional: sliced hot red chili peppers

Method

Trim the baby eggplant of their stems. If they are as small as mine, you can cut them in half lengthwise. If they are bigger, quarter them. 

Put the eggplant in a colander, sprinkle with the turmeric and 1 teaspoon salt, and toss to coat. Let the eggplant sit in the colander over the sink for 30 minutes.

Slice the onion into thin crescents. Peel and mince the ginger and garlic. Measure out your spices and sesame seeds so they are ready to use when needed. 

Turn the Instant Pot on to sauté and add the oil and heat until it starts to shimmer. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and stir and cook until soft and translucent, 4 to 5 minutes. 

Add the sesame seeds, cumin, coriander, cayenne and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes, till the spices are fragrant. 

Add in the lime zest, lime juice and brown sugar. Stir well. 

Give your colander a shake to get rid of any excess liquid then tip the eggplant into the Instant Pot. Stir well to coat them with the spices and sauce.

Add in the 1/2 cup or 120ml water. Set the Instant Pot on manual for 2 minutes and make sure the valve is in the sealed position. When cooking time is up, carefully release the pressure by covering the valve with a cloth towel and turning the valve to vent.

Combine the cold water and cornstarch together in a small bowl to make a slurry. Remove the lid and add the coconut milk into the Instant Pot. Sauté on medium for 2-3 minutes. 

When the sauce just begins to bubble, quickly stir in the cornstarch slurry and cook for a few minutes, until the sauce thickens. 

Serve with a sprinkling more of toasted sesame seeds, cilantro and sliced red chili peppers, if desired. 

Enjoy! 

It's MultiCooker Monday so my friends and I are sharing recipes cooked in small appliances. Many thanks to our host, Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all the links below. 

• Air Fryer Creamed Corn Vegetable Toast from Sneha's Recipe
• Baby Eggplant Curry (Instant Pot) from Food Lust People Love
• Bacon-Wrapped Scallops in the Air Fryer from Karen's Kitchen Stories 
• Chicken Nuggets in the Air Fryer from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hearty Instant Pot Beef Stew from Making Miracles
• Instant Pot Cowboy Beans from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Instant Pot Veggie Dal from Magical Ingredients
• Slow Cooker Hungarian Goulash from Palatable Pastime
• Toaster Oven S'mores from Veggies First Then Dessert

Multicooker Monday is a blogger group created by Sue of Palatable Pastime for all of us who need encouragement to make better use of our small appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, Air Fryers, rice cookers and sous vide machines. We get together every third Monday of the month to share our recipes. If you are a food blogger who would like to post with us, please request to join our Facebook group. 

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Strawberry Almond Crumble

Strawberry almond crumble pairs our favorite sweet red berries with a buttery almond oatmeal topping that also happens to be gluten-free. And since it's so quick and easy, this is the perfect dessert to make for your sweeties today for Valentine's Day.

I was probably five or six years old when I first tasted a crumble. We lived in Pointe-a-Pierre, the Texaco “camp” in Trinidad where all the employees lived with their families. I suppose there were plenty of Americans but the houses on either side of us were English and Scottish. And being a former British colony, that influence was everywhere else on the island too.

Crumble, I discovered, is the simplest of desserts: Fruit topped with sugar, flour and butter and baked till golden. Over the years, I’ve challenged that recipe by mixing more than one fruit together – apple and rhubarb is a traditional and family favorite – and adding extras to the crumble, like today’s slivered almonds and oatmeal. Added bonus: when you need a gluten-free dessert, this is an excellent option.

The best part of crumbles is that they can be baked and served hot. Or baked ahead and served cold, at room temperature or even rewarmed. Like all crumbles, this strawberry almond crumble is the most forgiving of desserts.

Strawberry Almond Crumble

Do feel free to mix up the fruits with whatever is seasonal for you. If your fruit is more tart, you can add a little extra sugar to the filling. Sweeter fruit might need less sugar.

Ingredients
For the filling:
1 1/2 lbs or 560g fresh or frozen strawberries (hulled)
1/4 cup or 50g caster sugar
1/4 cup or 25g almond meal
2 tablespoons Pimm’s No. 3 Cup or alcohol of your choice - optional
1 tablespoon minute tapioca
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

For the crumble topping:
2/3 cup or 50g 5-minute oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup or 60g slivered almonds
1/2 cup or 100g demerara sugar
5 tablespoons or 70g cold butter (diced) plus a little extra for buttering deep pie dish

To serve: whipping or thick pouring cream

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and butter a deep pie dish with butter.

In a large mixing bowl, toss together the hulled strawberries with the rest of the filling ingredients.

Pour the filling into the buttered dish and spread it around evenly.

Mix all of the crumble ingredients together stir.

Use a pastry blender or even a food processor on pulse to cut the cold butter into the dry ingredients until just combined. Do not over process into a paste.

Sprinkle the crumble on top of the filling.

Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes for fresh fruit or 50-55 minutes if you are using frozen.

Start checking for bubbling filling about 30-40 minutes in. Once it is bubbling, bake for about 10 minutes more. You need the filling to boil and bubble to help it activate the tapioca and cornstarch so it will thicken up.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

If you are baking this a day or two before you are serving, cool the crumble completely, cover it with cling film and refrigerate. You can serve the crumble warmed in the microwave or oven but I must say that some folks love it cold.

Whether warm or cold, at our house, crumble is served with thick whipping cream. I suggest you do the same.

Enjoy!

This Sunday which is also Valentine's Day, of course, we are sharing dishes that would be great for your celebration. Check out all the goodness below. Many thanks to our host, Rebekah of Making Miracles. 

• Beet-Kissed Savory Goat Cheese Truffles by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Chocolate Chip Strawberry Cake Mix Cookies by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
• Chocolate Dipped Strawberries by Amy's Cooking Adventures
• Grilled Grapes & Paneer Sticks by Sneha's Recipe
• Salmon with Peach Salsa by Making Miracles
• Strawberry Almond Crumble by Food Lust People Love
• Watermelon Mousse by Mayuri's Jikoni
• Wild Rice Stuffed Pork Tenderloin by A Day in the Life on the Farm

We are a group of food bloggers who believe that Sunday should be a family fun day, so every Sunday we share recipes that will help you to enjoy your day. If you're a blogger interested in joining us, just visit our Facebook group and request to join.

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Quattro Stagioni Sourdough Pizza #BreadBakers

Artichokes, tomato sauce, basil, mushrooms, ham and olives represent all four seasons in this Quattro Stagioni Sourdough Pizza, with fresh mozzarella.

 

Over the years, we’ve enjoyed pizza in a lot of locations but our favorites are always thin flavorful crusts, baked in coal fired brick pizza ovens. Most of these were in Italian restaurants purporting to make authentic Neapolitan-style pizza. Unfortunately, that enviable crust is hard to recreate at home in a normal oven. 

I was intrigued by a recipe I read recently in Super Sourdough (<Amazon affiliate link) by James Morton. where he actually cooks the pizza in a super hot cast iron skillet on the stovetop, then pops it in the oven under the broiler to melt the cheese and finish it off. I couldn't wait to see if it was the crust of my dreams. 

Spoiler alert: It was! OMG. It was so good with amazing flavor and a wonderful crunchy chewiness. 

Artichokes represent spring, tomatoes and basil represent summer, mushrooms represent autumn and the ham or olives represent winter. We love both ham and olives so I refused to choose just one. It is winter right now after all so that’s how I justify emphasizing it with two ingredients. 

Quattro Stagioni Sourdough Pizza

It’s best to make your dough at least 24 hours before you plan to make pizza. This gives the sourdough starter plenty of time to work and for flavor to develop in the dough. The topping ingredients below are what are typical for a four seasons or quattro stagioni pizza. I’ve shared the amounts I used in parentheses as a guideline, but I know some people love their pizzas heaped with toppings and others prefer a sparser pie. You do you. 

Ingredients

For 3 dinner plate-sized pizzas:

3 1/4 cups or 413g strong white flour plus extra for dusting

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

9 fl oz or 266ml tepid water

1/2 cup or 120g fed sourdough starter

plenty of cornmeal or semolina, for dusting 

1 cup or 240ml of your favorite pizza sauce or make mine with the ingredients below. This makes 1 2/3 cups so you’ll have some leftover for other projects.

For the sauce:

3 garlic cloves

1 tablespoon good olive oil

1 can (14.5oz or 411g) petite diced tomatoes, no salt added 

1 tablespoon tomato paste 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

sea salt to taste

For the quattro stagioni toppings:

canned artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (8 1/2 oz or 240g)

oil cured black olives (20 – about 2 oz or 60g)

fresh mushrooms (6 oz or 170g)

thin sliced smoked ham (7 oz or 200g)

fresh buffalo mozzarella balls (2 – 4 oz each)

For serving:

handful fresh basil leaves (I like to use the tiny ones that grow at the top of the stems. 

drizzle olive oil

crushed red pepper

Method

In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt together. Add the tepid water and the sourdough starter. 

Use a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk to combine everything into a wet and sticky dough. Cover the bowl with a damp towel or cling film and then leave it at room temperature for 6-8 hours.

Stretch it and fold it over several times during the rising time to develop the gluten. 

After the 6-8 hours, cover it again and put it in the refrigerator. James Morton says it can be left in the fridge for 3-4 days but it’s best used between 24 and 48 hours. 

Meanwhile, if you are making your own sauce, mince your garlic and place it in a small pot with the olive oil. Cook it gently, being careful not the let it color or, god forbid, burn. 

Pour the canned tomatoes in along with the tomato paste. 

Simmer for about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the baking soda and stir well. It will bubble up as the baking soda reacts with and neutralizes some of the natural acid in the tomatoes. Taste the sauce and add a little fine sea salt, if needed. Remove the sauce from the stove and leave to cool. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the pizzas. 

Next we’ll prep the toppings. Drain and quarter the canned artichoke hearts. Smash the olives with the broad side of a knife and discard the pits. 

Clean the mushrooms and cut off any hard stems. Slice the mushrooms. 

When you are ready to bake pizza, divide the dough into three equal pieces. My dough weighed 786g so each of the small pieces weighed 262g. If you don’t have a scale, just eyeball it but if you bake a lot, you’ll find an electronic scale very useful, I promise.

Preheat your broiler (grill) as hot as it goes with the oven door closed or as close to closed as possible, and then start heating a large cast-iron skillet on your stovetop.

I have a pizza peel but if you don’t, use a flat pan without sides (turn a pan over and use the back if you don’t have one without sides) and cover it liberally with cornmeal. Add one of dough balls and use your hands, and extra cornmeal, to stretch the dough into something resembling a roundish pizza crust. 

Add the tomato sauce and then the toppings. Artichokes in one quarter. 

Mushrooms and olives in two other quarters and finally, tear the ham into big bits and drape them in the fourth quarter. Jiggle the pizza peel or pan occasionally to see if the pizza can still move. If not, lift the sides and add more cornmeal till it shifts freely.

Carefully slide the pizza into your screaming hot cast iron skillet. My first pizza tried to fold under on one side so it turned out kind of a wonky shape but it still tasted delicious so who cares, right? 

Cook the pizza on the stovetop for a minute or two, checking the bottom of the crust occasionally by lifting it up. You want brown and crusty, even a little scorching in places but not burnt.

Use your clean hands to tear off pieces of the mozzarella and place them about on the pizza. Turn the stove off. 

Using thick oven mitts, transfer the iron skillet to the oven and place it under the preheated broiler (grill.) Close the oven as much as possible and cook the pizza for a few minutes or until the mozzarella is melted and the top of the pizza is browning. 

Remove the skillet from the oven and slide the pizza on a serving plate and hand it to the first lucky recipient. 

Let them add some fresh basil leaves, a drizzle of good olive oil and some crushed red pepper, as desired, while you get on with cooking the other two pizzas, following the previous instructions again. 

As James Morton says, “It takes the sacrifice of one person to make the family’s pizza, but it’s so worth it. Between each pizza, get your surface back on the stove to heat up to frightening levels again before you slide your next pizza on top.”

Of course, if you have more than one cast iron skillet big enough, you can get this job done much more quickly than I did! 

Enjoy! 

This month my Bread Bakers are all sharing pizza recipes. Check out the list of beauties below! Many thanks to our host, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. 

• Aglio e Olio Pizza from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Barley Flour Vegetarian Pizza from Cook with Renu
• Breakfast Biscuit Pizza from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Deep Dish Hawaiian Pizza from Making Miracles
• Dessert Apple Pizza from Magical Ingredients
• Grilled Fruit Pizza from A Messy Kitchen
• Individual Deep Dish Pizzas from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Jerk Chicken Sausage Pizza from Passion Kneaded
• Langallo (Hungarian Pizza) from Palatable Pastime
• No-Knead Thin Crust Margherita Pizza from Sneha's Recipe
• Pizza Empenadas from Ambrosia
• Quattro Stagioni Sourdough Pizza from Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Pizza from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Valentine's Hearts from Culinary Adventures with Camilla

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page. We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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