Medium
12 to 16
Published 2014
My fellow writer, talented friend, and poet from Montreal,
VOLUME | WEIGHT | ||
canola or safflower oil, at room temperature | |||
strong black coffee, at room temperature | |||
orange juice, freshly squeezed and strained (about |
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whiskey or rye (see Notes) | |||
pure vanilla extract | . | . | |
superfine sugar | |||
light brown Muscovado sugar, or dark brown sugar | |||
all-purpose flour, preferably bleached | |||
baking powder | |||
baking soda | . | ||
fine sea salt | . | ||
unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder | . | ||
ground cinnamon | . | ||
ground ginger | . | . | |
ground cloves | . | . | |
honey |
One 9½ to 10 inch (12 to 16 cups) one-piece metal tube pan, preferably nonstick (for extra preparation for a two-piece metal tube pan, see Notes), encircled from the bottom with 2 cake strips, bottom coated with shortening and topped with a parchment ring, then lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray | Two stacked baking sheets
Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, coffee, orange juice, whiskey, and vanilla until lightly combined. Add the superfine sugar and brown sugar and whisk until dissolved into the liquid mixture.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk beater, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves on low speed for 30 seconds.
Remove the bowl and whisk beater. Add the liquid ingredients and sugars and stir with the whisk beater until the dry ingredients are moistened. Add the honey. Place the bowl back on the stand and reattach the whisk beater. Start on low speed, then gradually raise the speed to medium and beat for about 1½ minutes. The batter will have the consistency of a thick soup. Using a silicone spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and set it on the stacked baking sheets.
Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. To loosen the sides of the cake from the pan, use a rigid sharp knife or stiff metal spatula, preferably with a squared off end, scraping firmly against the pan’s sides and slowly and carefully circling the pan. (If using a nonstick pan, use a plastic knife or spatula.) In order to ensure that you are scraping against the sides of the pan and removing the crust from the sides, leaving it on the cake, begin by angling the knife or spatula about 20 degrees away from the cake and toward the pan, pushing the cake inward a bit. It is best to use a knife blade that is at least
Let the cake cool for 2 to 3 hours, or until cool. (The cake can be served warm, but the pieces will be fragile. Slice with a sharp serrated knife and lean the cut-side piece against a pancake turner to move it for plating.)
Airtight: room temperature, 3 days; refrigerated, 7 days; frozen, 2 months.
Copyright © 2014 by Cordon Rose, LLC. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.