November 2013
History grandfathered the low clearance over the stairs. The wooden treads and floors are rustic and dark in color. Their winding way opens to a room of white plaster walls, flickering candles and the dim lighting of low-hanging fixtures. The tables are wooden, communal gathering spaces, where pints of beer crash heavily against their weathered surfaces during friendly arguments and drunken merriment. The many meals of pot roasts and sticky toffee pudding have aged the surfaces. Across the room, the bar glows and glimmers with reflections of green. This is a pub, and Jameson is the whiskey.
This is a cake, and it’s for that Jameson drinker in your life. Jameson and I know each other best as brunch companions, so this inspired cake channels an Irish Coffee with the added richness of chocolate. Coffee and whiskey are infused into each component (cake, ganache and whipped cream) as a surefire way to evoke an Irish Coffee in every bite.
Here’s to you and yours- Sláinte!
Chocolate Irish Coffee Cake
Ingredients
6 Tablespoons organic, unsalted butter, softened plus more for pan
3/4 cup pure cane sugar
3 large organic eggs
1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
2 Tablespoons pure cocoa powder
1 Tablespoon instant espresso
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Directions
Put rack in center position and preheat oven to 350°. Butter an 8-inch springform pan.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat sugar and butter together at medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add eggs and beat 3 minutes more.
In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, espresso, baking powder and salt. Whisk dry ingredients into egg mixture.
Pour batter into cake pan.
Bake until edges darken and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
Cool completely on wire rack, then remove from pan.
Irish Coffee Ganache
6 ounces organic semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup organic heavy cream
1 heaping teaspoons instant coffee
1 Tablespoon Jameson Irish Whiskey
Directions
Combine chocolate, heavy cream and instant coffee in a large metal bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water.
Stir until melted and combined, about 4 minutes.
Remove from heat, and stir in the Jameson.
Pour glaze over cake, using a spatula to spread; let cake stand until glaze is set, about 30 minutes.
Irish Coffee Whipped Cream
Ingredients
2 cups organic heavy cream
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 heaping Tablespoon instant coffee
50mL Jameson Irish Whiskey (1 airport bottle)
Directions
In a chilled mixing bowl of a stand mixer, combine the cream, vanilla, maple syrup and instant coffee. Beat on medium-low until soft peaks begin to form.
Add the Jameson, and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
Dollop onto cake before serving, and into a mug of coffee too!
Garnish the cake with a coffee bean and cocoa.
