Instructions:
This is a chocolate cake that has been made in Kentucky for generations. Flavored with bourbon and studded with pecans, the native nut, it is baked either as a sheet cake or a tube cake.
- 2 cups sifted cake flour;
- 2 teaspoons baking powder;
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt;
- 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter;
- 2 cups granulated sugar;
- 4 squares (4 ounces) unsweetened chocolate, melted;
- 2 eggs, separated;
- 1 teaspoon vanilla;
- 3 tablespoons bourbon;
- 11⁄2 cups milk;
- 1 cup chopped pecans;
- Powdered sugar (optional).
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter a 9-by-l 3-inch oblong cake pan or a 10-inch tube pan.
- In small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter with the granulated sugar until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and egg yolks; beat until light. Add the vanilla and bourbon. Blend the flour mixture into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, mixing until smooth. Whip egg whites until stiff. Fold in the egg whites and pecans. Turn batter into the prepared pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes in the oblong pan, or 55 minutes to 1 hour in the tube pan, or until the cake tests done. This is a very moist cake, and it will stick slightly to a cake tester. Do not overbake or the cake will be dry. Remove from oven and cool on rack. If desired, dust with powdered sugar.
MAKES ONE 9-BY-13-INCH CAKE, OR ONE 10-INCH TUBE CAKE
