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Chocolate poke cake with sweet bourbon creamStephanie Eddy

The perfect antidote for bad weather: chocolate cake with tunnels of fudgy filling and bourbon whipped cream.

Servings: 9

Ready Time: 4 hours, 45 minutes

Cake

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup (25 grams) cocoa powder

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 egg

1 cup (155 grams) all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup (130 grams) sugar

Chocolate filling

300-millilitre can of sweetened condensed milk

2 tablespoon whipping cream

4 ounces (113 grams) bittersweet chocolate chopped into small pieces

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

Bourbon whipped cream

1 cup cold whipping cream

1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon bourbon

4 tablespoons icing sugar

Method

Cake

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour an 8-by-8-inch cake pan. In a large bowl, stir together melted butter and cocoa. Then add the hot water, buttermilk and egg. Stir to combine.

Add flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar, and stir until most of the lumps have disappeared. The batter should be thin and pourable.

Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake in the middle rack of the oven for 18 to 25 minutes. Check the cake at 18 minutes to prevent it from overbaking. It is ready when a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the centre and the edges of the cake are slightly pulling away from the pan.

Place the cake pan on a wire rack while you prepare the chocolate filling.

Chocolate filling

In a microwave safe bowl, combine condensed milk and whipping cream. Be sure to scrape the sides of the condensed milk can with a small spatula (you can get a couple extra tablespoons that way.) Heat in the microwave until warm but not too hot to touch. (Alternatively, gently heat the condensed milk and whipping cream in a small pot while stirring over low heat until warm.)

Stir the chopped chocolate and cocoa powder into the warm milk mixture until completely melted and smooth.

Use a chopstick or a skewer to poke rows of holes in the cake (approximately 8 to 10 holes per row) and then pour the warm chocolate mixture over the cake. Pour slowly and try to fill up each hole with the mixture before moving to the next one.

Allow the cake to rest for 10 minutes, then use a spatula to smooth the filling over the cake again to help bring any chocolate sitting on the sides of the pan into the holes along the centre.

Once the cake has cooled, cover the pan with plastic wrap and let sit for at least four hours or overnight in a cool spot out of direct sunlight. If you want to store the cake in your fridge remember to take it out a couple of hours before serving to allow the filling to come to room temperature. Make the bourbon whipped cream just before serving. Serves 9

Tip: This recipe can easily be doubled to feed a crowd. Bake in a 9-by-13-inch pan, and make double the filling and whipped cream.

Bourbon whipped cream

Beat the whipping cream until soft peaks appear. Stir in the bourbon and icing sugar. Beat until completely combined.

Serve sliced of the cake with dollops of bourbon whipped cream.

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