I wasn’t always a bitter person, but now amaro is a passion. My interest in singling out that particular tastebud over other basic ones has grown from what was once adventurous curiosity to a bona fide obsession. It’s a big leap. I had a childhood love of sweets and soft drinks (hello mouthful of dental work), but now I crave the opposite, along with heated spice and saltiness.
And I’m not the only one. Unlike Italians, who have been cultivating and cooking bitter foods for centuries – think of radicchio, rapini, arugula, and dark-roasted coffee “corrected” with shots of Fernet-Branca – American palates are just now getting caught up with them.
Just look at the Negroni. It was a lost and almost forgotten cocktail invented sometime in the early twentieth century and now it’s hard to find a bar or restaurant that doesn’t have a half-dozen variations listed on its cocktail menu.
You won’t hear me complaining, though. A Negroni may still be my favorite drink (next to a cold glass of bubbly or a fresh-squeezed lime Margarita), but I often like to sip amaro all by itself, along with an ice cube or two, especially during the fall and winter. Amaros, like Campari and my favorite everyday Punt e Mes, supply the magical bitterness in cocktails.
But guess what? Although it’s not a sticky-sweet liqueur, amaro works well in dessert. An ingredient like dark chocolate, with its natural range of complex flavors, make it a great choice to partner with the dark, bitter-sweetness of amaro.
For this cake, I experimented with a recipe based on whiskey rather than the sweet red vermouth I doused the batter with. The result is super moist, not too sweet nor very boozy. It’s a big cake, but it keeps (and gets even better) for days.
chocolate amaro cake
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 1 10-inch cake 8 - 10 servings
This cake will stay tasty and moist for 3 or 4 days on the kitchen counter, wrapped well with plastic.
Ingredients
- 4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup light brown or muscovado sugar
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, plus additional tablespoon for pan
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- 1/2 cup amaro (I prefer Punt e Mes) or sweet red vermouth
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, grated or finely chopped
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- To serve:
- 1 pint fresh berries
- 1 tablespoon amaro
- 2 teaspoons sugar
Instructions
- Put the espresso powder, sugars and 1 1/2 cups of water in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking to dissolve. Stir in the butter and 3/4 cup cocoa and heat until butter is melted. Stir in the amaro. Pour into a large heatproof bowl and let cool completely.
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 10-inch springform pan and dust with the remaining 2 tablespoons cocoa powder.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Stir in the chocolate.
- Whisk the eggs and vanilla into the cocoa-amaro mixture, then set a mesh strainer or sifter over the bowl and sift the flour mixture over the top.
- Tip any remaining chocolate pieces in the strainer into the bowl. Fold everything together to combine.
- Pour the batter into the pan and bake 55 minutes. Insert a cake tester into the center of the cake, and if it comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven; otherwise bake another 5 to 10 minutes.
- Let cool on a rack before removing sides of the pan.
- Toss the berries with the amaro and sugar, slightly crushing the fruit. Serve the berries with the cake.
Courses dessert
Cuisine chocolate
diana says
Karen, I love love the sound of this cake and was just planning to make it for dinner party tonight when I realised I am confused by the instruction with regards to the chocolate addition. Please elaborate?
Step 3 says to “Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl. Stir in the chocolate.” Which chocolate – the grated bittersweet chocolate? (since cocoa was already mixed into water/butter mixture in step 1.
But then step 4 says “Whisk the eggs and vanilla into the chocolate mixture, then set a mesh strainer or sifter over the bowl and sift the flour mixture over the top. Fold in the dry ingredients to combine.”
Which chocolate mixture to which eggs and vanilla into, the cocoa/butter/water mixture or the flour/grated chocolate mixture?? Also, if I was to ‘sift flour mixture over the top’ that wouldn’t work if there was grated chocolate in the flour!
As I’m making this today, and probably won’t get a reply on time, I intend to melt bittersweet chocolate on its own, mix eggs into it, combine it with the other liquid mixture (from step 1), then finally sift flour into this. I’m not sure if this is how it was intended, and whether you were maybe meant to stir grated chocolate into butter/water/cocoa mix but am too scared to do this in case the whole thing seizes! Your clarification would be much appreciated. Thanks, Diana
Mikaela Cowles says
I’m not sure my nieces and nephew would go for this, but this has dinner party written all over it. I can just imagine serving it with a little after-dinner liquor.
You mentioned it gets better as it sits. Does it freeze well?
Lindsay says
Thanks for the recipe… I can’t wait to try with my family!
Pam says
Just had our first piece…delicious! Thanks for the recipe ?
Karen says
Wonderful!
Laura | Tutti Dolci says
This is the kind of cake I’d slice off a sliver at a time… love the side of macerated berries!
domenicacooks says
Ciao Karen! This cake is right up my alley; unlike you, I have always been a bitter person. Chinotto was my favorite soda when I was a kid, and to this day coca-cola tastes insipid to me (I’m not much of a soda drinker anyway). There are two ecently published books that focus on bitter flavors that I really like: Bitter, by Jennifer McLagan; and Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters and Amari, by Mark Bitterman. Thanks for sharing this recipe, I’ll be making it for sure.
Karen says
Hi Domenica! Wow, Chinotto is serious stuff – no wonder you have a great palate as an adult 🙂
I just caught up on a few Splendid Table podcasts and listened to both Jennifer McLagan and Mark Bitterman talk about their books, both inspiring.
Georgia says
Good to see your post. I’ve been missing you! Many bitters in New Orleans. Come, visit!
Karen says
Georgia – miss you always! Thinking of you and hope you’re enjoying Jazz Fest right now…
Taina says
she lives! 🙂 I’ve been checking back periodically to see if you’d popped back up; glad you are back! i am a fellow bitter-lover & this recipe looks fantastic.
Karen says
Hi Taina. Ha ha, yes I took a much longer than anticipated hiatus. But so glad to hear from you! Let me know if you try the cake.