Spiced German Chocolate Cake

If you have never had a glass of red wine with a slice of spiced chocolaty cake, you've been missing out. You have been deprived and I highly recommend that you remedy the situation as soon as possible.

We found out quite by accident what a wonderful gastronomic delight this combination this is. The menu for that fortuitous day was a dinner of Hungarian Gulyás. Unfortunately I hadn't chosen the right wine to go with the robust flavors of the Hungarian Gulyás. The inexpensive Malbec  didn't stand a chance, and so we switched to a Burgundy instead. Dessert for the evening was this Spiced German Chocolate Cake, in honor of my husband's birthday. Not one for wasting wine, I served the mild mannered Malbec along side the already wonderful cake. While the wine did not pair well with the robust Hungarian Gulyás, it paired wonderfully with the Spiced German Chocolate Cake. It was actually divine!

This cake has it all, and in abundance. Gluten, sugar, added fats, dairy... you name it. Which is why I only make it once a year. Although, now that we have discovered how wonderful it tastes with the red wine, I see no option but to make it again. Soon. I am however, planning on experimenting. Maybe apple sauce will successfully replace part of the butter used in this recipe.

I stuck mostly to recipe  as it was written but have substituted semi-sweet chocolate for half of the amount of German chocolate. You should definitely head over to the original site though, as the photography is superlative.

Spiced German Chocolate Cake

original recipe from scrumptiousphotography.com

2-1/2 cups flour (325 g)
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice (I use about a quarter tsp more)
½ tsp ground cloves  (I use about a quarter tsp more)
1 cup butter (225 g)
2 cups granulated sugar (400 g) (I use only 1.75 cups)
5 eggs
1/2 bar Baker’s German chocolate (2 oz)
1/2 bar  Semi-Sweet chocolate (2 oz)
½ cup milk

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit.

Combine dry ingredients and set aside.

Separate eggs and set aside. Place the egg whites in the refrigerator until later.

Grate chocolate bars (do this with the grating blade in the food processor or a box grater) and set aside. Albeit messy, this also works with a manual grater.

With the paddle attachment in your stand mixer, cream butter and sugar, then add egg yolks. Combine thoroughly. Add dry ingredients alternately with milk (dry, milk, dry, milk, dry) and mix to incorporate. Stir in grated chocolate.

Beat egg whites separately until stiff  peaks form. Fold them into the batter. On the original website the author recommends using your hand. I have used the paddle attachment and my hands with equal success. The key appears to be avoiding overmixing.

Turn into greased bundt or other tube pan, level it and bake for 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. If your bundt pan is very dark, I recommend lowering the temperature to 335-340F as the exterior of the cake gets otherwise too dark.

Let cool in pan for 20 minutes, then turn onto wire rack and cool completely. Dust generously with powdered sugar.

Wine pairing recommendation: Malbec or Shiraz.