Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Torte

I ate cake batter for lunch, cake for afternoon tea and I'm not sure what we're having for dinner yet, but cake is looking like the most likely option right now. It seems that just like Game of Thrones reruns, I can't get enough of the stuff.


Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Torte
adapted from Brother Jimmy's BBQ

For the Cake:
1 cup pecan halves
330g caster sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
450g dark chocolate, chopped
225g unsalted butter
5 tablespoons cocoa powder
7 eggs
1 tablespoon bourbon

For the Bourbon Ganache:
200g dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup cream
15g unsalted butter
1 tablespoons bourbon

Make the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Butter a 25cm springform pan and line the base with baking paper. Set aside.

Put the pecans and 1/4 cup of sugar into a food processor and blitz until they are a fine meal. Set aside.

Melt the chocolate with the butter in a heat-proof bowl suspended over a pan of boiling water, Don't let the bowl touch the water.

Remove the bowl from the heat and sift the cocoa powder over the chocolate and mix well. Add the nut mixture and stir to combine.

In a separate heat-proof bowl and using a hand-held electric mixer, whisk the eggs with the remaining 1 1/4 cups of sugar. Place the bowl over the pan of simmering water and beat the eggs on high speed for about 5 minutes or until the eggs triple in volume. Add the bourbon.

Gently fold the eggs into the chocolate mixture in three additions.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. If the cake starts to get too brown on top, place a sheet of foil over it to protect it.

Leave the cake to cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Make the Ganache:
Place the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream to scalding and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for 5 minutes without stirring.

Add the butter and bourbon and whisk to combine.

Remove the cake from the pan and pour the ganache over the cake, letting it drip over the edges and down the sides.