Red Truck Bakery’s Double-Chocolate Moonshine Cake

We get our hooch from a friend in the next county: Ol’ Chuck Miller, the first moonshine to go legal in the commonwealth of Virginia. Known around these parts as Virginia lightening, moonshine is high-proof, high-intensity corn-distilled whiskey that can send you over the edge if you don’t watch out. Luckily, moonshine isn’t as overpowering when you bake with it, and I wanted to offer up some kind of hooch cake as a Virginia treat. Its vanilla-like flavor pairs well with chocolate, and the orange zest and nutmeg complement both. Moonshine is available in most liquor stores; don’t be tempted by any flavored varieties.

— Brian Noyes

Excepted from Red Truck Bakery Cookbook, by Brian Noyes © 2018. Published by Clarkson Potter Publishers. Photos © 2018 by Andrew Thomas Lee.

Red Truck Bakery's Double-Chocolate Moonshine Cake

Votes: 30 Rating: 4.03 You: Rate this recipe!

Print Recipe

• CourseDessert
• CuisineAmerican, Southern
• Keywordbaking, chocolate, dessert

Servings

One (1) 10-inch Bundt cake

Servings One (1) 10-inch Bundt cake

Red Truck Bakery's Double-Chocolate Moonshine Cake Votes: 30 Rating: 4.03 You: Rate this recipe! Print Recipe CourseDessert CuisineAmerican, Southern Keywordbaking, chocolate, dessert Servings One (1) 10-inch Bundt cake Servings One (1) 10-inch Bundt cake

Ingredients

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1-1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour sifted
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 pinch kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg
• 2-1/2 teaspoons instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter melted
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• Heaping 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips melted
• 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• 1/4 cup moonshine
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 1/4 teaspoon orange zest

Servings: 10-inch Bundt cake

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat a 10-inch Bundt pan with nonstick spray.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, pudding mix, and cocoa powder.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the canola oil and eggs and beat until smooth.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk half the melted chocolate chips and the buttermilk until well blended. Whisk in the moonshine, rum, orange zest, and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons water until smooth.
5. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk mixture and beginning and ending with the flour; beat on medium speed until just blended and smooth after each addition.
6. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 45 minutes, turning the pan after 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool completely, then turn the cake out of the pan onto a cake platter or plate.
7. Drizzle the remaining 1/2 cup melted chocolate over the top of the cake (reheat it briefly if it has set too much to drizzle), letting it run down the sides.