Chocolate Bundt Cake (Molasses and Bourbon Sauce)

This may look like a classic chocolate Bundt cake, but one bite tells you it's something more. Generous amounts of ground and freshly grated ginger give it a spice that's just right for the season. A bourbon-spiked sauce adds another layer of richness and flavour.

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa powder
½ cup unsulfured molasses
¾ cup light-brown raw sugar, packed
2 large eggs
¼ cup whole milk
2 tsp. fresh ginger, peeled, finely grated
1 cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
¾ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Bourbon Sauce:
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 large egg yolks
1 cup dark-brown sugar, packed
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
¼ cup good-quality bourbon

Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C/140°C fan, Gas Mark 3). Butter a 9" Bundt pan. Dust with cocoa powder, and tap out excess; set aside.

Put butter, molasses, brown raw sugar, and ¼ cup water in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until butter has melted. Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Let cool 5 minutes.

Add eggs, milk, and grated ginger to the molasses mixture; whisk to combine. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, and cinnamon into a medium bowl.

Gently fold the flour mixture into the molasses mixture until just combined. (There should be lumps remaining.) Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake cake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cake cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Make the Bourbon Sauce:
Put butter, egg yolks, brown sugar, vanilla, and bourbon in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Cook, whisking constantly, until mixture registers 160°F on a candy thermometer, about 7 minutes.

Invert cake, and unmold onto a cake stand or a large serving platter. Using a spoon, drizzle the warm bourbon sauce over the cake in a back and forth motion. Serve immediately.

Makes 10 servings.