Holiday Chocolate Cake

Not a huge fan of chocolate cake myself, I thought - what a great way to cut back on calories this Christmas! Hah! Well, THAT plan didn't work! This cake was tasty enough to make me glad I had doubled the recipe and had leftovers!

Save room for dessert!
And save a slice for breakfast
Fruit makes it healthy. ;)

Ingredients

• 4 oz fine-quality unsweetened chocolate
• 3/4 stick (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup brewed strong black coffee
• 2 Tbsp Grand Marnier
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat the oven to 300F.
2. Butter and flour a 9-inch by 5-inch loaf pan. *
3. Combine the chocolate, butter, and coffee in the top of a double boiler or in a very heavy pot, and stir constantly over low heat until melted.
4. Let the mixture cool for 15 minutes. Then add the Grand Marnier, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Stir well.
5. Stir the flour, baking soda, and salt together, and add this to the chocolate mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

* I used a cake pan in lieu of a loaf pan. It was just what I had on hand.

You should note, I made this recipe at an altitude of over 6,000 feet above sea level, so I altered the amounts of liquids, sugar, leavening and even then time and temperature cooked.

I garnished the cake with fresh raspberries and coconut ice cream.

Recipe from Ruth Reichl's book Garlic and Sapphires.