Chocolate Marsala Cake with Caffe Latte Sauce

Nothing goes better with cake than milk .. right? Wrong.

This Chocolate Marsala Cake pairs beautifully with a nutty cup of coffee. The cake, while visually understated, is rich and delectable; the Marsala-soaked raisins are packed with flavor and marry nicely with the latte sauce. The sauce is so creamy and full of rounded, nutty flavor that I’m thinking of all the other things I can pour it over.

Heavenly!

Chocolate Marsala Cake with Caffe Latte Sauce

Adapted from delicious. May 2011

Yield: 10 Servings

Ingredients

1 cup raisins

1/3 cup dry Marsala

350g dark chocolate, divided
2 sticks, plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups super fine sugar, divided
2/3 cup all purpose flour, sifted
6 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups almond meal
3 tbs agave syrup

Caffe latte sauce (makes 3 cups)

1 cup milk

1 cup half and half

1/4 cup super fine sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg yolks, lightly beaten

1 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbs confectioners sugar, sifted

1/2 cup espresso, cooled

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and line a 9″ round cake pan. Bring raisins and Marsala to a simmer in a small pan over medium heat. Cool. Melt 200g chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water (don’t let bowl touch the water). Cool.

Beat 2 sticks butter and 1 cup sugar until thick and pale. Stir in flour, yolks, vanilla, meal, 2 tbs agave nectar and chocolate. Fold in raisins and soaking liquid.

Whisk eggwhites to soft peaks. Whisk in remaining 1/2 cup sugar until stiff and glossy. Fold into cake mixture, then pour into pan. Bake for 1 hour until cake begins to crack and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan.

For sauce, bring milk, pure cream, sugar and vanilla to just below boiling point in a pan over medium heat. Whisk in yolks, then cook, stirring, for 5-6 minutes over low heat until thick. Strain, then cover with plastic wrap. Cool. Whip thickened cream to soft peaks, then fold into cooled cream mixture with confectioners sugar and coffee. Chill. Melt remaining 150g chocolate and 2 tablespoons butter in a pan over low heat with remaining 1 tbs agave nectar. Pour over cake and serve with sauce.