Thalia Ho’s Dense Fernet Cake
Thalia Ho drenches this cake with fernet, making it extra dense and full of flavor.
Serves8 to 10
Makes1(8x4-inch) loaf
Fernet is a digestif made from a range of herbs and spices, such as rhubarb, cardamom, myrrh, ginseng, and saffron. It’s bitter, medicinal, and strong, and it’s great to bake with too, as it does well with other things of strength, like chocolate. I use it to drench this cake, which makes the cake even more dense. If you can’t find it, use another herbal liqueur instead.
Dense Fernet Cake Recipe
Thalia Ho drenches this cake with fernet, making it extra dense and full of flavor.
Makes 1(8x4-inch) loaf
Serves 8 to 10
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup
plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup
Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 teaspoons
baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon
baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon
salt
- 1 1/2 cups
granulated sugar
- 1
large egg
- 2/3 cup
crème fraîche
- 1/2 cup
(1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing the pan
- 2/3 cup
hot water
For the syrup:
- 1/4 cup
fernet
- 1/4 cup
granulated sugar
Instructions
To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease and line an 8x4x3-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a slight overhang on the long sides.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the sugar. Push the dry ingredients around the side of the bowl to form a well, then whisk in the egg and crème fraîche, followed by the melted butter, until smooth. Whisk in the water, slowly. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. A skewer inserted into the middle should not come out clean but with a few, dense crumbs attached to it. The top should be split too. Set onto a wire rack.
Meanwhile, make the syrup. Put the fernet and sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar, then remove and brush the syrup over the cake. Allow to cool completely before lifting it out of the pan and serving. It will sink into itself a bit as it cools.
Recipe Notes
Excerpted from WILD SWEETNESS: Recipes Inspired by Nature © 2021 by Thalia Ho. Reproduced by permission of Harper Design, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.