TORTA UBRIACA

(Drunk chocolate cake)

Ubriaco means drunk in Italian, and it is an appropriate name for a cake that uses a decent amount of red wine for the batter and coating. Torta ubriaca has an intense, deep flavour; it is the perfect chocolate cake for grown-ups.

The alcohol evaporates entirely while baking, but the cake is left with a complex fragrance that, thanks to the warming spices, is very reminiscent of mulled wine. For extra heat, add a pinch of hot chilli powder, but go carefully, based on the strength of your chillies.

SERVES UP TO 12

PREP TIME 20 MINUTES BAKING TIME

1 HOUR 16 MINUTES

FOR THE SPONGE

H vegetable spread, for greasing

H 200g egg (about 4 medium eggs), at room temperature

H 230g caster sugar

H ⅛ tsp salt

H 200g vegetable oil (preferably corn or sunflower)

H 180g dry red wine

H 200g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

H 50g cornflour

H 50g unsweetened cocoa powder

H 3 tsp baking powder

H 2 tsp ground cinnamon

H ½ tsp ground cloves

H ¼ tsp ground black pepper

H ¼ tsp ground nutmeg

H ¼ tsp hot chilli powder (optional)

H 100g dairy-free dark chocolate chips (50%-55% cocoa solids)

FOR THE GLAZE

H 120g icing sugar

H 20g unsweetened cocoa powder

H 30g red wine

H 1 tbsp clear honey 1 Set the shelf in the lower half of the oven and preheat it to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a 24cm, 2.5-litre bundt tin or a 23cm springform cake tin with vegetable spread and dust it with flour, tapping off the excess.

2 Put the eggs, sugar and salt in a bowl large enough to accommodate all the ingredients, and whisk at high speed with a handheld electric whisk (or use a stand mixer) until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture is pale and fluffy. It will take

3-4 minutes. With the whisk still going, trickle the oil into the bowl, and whisk for about 1 minute to emulsify it fully. Then trickle in the wine and whisk for a further minute.

3 Sift the flour, cornflour, cocoa, baking powder, spices and chilli (if using) into the bowl and whisk again at low speed until the batter looks smooth, without any lumps of flour. Add the chocolate chips and fold them in with a spatula. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 1 hour 16 minutes or until a skewer inserted at the deepest part of the cake comes out clean. Leave in the tin to cool for at least 15 minutes.

4 While the cake cools, put the ingredients for the glaze in a small saucepan and warm over moderate heat until the mixture just starts to simmer.

5 Turn the cake out of the tin and move it to a serving plate. Pour the glaze, while still hot, on to the cake and let it drip down over the sides. Serve at room temperature. Torta ubriaca keeps for up to 4 days under a cake dome.