Put A Cork In It! Bouchons For An Alternative Thanksgiving Dessert

One of my favorite holiday desserts isn't pumpkin pie, or mince pie, or any other variety of cake tart, cookies etc that I've made over the years. Instead, give me a good, chocolaty, fudgy, bouchon  (Little Corks) with a simple fior di latte gelato  on the side, and I'm happy. This is what I'm serving on Thursday and I'm sharing the recipe now. I've always made my bouchons  gluten free, since I've had so many guests and family members over the years avoiding gluten. I'm not celiac so the recipe can be made with regular flour, or gluten free. I'll also post my formula for gluten free cake flour at the end if one cares to use that.  So, on to Bouchons.

Bouchons are tasty little dark chocolate cork shaped cakes. They make a great end to any meal accompanied by a sorbet, or ice cream. They can be made ahead ready to go for your special meal, what's not to like?

Bouchons

Here's What You Need 

1:  1/4 cup plus 1 and 1/2  Tbs flour or (gluten free flour mixture *)

2: 5 oz unsalted butter room temperature

3:1/2 cup  plus 2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder

4: 2 eggs

5: 1/8 tsp kosher salt

6: 3/4 cup plus 1 Tbs caster sugar

7: 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

8: 5 oz of chopped dark chocolate

9: powdered sugar for dusting

Plus a silicone baba mold which can be gotten for about 10 bucks at most places that sell baking stuff, or  target, walmart, amazon,  the usual joints.

Here's  What To Do:

Sift the flour cocoa powder and salt together and whisk to make sure it's well blended.

Mix the eggs , sugar, and vanilla in a  stand mixer using the whisk attachment. Whisk on med/low until it's well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with the mixer running. Add in the butter and flour mixture alternating between the two. Do this in 3 stages.

Take the bowl off the mixing stand and hold in the cut up pieces of chocolate. Set your batter aside in a cool place (Not The Fridge) for about 2 hours to rest.

 When you're ready to bake set the oven to 350 degrees. Fill the bouchon, (baba) mold sheet. Fill each mold with batter to just below the rim.

Put the molds on a cookie sheet and bake for about 16 minutes .Take the mold out of the oven and let sit for about 10  minutes so your bouchons firm up.

Unmold them and set them right side up on a cooling rack. When they are cooled, lightly dust the tops with powdered sugar

 So there you are, Bouchons  one damn delicious, chocolatey treat for all your holiday endeavors. The if some wiseguy asks for pumpkin pie, just tell them to put a cork in it.

* My Gluten Free Flour Mixture For Cakes:

3 cups brown rice flour

1 and 1/3 cups potato starch

2/3 cup tapioca starch

2 tsp xanthan gum

 Mix this together into a large batch, it can be doubled or tripled to make more.