And then there was bourbon! Nobody really knows when bourbon was first made and who made it – it could have been Jacob Spears who was the first person to label his tipple ‘Bourbon whiskey’, the Berkley Plantation in Virginia who insist it produced the first bourbon in 1621 or it could have been the Baptist minister, Elijah Craig who was the first person to age his whiskey in charred oak, giving it the typical reddish colour and unique flavour.  The latter also seems to have invented the paper mill, the ropewalk and even the fulling mill which makes one

wonder about the claims. It seems more credible that Irish, Scottish and other settlers, upon arriving in the region now known as Kentucky, began to farm the land, eventually producing the liquid that became known as bourbon in the 19^th century. In his book, Bourbon, Straight: The Uncut and Unfiltered Story of American Whiskey, Charles  Cowdery says:  “When American pioneers pushed west of the Allegheny Mountains following the American Revolution, the first counties they founded covered vast regions .. one of these … counties was Bourbon, established in 1785 and named after the French royal family. While this vast county was being carved into many smaller ones, early in the 19th century, many people continued to call the region Old Bourbon. Located within Old Bourbon was the principal Ohio River port from which whiskey and other products were shipped. “Old Bourbon” was stencilled on the barrels to indicate their port of origin ….. (it) was different because it was the first corn whiskey most people had ever tasted ….. bourbon became the name for any corn-based

whiskey”. One of the most important differences (and there are a few) between ordinary whiskey and bourbon is that the sour mash process (where each new fermentation is conditioned with a bit of spent mash.* The acid in the sour mash controls the growth of bacteria that could taint the whiskey and creates a proper pH balance for the yeast to work. Since 2005 all straight bourbons must use a sour mash process. In 1964 Congress declared that bourbon is a “distinctive product of the United States” and today it may only be used for whiskey made in the USA.

CHOCOLATE GENOISE

Ingredients

• 125 g plain flour + a little extra for dusting
• 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 150 g sugar
• 6 eggs
• 2 tbsp butter + extra for greasing

Method

• Pre-heat oven to 180 C
• Grease the baking tin and dust it with flour, tapping out the excess (this is a very important step because you will have a problem with your Genoise if you don’t do this!)
• Melt the butter in a saucepan before removing from heat and leaving to cool for 10 minutes.
• Use a tablespoon to skim of the foam on top of the melted butter and set aside the clarified butter, discarding the milky liquid in the bottom of the pot.
• Sift the flour and the cocoa powder together.
• Put the eggs and the sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric beater (unless you do weights) for at least 10 minutes to have a thick, ribbony consistency.
• Add a ¼ of the flour, the cocoa and the melted butter, stirring very carefully with a spatula while you retain the bowl and keep as much air as possible in the mixture.
• Continue with batches of flour, cocoa and butter until everything has been used.
• Very important: you do NOT need the milky residue from the butter – if there is any.
• Gently pour the batter into the prepared tin and put in the pre-heated oven for about 25 – 30 minutes, depending on your oven.
• Allow to cool on a wire rack before eating or using as the basis for another dessert.
• Serve with loads of chocolate icing.

CHOCOLATE ICING

Ingredients

• 100 g unsalted butter
• 30 ml Bourbon
• 250 g dark chocolate – grated

Method

• Melt the butter in a saucepan before removing from heat and leaving to cool for 10 minutes.
• Use a tablespoon to skim of the foam on top of the melted butter and set aside the clarified butter, discarding the milky liquid in the bottom of the pot.
• Melt the dark chocolate in a barely warm bain-marie or a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water.
• Remove the bowl from the heat and make sure that everything has just melted before pouring the butter into the melted chocolate and mixing well with a spatula – once well mixed pour in the bourbon and mix well again.
• Allow to cool for 10 minutes and pour over cake – this cake is delicious with whipped cream.