FCG: Tunnel of Dove 06/29/05

Erin of our group recently sent this recipe to me. I have not yet had the opportunity to try it, but it sure sounds wonderful! While I usually try to stay away from sending out dessert type stuff, this was one I just couldn’t pass up. Try it and enjoy it! – Devon

Tunnel of Dove
2 bags Dove Brand Dark Chocolate Promises (trademarked: yes, it’s a Dove recipe, but really, what would be a good enough substitute? Maybe something by Tobler or Lindt, but I think Dove is still cheaper than Swiss chocolate, at least in this country. I guess if you can find Ghirardelli cheap it might be worth trying to substitute that. Dove is probably easiest to find, though.)
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 tsp orange zest
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup Karo syrup
1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a bundt pan and set it aside.

Combine the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. Unwrap one bag of the dove chocolates and melt them (about 1 1/ 2 minutes in the microwave), stirring occasionally, and then set that melty chocolate aside. In another bowl (a lot of bowls get used in this recipe), beat the shortening, sugar, and zest until fluffy. Then add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Then the recipe says to dirty another bowl by combining the milk and sour cream. Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk mixture into the shortening mixture, and beat it until smooth.

Stir 1 cup of the batter into your melted chocolate and put that back to the side. Spoon half the plain batter into the bottom of the bundt pan. Then cover it with the chocolate batter and top with the remaining plain batter. Bake 55-60 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean). Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack, and let it cool completely.

Then you get to make the glaze, and this sounds downright decadent. First, unwrap your other bag of Chocolate and set aside eight of them. The rest you will melt with the Karo syrup and Heavy cream. In the microwave, this should take about 1-2 minutes with frequent stirring. Once it is all melted and smooth, let it sit a bit. (The recipe says 3 minutes.) Remove the cake from the pan and put it back on the rack over some waxed paper. Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake, allowing the excess to drip down over the cake. (This is why the waxed paper is such an important part of the process: you can let it firm up and eat the drips. See: it’s all about conservation and being a thrifty person! Well, okay, it’s about the chocolate.) Decorate it with your eight unmelted dark promises and enjoy.