April 12, 2009 15 comments

Double Chocolate Pound Cake

Ever have one of those days where nothing seems to go right?  The days where the Person Upstairs has personally decided to open up the sky and say “I hate you.”  The days when good things happen to bad people.  The days when everything feels backwards and upside down.  Those are the days when you know that there is simply no way you are making it to bed without chocolate pound cake.

A word of cation: Days like these are also the same days where you are liable to drop the eggs on the floor, accidentally tip the flour mixture off the edge of the table, and turn the mixer on too fast thereby covering your kitchen (and yourself) in a mist of powder.  Don’t worry.  These things will probably happen, because it’s just one of those days.  But the good news, is that at the end of it all you will have the most sublimely perfect chocolate pound cake in your hands.  Your faith in humanity is restored.  Your ability to get through till tomorrow no longer seems in question.  Your soul is nourished.  Thanks to chocolate pound cake.

Days like these tend to spring up out of nowhere.  You rarely see them coming … so clearly you didn’t think to take the butter and eggs out of the fridge to bring them up to room temperature.  It’s ok!  You didn’t know it was going to be a Chocolate Pound Cake Day!  Fear not, you can easily (and quickly!) bring your butter and eggs up to temperature with a few simple tricks.

(1)  Cut the butter into tablespoon-sized chunks and spread the chunks out on a plate with room between each piece.  The air circulation and the increased surface area help speed up the warming process (it’s science!).

(2)  The eggs just need to be placed in a bowl of warm water for about five minutes and they will be good to go.

Now let’s be honest, on a day like this, a day that necessitates chocolate pound cake, let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that one dose of chocolate is going to be sufficient.  Oh no.  This is a double chocolate pound cake kind of day!  Hence, my inability to refrain from adding a heaping 1/3 cup of mini semi-sweet chocolate chips to this already-perfect pound cake.

Double Chocolate Pound Cake

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients-

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour (or 1 3/4 cup cake flour)
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 - 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions-

- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9 x 5 load pan and place on an insulated baking sheet (this will prevent the bottom from burning) and set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
- With a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until pale and fluffy. About 5 minutes.
- Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time. Mix each egg thoroughly before adding the next one. Scrape down the sides of the bowl between each addition.
- Mix in vanilla extract.
- Reduce speed to low and gradually add in the flour/cocoa mixture. Only mix until it is just incorporated. To avoid over mixing, combine the final amount of flour by hand.
- Fold in the chocolate chips by hand.
- Scrape batter into prepared pan.
- Check the cake in 45 minutes. If the top is already browning, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Continue to bake for another 25-30 minutes (70-75 minutes of total baking time).
- Cake is finished when a toothpick or thin knife inserted comes out clean.
- Let cool on a rack for 30 minutes before removing from pan. Let cake cool to room temperature before serving.
- Serve warmed or at room temperature.

* Wrapped tightly, this cake will stay fresh for at least three days but possibly up to a week! And, yes, it gets better and better with each day.

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Cocoa Pound Cake

Cakes & Cupcakes, Desserts & Sweets

15 comments