Chocolate Pound Cake

Chocolate Pound Cake - made September 6, 2021 from The Southern Lady Cooks

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Chocolate Glaze

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Liberally spray and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until well combined and creamy, 2-3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating briefly after each addition until just combined. Add vanilla extract and buttermilk, mixing on low speed until just combined.
3. In the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, melt chocolate chips, stirring until completely melted and smooth. Add to butter mixture and beat until combined. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter-chocolate mixture in two additions, mixing until just combined after each addition.
5. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 60-80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the thickest part comes out with a few moist crumbs.
6. Make the glaze: Melt chocolate chips and butter in the microwave or in the top half of a double boiler set over hot water, stirring together until completely melted and combine. Drizzle over warm (not hot) cake.  

Back to cakes with this recipe. By now, you can safely assume when you see a cookie or brownie post, I sent those baked goods in military care packages for Soldiers Angels and/or donated them to the food distribution for the local homeless population.

When you see a cake recipe, especially one that's glazed like this one, you can also safely assume this went to the local food distribution for the unhoused populace. Cake, even unglazed ones that are vacuum sealed, don't survive the 2-3 weeks of mailing time going to deployed military service members so I don't send those. They would likely dry out more easily than cookies and brownies. So cakes stay for local giveaway.

As pound cakes go, this has a slightly less dense texture than most pound cakes when it's warm. The flavor was nice and chocolaty, helped in part by the glaze. I only ate the taste test piece warm so I'm not quite sure of the texture at room temperature but assume it was firm and dense like most pound cakes.

As always, the quality of the cake will largely depend on the quality of your ingredients, especially the chocolate chips. I used the Kirkland brand from Costco and it tasted just fine. But you might get a deeper, richer flavor with a higher end brand like Valrhona or Schwarffenberger. I went the Costco Kirkland route because it was specifically labeled as fair trade chocolate and that counted with me as much as the taste does.