Saturday, October 25, 2008

Chocolate Pound Cake

It was my birthday on Tuesday, and because Tim knows me better than I know myself, he knew that I wanted a digital camera. It's not that I didn't know I wanted one, but I had completely forgotten about it. And now I've gone hog wild taking pictures of all kinds of things. AND, for the first time ever, all the pictures for this recipe are MINE, and I took them myself. You're welcome to pirate them, but if you do, you have to give me a shout out and tell people to come read my recipes. Without further ado, I present Chocolate Pound Cake!
You will need: Flour, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, sour cream, milk, unsweetened cocoa powder, honey, water, sugar, unsalted butter, eggs, vanilla, and chocolate chips. Things you should not put in the cake: dish soap, Tim's water bottle, and sponges.

First, prepare a loaf pan with butter or non-stick spray and flour, tapping out the excess flour.

Whisk together two and a quarter cups of flour, one teaspoon baking POWDER, three-quarters of a teaspoon of kosher salt, and one-quarter teaspoon of baking SODA in a medium bowl. I used a fork. In a small bowl, whisk together half a cup of milk and half a cup of sour cream. (The original recipe called for whole milk, but I used 2% because I don't believe in buying something for a recipe if I'm never going to use the rest of it, ever.) Again, I used a fork for the whisking. Yes, I own a whisk, but I didn't feel like using it. Shut up. Next, sift a quarter cup of cocoa powder into a small bowl. I don't have a sifter, so I dumped it in and then used a fork to spread it out a little. Hey, I did the best I could. Add a quarter cup of honey and two tablespoons of boiling water to the cocoa and whisk until smooth. Who can guess if I used a fork to whisk it?
Dump two sticks of room temperature unsalted butter into your mixing bowl with three-quarters of a cup of sugar. (I see no reason you couldn't do this by hand if you don't have a shiny new mixer like me.)

Beat until light and fluffy. Add two eggs, one at a time, and beat well after each addition. Then beat in a teaspoon of vanilla. Add in the cocoa mixture....
And beat until smooth. Now's a good time to preheat your oven to 350F.
Next, add in half of the flour and beat until smooth.
Then add in half of the sour cream/milk, and beat until smooth. Repeat with the other half of each.
Stir in half a cup (or more) of chocolate chips and pour into your pan. Smooth the top. Bake at 350F for about an hour and fifteen minutes, until a tester comes out clean. (The original recipe said an hour and eight minutes, and my cake took closer to a hour and twenty minutes. I'd say check it at 5 or 10 minute intervals after an hour.)

This recipe only gets three stars from me because I didn't really like it. It's not quite chocolate-y enough or sweet enough for my tastes. But for those of you who like their chocolate a bit on the subtle side, this is for you. Or maybe up the cocoa quotient.

Difficulty: 3.
Takes about 45 minutes of prep, plus bake time.

No comments: