If you’re looking for a big, bold cake to serve at holiday dinners or just to keep on the counter in a domed cake stand, swiping a slice every time you see it because it’s so good, then this majestic rave of sweetness is for you.
Chocolate pound cake right out of the oven
Basically it’s a chocolate pound cake baked in a Bundt or tube pan. But what sets this cake apart is its texture, the epitome of silken-downy goodness. It’s achieved by this great baking method: When creaming the butter and sugar, and after blending in the eggs, once combined you then set your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment to beat on medium-high speed for 6 to 10 minutes until the texture is like the thickest mayonnaise or very stiffly beaten whipped cream. The flour and milk are then blended in gently so as not to overwork the flour, which would toughen the cake.
After beating the cake batter before the flour and milk are added it should be very thick like mayonnaisse
It’s a lot of cake batter to deal with and the whole process is pretty messy, but the effort is worth it. I gave some of the cake to my neighbor, my frequent taster for all my baked goods, and the next day I received a text from her saying, “OMG this is the silkiest cake ever.”
The cake cools, bottom side up on a rack; frosted and cut
You can serve it as is or with a light dusting of confectioner’s sugar. The original recipe that I adapted called for a confectioner’s sugar icing, and it’s a great touch. But it also doesn’t hurt to serve it with a great vanilla ice cream.
That, I advise, should be homemade, and I’ve developed one of the best, creamiest vanilla ice creams based on a lot of egg yolks, heavy cream and half and half. The custard is enriched with a few tablespoons of honey and a tablespoon or two of dark rum. You can also use a good bourbon but that can sometimes be overwhelming. I prefer rum. The addition of both the rum and honey impart an incredible creaminess to the ice cream, and it keeps very well for at least a week or two in the freezer without getting grainy with ice crystals.
Rich vanilla ice cream churning in the ice cream maker
A note on the ingredients is worth discussing because using the best available will yield superb results. For the cake I used Bisson’s high fat raw-cream butter, but Vermont Creamery butter is also good or Land O Lake’s European style butter (sold at Shaw’s). For the cocoa, I used Hershey’s special dark 100 percent cocoa. For vanilla extract I like the richness and strength of Mexican vanilla, available at Leroux.
For eggs—in both the cake and the ice cream—I like Alewive’s Brook Farm eggs, their deep yellow yolks are egg perfection. For the ice cream, I used Bisson’s heavy raw cream. But Misty Brook (raw cream), Harris Farm cream or Smiling Hill (both pasteurized) work well too. For the half-and-half, I generally make my own combining half cream and half milk. For ready-made use Kimball Brook Farm organic half and half (available at Whole Foods) or Misty Brook half and half, sometimes available at the Portland Food Co-op.
Ingredients
- 1-pound butter, sweet or lightly salted, softened to room temperature
- 3 cups sugar
- 5 eggs, at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 5 tablespoons cocoa
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups confectioner’s sugar, sifted
- 1/3 cup butter
- 3 to 5 tablespoons half and half
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 3/4 cups half and half
- 1 vanilla bean
- 7 egg yolks
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 2 generous tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons dark rum
Instructions
- Cake. Generously grease with butter and lightly flour a 10-inch tube pan with stationary bottom. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Sift together into a large bowl the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar in the work bowl of a stand mixer, starting at low speed just to combine and then on medium-high speed to cream the butter thoroughly, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well on medium high speed until thoroughly blended. Once all the eggs are blended continue to beat the mixture on medium-high speed for 6 to 10 minutes, until very thick and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently.
- Add the flour mixture in thirds alternately with the milk (ending with flour) on low speed until thoroughly blended. Gently but thoroughly beat in the vanilla.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake in the oven for 1 1/2 hours or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Remove to a rack and let cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then upend and remove the cake from the pan to cool completely on a rack, bottom side up. When completely cool, dust with confectioner’s sugar or frost as directed.
- Frosting. Sift the sugar into a large bowl. Heat the butter and half and half in a small pot until the butter melts. Stir in the vanilla.
- Pour this over the sugar and with a hand mixer beat until creamy, adding more half and half if necessary until the frosting is creamy and spreadable. Frost the top and sides of the cake.
- Ice cream. Put the egg yolks into a medium bowl and whisk in the sugar until blended and whisk until the egg mixture lightens in color. Set aside.
- Put the cream and half and half into a medium heavy bottomed saucepan. Split the vanilla bean, scraping out the seeds into the cream mixture; add the scraped vanilla pod. Bring just to a slight simmer; little bubbles will begin to form around the edge. Remove the vanilla bean, scraping whatever seeds remain in the pod into the cream mixture.
- Temper the eggs by pouring in about 1/2 cup of the cream mixture, stirring into the eggs. Stir in the honey.
- Combine the egg mixture with the cream mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook the custard over medium heat, stirring constantly and with a candy thermometer inserted into the pot. Cook until the temperature registers about 175 to 178 degree. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, carefully cook the custard until it thickly coats the back of a metal spoon, being careful that the custard doesn’t curdle.
- Pour the custard through a fine meshed strainer into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the rum and the vanilla extract. Cool the custard down over an ice bath, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or longer until ready to prepare the ice cream.
- Put the custard into the container of an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions until you have the consistency of soft-serve ice cream. Transfer to an ice cream container and put in the freezer to firm up, about 2 hours or more.
Notes
The chocolate pound cake was adapted from a recipe in "Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes and Honest Fried Chicken" by Ronni Lundy, a wonderful collection of southern country kitchens recipes, with a focus on the cooking of country music stars; this cake was called originally Eugenia Harris's Chocolate Pound Cake
