loveysoven

I want to clarify that the previously mentioned problems with the chocolate pound cake weren’t with the recipe itself, rather, it seems that I’m allergic to bundt pans.  I got a silicone pan last winter, and have been excited to try it out.  An attempt in March to make a cookies-and-cream pound cake failed miserably when I tried to un-pan the cake, resulting in a quick “oh look, let’s make trifle!” moment.  So this time, when I decided to make chocolate pound cake, I took every precaution I could think of.  Pan greased and floured?  Check.  Put it on a baking sheet so the cake doesn’t buckle when moving it in and out of the oven?  Check.  Waiting for the cake to cool completely before trying to release it from the pan?  Check.

Nope, it still disintegrated into a crumbly mess.  Ok, I’m thinking, maybe it’s the silicone that’s the problem.  I borrowed a regular metal (non-stick!) bundt, and tried again.  Greased, floured, cooled?  Check, check, check.  Beautiful cake sliding effortlessly out of the pain?  No, no, no.  Only the first layer came off.  Not awful, I think, I can just carve it flush with the lip of the pan, and no one will know the difference.

That didn’t work so well, either.  The only way I was able to get the cake to release from the pan was to cut it into quarters and finagle each piece out individually.  Not attractive, to say the least.  I think I’m going to give bundts a rest for a while, before I just pick them both up and hurl them out the window.

The good news is that this recipe is tasty – it’s a great dense, chocolately cake.  I just can’t make it in a bundt.  I’d totally make again, but will opt for loaf pans next time.  For the record, credit for everything but the collapse (because that’s my issue, not hers) goes to C. Roberts, contributor to the Bristol (CT) Little League cookbook, circa dunnowhen.  Mrs. Waters also included two glazes to drizzle over.  Even though I never got to that point (who wants to drizzle glaze over a pile of crumbs?), I’ve included them as well.

CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter

3 cups sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla

3 eggs

1 cup cocoa powder

1 3/4 cup milk

Confectioners Glaze*

Allegretti Glaze *

• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together onto wax paper.  Beat butter and sugar together in medium size bowl until fluffy.  Add vanilla.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add cocoa (lovey’s note: I sifted to cocoa to avoid lumps). Add milk alternately with sifted dry ingredients in 3 additions, beating well after each addition.  Pour into greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan (12 cup).  Bake in preheated moderate oven (350F) for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.  Invert onto wire rack; cool.  Drizzle with two glazes.
• Confectioners Glaze:  Mix 1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar with 5 teaspoons water.
• Allegretti Glaze: Melt 1 square unsweetened chocolate with 1/4 teaspoon vegetable shortening.