Chocolate Pound Cake is Always Perfect as a Gift
You will never go wrong with chocolate cake as a gift idea. From kids to grandparents, chocolate always makes people happy. This chocolate pound cake recipe is using a lot of chocolate in the dough and icing. Very moist and elegant aroma. I guarantee that you will get a compliment with this cake from friends and families.
Chocolate coating is an optional
As you see in this image, this chocolate pound cake is already tasty and beautiful without chocolate glazing. A lot of chocolate is already in the daugh, so it is already perfect without extra chocolate. Moreover, I brushed a lot of syrup on the cake, so it looks so shiny. The syrup I brush the cake is called “imbibage” in French, which means soaking syrup. Because imbibage is normally contained alcohol, which makes the cake more preservative. Of course, the syrup also makes cake moister.
Which chocolate should I use?
For this pound cake, I prefer to use two different kinds of chocolate. Most of my recipe, I use dark chocolate a lot, but sometimes is too bitter just dark chocolate. So I added milk chocolate in order to mild the bitterness. If you are making this for kids, you can increase the milk chocolate amount and reduce the dark chocolate.
Other ingredients for this chocolate pound cake
Invert sugar or mizuame
Invert sugar is often used in the professional pastry kitchen. It retains moisture and keeps a product’s smooth texture. I use them when I making a ganache or sponge cakes or gummy candy etc. If you can purchase them, especially you are interested in baking, I really recommend purchasing them. I also used mizuame (Japanese millet jelly) as a substitute. Mizuame is often used for wagashi (Japanese Traditional Sweets) which provides a silky smooth texture to sweets. However, if you can not get these, use honey as a substitute.
Chocolate pearl
I normally do not nibble while working in the kitchen unless when I have to check the taste. This chocolate crispy pearl is an exception. I nibbled a lot, especially when I was tired and hungry. It’s very crispy and crunchy, and perfect sugar balance. I decorated them on this chocolate pound cake. Not only the taste and texture, but this chocolate pearl also makes your cake looks more professional.
Ingredients
- 8.5 oz dark chocolate (240g)
- 2.5 oz milk chocolate (70g)
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (113g)
- 1/2 cup sugar (67g)
- 2 tablespoons invert sugar or honey or mizuame (43g)
- 5 whole eggs (250g)
- 1/2 cup pastry flour or all propose flour (57g)
- 1/3 cup almond flour (32g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (4g)
Decoration
- 1/2 cup simple syrup (sugar:water=1:1) (120g)
- 1/4 cup rum (60g)
- 1 cup chocolate (50g)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (27g)
Instructions
- Cut parchment paper to cover the bottom and side of the loaf mold, then place in the pan.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F/ 175 °C. Strain flour, almond flour, and baking powder together.
- Mix simple syrup and rum to make rum syrup.
- Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, or microwave and add sugar and inverted sugar. Whisk until everything combines together.
- In another bowl, beat all eggs. Add the egg in 3 potions into the chocolate mix (4), beat well them each time.
- Add the (2) dry ingredients. Mix them by the whisk. Make sure everything is well combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
- Drop the oven temperature to 325 °F/ 160 °C, bake them for 45 to 50 minutes. Check to make sure the cake is cooked by sticking a toothpick in the center. The toothpick should come out clean.
- While the cake is hot, brush the (3) rum syrup on the top of the cake.
- Let cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes then wrap them and put them in a refrigerator overnight.
- Make Glaze: Melt the chocolate and butter in a medium metal bowl set in a skillet of simmering water, stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth.
- Pour the warm glaze over the chilled cake. Using an offset spatula, spread the glaze evenly.
- Refrigerate the cake until the glaze is set, 20 to 40 minutes.
Notes
- The cake may be frozen before glazing.
- Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 3-4 days.
