Chocolate swirled poundcake

This is probably the best poundcake I've ever made.  Honestly, it is so delicious.  I did not follow the recipe exactly as written but I really like my results so I would suggest trying it with the changes that I made.  The recipe did not suggest cake flour & it did not say to sift the flour but I think both of those changes were the reason my cake had such a soft & velvety & delicate crumb.  Perfect texture. Not too light & fluffy but not dense & heavy either.  The recipe called for simply "milk" but decided I would use buttermilk instead.  I made my own by combining 3/4 cup whole milk with about a tablespoon of white vinegar.  I was always told that vinegar in a cake results in a nice tender crumb.  And my last change was to add a bit more vanilla and also to add almond extract.  I don't know if the almond made that much of a difference but I liked the pronounced vanilla flavor.

In the past I've always had a difficult time deciding when to take a poundcake out of the oven.  It seemed that the outside always got too brown before the inside was fully baked.  I think it was not a problem this time because of the low oven temp.  300 degrees is on the lower end for baking a cake, so my cake baked slow & steady and the outside did not brown too much.  The whole cake baked at the same rate.  I removed it from the oven when there were VERY moist crumbs attached to a wooden skewer.  I realize that a cake will continue to bake after removed from the oven due to the residual heat and since a poundcake is such a deep and dense cake, it certainly retains a lot of residual heat.  I didn't want my poundcake to be overbaked or dry so I was sure to remove it when very moist crumbs appeared on the wooden skewer. (the texture was kind of in between batter & crumbs when tested in the center)

I didn't really measure my chocolate sauce or my 1 cup of batter that I combined it with so I might have had more like 1.5 cups of chocolate batter.  But I layered it and swirled it and then gave the whole filled pan a few good firm raps on the counter to remove air bubbles.  Then I placed the whole pan on a rimmed cookie sheet in case it leaked at all (it didn't, but I think the cookie sheet prevented the bottom from over browning).

This is such a simple recipe and was really quick to put together.  The actual "baking it" is what took so long. The recipe calls for 1 hour & 40 minutes but I think mine came out of the oven right around 2 hours.  TWO HOURS to bake a cake!!! Wow!  But it is very worth it.  Just delicious!

Chocolate Swirled Poundcake
myrecipes.com


4 sticks (2 cups) butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
4 cups all purpose flour (I used 2 cups cake flour & 2 cups AP - then sifted)
3/4 cup milk (I used "buttermilk" made with 3/4 cup whole milk with a bit of vinegar)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I added more vanilla & also used a teaspoon of almond extract)
1/2 cup chocolate syrup (I just used the Hershey's in a squeezable plastic container)


Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears.
Add flour to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour. Mix at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla.

Combine 1 cup batter and chocolate syrup, stirring until blended.

Divide remaining batter in half; pour 1 portion into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Spoon half of chocolate batter on top; repeat layers. Gently swirl batter with a knife.

Bake at 300° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan, and cool completely on the rack.