Double Chocolate Poundcake

This chocolate cake is not for the faint of heart.  Nor is this for those who like that milk chocolate stuff.  This deeply flavorful cake is for those of you, like me, who love the richness of bittersweet chocolate.  It has in intense, authentic chocolate flavor and isn’t overly sweet, by any means.  It would be excellent with a cup of strong coffee after dinner, or even for breakfast during the holiday season when one can get away with eating cake for breakfast.

I hate it when a recipe calls for 1/2 a tub or container of something, don’t you?  Then you’re left with a lot of half’s just laying around needing to be used.  Too much clutter for me.  So I really think about that when I’m developing recipes.  I came up with this recipe based on stumbling upon a chocolate poundcake recipe online the other day.  The recipe sounded good enough, and I’m sure it was, but it called for half a container of this, part of a container of that, etc, etc, and I just thought that was silly.  So I fooled around with some stuff at home and came up with this one, that will not leave you with anything leftover but 1/2 a stick of butter.  And I would hope you could find something to do with that.

I’m suffering from a sinus infection and whenever I’m sick I like to bake.  The only problem is that I bake with my senses instead of with a timer.  I can always smell when something is ready.  My husband calls it my Spidey sense.  But when my sinuses and nasal passages are completely blocked, as they are today, I tend to overbake things.  This batter is really thick and can easily overbake if you’re not careful, so keep that in mind when you’re making it.  But even if you overbake it like I did today, it will still be delicious.  Pinky Swear.

I decided to make this today using the mini loaf pans my mother in law gave me so I can give some of these away for gifts.  I don’t like giving people an entire loaf of bread or cake, (maybe it’s because, selfishly, I like to have some of what I’m giving…) so I love using these little loaf pans, but you use whatever you like.

Enjoy!

*Double Chocolate Poundcake

 *For the Cake
-3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
-4 ounces (1/2 brick) of neufchatel cream cheese, softened (you will use the other half for the frosting)
-1 1/2 cups white sugar
-3 large eggs, room temperature
-1 TB milk or cream
-3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
-1 TB instant espresso or coffee powder
-1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (whole wheat Pastry flour is a great substitute)
-1 tsp kosher salt
-1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
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-Preheat your oven to 325.  Grease and flour a loaf pan (or 4 mini loafs like I have pictured).
-In a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and cream cheese with an electric mixer until fully mixed.  Add in the sugar, mix well.  Add in the eggs, one at a time.  Add milk, cocoa and coffee, mix well.  Add your flour and salt, slowly, and mix until fully incorporated.  Fold in your chocolate chips.
-Spoon the batter into your prepared loaf pan or pans and spread evenly with a wet spatula.   Bake for 60-80 minutes if you’re using the large loaf pan, or 40-50 minutes if you’re using mini loaf pans.  Check doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center and if it comes out almost clean, you’re good.
-Cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then remove from the pans and cool on a rack completely.

*For the Frosting
-1 stick unsalted butter, softened
-4 oz (1/2 brick) neufchatel cream cheese, softened
-1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
-3/4 cup powdered sugar
-good pinch of kosher salt
-several splashes of milk or cream
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-Mix everything with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add your milk slowly until you get the right consistency.
-Spread evenly onto your cooled cake (or cakes) and garnish with more chocolate chips.