Christmas Chocolate Pound Cake with Chocolate Glaze

It's almost Christmas time!!! -happy dance- So... you will see a LOT of holiday-inspired recipes on here. This one is a Milk Chocolate Pound Cake mixed with a Dark Chocolate and Honey Glaze. Then, we are going to decorate to make it look really beautiful and festive. Here's what you're going to need:

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 3/4 cup semi-sweet cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 8 large eggs + 2 egg yolks (room temperature)
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups butter (room temperature)
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 6 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate (chopped)

Chocolate-Honey Glaze and decoration:

• 6 oz dark baking chocolate (chopped)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 Tbsps honey
• Chocolate mint and original candycanes

Process:

1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a bunt cake pan with non-stick and flour lightly.

2) Mix flour, cocoa, cinnamon and salt in small bowl. In another small bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, vanilla and espresso powder. Set both aside.

3) With a hand mixer, (or your arm, if you are a super hero), beat butter on moderate speed for about a minute, until smooth. Gradually pour in sugar, until butter lightens. When incorporated, beat until fluffy.

4) Turn mixer to low and add half the dry ingredients. Mix until completely absorbed. At this point, I would switch to a whisk, because you do not want to over mix and have a dense cake. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and the egg mixture. Whisk until almost combined.

5) Fold in your chopped chocolate with a spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure all your dry ingredients is fully incorporated.

6) Pour batter into cake pan and even out. Bake for about 1 hour and 5 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done.

7) Let cool for 10 minutes and turn pan upside down onto a serving plate. I chose a Christmas one... because... 'tis the season. Then, turn it back over, so it's right-side up. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes. You want to make sure you glaze a fully-cooled cake.

My pound cake took about 45 minutes to cool completely. Then, I started on my glaze.

8 ) Start on your glaze. Simply put all the ingredients into a bowl that is microwave safe and heat in 30 second increments, until the butter is fully melted. Let sit for 5 minutes, then whisk so all the chocolate is combined. Pour over cake any way you wish.

9) In a plastic bag, crush candy canes with a rolling pin and sprinkle over cake. Done!
Serve immediately. I enjoy this warm, and a la mode.



This serves 10-12 people. Enjoy it, and I'll post again in a couple days.

-Chels