Bittersweet

The recipe I re-created today came from the cookbook 'Chicken and Egg' by Janice Cole.  Janice raises her own chickens in her backyard in St. Paul! She has written a lovely cookbook devoted to cooking with chicken and baking with eggs.  She talks about the importance of using fresh farm eggs and organic eggs in food and I've actual started to use only large organic brown eggs in our house as well. I really do think it makes a difference.  Her recipes are very well detailed and easy to follow, that's probably why I like her book so much. 

The recipe I chose to make out of her book today is the Bittersweet Fudge Pound Cake.  When I read through the recipe it seemed sort of difficult, but in all honesty it was extremely easy.  She explains every step in great detail so you shouldn't have any questions, which is why I liked it. There are a lot of ingredients involved with this cake but most of them you may already have. I hope you're able to make this cake because the smell alone is worth it.

In order to make the glaze you have the melt the ingredients in a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.  Now this is something that I had never done before, but it's actually very easy!  For some reason I've always skipped over recipes that have done this technique, but I won't anymore.I thought it would be really difficult, but it's not at all. I have no idea why I used to have concerns about it. 

This cake turned out great. It tastes like a giant brownie. Yummm!  I always figured that bundt cakes were dry and bland, but I'm happy to report that I was wrong!! Happy baking....

Bittersweet Fudge Pound Cake

Cake: 
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 Tbs strong coffee at room temperature
4 eggs plus 1 egg yolk at room temperature
3/4 cup buttermilk
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao), chopped


Glaze:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate (60% cacao), chopped
3 Tbs unsalted butter, cut up
1 Tbs dark corn syrup


To Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup bundt pan with shortening or coat with a nonstick cooking spray. Sprinkle with unsweetened cocoa, turning the pan upside down and tapping to remove any excess cocoa. Whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl until blended. Set aside.
Beat the butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed for 1 minute until creamy. Reduce speed to low and add the brown sugar, beating just until blended. Increase the speed to medium, and, with the mixer running, slowly pour in the granulated sugar in a steady stream.  Beat for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy.  Reduce the speed to low and slowly beat in the canola oil and coffee until blended.
Add the eggs and the egg yolk, one at a time, beating each egg only until blended into the batter. Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk in thirds, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Stir in the 8 ounces chopped chocolate. Gently ease the batter into the pan. Run a spatula or knife through the batter and tap the pan on the counter several times to eliminate air bubbles.
Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out almost clean, with a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 min. Invert the cake onto the rack and remove the pan.  Cool to room temperature. 


To Make the Glaze:  While the cake is cooling, put the 6 ounces of chocolate, the butter, and corn syrup in a medium heat-proof bowl. Place over a saucepan filled with 1 inch of simmering water. Melt chocolate, stirring occasionally until smooth. 
Pour the glaze over the top of the cooled cake, letting the glaze drip down the sides. Let the glaze set before serving.

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