Saturday, March 19, 2011

M: Mexican Chocolate Pound Cake

It’s Saturday! How has everyone weekend been so far? Mine has been pretty good. Last night the hubs and I hit up Bambu – a fantastic Asian bistro restaurant.

For starters we tried the lettuce wraps…Now, I will say the only lettuce wraps we’ve had to date have been from P.F. Changs. So we started out a little biased. But these were so tasty! They definitely tasted different from P.F. Chang’s, but were just as good.

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And we ended with yellowtail rolls and the chef’s special which was a spicy tuna, crab, and cucumber roll topped with fresh local pink snapper, avocado, scallions, and cilantro…FANTASTIC!

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Ok, onto this Mexican chocolate pound cake. I’ve been wanting to try this for a while now but never got around to it. I love the idea of Mexican chocolate – basically chocolate with a hint of cinnamon. Two of my favorite things!

This cake turned out amazingly. I mean, seriously, I can’t rave about it enough. It was moist and not overly heavy on the chocolate. It was perfect with the hint of cinnamon. (The only change I made was to cut the recipe in half) And, you know what I’m thinking? Cinco de Mayo is just around the corner right? Yep, this will be made again very soon =)

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Mexican Chocolate Pound Cake

from Southern Living

  • 1 (8-oz.) package semisweet chocolate baking squares, chopped*
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup chocolate syrup
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Microwave chocolate baking squares in a microwave-safe bowl 1 minute and 15 seconds or until chocolate is melted and smooth, stirring every 15-20 seconds. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric stand mixer 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add granulated sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears after each addition. Stir in melted chocolate, chocolate syrup, and vanilla until smooth.

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Combine flour and next 3 ingredients. Add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition.

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Pour batter into a greased and floured (14-cup) tube pan (or in my case a 8.5 inch loaf pan). Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes (or in my case about 1 hour) or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

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Cool in pan on wire rack for 10-15 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack and cool completely. Garnish with powdered sugar if desired.

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Enjoy!