From my cookbook… Mom’s Chocolate Pound Cake
What treats are you preparing for Christmas guests? How about chocolate pound cake!
Be sure to purchase your own copy of the cookbook for your family and friends for the upcoming holidays! It’s a gift that keeps on giving for a lifetime!
There are over 300 recipes in my recently published cookbook, Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us (Click on the link in Note 1 to get your own copy). Even in these inflationary times, we can prepare delicious meals for our family and do so in a way that does not break the budget. And it’s all in the cookbook!
Good and simple
We all have childhood memories of delicious foods we enjoyed. This is one my mom made over and over and it’s just simple but good. If you need to have a sweet treat on hand for a crowd, or just for your own hungry bunch, this cake would be a great choice!
Jewel Giustozzi’s Chocolate Pound Cake
Of all the wonderful desserts my mom made, this is the one I remember having the most. I’m guessing it was because my dad liked it. Of course, we all did too. I can still remember my dad taking a piece to his chair in the living room at 8:30 at night. Dessert was always at 8:30. Exactly. Remember, my dad, and then me after him, ran on airline time. We did or do everything on a schedule. Especially eating. Yes, especially eating on schedule. Anyway, it seems there was always one of these cakes on the counter for us to enjoy.
I have not had this cake for many years. As I was putting my cookbook together, I realized I did not have the recipe for it like I have for many of my mom’s tastiest dishes. Well, the good news is that I was talking to my sister Gina who wanted to make one for her daughter Katie’s 18th birthday and she found a copy and sent it to me! Happy days! So, now I get to make this wonderful, but simple, cake and share it with you! Sometimes, I remember she would just purchase canned chocolate frosting and spread over the cake. Probably to save time, but it was good too. This cake will freeze well, so if you want to, slice it into individual-sized pieces and take it to lunch or school for a nice treat!
As you gather the ingredients, you will see why this cake is so good! It can be a little dry if you are not careful, so err on the side of adding a little extra milk to keep it loose and moist. Speaking of ingredients, the canned frosting is a time saver, but the homemade is better if you have the time.
Another option. This cake is good even without glaze or frosting. So, if you don’t want to add either of those, just sprinkle a little powdered sugar over the top or just eat it plain.
Oh, one last thing…When we were kids, we always got to lick the beaters from both the cake and the frosting. They were both good! I’m not sure I can say it’s OK to like the cake beaters anymore what with the raw egg…
Ingredients
For the cake
· 1 cup butter (1 stick) softened (Note 1)
· ½ cup Crisco shortening
· 3 cups sugar (Note 2)
· 5 large eggs
· 3 cups cake flour (Note 3)
· ½ teaspoon salt
· ½ teaspoon baking powder
· 5 tablespoons cocoa (Note 4)
· 1 cup milk (whole preferred, 2% OK plus more)
· 1 tablespoon vanilla
For the chocolate glaze
· 1 bar (4 oz.) German’s sweet cooking chocolate (Note 5)
· 1 tablespoon butter
· ¼ cup water
· 1 cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
· ½ teaspoon vanilla
Directions
About an hour before starting, place the butter on the counter to allow it to soften.
Grease a pan with shortening and then dust with flour (Note 5).
Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa in a bowl and set aside.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Cream the butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy. It is better to use a stand mixer for this if you have it, it really makes things easier. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides occasionally.
Add eggs, one at a time and continue to mix well.
Add sifted ingredients, a little at a time along with the milk and vanilla until well incorporated (Note 8). At this point you must have a little sense of feel for the state of the batter. Remember I mentioned the cake can tend to be a little dry? If the batter is too stiff, add some more milk so that it becomes thick but still will pour. I’ve had it where it was so thick the only way I got it out of the mixing bowl was to use a spatula and that’s just a little to thick.
Pour batter into greased cake pan (Note 6). Bake for 1 ½ to 2 hours checking with a toothpick after the 1 ½ hours to ensure it comes out clean, indicating it is done.
Remove from oven, allow to rest for 5 minutes.
While the cake is resting, make the glaze. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler (Note 3). Add water and stir well until incorporated. Remove from heat, add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla and beat to mix well using a hand mixer or a new or cleaned bowl in your stand mixer. Thin with hot water if needed to keep it thick but free flowing.
Separate cake from pan and glaze. If using prepared frosting, ensure cake is completely cooled so you don’t tear the cake when spreading frosting.
Notes
I’m not too good about looking at recipes in advance and sometimes when I see where I need to set something out to come to room temperature in advance and I find myself in trouble. Fear not, I have a solution for you if you suffer from this too! What I do is set my oven on the lowest temperature (mine is 100 degrees, many are 170, which is too hot) and allow it to warm a little bit. I then place my butter, unwrapped, in a plate and put it in the oven while I go about my business. Viola! It’s nice and soft! I have a temperature gauge hanging from a rack so I can monitor it, don’t let the oven get over 100 degrees.
If you can, use superfine baker’s sugar as it incorporates better. It’s a little expensive and hard to find. Mom never used it, but I’ve started using it for all my baking.
Well. Good luck finding cake flour anymore! You probably will have to make your own. Remove two tablespoons from each cup of all-purpose flour and replace with two tablespoons of corn starch. Done!
My mom always used Hershey’s but there are a lot of high-end cocoa powders out there now that were not around (or we did not have access to) when we were young so you may want to try one of them if you like.
You want to talk about inflation? Wow, this chocolate is expensive! Maybe that’s why mom sometimes used canned frosting! Regarding the double boiler, unless you are a frequent baker, you may not have a double boiler and may not want to buy one. In that case, just use prepared, canned chocolate frosting.
My mom used what she called a tube pan for this cake. It’s the same thing as an angel food cake pan. The good ones are two piece to make separating the cake from the pan easier. It’s also OK to use a Bundt pan. Depending upon how much you bake, you may not have both. It’s all good!
Mom had a Sunbeam Mixmaster. I seem to think it was chrome. Anyway, they still make them today!
OK, this is embarrassing to admit, but it may help you so I’m going to make myself vulnerable. I have, on occasion, in the confusion of all that is going on, forgot the vanilla (blush). It’s not a disaster, but the vanilla does add a nice flavor you want to have. So, what I do now is add the vanilla to the cup of milk and now I don’t forget it anymore!
Mom’s Chocolate Pound Cake
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What’s in it for me?
Good eats, that’s what!
Call to Action
Show someone how much you love them by preparing a delicious meal for them. Later, enjoy the time and money you save by relishing your leftovers, either for lunch at work or dinner at home. Take comfort in knowing you are eating healthy food you prepared. All because you made a good decision to follow the recipes and tips in the cookbook I developed just for you.
Besides getting a copy of the cookbook for yourself, it makes an excellent gift for those you love and care for, especially for those with a young family who are looking to save time and money in the kitchen. And learn a few things in the process! What a great idea!
Recommended Resources
Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us by David Giustozzi (Note 1).
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Notes
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Everyday Cooking for Everyday People Like Us by David Giustozzi: https://amzn.to/437OhVQ