Chocolate Pound Cake

This Chocolate Pound Cake is light and tender with just the right amount of sweetness. It's the perfect little afternoon treat or an elegant dessert.

Perfection is an illusion. The sooner we all accept that, the easier life will be. We expend so much energy trying to get things just right and fretting when they aren't. What if, instead, we chose to believe that mistakes are manageable , ineffeciency is inevitible, and finished is superior to flawless? Our lives would suddenly become so much less stressful.

I fall prey to the illusion of perfection in the kitchen all the time, especially with baking. There's an exacting science required to get the chemistry just right. Skip a step or add things at the wrong time and dessert is ruined. There's also an aesthetic pressure on baked goods. Yes, a dreamy cake that looks like it's from a rustic French patisserie is certainly beautiful, but it's not worth the stress it causes in the home kitchen. Especially when it's just going to end up mangled and chewed. The destruction is where most of the pleasure lies, anyway.

What makes this Chocolate Pound Cake so awesome?

So this Chocolate Pound Cake may not look perfect this time, but I assure you, it tastes divine. This is not one of those death by chocolate monstrosities. Instead, it's a subtle, not-too-sweet chocolate bundt cake that is light and tender. It's perfect for afternoon tea, but can also be dressed up for a more elegant dessert at a dinner party.

You can adorn this cake any way you like. Leave it plain or simply dust it with some powdered sugar. You can also drizzle it with chocolate sauce as I've done here. Berries and fresh whipped cream would be beautiful as well. Any of these would support this simple yet beautiful, perfectly imperfect cake.

Make It Magical - Embracing Imperfection

Just like we can embrace imperfection in the kitchen, I believe we can stay much more in tune with the Universe if we embrace imperfection in our witchcraft. So many witches, especially when they're first starting out, are so worried about "getting it right." They fear that if they say the wrong thing or use the wrong crystal or herb, they'll ruin the spell. What they forget is that the spell is just a physical representation of their intention. The words and ways don't matter nearly as much as the will.

When you're fretting about getting things wrong or making mistakes, you're creating an anxious and fearful energy, which is going to make it much more difficult for you to truly align with what you desire. Remember, like attracts like, so by the principle of vibration, what you'll get is anxiety and fear mirrored back to you. You're sabotaging your own spell by not trusting in the synchronicities of imperfection.

So next time you're at your altar or in your kitchen, don't be afraid to go with the flow. Yes, follow the instructions and do your best in cake and in witchcraft, but if it doesn't go exactly as you planned, it may just be that the Universe has a better plan. Both your life and your cake can still be delicious.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need for this recipe.

• Unsalted butter - softened
• Sugar
• Eggs - preferably room temperature
• Vanilla extract
• Flour - all-purpose or plain
• Cocoa powder
• Baking powder
• Salt - I use fine sea salt
• Milk - preferably whole milk

Tips for making Chocolate Pound Cake

Making the cake batter is relatively straight forward. Cream together butter and sugar, then mix in eggs and vanilla. The usual stuff. Mix together your dry ingredients then incorporate them in three batches with two additions of milk in between. It's going flour milk flour milk flour. Easy peasy. The only tip is to scrape down your bowl and make sure everything is thoroughly combined.

The trickiest part comes at the end when you're trying to get the cake out of the bundt pan, so you need to prepare it well. If you live in a place where you can simply walk into any grocery store and buy a decent non-stick baking spray, you're pretty much all set. Alas, I do not live in such a place. Clearly, buttering and flouring your pan is hit or miss. When I finally try a homemade baking spray, I'll let you know how it goes. If the cake sticks a bit, just let it go. It will still taste fine.

Once your batter is mixed, transfer it to your well-greased bundt pan and try to even out the batter as best as you can. Bake it for about an hour and a quarter or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool on the counter for 15 minutes before turning it out onto a rack to cool completely.

FAQ

Imperfection is over, and Chocolate Pound Cake is here to stay, whether it looks perfect or not. Deliciousness is all that this cake needs to be awesome.

Looking for more awesome bundt cake recipes? Check out this Citrus Bundt Cake or a Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake.

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Recipe slightly adapted from I'm Just Here for More Food by Alton Brown.

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