Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake

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When a friend of mine tagged me in a Williams-Sonoma Facebook post featuring a Nordic Ware Heritage Bundt pan she had no idea what she had set in motion. For the first time ever I own a Bundt pan that is not only beautiful, but actually releases the cake with its lovely, swirled design. After the great success I had with the Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake, I was eager to try another one. When I stumbled upon this recipe I had to give it a try. The original actually calls for a tube pan, but I used this anyway, and, as you can see, it worked just perfectly. I also, as I am wont to do when making a chocolate cake of any kind, added some espresso powder to boost the flavor. This is a wonderful, dense, and chocolaty pound cake. I drizzled ganache over the top, but I think it would be equally good with a dusting of powdered sugar and a scoop of ice cream.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Yield: 16 servings

For the cake:
1 lb. unsalted butter, softened
3 c. sugar
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
6 large eggs
3 c. flour
½ c. dark cocoa powder
½ t. salt
1 t. baking powder

½ t. espresso powder
½ c. whole milk, warm
1 t. vanilla extract

For the ganache:
1 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
1 c. heavy cream

For the cake: Preheat oven to 325°F. Butter, cream cheese, and eggs should be at room temperature. Cream together butter, sugar, and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a bowl, combine flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and espresso powder. Add alternately with milk to creamed mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Stir in vanilla. Pour into greased and Bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and cover with foil until completely cool.

To make ganache:

Place chips and cream in a microwave safe bowl, and heat on high at 30-second intervals, stirring after each, until the chocolate is melted and cream is incorporated. Drizzle immediately over the cake.