History of the Pound Cake It is believed this cake originated in England about 4 to 5 centuries ago
The name pound cake was derived from the fact that the ingrediantes originally consisted of 1 pound each of only four ingredients which were, butter, sugar, eggs and flour
Although it is believed the cake originally came from England, the French in Brittany also have a claim as they have a traditional cake called "quatre-quarts" which translates as four quarters signifiying that this cake also consists of equal quantities of the four ingredients
Over time other ingredients were added to the cakes although the basic style is still called a
pound cake Ingredients for the Chocolate Pound Cake
½ cup [125ml] almonds
1½' cups [375ml] sugar.
4 oz [110g] butter
4 large eggs
4 oz [110g] bitter chocolate
1½ tsp almond extract
2 cups [500ml] flour
1 cup [250ml] cornmeal
1 tsp [5ml] salt (optional)
½ tsp [2½ml] baking powder
1 cup [250ml] milk
To Make this Chocolate Cake:
Preheat oven to 350°F [180°C]
Finely chop the almonds
Melt the butter and chocolate, keeping them seperate
Generously grease a 12 cup bundt pan and coat insides with almonds.
In a large bowl beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time mixing well after each egg
Stir in the melted chocolate and almond extract.
Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt and baking powder and add alternately with milk chocolate mixture, mixing at low speed until well blended.
Spoon the Chocolate Almond Pound Cake batter into pan. Bake for 50 -- 60 minutes.
Cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Cool the Chocolate Pound Cake on a wire rack.
As can be seen from the ingredients this cake does not adhere to the original proportions, due to the addition of chocolate, almonds and baking powder.
Whatever you want to call it this chocolate cake is absolutely delicious
