Chocolate chocolate chip cake with kahlua icing
It’s December, folks. And, honestly, I’m not mentally ready for the baking season. My psyche is still lagging behind in early fall, wondering where my tomato gardens disappeared to.
However, since it is the holidays, regardless of what my mental calendar says, and since baking must be done, it will be. Only, it has to be easy. It has to be fail-safe. And preferrably, do-ahead.
This cake is all that and more — and I haven’t even gotten to the part where it’s positively loaded with chocolate and Kahlua. (Two of my very favorite dessert flavors.)
Make it ahead of time without spending all dang day in the kitchen. Freeze it for a party later in the month. (Icing whips up with a whisk and a bowl lickety-split.)
Holidays, I’ve got you covered.
This is a chocolate-lover’s pound cake on a bit of sugar high (remember, the pound cake formula is equal parts of butter, flour and sugar — this cake has a tad more sugar for a denser and good-keeping loaf).
One last thing: it always drives me a bit nuts when recipe writers say, “use quality ___,” but, I have to say it: use the best quality unsweetened cocoa powder you can find. If your chocolate is lackluster, so will be your cake.
I simply adore Callebaut’s Extra Brute. It’s gloriously deep, dark red (which also makes amazing, no-hideous-red-food-coloring-added red velvet cake, btw), and has a straight-up chocolate flavor that knocks my socks off.
Karen xo
Hello, and welcome to SoupAddict, my little corner of the foodie world on the Interwebs. I'm Karen, and it's true, I'm addicted to soup. The seasons guide my cooking and eating, and when I'm not behind the stove — or the keyboard: I'm a writer by trade — you can find me in my vegetable garden. 
Rut-Row, I am going to HAVE to make this. The word that has drawn me in….MOIST! So many chocolate pound cakes disappoint because they turn out being dry. I will report back in a couple of weeks and let you know how mine turns out. Right now I am in the middle of making 14 different types of cookies, along with six different types of candies for cookie-candy trays to hand deliver and to mail out a few days before Christmas to friends and family. This is the first time in 5 years that my best friend and I have been able to get together and do this once again. It was a tradition for us for over 15 years. Then, we both remarried and moved to different areas of the country. We are now once more, along with our sweet husbands living back in the Florida panhandle, so we have picked up our tradition once more.
Thank you so much for the recipe. I love your blog and always look forward to finding a new blogpost from you in my email box.
Oh my. This looks and sounds amazing! I love pound cakes, especially chocolate pound cake! I will have to give this recipe a shot this month. Thanks for sharing!
This looks just delicious!
I’ve bookmarked it and this gives me the excuse to buy the bottle of Kahlua that teases me when I walk past it at Costco.
Thanks!
kirsten recently blogged about: Apple Cider Forgot-The-Sugar Muffins
Cakes are my thing, but sometimes baking anything is just too much when things are insane as they are this time of year… This looks lovely and perfectly simple. I like the hit of pastry flour – a little bit makes a huge difference in cake texture IMO.
I have very strong feelings about chocolate – KAF’s Cocoa Rouge is my drug of choice in most baking (followed by their black cocoa). In bar form, I have been leaning towards Scharffen Berger with Ghirardelli being a close 2nd. I don’t like to be obnoxious about it, I just think I found the “stuff” that gives me the flavor I am going for. Annnndddd I am stubborn that way…
Cher recently blogged about: Today is what???? (TwD BwJ: Gingerbread Cake)
Simply delicious! Love the glaze. Bookmarking this for the holidays!
Saffronandhoney recently blogged about: Stuffed delicata squash
Make ahead? Freeze? No hassle on the day of the holiday party? You’re talking my language here. I’m not the type of cook who makes multiple kinds of Christmas cookies and spends days on it. More power to ‘em, but it’s not me. Now, on the chocolate… I have not, in fact, found a cocoa that I’m all that pleased with yet. I keep buying various fair trade, no child labor brands of cocoa….. which unfortunately doesn’t include the kind you listed. Sigh. For all I know, the companies that are doing business in Ivory Coast for the cocoa there are doing their best to be a force for good and change things…. the Barry Callebaut website certainly makes that argument. But I don’t have enough knowledge to say.
Mary@FitandFed recently blogged about: Happy 1st Blogiversary Fit and Fed!
I am new to blogging and came across your site. I love chocolate and this cake looks divine — especially with the kahlua icing — will definitely give it a try.