Aunt Lela's Chocolate Pound Cake

It has been a been a fun couple of days cooking up a storm in my mom's kitchen!  On Tuesday we whipped up Ida Mae's Low Country Biscuits (which I will be posting about soon) and yesterday we made my Great-Great-Aunt Lela's Famous Chocolate Pound Cake!

Lela was my grandmother's aunt.  She lived in Richmond, Virginia and was known for her chocolate pound cake.  (I really wish I had a picture of her!)  I never had the chance to meet my great-great aunt but I have always heard such wonderful stories about her.   Lela was a nurse in the early 1900s until she left her career to take care of her brother's two sons after their mother died.  My mom remembers her as typical Southern woman of that era, a little hard and stern on the outside but tender at heart.  Lela never married or had any children of her own but she was a "mother" to many of her nieces and nephews.  

Aunt Lela's Chocolate Pound Cake recipe is infamous is my family.  (No kidding... my father's mouth started watering when I told him we were making it!)  It is a buttery, dense cake with a wonderful chocolate taste without being too sweet.  She would make it for special occasions and anytime she went to visit someone.  Aunt Lela passed away in 1988 but her recipe for this decadent dessert lives on!

AUNT LELA'S CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
• 3 cups of sugar
• 3 cups of flour
• 6 tablespoons of good quality cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 eggs
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Grease and flour a bundt pan and set aside.
3. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar with a hand blender or in a standing mixer.  Add in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated.
4. In another bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.  With the mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture to egg-butter mixture, alternating with milk and vanilla extract.  
5. Pour batter into cake pan and bake for 75 to 90 minutes (cooking time varies with different cake pans and ovens... mine took 90 minutes) until a skewer is inserted in the cake and comes out clean.  Allow cake to cool in pan for 10 minutes.  Using an offset spatula or a knife, gently loosen to release cake from pan.  Enjoy!!

Note: My family enjoys this cake without icing however I think a nice chocolate ganache or creamy glaze would be a wonderful topper!

LIKE THIS RECIPE??

LIKE 'WENDY SEE WENDY DO' ON FACEBOOK HERE!!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Chip Cookies

I am sooo cold.... sooo cold!  My hands are freezing.  My feet are freezing.  My nose is freezing.  CHICAGO IS FREEZING!!  My solution... Mexican Hot Chocolate Chip Cookies.  These bad boys are amazing right out of the oven.  Gooey centers... crispy edges... and a spicy bite that is sure to warm you up!!

BUT of course I have forgotten to bring my butter to room temperature!  WAIT? NO!!! I WANT THE COOKIES NOW.  Don't you hate it when this happens?

Cold butter.... what to do??

FORTUNATELY... I picked up a trick from someone a few years ago (for the life of me I can't remember who) on how to get your butter to room temperature in a minute... not an hour!

Love my new rolling pin!

Place your cold stick of butter between two sheets of wax paper/parchment paper.  

Getting warmer...

Take a rolling pin and start pounding.  Once you flatten the butter out quite a bit you can start rolling until the butter is about 1/4 inch thick.  

Room temperature butter in a minute!

VIOLA.... you have room temperature butter.  Move quickly though and peel off the butter before it gets too soft! (If it does... no worries... just use a spatula to get it off.)

Chocolatey goodness.....

Now, where were we??  OHHHH... the freezing cold and Mexican Hot Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Chipotle Cinnamon Sugar -- Spicy Savory Sweet

I used chipotle chili powder which can be really spicy.  So if you are concerned about the heat level then you can use regular chili powder or a combination of the two to get the spice just right!

I eat them straight out of the oven!!

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Slightly adapted from Martha Stewart/Everyday Food

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder (or regular chili powder if you want it less spicy)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl, whip together butter and 1 1/2 cup sugar until creamy with an electric mixer.  Scrape down sides of the bowl and then beat in eggs.  Once combined slowly beat in flour mixture.   When dough is completely incorporated add in chocolate morsels and beat until combined.
• In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon and chili powder.  Using a tablespoon, form 1 inch balls of dough.  Roll dough balls in sugar mixture.  Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets about 3 inches apart.  Bake cookies in batches for about 10 minutes, until cookies puff up and begin to crack.  Let cookies cool on wire racks.  Serve warm or completely cooled.  Enjoy!