BAKING,  CAKES,  DESSERTS,  TEA CAKES

Comfort Food – Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake… Change is the only constant!

2010/09/30 / 53 Comments

“The only constant is change”

Ηράκλειτος /Heraclitus, Greek Philosopher

BMC titleA short while ago I revisited one of my all time favourite cake, the Lime Buttermilk Pound Cake and blogged about it. Was thrilled that everyone liked it as much as I did, and received many suggestions for an orange variation on it. I thought that was a great idea, and those comments set me thinking, especially this one from an anonymous reader “Hey Deeba…made the cake 4 times over this weekend…we just couldn’t get enough of it…thanks for such a marvelous recipe…when lemons were over i used orange juice for the glaze……”
BMC 2If the buttermilk lime cake was so good and light on the crumb, then surely chocolate would be as good too, if not better!  If you would rather have chocolate instead of citrus, now with the weather getting cooler, this seems a good idea. Just perfect comfort food with that cup of tea or coffee, with milk for the kids, and great for a picnic too! It bakes well and keeps well too. What I have begun to do is to make a  2 egg cake every few days, play around with ingredients here and there to see how much it affects the texture. I have to say that this is a pretty accommodative recipe and responds well to change!
BMC 3I often recall a few words that Sir Colin Marshall said at British Airways where I worked many many moons ago … “Change is the only constant…“. Upon his arrival in 1983, Colin Marshall, the new CEO, wasted no time in commanding dramatic change. His first two years were characterized by ambitious and rapid change. {MIT mentions this in an interesting read on business and change here}. I joined the company 5 years later; the dramatic changes were still underway. The memories have always remained as large as life, the words even more.  They’ve been my guiding force for years, and continue to be significant even for something as small as  everyday baking too. I counsel myself with these lines; the words often give me hope for tomorrow on a bad day when things aren’t looking all hunky dory. In my kitchen adventures, they egg me on, motivating me to follow my heart.
BMC 4Change? Big change for me at PAB. Reminds me of Peter Parker in Spiderman: ‘Change? Yep. BIG change’. Of late, life has been a little topsy turvy and full of change. Began with a blog redesign by a very talented lady Lauren @ Designer Blogs sometime in June ’10. She taught me to be patient, ever so patient, and to deliver my best, no matter what.  She never said no to anything, and assured me a million times that she would load the new look only when I was a 100% happy. If you are looking for a blogger blog redesign do get in touch with her here. I loved what she did for me.

BMC1Next we had the kitchen remodeled and it took all of 2 months and a bit, with a lot of heartache thrown in, but in the end it is everything I ever wanted, maybe more. I love it – warm, open, minimalistic with clean lines. Soon enough, another bug bit me … a transfer to WP. I’ve wanted to do that for ages, but didn’t know where to begin from. I got help from many sources {thank you Mayank}, and then it was finally Sarah @ Maison Cupcake who gave me the final push in the right direction, sharing all her knowledge like an open book! I thought I’d try migrating on my own, but time, lack of knowledge and googling led me to Katie @ Lemon Cherry Blogs. She was my knight in shining armour and is working to transfer PAB and tweak the design as I type this post. WP is VERY new for me, and looks like a steep learning curve, but I’ll get there one day. Until I iron out the creases, please bear with me. Thank you Katie, you are the best!

BMC 61So all that said, here’s my take on the Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake, a cake I’ve made three times over the last 10 days with great results. The first time with the recipe as below, the second time with 75gms butter and 25gms olive oil, with ¼ cup whole wheat flour in place of all purpose, and no ganache to cut down the calories. I was just curious to see how it would taste. Needless to say, it was moist and delicious! I did a third attempt with pistachios and that was wonderful too.

BMC recChocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake
Ingredients:
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup cocoa powder {I heaped it}
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature{or 70gms butter & 30gms olive oil}
1 cup vanilla or plain sugar
2 eggs
100ml buttermilk {or substitute recipe below}
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
To make buttermilk substitute at home:
Take 100ml milk at room temp; add 1 tsp white vinegar. Let it stand 5-10 minutes. When it curdles, it’s ready.
makingMethod:
Grease and flour the sides of a 8″ ring tin, or a 6″ round tin. Line the bottom. {I play safe line the sides too}.
Preheat the oven to 170C.
Sift the flour with the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Reserve.
Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
With beater on low add the flour and buttermilk alternately in three lots. {Stir in chopped nuts at this point if you like. Walnuts, almonds and pistachios go well with chocolate. Hazelnuts too.}
Bake for 50-60 minutes till golden brown on top, and the tester comes out clean.
Meanwhile, make the glaze…
Ganache
100gms dark chocolate
3 tbsps low fat cream {might need a little more}
Method:
Gently simmer the two over low heat, stirring constantly until the chocolate melts. Take off heat and stir briskly till nice and shiny. The glaze should be nice and thick, yet of flowing consistency. Add a little cream if the glaze is too thick, or a little chocolate if it is too thin. It will continue to thicken as it cools down.
rec finalFinishing off…
Overturn the cake out gently on rack, and remove the lining. Turn it back on another rack. Let it cool for about 15-20 minutes. Pour the glaze evenly over the hot cake, coaxing it all around, letting some drip over the sides. Dust the edges with chocolate shavings if you like.
♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India deeba

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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53 Comments

  • Prerna@IndianSimmer

    2010/10/01 at 8:33 am Reply

    Chocolate cake is my husband’s favorite and I always make it with buttermilk. That helps make it super moist and I also do add a little bit of freshly brewed coffee. I feel that emphasizes the chocolate flavor. Love your recipe and although I personally am a citrus cak efan I think I would give this one a try.
    And plzzz tell me moving to WP is like a breeze! I’ve been planning to do it for a while but it looks such a mind boggling process 🙁

    • Deeba @ PAB

      2010/10/01 at 4:04 pm Reply

      Thanks Prema. Freshly brewed coffee was going to be my next flavour as coffee is right up my street. And yes, I have to say moving to WP for me was a breeze, but I can only thank Katie for it, because I was clueless to the core!

  • Nic

    2010/10/01 at 7:00 pm Reply

    The blog looks superb! Very nice design.
    And if you’re having cake every few days, then I’m coming over to stay!

  • m.

    2010/10/02 at 12:03 am Reply

    Oooh, delicious! I love, love, love a good chocolate cake well-made. Looks like I’ll be making this one soon. Have to as I can’t keep staring at pictures of your cake forever! LOL

  • pavithra

    2010/10/02 at 12:08 am Reply

    That looks supermoist and chocolate cake with buttermilk makes cake so moist and I love it. Love the pictures , each and every picture is mind blowing….

  • June in Ireland who loves to bake

    2010/10/02 at 4:54 am Reply

    In a word – beautiful. This time, it’ll be chocolate. The next time after that, I’m going to go orange. I love the versatility of this recipe. Bet it tastes delicious, whichever variation on the theme takes your fancy.

    Thanks for sharing the recipe and the photos (especially of your lovely new kitchen – would love to re-do ours, as well).

  • Sarah

    2010/10/02 at 1:46 pm Reply

    Hey, this cake looks divine!
    I was just wondering if you’ve ever tried layering this cake? Or would is it too moist? too crumbly? etc.? A friend needs a chocolate and caramel fudge layer cake and this looks like the perfect chocolate cake recipe 🙂
    Thanks!
    .-= Sarah´s last blog ..The cupboard under the stairs  =-.

  • Jamie

    2010/10/02 at 6:11 pm Reply

    Change is certainly easier said than done and I go through these kinds of changes so slowly! Your changes have all been successful – gorgeous new kitchen :-), gorgeous new blog design and wow this cake is just for me! Lucky lucky you, sister, to have so many happy cake eaters! Not me! Wish i did. But this fabulous, chocolatey, moist cake I could finish off all on my own! Beautiful! And I so love your balck & white/brown & white photos. Gorgeous! Now will you come to my house to bake?
    .-= Jamie´s last blog ..LEMON CHARLOTTE with A TASTE OF YELLOW =-.

  • kelly

    2010/10/07 at 2:30 am Reply

    I do love the new look of your site and agree with the words, “Change is the only constant.” I’ve lived by those words, walking right into it most of the time. WP is awesome! I never really got into blogger — we just never clicked visually. And I still keep my original content linked to my old Typepad blog, but that’s another whole story. Talk about challenging. OMG. Anyway, gorgeous look, and a very delicious chocolate pound cake!

  • medifast diet review

    2010/10/17 at 11:24 am Reply

    Superbly written article, if only all bloggers offered the same quality information as you, the internet would be a much better place. Please keep it up! Cheers.

  • Hima

    2010/10/19 at 6:16 pm Reply

    Hi Deeba,

    I am a new baker and I have been following your blog for a very long time; Thanks for being such a wonderful inspiration.

    Please tell me – What is the low fat cream you use for Ganache? Is it Amul?

    (I am based in Chennai.)

    Thanks,

    Hima.

  • Latha

    2010/11/01 at 5:17 pm Reply

    Deeba,

    this is beyond heavenly. i made a trial last night to bake it for a friend’s girl’s birthday. this can be the best birthday cake one could ever have irrespective of age and gender:) love the new look of your page…

  • Twinsy Rachel Abraham

    2010/12/06 at 2:48 pm Reply

    I tried lime buttermilk pound cake n fell in love with that… n the chocolate aficionado in me tried this on my daughter’s third bday. Needless to say, it was so yum, yum 🙂 Wat dark chocolates r u using to make ganache? I tried it with dairy milk n it wasnt as dark as i wanted it to be, nevertheless, it was tasty n satisfied all of us 🙂 I bake rustic garlic bread which u posted on world bread day every week as it has an ardent fan in the form of my daughter 🙂

  • Shubh

    2010/12/09 at 8:36 pm Reply

    Hi Deeba,

    One question. You said to pour the glaze over the hot cake. Not clear whether it should be done after cooling the cake on the rack for 15-20 minutes or before?

    Thanks so much!

  • Jean

    2011/01/31 at 8:19 am Reply

    Hi. I made this cake today and it was dry. I baked it on a convection oven set 50 degree F less than you suggested. I also had even added a little more fluid as I dissolved some expresso to increase the chocolate flavour.
    Any suggestions on why it was dry?

    • Deeba @ PAB

      2011/01/31 at 8:52 am Reply

      Hi Jean,

      Thanks for your comment, and I’m trying to figure out why it was dry. The oven temp I bake are in C. Did you convert them to F? Am sure you did.

      I baked an orange chocolate-chip buttermilk pound cake just yesterday and it was fine. In fact I bake a buttermilk cake at least once a week, and it’s never been dry. Did it bake for too long? It’s usually done in 45-60minutes, and a lot of folk I know have baked it with great results. Hmmm…. a lady from the UK mailed me with a similar query, only hers was very under-baked, and we troubleshooted forever. Then realised that she had baked in error on grill setting, so the top got crusty and the underneath ran like a fudge sauce.
      On my checklist would be … ingredient check, size of tin, oven temperature, oven setting.
      Look forward to hearing your thoughts…

  • dariaEldell

    2011/02/27 at 3:33 pm Reply

    I’ve been visiting your blog for a while now and I always find a gem in your new posts. Thanks for sharing.

  • Raaga

    2011/06/06 at 8:05 am Reply

    I love love this recipe Deeba. It is so easy and so tasty. Big hugs! The cake was a super duper hit with some cream cheese frosting as it was a friend’s 30th birthday!

  • Sandhya Nagesh

    2012/02/23 at 9:18 am Reply

    Hi Deeba, baked this cake yesterday for my daughter’s “last day at school before exams” party…turned out fabulous !! Took all my restraint to stick to clicking photos and not start slicing..did I just see a teen smiling at me?? Have to thank you for it..

    • Deeba @ PAB

      2012/02/23 at 9:49 am Reply

      What fun you enjoyed it Sandhya! Can you tell me when you post it {didn’t find a food blog link on your comment}. Must see the teen smile!

  • Rekha

    2012/04/30 at 5:12 pm Reply

    Deeba, can I double the recipe and bake this in a 9×13 pan. If yes, how long and at what temp do you recommend?

    Thanks in advance
    Rekha

  • Sindymon

    2013/02/01 at 8:02 pm Reply

    Hello, I am looking foward in baking this cake. I did have one question. In the ingredients you say to use 1 cup of vinella or sugar. Is it vinella extract?

    • Deeba @ PAB

      2013/02/01 at 9:06 pm Reply

      Hi Sindymon… that is 1 cup vanilla sugar {or plain castor or granulated sugar}. The vanilla extract follows later, 1 tsp only. Hope this helps! Cheers Deeba

  • Susana Kawai

    2013/04/26 at 7:58 pm Reply

    This was fantastic, I had pinned on Pinterest and made your cake. I would like to upload on my blog. I will mention your name if you do not mind.
    I am very impressed with your blog.

  • Safa

    2013/12/01 at 12:42 pm Reply

    I tried this recipe for a party and everybody loved it. Only got a bite for myself, but I’ll definitely be making it again.

  • Deeba @ PAB

    2015/09/21 at 6:25 pm Reply

    Sorry Denise. Not sure why it’s happening. Maybe a spam pin.
    Here’s the recipe for you
    Chocolate Buttermilk Pound Cake
    Ingredients:
    1 cup plain flour
    1/4 cup whole wheat flour
    1/2 tsp baking powder
    1/4 cup cocoa powder {I heaped it}
    1/4 tsp baking soda
    1/4 tsp salt
    1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature{or 70gms butter & 30gms olive oil}
    1 cup vanilla or plain sugar
    2 eggs
    100ml buttermilk {or substitute recipe below}
    1 tsp pure vanilla extract
    To make buttermilk substitute at home:
    Take 100ml milk at room temp; add 1 tsp white vinegar. Let it stand 5-10 minutes. When it curdles, it’s ready.
    Method:
    Grease and flour the sides of a 8″ ring tin, or a 6″ round tin. Line the bottom. {I play safe line the sides too}.
    Preheat the oven to 170C.
    Sift the flour with the cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Reserve.
    Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
    With beater on low add the flour and buttermilk alternately in three lots. {Stir in chopped nuts at this point if you like. Walnuts, almonds and pistachios go well with chocolate. Hazelnuts too.}
    Bake for 50-60 minutes till golden brown on top, and the tester comes out clean.
    Meanwhile, make the glaze…
    Ganache
    100gms dark chocolate
    3 tbsps low fat cream {might need a little more}
    Method:
    Gently simmer the two over low heat, stirring constantly until the chocolate melts. Take off heat and stir briskly till nice and shiny. The glaze should be nice and thick, yet of flowing consistency. Add a little cream if the glaze is too thick, or a little chocolate if it is too thin. It will continue to thicken as it cools down.
    Finishing off…
    Overturn the cake out gently on rack, and remove the lining. Turn it back on another rack. Let it cool for about 15-20 minutes. Pour the glaze evenly over the hot cake, coaxing it all around, letting some drip over the sides. Dust the edges with chocolate shavings if you like.

  • Arundhati

    2015/10/05 at 6:21 pm Reply

    It turned out as fantastic as it looked in the pictures 🙂 absolutely loved it. Even the ingredients are simple. Thank you for sharing:D

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