Coffee Chocolate Chip Pound Cake …and my basil gang!
New month. September is upon us already, and the days are galloping by. Sometimes the ultimate comfort food lies in the simplest of bakes. I love cakes for what they are, layers, frosted, filled with fruit, dripping with chocolate, more for putting them together rather than sitting back & enjoying a slice. All that changes when I make this pound cake.
This is one I love for it’s taste, it’s texture & it’s crumb, not least for the ease of making it. I make this once a month, more often in winter, and the only thing that holds me back is the amount of buttah! But then, that’s what pound cakes are all about…putting on the pounds, huh? Have made many cakes, but this one is an all time winner. An oft used recipe from my well thumbed copy of Better Homes & Gardens – ‘All Time Favourite Cakes & Cookies Recipes’.
The recipe is recorded in my mind, but I love to keep the book open for it’s charm. Old print, no glossy drop-dead gorgeous pictures…just good ole heart warming near sepia stuff. Adds to the homely feeling and comfort.
adapted from All Time Favourite Cakes & Cookie Recipes
from Better Homes & Gardens
Ingredients:
200gms butter; room temperature
4 large eggs
1 cup granular sugar (or vanilla sugar)
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 tbs instant coffee
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 175C.
Sift together the two flours flours, baking powder and salt.
Beat the butter & sugar well till light & fluffy.
Beat in eggs 1 by 1, beating well after each addition. (I sometimes beat them altogether)
Beat in essence and coffee, and continue beating till the coffee dissolves (1-2 minutes).
On low speed, beat in the flour, bit by bit, till well incorporated (4-5 goes). Fold in the chocolate chips.
Turn into prepared pan and bake for approx 1 hour / till done. (If top seems to be getting too brown, loosely cover top with foil until done.)
Leave in pan for 10 minutes, and then turn it out on rack to cool completely.
This cake is gorgeous served warm!
August was a happening month for me on the ‘BASIL’ front. I had loads of basil growing & it had been flowering like crazy. Still is and the leaves are beautiful & sweet smelling. I’ve been fortunate enough to share the seeds with a bunch of food bloggers across the length & breath of India. Have been keeping the mailman busy mailing seeds across to my ‘Basil Gang’ as I call them. Nothing like sharing seeds… 
Among the lot have been Nags @ For the Cook in Me, Shaheen @ Purple Foodie, Ria @ Ria’s Collection, Aparna @ My Diverse Kitchen and Arundati @ Escapades. As Arundati wrote to me, “Your basil has gone places my dear girl. I have shared it with all my family & friends that if this was the revenue model of Amway, you’d have made a lot of money“… I love it. Makes me feel virtually very rich! A basil millionaire? 
I had to mail some seeds & some magazines that Ria wanted, and by chance asked her to scout around for vanilla beans down in South India, as I know they have orchards there. Little did I know what a booty was headed my way! She sourced this huge bag of vanilla beans, and mailed it to me. Am I over the moon? Oh yes, several times over! Take a look….
I’ve also been spoilt silly with many gifts too which have kept the mailman even busier. In the parcel of vanilla beans from Ria were also gifts for me. Beautiful kercheifs that she and her mother made with crocheted lace. Also, in there were pretty blue & white kitchel towels. Loved them. Blue & white is my all time fave combination! 
Dull thud! The postman chucked something over the gate! Yes, chucked! He does it often in a semi-inebriated state. He’s a funny man. Ooooh, a packet of Natural molasses sugar that Nags sent for me. Love it because this is something we don’t get here. Have always itched to get my hands on some. Then along comes another parcel. Stubby chilies from Arundati. She had been saving the seeds for me for as long as I could remember, & I was pleasantly surprised to receive them last week. (They have been duly planted,Arundati). In there too were some precious & beautiful handmade cloth-dolls, called Tsumnamikas.
“Tsunamika is a Tsunami related project of Auroville . Auroville is a universal city in the make in south-India, dedicated to human unity, and based on the vision of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. Auroville is actively involved in many Tsunami Relief projects in Tamil Nadu. Tsunamika is one of them.”
Deeba @ PAB
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.
45 Comments
arundati
glad to be in the gang!! and the basil is loving the rain in hyd right now!!
Maria
What an incredible cake. I love basil too! Ours did really well this summer.
Jamie
Lovely story, lovely gifts, lovely lovely cake. This is the kind I love to make and we love to eat.
Ben
Pound cake to put on some pounds, lol. I can take that risk. And those basil seeds are so pretty. I have a little bit of basil in my garden, and I've been using it up too. It's so delicious 😀
♥♥♥Ria♥♥♥
Whoa! We are a GANG now! 😀 Good to see those kitchen towels and the hand kerchiefs on your blog! 🙂 Oh yeah! the beans too!
Just bought few more kitchen towels today! 🙂
The cake looks fabulous! 🙂
Mireya
The cake looks delicious! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Fearless Kitchen
This cake looks delicious. It would be just perfect to bring to a shower or a brunch or some such thing.
Disha
Cake looks so good! Want to make it right now! but no time.. 🙁 Will surely make some this weekend!
The Purple Foodie
Thanks to you, my basil is growing WILD 😀 I love the sweet smell of it. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Have bought your pitter last weekend (I am so SLOW. Work's gotten me super bogged down). Will put your package together this week! 😀
Barbara Bakes
So fun that you are spreading the love! Such a rave review on the cake. It sounds like a much try!
Parita
Cake looks fantastic deeba!
MeetaK
simply outstanding! love the flavors!
Zaara
The cake looks wonderful – homely and just what you need at the end of the day – who needs fancy-shmancy right? =)
I'm blown away by the loot though -jealousy strikes!! Lovely array of gifts, Wish the basil would grow here chez nous, mine got burnt to a crisp in the heat. Need to try it indoors….
Avanika [YumsiliciousBakes]
You finally posted this cake 🙂 🙂 I'd been waiting since forever, after seeing the pics!! I'm going to try it out soon, in a normal pan though, I don't have a bundt pan 🙁
Your 'gang' seems interesting, it's great that everyone's sharing stuff so nicely 🙂
Rosa's Yummy Yums
A beautiful pound cake! love the flavors!
Cheers,
Rosa
Peggy Bourjaily
I just love those recipes you can return to again and again. I'll have to try this out.
Sweet and Savory
I am not sure how to say this. The chocolate chip pound cake looks delicious, yummy, marvelous and wonderful but you have a photo of the chocolate orange gateau next to it. The competition is not fair. You have the best desserts.
Bellini Valli
Two of my favourite ingredients in one post..chocolate and basil…
Snooky doodle
wow this cake looks delicious! and those are really nice gifts 🙂
Hema
First time here.. I just love your blog.. This pound cake looks awesome.. feel like having a bite for tea now.. I would be glad if you could send it the CFK-Chocolate event being held in my blog
http://salt2taste.blogspot.com/2009/08/announcing-cooking-for-kids-event.html
5 Star Foodie
Fantastic coffee cake! The basil seeds are so pretty!
Kerstin
What a yummy pound cake, it's making my mouth water! Our basil grew pretty well this summer too!
Maya
That cake is a winner!
shaz
What a wonderful story and wonderful group of friends – and the perfect cake for a kaffeeklatsch
coffeegrounded
Deeba, this is such a sweet post. Our lives are made richer, sweeter, and fuller by our circle of friends.
Coffee beans in the cake pan prior to baking? You are a genius!!!
Bundt, coffeecakes, and muffins are the truest of comfort foods.
🙂
Nags
i am so happy to be in the gang! I planted some seeds at my mom's place, gave some to two of my aunts and brought some back with me to SG. I don't have a garden here, not even a balcony, so planted them in a small pot that's placed near the guest room window. Keeping fingers crossed that they sprout. Amma's plants are already doing good so I can always get them from her again 🙂 Thank YOU Deebs!
Jennifer
What a wonderful story! This cake looks fabulous! I love the coffee and chocolate combination for sure! yum!!
Fahrenheit 350°
That is a gorgeous cake!
Arwen from Hoglet K
That's lovely that your basil is spreading far and wide – gardening is the best way to share with people. The cake looks great too, especially since it's simple.
morgana
Coffee and chocolate!!! This must be delicious, I love both things together.
Lately I just give my attention to coffee recipes. Maybe I need a holiday because I think gravity is as strong as always, ah? So my heavy eyelids must be because I feel really sleepy.
I'm gonna change something in my life and today I'll count coffe-cake slices better than sheeps.
cheers from Spain.
diva
is it wrong to think that coffee beans are reallly cute?!? lovely cake. the colour's just gorgeous. i'm thinking of dunking this in a bowl of warm custard and tucking in. yes i know i haave ew habits but when i know it's gonna taste good, i forget about being polite 😀
anyway, i want a bundt tin! i really want one. xx
Curry Leaf
The cake looks great.Good hearing about the basil gang.I had already read about the basil seeds in Aparna's blog.Great Job Deeba.
toontz
That cake is beautiful in it’s simplicity, Deeba. I love pound cake, and this one sounds delicious. I have a garden full of basil, some doing well and others….who knows? Still have a garden of green tomatoes, *sigh*.
Gloria
Love basil Deeba is wonderful, really wondefurl is my favorite in summer, xgloria
This sumer I hope to plants I have some basil seeds!!
Lovely cake Deeba! gloria
Neev
Very nice pics and cake too…can I use All Purpose Flour instead of the wheat flour?
Basil is Tulsi right?
Nicisme
Ha ha, you've got a great posse, and those vanilla pods look wonderful.
I've got a cup of tea at the moment and would love some of that cake!
Julia @ Mélanger
That cake looks fantastic. Sometimes you just have to turn a blind eye to the amount of butter used. You only have a little slice anyway, so not so bad, right? 🙂
harcoutbreton
Girl if I could get my hands on this, it will be gone in seconds – well maybe in minutes ^^ – specially you have the vanilla beans extract on this, I just like how this smell.
Lucy
This cake looks so goood I think it would be finished all to quickly around here! All its chocolat and bundt prettiness… delicious 🙂
meeso
I had to bookmark this one!
Aparna
The "bug" prevented me from commenting here earlier. 🙂
Glad to be a part of the "basil gang".
The basil is thriving and so is mine from home. As soon as they seed, I'm sending you some.
Aru sent me basil, seeds and tsunamikas too.
Met Ria.
Ishrath
That cake is a sure winner. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your gifts. Nothing can bring more joy that see the seeds sprout.
nora@ffr
vat a fabulous cake!! impressive!!
stephchows
ooo I love the coffee beans as an extra touch 🙂