Wheat and chocolate pound cake

Doesn’t this cake look good? It tasted great, too, I can assure you. :) But the funny thing about this recipe is that preparing it made me think of my grandma – and no, she doesn’t like chocolate. It’s just that I was not in the mood for extra washing up and decided to grate the chocolate with a box grater, instead of grabbing the food processor. What a bad decision it was: it took me FOREVER to do it and by the end of it I had no strength left in my poor arm. :S

That’s why I thought of grandma: I grew up with her saying that “being lazy is a sin”... :D

Wheat and chocolate pound cake
from Pure Dessert

3 tablespoons whole milk, room temperature
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (100g/3 ½oz) sifted (before measuring) cake flour*
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (56g) whole wheat flour
¾ cup (150g) caster sugar
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
13 tablespoons (182g) unsalted butter, softened
100g (3 ½oz) dark chocolate

Grate the chocolate on the large holes of a box grater, the large grating disk of food processor, or pulse, using the steel blade, in the processor. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; butter a 20x10cm (8x4in - 4-5 cups capacity) loaf pan, line with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, whisk the milk, eggs and vanilla.
Mix together and then sift the flours, sugar, baking powder and salt into the large bowl of an electric mixer – if any bran is left in the sifter pour it back to the bowl. Cut the butter into chunks and add it, then pour in half the egg mixture. Beat on low speed just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase the speed to medium (or high if using a hand held mixer) and beat for 1 minute only. Scrape the sides of the bowl. Add half of the remaining egg mixture and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the bowl. Add the rest of the egg mixture and the chocolate and beat for 20 seconds. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 55-65 minutes (to prevent excessive browning, tent the cake with foil after 30 minutes, if necessary). Cool the cake in the pan for about 10 minutes on a rack, then remove and cool completely on the rack.

* homemade cake flour: 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour minus 2 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons corn starch

Serves 8-10