Espresso Choco-chip Bundt Cake

 

There are days when I think of baking something and then some other work takes over and the baking gets postponed.Then there are days where I'll be in the kitchen doing a headless chicken run trying to finish one job before the next one crops up.Funnily it is on those days,when I am most busy in the kitchen I try and find solace in baking.

I had to clean up the fridge leftovers and then cross check the provisions for the month and the maid was on leave.Suddenly I had this idea of baking Cinnamon rolls.So I kept all the items on my counter top aside and made space for kneading the dough.After finishing the shaping of the rolls I realized the quantity was too less to be shared.

Immediately decided to bake a cake.Fortunately I had halved this recipe and written down in my word document so assembling everything was an easy job.In between pots and pans occupying space on the counter top,I made way for the cake too and the best part I love about baking is the cleaning up afterwards.

Yes,I find it so therapeutic cleaning up the whole kitchen while waiting for my bread/cake to bake.I find the job gets done fast too!

Coffee and chocolate is a combination made in heaven.Deep,rich flavors melding together made this cake a real delight.Chocolate ganache,of course can never go wrong and pairs so well this cake,please don't skip it!

Espresso Choco-chip Bundt Cake
Recipe source - Jane's Sweets and Baking Journal

Ingredients

Coffee powder - 1 tsp

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp 

Hot water - ¼ tsp 

All purpose flour/Maida - 1 ½ cups 

Cocoa powder - ¼ cup 

Salt - a fat pinch

Baking powder - a fat pinch

Baking soda - a fat pinch

Dark chocolate coarsely chopped OR Chocolate chips - 1 cup

Butter - 1/2 cup/100 gms

Granulated sugar - 1 cup

Brown sugar - 1/3 cup

Eggs - 3 medium

Yogurt - ½ cup

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.Grease well a 6 cup Bundt tin.

 
Stir together the espresso powder,vanilla extract and hot water in a small bowl.

 
Sift together the flour,cocoa, baking powder, 
 
baking soda, and salt. 
 
In a medium size bowl, toss the chocolate pieces with about 1 Tbsp. of this flour mixture. Set both aside.

 
Cream the butter for for a minute and then add sugar in 3 lots.Add brown sugar and beat for 2 more minutes.

 
Add the eggs one by one beating for 45 seconds after each addition.

Mix in the coffee mixture and beat again.Scrape the bowl.

 
Add the sifted flour and yogurt alternately(3 additions of the flour and 2 additions of yogurt).

 
Switch to a spatula and fold in the chocolate chips.

 
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the pan on a cooling rack for 10-15 minutes.Loosen the edges with a knife and remove the cake from the tin and let it cool for another 20 minutes or so.

Pour ganache on top and let it set for another 10 minutes.Slice and serve.

For the Chocolate ganache

Dark Chocolate - 200gms

Cream - 200 ml
Butter - 1 tbsp 

In a thick bottomed stainless steel pan,heat the cream until bubbles start appearing on the sides.
Mix in chopped chocolate and stir for a while.Switch off heat and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Whisk well till no chocolate lumps appear and the ganache becomes smooth and creamy.Mix in the butter.
Let it cool down to room temperature and use as required.

Notes

• The original recipe uses sour cream and I substituted it with yogurt,which turned out just fine.Additionally,it also has cream as an ingredient and I forgot to add it,still fine :)
• I greased the bundt pan with butter and dusted with cocoa powder.Somehow,the heat caused the cocoa powder to brown slightly and form a teeny layer on top of the cake,which didn't affect the taste but the looks.
• Make sure you mix the chocolate chips with flour,it helps in evenly distributing the chocolate in the cake batter.