A flavorful coffee-flavored pound cake made with heavy whipping cream and without any butter. It is easy to make and has a light, fluffy, and moist texture.
38ghot cocoa mixI used Swiss mix rich hot cocoa pack
15ghot boiling water
Instructions
Prepare hot cocoa mix:
Line a 9 x 5 x 2.5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. This makes a shorter wider cake. You can also use 9 x 4 x 4-inch Pullman loaf pan. This makes a taller cake. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) for conventional oven, 330 F (165 C) for convection oven
Empty the hot cocoa mix into a heat-proof glass or bowl. Add the hot boiling water and stir the mixture dissolves
Prepare the cake batter:
Combine the dry ingredients and set aside
Whisk 3 eggs with vanilla using a hand whisk to combine and set aside
Place whipping cream in a large mixing bowl or a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Start with a low speed and continue to whip on a low speed until the cream has just thickened and not forming any peak yet. It is important not to overwhip because we still have eggs and sugar to add
Add all of the sugar and continue to whip over low speed, speed 2 on my KA for about 1 minute.
Add 1/2 of the egg mixture and continue to whisk on low speed for about 30 seconds
Add the rest of the egg and increase the speed to 4 and continue to whip until it forms a soft peak. We are trying to be careful not to overwhip the cream because it turns grainy if you do. You can also switch to a hand whisk instead if you are concerned about overwhipping the cream
Sift in 1/2 of the dry mixture
use a rubber spatula to cut down in the middle and fold over to combine. Rotate the bowl as you fold the flour into the mixture. Add the rest of the 1/2 of the flour mixture and repeat this motion and fold to combine until you don't see any more dry pockets of flour. Make sure you get the bottom of the bowl too, sometimes the flour gets trapped down there.
It's going to be a very thick batter
Remove about 1/3 of the cake batter (about 250 grams if you weigh it) to another mixing bowl. Add the hot cocoa mixture and use a spatula to cut in the middle and fold over to combine evenly
Transfer 1/2 of the plain batter to the prepared pan. Spread them evenly using a spatula.
Spread 1/2 of hot cocoa batter on top
Then spread the rest of the plain batter on top.
Finish up with the rest of the hot cocoa batter. Smooth the surface with spatula
Smear the batter on the two sides of the loaf pan
I use a toothpick to draw about 1/2-inch deep line in the middle of the batter so the cake can follow this line to crack as it rises in the oven later
Baking:
Bake in a preheated oven on the middle rack for 50-55 minutes if you use 9 x 5 loaf pan (check at 50-minute mark) and about 60-65 minutes (check at 60-minute mark) if you use 9 x 4 x 4 Pullman loaf pan. Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the center of the cake. It should come out clean with a bit of crumb, but it shouldn't be wet. If it is, bake another 5 minutes and check again
Cooling:
Remove the pan from the oven and let it sit on the cooling rack for 5 minutes. Then grab the parchment paper to pull the cake out from the pan, gently peel the parchment paper on the side of the cake and let it cool down completely on the cooling rack at room temperature
Serving:
I highly recommend letting this cake cool down for at least 12 hours and cut it after. The cake's flavor is so much better. It will be moist, flavorful, yet light and fluffy.
How to store:
Leftovers can be kept in an air-tight container for 3 days at room temperature. For longer storage, store them in the freezer. Here's how, once the cake has cooled down completely, you can slice the cake. I usually put 4 slices together (one for each person in our household), wrap them in a cling wrap and another layer of aluminum foil, then I put them inside a freezer-friendly bag to prevent freezer burn. They can be kept frozen for no more than 1 month for the best quality. Simply thaw at room temperature before serving
Notes
You can use any whipping cream available where you are with that fat percentage. In the U.K, there is double cream, but the fat percentage is much higher, about 48%. So, be careful not to overwhip if you use double cream. DO NOT use half and half (I supposed similar to U.K's single cream, 10.5-18% fat percentage) as a substitute. It won't whip up well and it turns runny very quickly because of its lower fat content. Also, DO NOT use already whipped cream sold at the store, it won't work with this recipe.
I don't recommend cutting down sugar to more than 15% of the original amount if possible. This cake is not overly sweet and I have taken into account the amount of sugar in the hot cocoa powder.