Jimmy's Best Chocolate Bar Cake

This Southern classic skips cocoa powder in favor of melted chocolate candy bars, which give the cake a smooth, mellow sweetness and a dense, fudgy crumb you can’t get any other way.

There’s a double dose of chocolate, too: chocolate syrup goes into the batter alongside the melted bars, deepening the flavor and keeping the cake moist.

Buttermilk is the other secret. Its acidity tenderizes the crumb and balances all that sweetness, while a cup of chopped pecans folds through for buttery crunch.

The method is straightforward pound-cake technique: cream the butter and sugar, beat in eggs one at a time, then alternate the dry ingredients with the buttermilk so the batter stays smooth.

Baked low and slow in a tube or bundt pan, it comes out tall and tender, rich enough to serve with nothing more than a dusting of powdered sugar.

Pro Tips

• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each, so the batter stays smooth and doesn’t curdle.
• Alternate the flour and buttermilk in additions to keep the batter emulsified and the crumb fine.
• Cool only 10 minutes in the pan before turning out, as the recipe says, so the cake releases without sticking or breaking.

Variations

• Drizzle with chocolate glaze or ganache for an extra-rich finish.
• Swap the pecans for walnuts, or leave the nuts out.
• Add a teaspoon of espresso powder to intensify the chocolate.