Chocolate Chip & Currant Pound Cake
Submitted by tia
Chocolate chip and currant pound cake with Cognac-soaked currants, semi-sweet chocolate, and a hint of cinnamon, baked in a Bundt pan and drizzled with a Cognac glaze.
YIELD
16 servingsPREP
½ hrsCOOK
1 hrsREADY
2½ hrsChocolate Chip and Currant Pound Cake brings a cocktail-hour finish to a classic pound cake. Dried currants get warmed in Cognac and left to plump for an hour, soaking up the liquor while their soaking liquid joins the half-and-half going into the batter. That double-distribution is why the boozy depth runs through the whole cake instead of pooling in raisin-bomb pockets.
The second clever step: currants and chocolate pieces get tossed with a couple of tablespoons of flour before folding into the batter. That flour coating keeps both from sinking to the bottom during the long bake, holding them suspended throughout the crumb. A whisper of cinnamon ties it together, and the finishing Cognac glaze drizzles down the fluted ridges of the Bundt pan to make it look like a proper occasion cake.
Pro Tips
- Don’t skip the currant soak. An hour at minimum gives the dried fruit time to rehydrate, and the Cognac penetrates fully so they don’t stay tough through the bake.
- Toss the chocolate and currants with flour right before folding. Earlier and the flour coating gets damp and clumps.
- Butter and flour the Bundt pan thoroughly, getting into every flute. A pound cake stuck in the pan ruins the presentation.
- Cool 15 minutes in the pan as the recipe says, then invert. Hot pound cake is fragile, fully cool is too set to release cleanly.
Variations
- Swap Cognac for dark rum, brandy, or bourbon. Each delivers a slightly different aromatic profile.
- Use dried cherries or chopped dried apricots in place of currants for a fruitier version.
- Skip the alcohol entirely by soaking currants in warm orange juice. The citrus will do similar work.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat currants in Cognac in a small saucepan until just warm. Cover mixture and let stand one hour.
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Butter an 8 cup fluted tube cake pan. Dust with flour.
Sift 2 cups of flour with the baking powder, salt, and cinnamon into a medium bowl.
Measure out the half and half into a small dish and drain the soaking liquid from the currants into the half and half. Add the vanilla. Pat the currants dry with paper towelling.
In another small bowl combine the chocolate pieces, the currants and the 2 ¾ tablespoon flour.
In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, cream the butter. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Then mix the flour and half and half mixtures alternately into the butter. Begin and end with the flour.
Using a spatula, fold in the chocolate mixture. Spoon into prepared pan and bake in the center of the oven until springy to the touch, about 1 hour.
Cool cake in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Gently run a knife around the edge of the cake and invert onto the rack. Cool completely.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar or drizzle glaze over the top allowing it to run down the sides.
Glaze:
To make glaze blend sugar, butter, cream and Cognac in processor until fluffy.
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