Chocolate Pound Cake with Rich Chocolate Glaze:

[mapol]

This is a favorite recipe of mine, which I make quite often for parties and other special occasions.

Chocolate Pound Cake:

2 Cups White Flour (I use unbleached White King Arthur Flour.)
2 Cups of granulated sugar (white)
6 ounces of unsweetened baking chocolate
2 sticks of unsalted butter
3 large eggs
1 tsp of baking powder
3/4 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt
1 tsp of vanilla extract
2 Tbsp of instant coffee
2 Tbsp of hot water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Thoroughly grease and flour a ten-inch tube pan. (Don't use non-stick cookware if you have birds or any other pets in the household.)

Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light-colored and fluffy.

Fold in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla extract.

After melting the chocolate, stir it into the eggs/vanilla extract mixture. Mix it for 3 minutes on a cake mixes setting.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.

Pour the 2 Tbsp. of hot water into a cup. Dissolve the 2 Tbsp. of instant coffee in the hot water. With cool water, fill the cup until you have 1.5 cups of the water/coffee solution.

Fold in the water/coffee solution and the dry ingredients separately and intermittently from each other. It's best to hand stir the water, so that it won't splatter, if one gets the drift. Mix and blend both the dry and the wet ingredients and combine them to make the cake batter. Pour the batter into the bunt cake pan. Bake the cake for an hour, or until the cake springs back when you've pressed it a bit with one finger. Cool the cake down for at least 20 minutes. Invert it onto a plate. Let it cool for another 20 minutes or so. Then make the rich chocolate glaze.

Rich Chocolate Glaze:

1 1/3 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3 Tbsp of confectioners sugar

2/3 cup of Heavy whipping cream.

Put the chocolate chips into a medium small sauce pan. Add the heavy whipping cream, the confectioners sugar, and the vanilla extract. Put it on relatively low heat, so that it can dissolve. Keep stirring the chocolate glaze until it's smooth and creamy. When it is ready, and the pound cake has cooled down sufficiently enough, drizzle the glaze onto the cake, until it's all gone. Transfer the cake into a cake holder, and get it ready for whatever occasion you've cooked it for.

Good luck and all the best.

[Bayard]

1. OMG that sounds good!

Calorie-free, right?

Welcome to DU.

[mapol]

2. Thank you, Bayard!

(Picture me waving back at you.)

[griffi94]

3. Now I'm Hungry

The cake sounds wonderful and I didn't know about non stick pans and pets.

[Bayard]

4. Wait a minute

I just noticed that. So what's the scoop on non-stick pans and pets???

[griffi94]

5. I don't know

But I bake and I have three cats. I don't have any non stick pans tho.

[mapol]

9. Anybody who has pets of any kind is better off not having any non-stick pans in their house.

But I bake and I have three cats. I don't have any non stick pans tho.

You're better off not having non-stick pans in your house, since they're probably not good for cats or any other type of pets.

Anybody with a self-cleaning oven, however, should make absolutely positive that their pets are out of the house altogether, since the fumes that the self-cleaning cycle are totally lethal for any type of pet, especially birds, and they can't be safe for cats, either.

My oven has both a regular self-cleaning cycle and a steam-cleaning cycle. Once a year, when I go off on vacation somewhere, I board Aziza, my pet female Congo African Grey Parrot at the pet store where I first purchased her when she was a 2.5 month old baby over nine years ago. That is the time when she's out of the house, and I can safely put the self-cleaning cycle on for 3-4 hours. I open my large living room windows, however, to minimize the fumes, which are probably not good for humans, either.

Back to the subject at hand, however: In the event that you ever do get any non-stick pans or pots, it's best to keep your cats away from the kitchen when they're in use. Don't mean to sound like an old harridan, but erring on the side of caution is best under such circumstances. Hope I've been of some help.

[Bayard]

13. I've never heard of this before, will have to google

I usually cook my dogs dinners in non-stick pots....

[mapol]

7. Pets are more vulnerable than humans to the affects of the deadly fumes that non-stick pans give off

Pets are more vulnerable than humans to the detrimental affects of the toxic fumes that non-stick pots and pans give off when used in cooking. Birds, however, are especially vulnerable to these toxic fumes, due to their extremely efficient and sensitive respiratory systems. That's why I eliminated non-stick pots, pans and even irons from my house when I started owning exotic birds.

Come to think of it, if non-stick pots, pans, etc., are that bad for pets, are they really any better for humans? I'm somewhat inclined to say--no, not really.

[mapol]

10. Well:

Non-stick pots, pans and irons give off very nasty fumes, which are deadly for birds, due to their extremely efficient and sensitive respiratory systems, and are likely not any better for cats, dogs, or other pets, either.

When I got my now-deceased 20 year old pet Noble Macaw, McGee, I eliminated all non-stick cooking utensils from my house, and have not purchased any since, especially since I purchased my pet female Congo African Grey Parrot, Aziza, 9.5 years ago, when she was just a 2.5 month old baby, at a very reputable pet store 45 minutes to an hour south of Boston.

When my parents lived in Cambridge, MA, they had a non-stick omelet pan in their house. When I told them that I eliminated all non-stick utensils from my house due to the harm they can do birds and other pets, my mom pointed out, albeit correctly "If non-stick pans aren't good for birds, why would they be good for humans? Maybe we shouldn't use them." My dad balked at first, but he eventually went along with what my mom had pointed out.

[mapol]

6. Thank you, griffi94.

Thank you, griffi94. Non-stick pans can and will give off some rather nasty fumes when they're heated that can be deadly to pets. Birds, however, are especially susceptible to the deadly affects of these toxic fumes, due to their extremely efficient and sensitive respiratory systems.

When I began owning exotic birds, I eliminated whatever non-stick cooking pans, etc, that I had in my house, and have not bought any since. The owner of the pet store where I purchased Aziza, my now 9.5 year old pet female (who I purchased when she was a 2.5 month old baby) who's also a legal African Grey Parrot breeder, advised me not to trust the manufacturers of my non-stick bundt cake pan, even though they claimed that it was perfectly safe for birds. I followed her advice.

I use an aluminum bundt cake pan instead. What's scary is the fact that pretty much all cooking utensils are non-stick.

[griffi94]

8. Thanks mapol

I do have a nonstick cookie sheet. I'll go back to my old one. I quit using non stick skillets years ago because
I was worried about nicks in the non stick surface allowing the chemicals from the adhesive to leach into
my food.

[mapol]

11. Hi, griffi94.

You're welcome. Glad I was able to be of some help.

I honestly don't know why non-stick cooking utensils and irons are so popular. They are easier to wash, but I've come to the conclusion that they're not worth endangering (and possibly killing) treasured pets over. Your point about being concerned about the possibility of any nicks and scratches in the non-stick surface allowing the chemicals from the adhesive to leach into one's food is also a good one. Thank you for mentioning that. Non-stick cooking utensils and irons are not any better for humans, really.

[griffi94]

12. I switched to cast iron for my skillets

My baking pans are aluminum I think. I usually use parchment paper.

On an unrelated note. Do you have a favorite pie. My current favorite is peach.

[mapol]

14. A favorite pie:

Favorite pies---ahhhhh, yes!

I have a few of them. Here they are:

Chocolate cream pie

Lemon Meringue pie

Rhubarb pie

Apple pie without the raisins.

[griffi94]

15. All wonderful choices

I also love Key Lime pie with a graham cracker crust .