– 3 sticks (339 g) unsalted butter, softened – 3 cups (600 g) sugar – 5 large eggs, room temperature – 3 cups (342 g) cake flour – ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder – ½ teaspoon salt – 1 cup (232 g) heavy cream – 3 teaspoons (12 g) vanilla extract – 3 Tablespoons (21g) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – 3 Tablespoons (44g) very hot water – 4 oz Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate – 3 oz Heavy Cream or Whipping Cream
Grease and flour a tube pan. Preheat oven to 325°F.Mix cake flour, salt, and baking powder in another bowl. For later.Cream butter with mixer paddle attachment, then gradually add sugar and blend until light and fluffy, 3–5 minutes.
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Blend each egg after adding it.Mix vanilla extract with one cup of heavy cream.Low-speed mixer, add flour mixture alternating with heavy cream. Start and finish with dry ingredients.
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(We added milk twice and dry ingredients three times.) Mix batter just until well combined and smooth after last flour addition.
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Remove two cups of cake batter to a bowl. (Approximately ¼ of cake batter).Dissolve 3 tablespoons cocoa powder in 3 tablespoons very hot water in a separate bowl.
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Stir until dissolved, then lie for 3 minutes to bloom chocolate.Combine chocolate mixture with leftover cake batter until uniformly coloured.
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Put three cups of vanilla cake batter in the pan. Next, lightly cover with chocolate batter (it doesn't have to be perfect).Pour leftover vanilla batter into pan. A vertical knife repeatedly inserted into the batter softly marbles it.
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Avoid batter overmarbling.Bake at 325 degrees for 1–1 hour, 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with crumbs. Baking times vary, so check at 1 hour. If cake top darkens, fold aluminium foil loosely.
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Mix 4 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate and 3 oz. heavy cream in a microwave-safe bowl. In short increments (30 seconds or fewer), microwave the chocolate until almost melted, stirring regularly.
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Wait a minute or two and gently stir to melt any residual chocolate. Cool ganache to drip-ready consistency.
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You can spoon or pipe the ganache drop onto the cooled pound cake using a disposable piping bag or ziplock bag with the tip or corner cut off. Cooling thickens ganache.
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Cool ganache to taste. Too hot and it will run down the cake. Check the drip on the inside of a bowl for consistency/temperature.
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