Sunday, October 9, 2011

ABC: Frangipane Ripple Chocolate Pound Cake


Frangipane Ripple Chocolate Pound Cake, page 335.  

I've been MIA..and now i'm back. Recently I sprained my knee, well, I think I sprained my knee, but my orthopedic surgeon said because of my lack of lower thigh muscle, my knee cap is somewhat mis-aligned.  Solution? I need to start exercising to develop some muscle to hold my knee cap into position.  No excuses for not exercising anymore, I guess.  Honestly, I HATE to exercise.   Well, after 1 week in absolute pain and 2 weeks of pasting some Japanese-made koyok (medicated plaster) & hot therapy treatment (both given to me by my sis-in-law), my knee is now 98% better!! :D  And I'm so thankful to be well again!  Not fun to be constantly in pain.  I heard from my husband that his sister (my kind sis-in-law) hunted down the Crabtree&Evelyn Pearl Therapy Neck Wrap the whole afternoon so that i can use it for my knee!  I feel loved!   Can I also mention that she bought me a pair of Ferragamo shoes too! :))    I did follow what the orthopedic surgeon told me to do - the 3x a day knee exercises..but i kept forgetting and ending only doing it once a day. 

Now that I'm better, I thought i should catch up baking with ABC since i never seem to be able to meet the deadline, but better late than never. :P   Plus this recipe is short and sweet..and chocolate cake, my favorite!  

I used a normal 12-cup bundt cake because i lost my ruler..so i couldn't measure if my pan was 10" or not.. that's the problem with moving....i can't remember where i put my things!  I think i have to go purchase another ruler soon.  Anyway it worked..so i think this 10"x3" bundt pan = 12 cup bundt pan..lol!

Recipe is pretty simple and straight forward.  And the cake is very moist, soft light crumbs, not your usual dense pound cake texture and extremely delicious! I love the taste of the frangipane with the chocolate cake, goes very well together.   This is an absolutely winner and definitely in my baking repertoire.  The next day, the cake tasted just as soft and moist.  I'm totally in love with this cake!  I poured some chocolate ganache over the cake because i had lots of left-over ganache in the fridge. Perfect match! :)