chocolate presto pound cake.

I rarely make a recipe word for word according to the recipe, but this time I can say I just about did. The only difference I made was switching out two tablespoons of regular flour for whole wheat flour.

I followed a recipe from my much perused copy of Small-Batch Baking by Debby Nakos. This cookbook is a compilation of recipes designed to provide much smaller portion sizes, usually enough for two to four people. As much as I almost never follow a recipe word for word, I never bake from cookbooks- except for this one.

Due to the amount of times I bake in a given period, especially after a long hiatus, it is not practical for me to make multiple full-size recipes. So I scale them down, which requires a pretty extensive knowledge of conversions between metric and non-metric scales & divisions into amounts such as a third of 1/8 teaspoon. Thus, this book makes it a lot easier for me to make small amounts of cake, cookies, etc. without the extra effort (although I usually enjoy any extra effort baking requires .. don't judge me.)

Anyway, this chocolate pound cake is extremely easy to make. The chocolate flavor is not extremely defined. It is more subtle, but the pound cake itself has significant flavor.

The only form of chocolate in it is cocoa. I believe the cocoa contributes to the almost alcohol-like aftertaste of the cake. It is not a bad aftertaste; it actually adds to the flavor of these cakes.

Additionally, the texture is extremely fluffy and not dense whatsoever. After letting the cakes cool in the pan, I tried getting them out, and they were just not having it. These would not be ideal to serve in slices or to toast, but they would make excellent trifles with a bit of freshly whipped cream & fruit.

Lastly, I made them in my new mini 4-inch loaf pans! This recipe filled three of the four loaf pans I have. I got them for Christmas, but the first time I used them was today. Is that not ridiculous?!