Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake

Imagine for a second you live in a house made of chocolate. Barring the constant melting, that house would be SWEET (pun intended). You could eat anything you want, and the smell would be beyond your wildest dreams.

That, my dear friends, is how my house smells right now. My home is chocolate bliss right now.

I decided to send a package to my sister who lives in San Francisco. I wanted to include in the package something baked and delicious for her to eat. She's been doing some weird Keto diet, but she's promised to abandon her diet for a day if I send something homemade. 

I made a mini pound cake to go with the big one so my family here would have something to taste. I feel like it's pretty cruel to bake something so fragrant and chocolatey and then just ship it all off without anyone here getting to try it. This pound cake is so good! The chocolate flavor is just so rich and deep. I tweaked the recipe from Tutti Dolci. 

Chocolate Pound Cake

Cream Cheese Ribbon
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract 
Batter
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 tbsp mini semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp pecan pieces (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray. Combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in a large mixer bowl at medium speed until light and fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla. Combine sour cream and buttermilk in a small bowl. Reduce speed to low and add half of flour mixture, beating just to combine. Add sour cream mixture, then finish with remaining flour mixture.

Pour half the batter into prepared pan; dollop with cream cheese mixture and swirl layers together with a knife or wooden skewer. Top with remaining batter and smooth with an offset spatula; sprinkle with chocolate chips and pecans, if desired. Bake for 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and cake springs back to the touch. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes; carefully remove cake from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator up to 3 days.

There's the cream cheese ribbon! The tangy flavor of the cream cheese really balances the rich chocolate flavor of the cake.