Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake is a decadent combination of ingredients…and then it’s topped with a Maple Espresso Glaze.

Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake with Maple-Espresso Glaze

I wanted to pull this post for a Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake out of archives and give it a once again. Why? Well, I made it for a Labor Day barbecue years ago and it was just raved over and I thought that maybe, just maybe…someone new might love it as much as we did!

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I remember when I first decided to make this cake, it was one of those moments when all I had to do was see a photo and I was hooked. Line and sinker. Well, the name didn’t hurt. I love cakes made with brown sugar, what’s NOT to love about chocolate chips in a pound cake and then…the pièce de résistance. Maple Espresso Glaze. Done and done.

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I had a conversation this past week with a fellow food blogger and client and it was interesting to hear about blogging from a writer’s perspective. The need to blog but nothing really comes to mind…the hated ‘writers block.’ I honestly never feel that block and wonder if the difference for me is that I blog from a cook’s perspective. I love to cook.

I love to share what I make with family and friends and for over twenty-five years I’ve been putting my recipes online as the easiest way to do that sharing. For most of those years it was simply a recipe; nothing more; just ingredients and instructions.

My website was my own virtual version of a recipe box and it served that purpose well. With friends and family scattered all over the country, no longer did I need to type up something for one person, I simply put it online. Nothing surprised me more than when I started to hear from people I did not know who had found my site and enjoyed a dish!

Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake with Maple-Espresso Glaze

My foray into blogging really was incidental. I needed to know the ins and outs of this ‘thing’ called WordPress. I’ve mentioned before that I owned a web development company. I started my web business in 1995 after a  short stint in the Internet division of a major cable company where the question du jour was, ‘Think we should consider trying to deliver the Internet via cable?’ and no, I’m not kidding!

The comments starting coming; I started to develop client relationships and my company has helped develop or customize over 50 blogs since then. I also find myself thoroughly immersed in the world of food blogging where it is a big part of my professional work and also a big part of my personal experience; cooking, photographs and blogging about it are a regular weekend activity.

Which brings me back to this notion of what it is exactly that I’m doing.  I don’t think of myself as a writer…it’s just me putting down the words I’m thinking at the time; my own ‘virtual’ stream of consciousness. In real life I probably talk too fast and too much and I like to think I’m sarcastic funny (as opposed to sarcastic mean!) and I don’t take this effort so seriously that I don’t have fun with it.

So, really, this post is just about a cake a most excellent Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake. A picture I saw that looked yummy (YES, YUMMY) and I wanted to make it. No family tradition, no trip, no snafu to make the story work…nothing really but a  desire to make a dessert to take to a friend’s house for Easter.

I hope that’s OK because I will have those days; when against all that is true about me, I will have little to say but still want to share the foods that I make here with you, my virtual friends and at my table with those in real life.

One heads up for those still reading. Hopefully by June 1, this blog will revert back to Everydayum.com. I never meant for this blog to grow like it has and I just very simply want to reclaim the name I’ve associated with my recipes since 1995. I’m developing an entirely new look and am very excited about this change…and about not having to explain, ever again, that no, I am not a wine blogger (though I do love the grape); I am a food and cocktail blogger and proud of it!

Brown Butter Pound Cake

Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Barbara Baker
Chocolate Chips in a brown sugar pound cake with a maple and espresso glaze
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Cakes, Cupcakes & Cheesecake, Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10
Calories 762 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the Cake

  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
  • 3 cups all purpose flour divided
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups packed golden brown sugar
  • 2 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon maple extract
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 cup buttermilk

For the Glaze

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons half and half
  • 2 tablespoons butter melted
  • 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 325°F.
  • Butter 12-cup Bundt pan. Spray pan generously with nonstick spray. Dust pan lightly with flour.
  • Mix chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons flour in medium bowl.
  • Sift remaining flour with baking soda, baking powder, and salt into another medium bowl.
  • Using electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  • Beat in vanilla extract and maple extract.
  • Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
  • Mix in flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with buttermilk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
  • Fold in chocolate chip mixture.
  • Transfer batter to prepared pan, spreading evenly.
  • Bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean and cake begins to pull away from sides of pan, about 1 hour.
  • Cool cake in pan on rack 30 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool completely.Glaze
  • Combine powdered sugar, maple syrup, half and half, melted butter and espresso powder in medium bowl. Whisk until smooth, adding more half and half by 1/2 teaspoonfuls if glaze is too thick to drizzle. Spoon glaze decoratively over top of cake; let stand at room temperature until glaze is firm, about 1 hour.

Notes

Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover with cake dome and let stand at room temperature.[
Mixing the chocolate chips with a little flour before adding them to the batter usually helps the chips stay evenly suspended in the batter and evenly distributed throughout the baked cake (otherwise, they may sink to the bottom).
I used Double Chocolate Chips from Guittard and they are larger than normal chocolate chips so this technique didn’t really help. They did sink a bit to the bottom or in this case the top but no one complained!
 

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake
Serving Size
 
1 Serving
Amount per Serving
Calories
762
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
37
g
57
%
Cholesterol
 
135
mg
45
%
Sodium
 
526
mg
23
%
Carbohydrates
 
97
g
32
%
Protein
 
10
g
20
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Calories
762
Keyword brown sugar, chocolate chip, dessert, pound cake
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Recipe slightly revised from Bon Appetit magazine.

Some Oldies but Goodies!

73 Comments

  2. Ooo!! I cannot wait to see the new look! Now I’ll be looking forward to that each time I come here. And this cake is stunning! Love the bundt pan you used but even more so, these flavors sound so wonderful together. Lovely!

    Reply

    1. Uh oh…sorry to disappoint but except for the intro, that was all a repeat of a previous post…so the new look is the now look from when I switched my site from vinolucistyle.com to everydayum.com a couple of years ago. Not that I’m not always thinking about more changes! 🙂

      I love some of the bundt shapes available today; even if mine are all in storage. 🙁

      Reply

  3. Oh wow, your Brown Sugar and Chocolate Chip Pound Cake is gorgeous. and with the Maple-Espresso Glaze, I’ve diving right in. Love love love chocolate and espresso together. 🙂 Have a great weekend.

    Reply

    1. Thanks so much Amy; we did love it! By the way…I went to check out your site, wrote a nice comment (love the coffee granita) and then realized I can’t comment. I ONLY use Name/URL for comments as do many bloggers. I know using Name/URL opens the door to more spam but it shuts the door closed for many real comments too. Still…loved the granita and great idea; I have a coffee I want to work with and this is perfect…Barb

      Reply

  5. I, for one, am glad that you re-posted this pound cake. Gorgeous! It seems that blogging ends up happening by accident for so many of us. And how glad I am that you experienced that happy accident.

    Reply

    1. Aw thanks Dara; appreciate the sweet sentiment! Glad to have met so many others who share my love of food, family and sharing it with others…and that includes YOU!

      Reply

  8. Wow, what a glorious cake. It looks scrumptious. When I begin a post I think of the recipe as the framework, and I start from there. Perhaps that is why the writing comes easily to me, as it does to you. Our recipes give us a head start. Plus they always say it is easy to wrote about something you love.

    Reply

    1. Mine vary. Sometimes an event will generate an idea and sometimes I just make something we love so much that it has to be blogged. It’s always a dance though! My daughter’s 30th birthday is coming up soon; for that I’m planning a special post and blog around that, but those type are few and far between…mostly it’s just me, some good food and my always present need to share…glad you come along for the ride!

      Reply

    1. Well, it could be made all on it’s own. I’ve got no problems with icing and a spoon (OK, maybe a graham cracker would be better!). 🙂

      Reply

  11. Isn’t it interesting that all of your posts act as an online history or diary of sorts that let you look back a year or two (or more!) and catch a glimpse of life as it was then for you. I really enjoyed reading this and, most of all, would LOVE to have this cake in my kitchen right now. What a great recipe and combination of flavors!

    Reply

  12. Super cake recipe! And thoroughly absorbing post. Loads of info I didn’t know about you – thanks for sharing. Writer’s block isn’t something I ever experience either, although I don’t write because of creative urgings or whatever: I always write for a reason (among other reasons, I used to do some consulting, and I always had to write up research, recommendations, etc. — my job was actually a lot like writing college research papers, except people would pay me!). Like you, I’m a cook, and there are literally thousands of recipes I want to do. So the writing isn’t a problem. Applying seat of pants to seat of chair and actually doing the writing sometimes is a problem – I’d rather cook! – but the words are always there.

    Reply

  15. I just saw this cake on your blog and i will be making it this weekend. I also will not try a recipe without a picture. I need to see what i am about to cook.

    Laura

    Reply

    1. MANY years ago there were no photos, just a ton of recipes. As that changed a lot of us with absolutely NO photography skill had to learn the how to; it’s one more creative extension that I’ve come to enjoy.

      Reply

  16. I’ve never had writer’s block either. So many stories, so little time. 🙂 I went to college to be a French teacher and after practice teaching I knew it would never be for me. I went directly into business after graduation and have no regrets.

    This cake is beautiful!

    Reply

    1. That’s how I feel…maybe not worrying about it helps! Thanks…I love finding something that I loved on my own web site. 🙂

      Reply

    1. It is a stellar cake and you know what? I have a blogger group meeting here tomorrow and wasn’t sure what to make. You have re-introduced me to my own recipe. Perfect!

      Reply

    1. You are most welcome Adele…and you know what? It really was awesome and I don’t throw that word around a lot.

      Reply

  20. Oh I love the dessert and the presentation! You impressed me with your simple and engaging writing skills. I like to read blogs which are written with a cook’s perspective…and this fits the bill to T 🙂 Lovely. Glad to have found this space following a tweet.

    Reply

  22. I think I gained weight just looking at your photos and then I read your wonderful writing. I look forward to your evolution and you know I’ll follow you where ever you go…. ok… that sounded a bit scary but you get it 🙂

    Reply

  25. You are a good writer and I wouldn’t recommend any other web developer to an aspiring food blogger. You are one talented gal. Thanks for sharing your story and the photos of that cake. Looks out of this world!

    Reply

  26. this looks fantastic! do you think this could be made in jars for teacher appreciation week (cuz it will make a lot of appreciative gifts)!

    Reply

    1. Sorry for the late reply but I would think so. Even if you put some of the glaze on the top it would be fine. I like the cake fine without the glaze but I do think it benefits from being warmed a bit. And…I would suggest mini chips to make sure they stay distributed during baking.

      Reply

  27. What a beautiful cake! Your new domain/redesign plans sound really exciting. Can’t wait to see what you come up with, this site is already gorgeous!

    Reply

  29. Barb you’ve outdone yourself. Can’t even imagine a bite of this luxe dessert and sat mesmerized at the first photo before realizing I’d been starring at my screen for an awkward amount of time. Incredible photos. Will be anxious to see what lies before you on the blogging website front…

    Reply

  30. Beautiful cake Barb. I mean, how can you go wrong with two sticks of butter and maple flavoring? On the other side, I’m looking forward to seeing your new look and “new” name.

    Reply

  31. Looks wonderful! I saw this in bon appetit and thought they did not do the cake any justice. The “check it out online recipes” are always an after thought.

    Reply

  32. One look at this and all I can think of is: Morning coffee and a slice…or three…of this. My word that looks fantastic. You combined 3 of my favorite things into 1: Chocolate chips, cake, and maple. And that espresso part ain’t too shabby either. I say this often but once our move is done I just might have to look into making this. I do need something different than cupcakes, cheesecake, or cookies.

    As for writing, well, Barb you are very much a writer. You put your thoughts down on uh, screen and do so eloquently. And based on my many phone conversations with you you are definitely sarcastic funny.

    Reply

  34. Oh wow this cake looks incredible. I like anything espresso it reminds me of tiramisu. I also like how moist that cake looks. Seems like you had a nice Easter weekend. Congrats on the new plans as you move forward with the blog and business.

    Reply

  35. You truly amaze me. Your food- simply fab. All that you do, and how well you do it all- well, I’m in awe. I just adore you to pieces 😉

    Reply

  37. I have to tell you from the beginning that I devoured your post, word by word. You are an inspiration to me in so many ways: as a mother (especially single), as a business woman (three businesses? Are you kidding me?), as a cook, and as a kind and helpful person. On top of that, you give me hope that I can tackle the treacherous waters of technology, even though I studied languages and literature in college (that teacher was not right to criticize your thoughts; but that happen to me so many times with teachers – they are sometimes too vain to accept another’s opinion:)
    I saw your photo of this cake, and I knew I had to make it, just like you. But I will have to wait until same later day, as I am trying my best to shed several pounds that magically appeared around my waist:)
    Thanks!

    Reply

  38. I love this post–and the real thought behind it…whatever you call it, and whatever you do with, it will be successful. But remember: it has to be fun-or really, why do it!

    Reply

  43. This looks absolutely fabulous! I love everything about pound cake and it’s great that you can just drizzle on the frosting it looks fantastic! I have bookmarked this recipe and know I will be trying it. I looked around your blog – it is great and I will definitely be back to visit, thanks!

    Reply

  45. It is 9:55am, I just made peanut butter brownies last night, am whining over the 5 lbs I gained on vacation, and am seriously thinking of going back into the kitchen to make this. I don’t know whether to curse you or hug you? 🙂

    Reply

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