At Home: Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake

So Hurricane Sandy came and went a couple months ago.  She blew in slow and strong forcing all of DC to shut down - schools, government offices, Metro - pretty much leaving us stranded.  Luckily, we did not lose power so I used that time to experiment with a few more baking recipes and decided to make Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake.  I just finished editing the pictures so I can share them with you for my next installment of What Micky Eats...At Home.

Nutella-Swirl Pound Cake (Adapted from Food & Wine)

• 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teasp pure vanilla extract
• 1 teasp milk
• 1 teasp baking powder
• 1/3 teasp salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1½ cups sugar
• One 13-ounce jar Nutella, softened

Look at the Nutella swirl on the bottom!

- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan, tapping out any excess flour.
- In a glass measuring cup, lightly beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt.
- In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium-high speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- With the mixer at medium-low speed, gradually beat in the egg mixture until fully incorporated.
- Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating at low speed between additions until just incorporated.
- Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer. Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan, then spread half of the Nutella on top.
- Repeat with the other half of the batter and then top with the remaining Nutella.
- Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife. Do not over mix.
- Bake the cake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Invert the cake onto a wire rack, turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours.
- Cut the cake into slices and serve.

Pretty marbled top!

Perfect swirl in the middle.

I modified the original recipe I found to make the cake fill up my loaf pan a bit higher.  Also, I split the batter/Nutella ratio in halves, as opposed to thirds.  The marbled swirl on top was much more pretty this way.  Overall, I was impressed with myself.  The pound cake was dense and sweet and the Nutella adds that special hint of chocolate.  The thick Nutella parts on the sides and on the bottom created a brownie-like crust.  This Nutella-swirl pound cake made a great morning snack with hot tea, and lasted us the whole week.  Keith has requested it a couple times since, and each time I keep perfecting my recipe. #success