We are finally starting to feel a change of the seasons on the coastside. Our Indian summer is over and for the past several weeks we’ve had several large storms come through. All the rain has been very refreshing and even cleansing in way. The temperatures are finally matching the right time of the year. This is not to say I am not thankful for all the sunshine we had while many were experiencing the switch to autumn.

With these colder days I’ve found myself returning to my seasonal habit of afternoon tea (and sometimes even a relaxing cup before bed.) Normally during the week it is just that, tea. But on the weekends sometimes I like to indulge a little and pair it with a light cake or cookie of some sort. If I had to pick a handful of favorites, pound cake would be near top of the list. So when I made the jump to start exploring cakes in The Great Scandinavian Baking book several months back, a Swedish Chocolate Pound Cake was a must.

Like most pound cakes, the flavor in this one is pretty straight forward. It isn’t bogged down with trifectas of flavors (not that that is a bad thing given the right context) or heavy doses of several kinds of chocolate. It is simple and distinctive. It is also incredibly light and fluffy thanks to some whipped egg whites folded in and it gets its chocolate flavor from melted semi-sweet chocolate.

I definitely give this cake my afternoon tea pairing seal of approval. It also makes a great snack cake too. You can add whipped cream and berries if you like but it stands quite nicely on it’s own. You can add a touch of elegance to the cake by simply dusting a small amount of powdered sugar over the top.

Swedish Chocolate Pound Cake

Adapted from: The Great Scandinavian Baking Book

• 1 1/4 cup cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup butter, at room temp
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate (or 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips), melted
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 300 degrees and butter a 9-inch bundt pan (can use a larger size as I did.)

In a small bowl whisk together the cake flour and baking powder. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Add in the egg yolks, vanilla, and melted chocolate and beat with till light and fluffy. Add in the flour mixture and heavy cream, alternating till all is mixed in well.

In a separate bowl whip the egg whites to stiff peaks. Then fold gently into the creamed mixture. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 minutes or till a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Makes 1 – 9-inch bundt cake.