I’m sorry for tempting you with this.
Looking at this cake on my screen makes me want it right now. I want it immediately — on my plate, in my face.
Sometimes I go on complete bacon tangents, and I’m in one at the moment. I’ve been cooking with bacon constantly lately. I’m thrilled to be excited about food again — all kinds of food. The last several recipes I made include bacon; I had bacon in Monday’s dish and today’s dessert features it too. Next week I’ll try to think of something for vegetarians, promise.
If you don’t like bacon, are observing Lent, or simply don’t want bacon in dessert, you can leave it out and still enjoy a chocolate pound cake with bourbon cream cheese frosting. That said, I highly recommend keeping the bacon — it really makes this.
Side note: Eddie’s been frying better bacon than I do these days — and he’s been making great eggs using the bacon grease afterward.
Last night I made a bacon cheeseburger skillet pizza; if you love bacon, burn that recipe into your brain. All the bacon.
This cake is pure love. The dark chocolate pound cake is decadent without being overly sweet — soft, tender, moist and intensely chocolatey. It stands beautifully on its own.
But the frosting is what seals the deal. It’s a cream cheese frosting — fluffy, tangy and rich — and it’s whipped with bourbon and studded with crunchy bacon. Imagine a chocolate pound cake finished with a bourbon-bacon cream cheese frosting: sweet, savory and utterly irresistible.
We should all dive into this bacon frosting river. Row, row, row your bacon.
Chocolate Poundcake with Bacon Bourbon Frosting
2
(9×5) cakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 2 3/4 cups sugar
- 5 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
Bourbon Bacon Frosting
- 8 slices bacon fried and crumbled
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons bourbon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease two 9×5 loaf pans with butter and dust them with cocoa powder. Set aside.
-
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 3–4 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating and scraping the bowl after each addition. Stir in the vanilla.
-
Add half of the dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix on low. Add the buttermilk and mix until combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat on low, gradually increasing to medium, until the batter is smooth, 1–2 minutes. Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and bake 65–75 minutes, or until set in the center. Let the cakes cool completely before frosting.
Bourbon Bacon Frosting
-
In a mixer bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar. Add the bourbon and vanilla, then beat on medium-high until creamy, scraping down the bowl as needed. Stir in half the crumbled bacon. Frost the cooled cakes and sprinkle the remaining bacon on top.
Notes
Dessert
American
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It’s my best cake friend.