Quick bread

This chocolaty loaf calls to mind pound cake, but it's lighter and somewhat more textured. It's great with a glass of milk, but the swirls and ganache make it fancy enough to offer with dessert wine.

Makes one 8 1/2-inch loaf

·      8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan

·      1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

·      1/2 teaspoon salt

·      3/4 teaspoon baking powder

·      8 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

·      2/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

·      4 large eggs

·      1/2 cup whole milk

·      1/4 cup heavy cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 1/2-by-4-by-2 1/2-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out excess. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a medium bowl.

2. Melt 5 ounces chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.

3. Put butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Add sugar; raise speed to medium. Cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Mix in eggs, 1 at a time. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two batches of milk. Mix until just combined.

4. Pour half of batter into melted chocolate; stir well. Alternating between remaining plain batter and the chocolate batter, drop large spoonfuls of batter into the prepared pan. When pan is filled, use a table knife to cut through mixture with a swirling motion.

5. Bake until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. (If bread browns too quickly, tent with foil.) Let bread cool slightly in pan on a wire rack, about 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around edges of bread to loosen; unmold. Let cool completely on rack.

6. Make ganache: Put the remaining 3 ounces chocolate in a medium bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan over medium heat until just about to simmer. Pour cream over chocolate; stir until mixture is smooth. Let stand 10 minutes to thicken slightly. Using a small offset spatula spread ganache over cooled cake; let stand until set, about 1 hour. Bread can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.

It's a Wrap
Try these simple packaging ideas -- they're as easy as the breads themselves. Present muffins in the tin they were baked in, with any drips wiped off, of course. Wrap it in a cellophane bag and then in linen with frayed edges; tie on a tag -- and the recipe if you like -- with twill tape. Bake cornbread in wooden molds, which then serve as gift boxes (they can't be reused for baking). Cover bread in cellophane, then put in a loaf box from a baking-supply store and wrap with loose-weave cotton fabric and sewing thread. Bake bread in a can and cover with rounds of waxed paper, then a round of tissue paper or striped cotton; the whole is neatly tied with waxed-linen thread.

Comments

[Sherri]

well you've gone and made me hungry LOL love the race car decorations too