Super Chocolate Pound Cake with Caramel Frosting

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

For the Super Chocolate Pound Cake:

In your mixer’s bowl, sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add the butter, milk, and vanilla, and beat for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then add the half-and-half, blending well between additions. Make sure to scrape the bowl down occasionally, to be sure everything mixes evenly! Stir in the chocolate chips if desired, and pour into a greased and floured bundt cake pan. Don’t overfill the pan because this cake definitely grows! Divide any left-over batter into muffin tins and bake separately for 15 minutes or until they test done. The cake itself bakes for 75 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. (I’ve baked this for as much as an extra 30 minutes, because it’s still quite jiggly in the middle after 75 minutes.) After removing it from the oven, allow it to cool for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto your favorite cake plate.

For the Caramel Frosting:

Melt your butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the brown sugar and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly until blended. Add milk slowly, stirring constantly, and continue cooking until it comes to a boil. Boil for about a minute, then remove from heat. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, then stir in enough confectioner’s sugar to achieve a good spreading or dribbling consistency, whichever you prefer. Spread or dribble this over the cake until you’re satisfied with the results, and sprinkle with pecans if you like. I used candied pecans!