Speckled Egg Pound Cake

So, remember in my Cranberry Clusters post I said that whenever staff messes up something at the bake shop it turns into my Mystery Basket (like on the show Chopped) and I create a blog recipe out of it? Well, here’s another one for ya. Delaney was making a Celebration Cake for someone recently, and he looked on the order form and saw that it was “blue”. And he made a whole bunch of pastel blue frosting, but he only really needed it for the boarder, not the entire cake haha! So, we ended up with - yep, a lot of pastel blue frosting.

Easter is coming up, so I was trying to think of something pastel and cute to bake for Easter, but definitely not decorated as that’s not really my thing. There are a ton of Speckled Egg Cakes out there, and I feel they are just festive enough. So, I thought to make a Speckled Pound Cake instead to mix it up. This is a light chocolatey pound cake with vanilla pastel blue frosting. I used activated charcoal to create the speckles, which you can see in my photos below. And, I bought Sunridge Farms Milk Chocolate Malt Balls for the top. I really could not find anyone who makes organic malt balls, which was so frustrating, but these are non gmo and have better ingredients than most! They are not pastel speckled eggs, but they are way better for you.

This is a perfect little cake for any Easter celebration. And, pound cakes are so dense and rich they are great when you make them ahead of time, which is one of the things I love about them. There’s plenty of time to grab all the ingredients you need to make this recipe for Easter!

Speckled Pound Cake

Makes 9 x 5-inch loaf cake

Batter

1 stick organic butter, softened

340 grams (1 1/2 cups) organic cane sugar

1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

3 large organic eggs

198 grams (1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons) all natural cake flour

15 grams (3 tablespoons) organic Dutch cocoa powder, sifted

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/4 cup organic milk

Frosting

1/2 stick organic salted butter, softened

142 grams (1 cup) organic powdered sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoon organic vanilla extract

2 to 3 tablespoons organic milk

pinch of ColorKitchen Blue Dye

1/2 teaspoon water

For the Black

2 teaspoons water

1/2 teaspoon activated charcoal powder

SunRidge Farms Milk Chocolate Malt Balls

Method Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper. I like to let the parchment paper flow over the sides, as it helps to remove the loaf later.

To make the batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix on low until combined and there are no chunks of butter.

Add the eggs and egg yolk and mix on low until combined.

In a separate bowl, add the cake flour, cocoa powder, and sea salt and whisk together.

Add the milk to the butter mixture and add the flour mixture right on top. Mix on low until combined into a smooth batter.

Grease the parchment paper and other sides of the loaf pan. You can do this with the butte wrapper, but I also like to use an organic canola oil cooking spray.

Transfer the cake batter into the prepared pan, and spread evenly.

Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Once the cake has cooled, remove it from the pan.

To make the frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, milk, blue dye, and water. Mix on low until combined, then speed mixer up to high for 1 minute or until light and fluffy.

Frost the top of the pound cake with the pastel blue frosting.

In a small dish, add the water and activated charcoal powder and stir to combine completely.

Using a paint brush, drop or splash the black water onto the cake to create a speckled look.

Chop some of the malt balls and sprinkle them on top of the cake.

Store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

High Altitude – Bake at 350°F for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.