A delicious chocolate bread, perfected by the famous French chef Conticini
About this recipe
A lovely chocolate Pound Cake that I baked that everyone around me loves ! Chef Philippe Conticini has made this classic recipe simple and delicious
And so easy !!
Source of the recipe
A recipe that Philippe Conticini published on his facebook page
Modifications to the original recipe
I modified only a few things...
● I multiplied the quantities as Conticini uses a smaller mold
● I baked at 360 °F / 180 °C instead of 320 °F / 160 °C
For the Dark Chocolate, I gave up my usual Valrhona chocolate, and took this Swiss chocolate
Migros
Centre Commercial Val Thoiry
Rue du Chemin de Pré Jacquet
01710 Thoiry
France/Switzerland
1. 
Melt the Dark Chocolate ( 2 oz or 60 g), the Milk Chocolate ( 1 oz or 30 g) and the Salted Butter (½ Cup or 105 g) on a double boiler
2. While this is melting, combine and mix the Brown Sugar (½ Cup or 112 g) and the Hazelnut Flour (1 ½ Cup or 135 g) in a mixing bowl
3. Then add the Egg Yolks (2 Tablespoons or 30 g) and the Eggs (3 Tablespoons or 75 g)
4. and mix well
5. Then add the melted chocolate and stir
6. Then pour in the Whipping Cream (2 Tablespoons or 30 g) and mix
7. Sift over the bowl the Salt (1 pinch), the Flour (½ Cup or 60 g) and the Baking Powder (¾ teaspoon) to avoid lumps
8. Mix well using a spatula
9. The result is a thick batter
The chocolate chunks
10. Cut the Dark Chocolate (¼ lbs or 105 g) into chunks (¼ lbs or 105 g). You want pretty big chunks that will melt in the oven, and will provide an interesting texture to the Pound Cake
11. Add in and mix
The egg whites
12. The Egg Whites (½ Cup or 135 g) should be at room temperature, that way it will be easier to beat them
13. Mix the Egg Whites (½ Cup or 135 g) with a whisk, but not too long, so they become foamy.
We are just trying to make them fluffier, but we don't want a meringue
14. Add this to the batter
15. With a rubber spatula, Gently fold the whites into the batter, so to not "break" the foamy whites
The mold
16. Butter and flour your mold, and cool down in the fridge for 10 minutes
The pearl sugar
17. Conticini adds Pearl Sugar to the bottom of the mold, that will bring some interesting texture to every bite
18. Pour some Pearl Sugar
19. Then pour in the mixture
Baking
20. 
Bake in preheated oven at 360 °F / 180 °C (Conticini mentioned 320 °F / 160 °C but I found the temperature too weak)
21. After 20/25 minutes approx., the cake is not baked yet but it starts to rise: cut the top of the cake, that will help the cake to open evenly
22. Then continue baking. The total baking time is approx. 40 minutes depending on your oven
23. To know if you need more baking time, take a knife to the centre of the Pound Cake. If your knife comes out wet, it’s not finished baking.
24. If the Pound Cake is baked, take it out of the oven
Do not overbake ! The Pound Cake would be too dry to enjoy !
25. Cool on a rack
26. If the Pound Cake is baked, take it out of the oven
27. Do not overbake ! The Pound Cake would be too dry to enjoy !
28. Once cooled down, approx. 1 hour or more, wrap in plastic wrap to keep the Pound Cake moist
