Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake with Mocha Icing - Day #2 of I Like Big Bundts

Bundt #2

Day 2 of I Like Big Bundts: 30 Days of Bundt Cakes

Today, it's the Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake with Mocha Icing!
The subtitle is: If at first you don't succeed and almost wire the entire library...try, try again.

See, the first time I made this, I confused a little thing called the teaspoon and tablespoon. Tea versus Table. Only the letter "b" and "l" are different. And I almost had the library flying.

The first time, I used two TABLEspoons of espresso powder instead of two TEAspoons. The cake baked up nicely but had a really, really strong coffee aroma. The kitchen smelled like a cranked up coffeehouse. I glazed it, photographed the cake and cut a slide for the "cross sectional photo." I usually take a bite of this piece to make sure the cake isn't strange and I used salt instead of flour or something. Man, my little bite was way tooooo strong.

So, I made it again with the proper proportions of caffeine. It still has a really strong coffee flavored jolt. If you like coffee and chocolate, this cake is totally for you. If you want a little less coffee, then ditch the extra espresso in the icing. (The cake has 2 teaspoons of espresso powder in the cake and another 2 teaspoons in the icing).

FTC disclosure: I got the Scharffen Berger Natural Cocoa Powder free in my swag bag at BlogHerFood '09 conference. I am not being paid by them to endorse or use their product. I'm just using free stuff...wouldn't you?! (The FTC came down with a ruling about full disclosure of free stuff and endorsements by bloggers. See here.)

Dietary notes: The cake can be made dairy-free if you ditch the chocolate chips or use dairy-free ones. The icing has butter, but you could leave it off and dust with powdered sugar.

I saved some of the mini chocolate chips to place on top of the cake! By the way, I definitely think you should use mini chocolate chips and not regular sized chips...the minis are more delicate.

See you back here tomorrow and every day from now til National Bundt Day (November 15th) for another Bundt! - mary the food librarian

Recipe:
Chocolate-Cinnamon Bundt Cake with Mocha Icing
from Epicurious (Bon Appetit, September 2009)

I Like Big Bundts recap:
The Food Librarian confesses: I Like Big Bundts
Day 1: Pumpkin Spice Bundt with Buttermilk Icing