Baseball and Nutella Swirl

Baseball World Series and Nutella Swirl Pound Cake ? Seriously ? What the relation between 2 different words there . Well, to me both are exciting things .. you will never know the pattern of the cake until your cake done and ready to serve and the same way with baseball too, you never know the result until the end of the games. I've been so crazy watching baseball world championship series for months, especially since Cardinals (our favorite teams) will play on The 2011 baseball world series  Oh well, we still need to watching one more games tonight *cross finger*

Note :
The St. Louis Cardinals is a professional baseball team based in St.Louis, Missouri . The Cardinals have won ten world series championships

Ok than back to the cake, who doesn't like Nutella ? is this a stupid question ? LOL .. everybody loves Nutella, for sure. One day, our family came from Germany. They brought many jars of Nutella, than I asked, "why you need bring this since we have here too?". They claimed that Nutella made in Germany is the best. OH WELL ... everybody loves their own product . Like me, I love our CARDINALS Team .. yuhuuu .. can't wait for the games tonight ? *oh please, you are crazy .. !! you know that your heart will pounding so hard during this games.. REALLY !! ^_^

NUTELLA SWIRL POUND CAKE
Inspired by Rossie, http://sweetapolita.com


Ingredients :
1 1/2 cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
1/4  teaspoon (3 grams) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
2 sticks (227 grams/8 oz/1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups (250 grams/9 ounces) sugar
1 jar (400 gram) of Nutella


For the glaze:
Ingredients
1/2 cup (63 grams/2 ounces) of sifted icing (powdered) sugar
1 tablespoon (15 ml) brewed espresso
For the cake:
1. Position oven rack in the centre of the oven and preheat the oven to 325°. Lightly grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan and line bottom with a rectangle of parchment paper. Grease paper and dust entire pan with flour, tapping out any excess.
2. In a small bowl or measuring cup, lightly beat the eggs with the vanilla.
3. In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients: 1 1/2 cups of flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In the of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment , cream the butter with the sugar on medium speed  until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. With the mixer at medium-low speed, gradually beat in the egg mixture until fully incorporated (add 1/4 mixture at a time). Add the flour mixture in 3 batches, beating at low speed between additions until just incorporated. Continue to beat for 30 seconds longer.
6. Spread one-third of the batter in the prepared pan (a small offset spatula works best for spreading batter), then spread half of the Nutella on top. Repeat with another third of the batter and the remaining Nutella. Top with the remaining batter. Lightly swirl the Nutella into the batter with a butter knife or skewer, but don’t over mix.
7. Bake the cake for about 1 hour undisturbed, the test cake for doneness (a toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.). You will likely need to bake the cake for a total of 1 hour and 10 minutes,
8. Let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Using a thin knife, loosen the sides of the cake from the pan, then invert the cake onto a wire rack, but carefully turn it right side up and let cool completely, about 2 hours.
9. Drizzle with the glaze, cut the cake into slices and serve.


For the glaze:
1. Mix icing sugar and brewed espresso in a small bowl, whisking until smooth.
2. Pour over cake drizzle-style and/or each piece to serve.

*Note: For a classic glaze (to omit the espresso flavour) substitute espresso with milk.


Update : yeaaaay... The Cardinals won the World Series 2011 !!