Chocolate Pecan Tube Cake

I set out yesterday to make a cake. Trust me when I say, never attempt to make a cake in a hurry. My first choice would have been a four-layer Devil's Food cake with a creamy vanilla fluff icing but with limited time, I chose a tube-style cake with chocolate icing and crowned it off with a pecan fudge-like topping. The topping I simply made up in helping the appearance.

I started with my Grandmother's Chocolate Pound Cake recipe. I like it because, well, it is not just a part of my family but because it is so good. Also, it would save time in not having to ice between layers. Here's her recipe:

Elsie Lee’s Chocolate Pound Cake


2 sticks butter
1 sticks of oleo (Margarine)
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Cream together the butter and oleo and add the sugar. Mix the eggs, milk and vanilla in a separate bowl. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and alternating with the egg mixture, beat flour mixture into the bowl. Fold in the pecans and pour into a greased floured tube pan. Bake in a preheated 300 oven for about 1 1/2 hours or until center is done. (Mine tested ready after 1 hour 15 minutes) Let cool before icing.

For the Chocolate Icing:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Bring the water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Turn off heat and stir in the morsels. Whisk until melted. I placed the pan in a bowl of ice chips and stirred until desired consistency. Ice the cake.

For the Topping:
I did not measure anything. Started with a little cream, added some sugar and stirred over low heat until sugar dissolved. I added about a cup of milk chocolate chips and stirred over low heat until the chocolate had pretty much melted. I added about a cup of toasted chopped pecans and then let it cool down a bit before I spooned this over the top.