Breton chocolate pound cake

Now that the weather's less oppressive, baking is tempting again and so the oven was fired up for a birthday cake. This cake can be made in the oven of a wood range. It has been baked and works at altitudes of up to 7,500 feet above sea level. It's even better the second day. It can be made without a small, cheap electric hand-mixer, but strong arms are needed. This recipe is from either Woman's Day or Family Circle magazine (can anyone say which?) and was printed either in the late 'sixties or early 'seventies. The bitters aren't strictly necessary but do add a complexity of flavor. The cake can be sliced very thin so it goes a long way. Each slice can even be cut vertically into halves or thirds. The cake needs no chocolate glaze but can be tricked out with it to look very fancy. It's a very easy cake to make. If it's not consumed before it dries out (which it takes a long time to do), it may be served with high-quality vanilla ice cream on top of it. If it's not frosted, dieters fool themselves into thinking they can be consoled by this cake guilt-free, even in this anti-carb age, because it looks harmless. This cake was made for years in a plain old loaf pan until I found a tube pan at the Thrifty Drug in Gallup. The only difference lies in a more or less fancy appearance.

5 squares of unsweetened chocolate
1 and 1/2 cups water (a scant 1 and 1/2 cups; it's been pointed out that the original recipe calls for 1 and 1/3 cups of water--see comments)
2 cups all-purpose floour
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
3 eggs (large)
1 teaspoon aromatic bitters (Angostura)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons baking powder
chocolate glaze (if desired; recipe follows)

(1) Combine chocolate and water; melt chocolate (in double boiler; or in small saucepan over very low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate melts; or a minute at a time in a glass container in a microwave oven); cool chocolate until lukewarm. (2) Sift or stir together flour, sugar, and salt in large bowl; cut in butter with pastry blender or with knives or forks until the texture is crumbly. (3) Add cooled chocolate mixture. Beat at medium speed for 5 minutes. Chill batter in bowl (refrigerate) for at least one hour. (4) Return bowl to mixer. Beat at medium speed for 1 minute. Add eggs one at a time, beating one minute after each addition. Add aromatic bitters and vanilla and beat 2 minutes. Add baking powder and beat 2 minutes more. (5) Pour batter into a greased 8-cup (9-inch) fancy tube pan that has been lightly dusted with dry cocoa. In the absence of a tube pan it's fine to use a 9" x 5" x 3" loaf pan. (6) Bake in a slow oven (300 degrees) for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then loosen around the edges with a knife. Turn the cake out of the pan onto a wire rack and cool it completely. (7) Frost with chocolate glaze and trim with almonds (or halves of pecans or walnuts, for example).

Chocolate glaze for Breton chocolate pound cake:
1 package (4 ounces) sweet cooking chocolate
1 tablespoon of butter
3 tablespoons of water
1 cup confectioners sugar
dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
Break chocolate into pieces. Heat with butter and water in medium-size saucepan, stirring constantly, until chocolate melts. (Or do this using a double boiler or do it using a microwave oven.) Remove from heat; beat in sugar and salt until smooth; stir in vanilla extract. Makes about a half cup. Let it drip down from the top of the cake and then decorate if desired with almonds, maraschino cherries, etc.