Bundt Cake #4 of Bundt Cake Season 3 - Chocolate Ribbon Pound Cake

For her inaugural bundt cake, my friend, Maren, made the Chocolate Ribbon Pound Cake from Bundt Cake Season 2. And here's what she had to say about it.

I think that melting the chocolate and mixing it with the milk and orange zest might make an improved filling. The cake has chips, not a swirl. I omitted the nuts because I loathe them. Also, when it came out of the oven it was very high, tall, and looked almost like an angel food cake, as it cooled, it sank into dense pound-cake-type cake. Anyway, it tastes awesome and we really like it.

Here's the recipe:

From Bundt Cookbook (put out by Nordic Ware, the maker of fine bundt pans everywhere)

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 (8 oz.) carton sour cream

Filling
1 6 oz. pkg. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp. grated orange peel

Glaze
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tsp soft butter
2-4 tbsp. orange juice
1-2 tsp. grated orange peel

Directions
In small bowl, combine all Filling ingredients; set aside.

In large bowl, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to creamed mixture with sour cream and blend until moistened; beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Spoon 1/2 of batter into greased and lightly floured 10 or 12 cup bundt pan; spoon filling in center of batter, not touching sides of pan. Spoon remaining batter into pan to cover filling. Bake at 350 degrees for 65-80 minutes or until the cake tests done. Cool in pan 10-15 minutes; turn out on wire rack or serving plate to complete cooling. Top with a thin orange glaze.

To make the glaze:
In a small bowl, combine sugar and butter. Add orange juice gradually until you reach desired consistency. Add orange peel to taste.

Looking at Maren's picture, and given that my chips, when I made this cake last year, also ended up at the top of the cake, I'd recommend using mini-chocolate chips (I read that somewhere as a recommendation for bundt cakes in general) or you could try Maren's suggestion of melting the chocolate.