Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Glaze

This is such a yummy chocolaty cake with or without the glaze. I don't really like most icings, so I like the cake "naked", but the fudgy glaze takes it off the charts on the chocolate-lovers scale. The recipe came from Southernplate.com. Check it out - Christy has lots of wonderful southern recipes.

Chocolate Pound Cake W/Fudge Glaze

3 - sticks (1 1/2 cups) butter (ouch!)
3 - teaspoons vanilla extract
3 - cups sugar
1/2 - cup baking cocoa
5 - eggs
1/2 - teaspoon baking powder
3 - cups all purpose flour
1 - cup whole milk

Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour bundt or angel food cake pan (12 cups size), set aside. Cream butter  or margarine in large mixing bowl. Add sugar, beat until light and fluffy. 

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In separate bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, and baking powder.

Measure milk and stir vanilla into it. Add milk and dry ingredients alternately, mixing after each addition. Pour into pan and bake for one hour and twenty minutes. 

Let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing. Remove cake and cool completely on a baking rack before adding the glaze. 

Fudge Glaze: 

1 1/2  - cups sugar
7 - tablespoon milk
1/4 - teaspoon salt
2 - tablespoons shortening
1 - teaspoon vanilla
2 - tablespoon butter 
1/2 - cup baking cocoa

Combine sugar, cocoa, milk, shortening, margarine or butter, and salt in heavy saucepan. 

Bring to a rolling , stirring constantly. Once it reaches a boil, allow to boil without stirring for two minutes, no more. 

Remove from heat and add vanilla.  Stir until cooled just slightly. Spoon over cooled cake.

While the cake sits on the baking rack place a plate under the rack to catch the glaze so it doesn't pool around the cake.