Everyone should have a rich Chocolate Pound Cake in their recipe file, preferably right up front — this dark chocolate cake is topped with a creamy chocolate ganache.
A frosted chocolate pound cake is every bit as luscious as a layer cake, but so much easier to throw together, and somehow it feels a little less decadent, too (I’m not sure that’s true, but I’m running with it.) A stand mixer makes this a pleasure to bake. While it’s creaming the butter and sugar, I spray and line my loaf pan, whisk together the dry ingredients, and mix the wet. All I have to do is crack in the eggs, and then alternate between the dry and wet to make a beautiful batter.
The chocolate pound cake has a nice rich satisfying chocolate flavor, and it slices like butter!
notes ~
- Be sure your butter and eggs are truly at room temperature or your batter won’t come together well. To warm up cold butter, unwrap it, and slice into four pieces. Microwave for 15 seconds. To warm up cold eggs, put them into a small bowl or glass and fill with warm water, let sit for 5 minutes.
- I used hershey’s special dark cocoa
which gives this cake it’s deep dark color.
- Be sure your oven is at 325F. An inexpensive oven thermometer is an indispensable tool for checking this.
- The cake will be done when it is fully risen and not jiggly in the center. Use a toothpick to check, if there is wet batter, keep cooking a little longer. Check frequently because the cake can go from done to dry quickly.
- I don’t like to bake in glass pans because they cook too quickly. A good quality, heavy metal loaf pan will give you the best results, I like this one.
- Be sure to frost the cake while it is still in the pan, because the ganache starts out thin and then thickens as it cools. You want to keep all that lusciousness on the cake!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (i stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp espresso powder
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 6 ounces dark chocolate chips (or chopped chocolate)
Instructions
- Set oven to 325F
- Spray a standard 9x5 loaf pan and line it with a sheet of parchment paper, leaving the ends to hang long. This way you can lift the frosted cake out for cleaner cutting.
- Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and espresso powder.
- Whisk together the sour cream and milk.
- Sift together the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients to the bowl alternately with the wet, beginning and ending with dry. Blend only until mixed, don't over beat.
- Turn the batter into the prepared loaf pan and spread out evenly. Bake for about 45-50 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out without wet batter clinging to it. Check your cake on the early side to avoid over-cooking. Set aside to cool.
- To make the ganache topping, heat the cream to a simmer and remove from heat. Add the chocolate and let sit for a minute, then stir until everything is melted and glossy. Pour over the cooled cake and then let the ganache firm up in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
- If you have used a parchment paper 'sling', gently pull the cake out of the pan to slice it.
Don’t forget to pin this chocolate pound cake!
Can’t get enough chocolate? Neither can I, so you might also want to check out these other decadent treats ~
131 Comments
Aedrn
November 30, 2018 at 7:24 amThank you for this recipe. The cake turned out beautifully, moist and not too sweet. I used regular cocoa powder instead of dark chocolate. I did use dark chocolate chips in my ganache and that worked out well.
Very delicious.
Thank you again
Sue
November 30, 2018 at 7:30 amThank YOU Aedrn for coming back to let us know, I appreciate it :)
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Erin
September 2, 2018 at 7:32 amCan the espresso powder be eliminated or substituted with something that doesn’t taste like coffee? Hate, hate, hate coffee! Lol
Sue
September 2, 2018 at 7:52 amYou can eliminate it Erin.
Tina
August 8, 2018 at 4:43 pmCan I use egg whites instead of the whole egg?
Sue
August 8, 2018 at 5:24 pmI haven’t tried it Tina, but you could try 4 egg whites in place of the two eggs. Let us know how it works for you!
Ann
August 4, 2018 at 8:11 pmIs there nutritional value for this recipe?
Nellie
July 2, 2018 at 7:54 amIf you frost cake in pan as it stated how do you get it out of pan. The cake shows frosting on sides but if you frosted in pan you couldn’t do that.
Sue
July 2, 2018 at 7:56 amIt was weird Nellie, i frosted it in the pan, but because the parchment was loose, the frosting ran down the sides a bit so it looks like I frosted them. You can do it either way, and if your ganache is on the thick side, you can spread it all over, or let it run down the sides.
Angie
June 19, 2018 at 6:11 amcan you bake this in a bundt cake pan or is it best to stick with loaf pans?
Sue
June 19, 2018 at 7:21 amThis is a small cake, Angie, so it would not be enough batter for a bundt, but you’re reminding me that I should do a chocolate bundt for the blog :) I’m not sure how it would do if you doubled the recipe, but that’s what I would try. You wouldn’t need to double the frosting.
Angie
June 25, 2018 at 6:28 amThanks. I’ve tried doubling pound cake recipes and most of the time it’s not successful. So I think to err on the safe side, I will make two separate batches of this decadent dessert.
Donna
May 27, 2018 at 6:58 pmHi. I’ll pin this and try for the ladies in the office. One little note – typo in directions, step 2. Thanks for sharing.
Sue
May 27, 2018 at 7:02 pmThanks Donna :)