Everyone should have a rich Chocolate Pound Cake in their recipe file, preferably right up front! This dark chocolate loaf cake is topped with a creamy chocolate ganache, and it’s a delicious way to get your chocolate fix.
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!
No wimpy chocolate for this recipe…I use extra dark cocoa powder for the cake and dark chocolate for the ganache. The result is an intense chocolate experience.
notes for chocolate pound cake ~
- 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!
which gives this cake it’s deep dark color.Reader Rave ~
“Thank 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.” ~ Aedrn
Chocolate Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/2 cup = 4 ounces/ 1 stick)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp espresso powder
wet ingredients
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup milk
dry ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus 2 Tbsp
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
ganache topping
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 6 ounces dark chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate
Instructions
- Set oven to 325°F.
- 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. Set aside.
- Using a a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or an electric hand mixer and large bowl), cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla and espresso powder.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and milk.
- In another large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry and wet ingredients alternately to the butter/sugar mixture, 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 in preheated oven for 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-baking. 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.
Nutrition
Thanks for pinning this chocolate pound cake!
Can’t get enough chocolate? Neither can I, so you might also want to check out these other decadent treats~
Wow, this pound cake looks absolutely decadent Sue! My husband Tom is going to LOVE it! Thanks for sharing!
Looks supercalifragilisticexpialidocious..like your fridge one:)
Be sure your oven is at 323F. 323? Not 325?
It’s 325F 😉
Hi Sue, what a fabulous looking pond cake, looks luscious, definitely a keeper.
That glaze on top of the pound cake looks IRRESISTIBLE! I wish I could grab a slice right off my computer screen! 🙂
I’m definitely going to have to add this to my recipe file. This cake looks perfect and I want to bite right into it right now.. hnnnggg…
You make baking look so easy, Sue. Such a divine chocolate treat. Friday is my treat day so I’m coming over 🙂
I like to treat myself on Fridays, too 🙂 I’ll be waiting for you!
Please can I be your friend and come over for a large slice of the most perfect ever pound cake?
I’d love to have you Bintu!!
looks AMAZING!
One question–I don’t see any baking powder/soda in the recipe. Is the sour cream the leavening agent?
There’s 1/2 tsp baking soda in the recipe ro.
That looks perfectly dense and that ganache is simply sinful!
It’s funny I kept using the word dense in the post and then editing it out, thinking it would give the wrong impression, but it is dense — in the best way 😉