Chocolate Pound Cake
Chocolate Pound Cake is the “little black dress” of cakes, the epitome of elegant simplicity. This perfect pound cake melts-in-your-mouth with big chocolate flavor!
It took months of baking hundreds of pounds cakes to create my incredibly popular vanilla Pound Cake recipe. If you’re a baking geek like me, you can read all about how I adjusted the ingredient percentages in this comprehensive post about creating a great cake recipe.
I have created a comprehensive “Cake Batter Course” which explains step by step and ingredient by ingredient how I created a great pound cake recipe by adapting that original recipe. If you’re interested, over 7 classes (blog posts) you can learn all about the ingredients and mixing methods for cake batter.
It’s pretty detailed stuff, but what you learn about baking can be applied to all your recipes, not just cake batter. And it’s free here on Baking Sense.
To create this recipe for Chocolate Pound Cake I started with my perfected pound cake recipe and simply swapped out a portion of the flour and added my favorite Dutch processed cocoa powder. I also added a hint of instant espresso to enhance the chocolate flavor and color of the cake.
Ingredients
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Whole milk
- Cake flour
- Dutch process cocoa powder
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Instant espresso powder (optional)
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter
FAQs about Chocolate Pound Cake:
I like to use Dutch processed dark cocoa for a deep dark chocolate flavor and color. I’ve put a link to my favorite brand in the recipe card. (As an Amazon associate I earn money from purchases.)
I baked all the cakes in a 9”x 5” loaf pan, but this cake also bakes up nicely in a Bundt pan. A friend even baked the batter as cupcakes with great success.
Keep the cake covered at room temperature for 3-4 days. Never refrigerate a cake (unless it has a perishable filling). The refrigerator will make the cake go stale faster.
Yes, the cake freezes beautifully. Wrap the whole cake, or individual slices, in a double layer of plastic wrap. Allow the cake to defrost at room temperature in the plastic.
Personally, I don’t think this cake needs any embellishment, other than a sprinkle of powdered sugar for a pretty finish. But the cake is also lovely served with a dollop of whipped cream, a scoop of ice cream or with fresh fruit.
Here are some other pound cake recipes for you to try:
- Perfect Pound Cake
- Blueberry Pound Cake
- Honey Pound Cake
- Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Marble Pound Cake
- Coconut Pound Cake
- Key Lime Pound Cake
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.
Chocolate Pound Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs (room temp)
- 4 egg yolks (room temp)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 oz whole milk (¼ cup, divided)
- 6 oz cake flour (1 ½ cups, see note)
- 2 oz Dutch process cocoa powder (½ cup)
- ¼ teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder (optional)
- 10 oz granulated sugar (1 ¼ cups)
- 9 oz unsalted butter (room temp)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to at 350 °F. Butter and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan or Bundt pan.
- Combine 3 large eggs, 4 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and half the milk in a small bowl, whisk to combine and set aside.
- Sift together 6 oz cake flour, 2 oz Dutch process cocoa powder, ¼ teaspoon table salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 tablespoon instant espresso powder in a mixing bowl. Add 10 oz granulated sugar to the flour and mix at low speed for 30 seconds. Add 9 oz unsalted butter to the flour and mix until combined. Add the other ½ of the milk and increase the speed to medium high. Mix for a full 2-3 minutes. The batter will lighten in color and texture. If your using a hand mixer add another minute or two to the mixing time.
- Scrape the bowl and paddle thoroughly. On low speed, add the egg mixture in 3 increments, scraping the bowl after each addition. Mix just until the eggs are incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth to an even layer. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean (about 55 minutes).
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My wife doesn’t like chocolate cake, but she absolutely loves this recipe when I make it for her.
I get so many surprised eyebrows when I make cupcakes for the folks in work, they love it too. Especially with your chocolate ganache as a centre and a nutella buttercream on top.
Thanks so much, they’ve become a total hit in my workplace. I’m always directing them to you and your book as the source. 🙂
Question if I don’t have cocoa, may I use chocolate bar, and if that is possible, which is the best way to do it?
I hve seen tht in many chocolate cake recipes, baking soda is added along with powder bt in ur recipe its nt so can u plzz help me in understanding?
Baking soda is used when you want to neutralize some of the acid in the cocoa. I used Dutch processed cocoa, which has been neutralized so it’s not acidic like unalkalized cocoa powder. You can find out more information about baking soda vs. baking powder in this post. https://www.baking-sense.com/2017/03/29/baking-ingredients-chemical-leaveners/
@Eileen Gray,
Love all your recipes Eileen! I made a Honey Pound cake last time that was really beautiful and moist.
I have regular unprocessed cocoa powder. Does that need Baking soda to be added?
Thank you!
I think you can just do a 1:1 replacement with natural (not dutch-processed) cocoa powder. You’ll probably notice that the color will be a bit lighter, but otherwise it should be fine.
I don’t have granulated sugar, can I use powdered sugar? If yes, in what quantity?
You can. The cake might be a bit more dense but it can work. If you measure by weight use the same weight of powdered sugar (10 oz). If you measure by volume you’ll need 2 1/2 cups since powdered sugar takes up 2x the volume of granulated sugar.
Thank you for replying. I only have 10*6 loaf pans, do I need to half the recipe for them?
The recipe is made to be baked in a 9″x5″ loaf pan. A 10″x6″ loaf pan is 1/3 larger than a 9″x5″. So you would need to make 1.33x the recipe to fill your larger pan. Otherwise, you can make the recipe as written and you’ll have a shorter cake baked in the larger pan.
Thank you for taking the time out to clear my doubt ☺️
Could mini chocolate morsels be added to the mix?
Yes. Toss the mini chips with a sprinkle of water and flour to form a paste on the chips. Fold them in after the batter is mixed.
Hi Eileen,
I’m in the midst of making this chocolate pound cake. I decided to bake 2 versions: one in a bundt form without the instant coffee powder, and one in a loaf form with the added coffee.
Once all the ingredients were combined in my 7 qt KitchenAid, I put the dough on a scale to see where I had to split it. I had a total of 2;020 grams, so I split the cake in 2, each weighing about 1,000 grams. With a hand mixer, I added the sifted instant coffee powder to one half. That half I poured into a stainless steel loaf form, and the other half into a dark aluminum loaf form. By default, I tend to set my oven timer to at least 5 minutes short of the suggested baking time. I checked on both cakes after 50 minutes. The one in the bundt form came out clean when tested with a small kebab stick, but the one in the stainless steel form was not even close to being done. I added another 10 minutes, and it was still not done. It is now in the oven for yet another 10 minutes, which will bring the total bake time to 70 minutes. I will test and see if that did the trick.
Question, and please excuse if it sounds dumb, but I’m somewhat new to baking: is it normal that a cake in a bundt form bakes faster than in a loaf form? Does stainless steel normally require a longer baking time than aluminum?
Your insights are highly appreciated.
Marin
Yes, to both your questions. Aluminum pans are lightweight and heat up quickly. If the aluminum is light in color you’ll have a lighter crust. The Bundt pan will bake from the middle and the sides, so the cake will bake faster.
Hi, First I just want to say I have made both your pound cake and chocolate pound cake and they have been absolutely divine. I want to experiment a bit and wondered how the recipe would work if I substituted milk with orange juice and added orange zest to make an orange and chocolate cake.
I think that would work well. Love orange and chocolate together.
Wow, the cake looks amazing! Such a perfect, uniform crumb…
I enjoyed your posts about making a perfect pound cake, learned so much from them and often re-read them to remind myself of some important tips and facts and I have seen it make a great impact on my baking ever since. Therefore I thank you and thanks for another amazing recipe, I trust your baking 100%!
Well gee, thanks!