A beautifully soft and tender Chocolate Pound Cake made from scratch. This lovely cake has a buttery crumb that sticks to your fork. This recipe uses just a handful of ingredients and can be served with chocolate ganache or a side of whipped cream.
Chocolate Pound Cake ❤️
Say hi to my beautiful, buttery chocolate cake made from scratch. Just like my favourite Vanilla Pound Cake and my Lemon Pound Cake, this one boasts a soft and tight crumb that just about melts-in-your-mouth.
While I’ll always love a light and fluffy cake, like my Chocolate Fudge Cake or a soft sponge like in my favourite Chocolate Cake Roll, this dense but moist cake makes me weak at the knees.
Why you will love this cake
- This cake is lovely and soft
- It has a dense but moist crumb
- It uses regular, everyday ingredients
- It can be served as a simple snack cake or dressed with ganache for a fancy dessert
Ingredients you will need
Just like my favourite Cocoa Brownies, you only need a few basic ingredients to make this cake. You can pull it together last minute and can serve it on its own or paired with your favourite frosting. Here’s what you need to get started.
- Butter: Start with softened butter. It shouldn’t be fridge cold, but when you press it with your thumb, it should make an indent. If you are using unsalted butter, add a pinch of salt to the flour.
- Caster sugar: We use caster sugar in this recipe. If you don’t have access to it, you can use granulated sugar instead.
- Vanilla extract: Vanilla will add a little extra flavour.
- Eggs: We use large eggs for this recipe. Make sure your eggs are at room temperature.
- Plain flour: If you don’t have access to plain flour, you can use all purpose flour.
- Cocoa powder: We use unsweetened cocoa powder in this recipe. You can use regular cocoa or Dutch processed cocoa in this recipe, both work beautifully.
- Baking powder: We add a little baking powder for lift.
- Milk: Milk helps add fat and moisture to the cake. Use a full fat or whole milk for best results.
Creaming the butter and sugar
Just like we discovered when testing our Vanilla Pound Cake, the key to getting the perfect crumb in this Chocolate Pound Cake is correctly creaming the butter and sugar.
Start with room temperature butter so it’s easy to cream. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter until it turns pale, light and fluffy – almost cream-like. A common mistake is stopping too early when the butter and sugar are combined but not yet creamed. Look for those visual cues (see below photo).
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This step is what helps develop that soft and tender crumb. If your butter is lovely and soft to begin with, it won’t take long, just a few minutes on medium speed.
How to avoid dry pound cake
- Make sure you cream the butter and sugar correctly. Starting with room temperature butter will help make this quick and easy. If your butter is too cold, it’ll take longer and you might run the risk of over mixing.
- Weigh your dry ingredients using a baking scale. It’s very easy to over measure when using cups so it’s best to use gram measurements. Too much flour and cocoa will result in a dry, crumbly cake.
- Try not to over mix your cake batter. Mix it on a low speed until it’s just combined. Your cake batter should be lovely and thick.
- Don’t over bake your cake. Cooking your cake for too long will result in a dry cake. Be very careful to only bake your Pound Cake until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out mostly clean.
How to serve it
You can serve this Chocolate Pound Cake as is, cut into thick slices. Choose to lightly dust the cake with icing sugar or cocoa powder. I love to serve it with whipped cream and berries. You can add frosting or an easy chocolate ganache for a decadent dessert. Throw a few chocolate chips in the batter for a chocolate-y treat.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. This recipe will make two 8 inch cakes or a three 6 inch cakes. Or you could use a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan but it will take longer to cook.
No. This recipe has been designed to make a chocolate cake with a tight, buttery crumb. If you would prefer an oil based chocolate cake, try my Chocolate Olive Oil Cake.
I tested this recipe using natural unsweetened cocoa and dutch processed cocoa – both work beautifully. Don’t use sweetened drinking cocoa.
Yes!
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Let’s Bake
Chocolate Pound Cake
Deliciously soft and tender Chocolate Pound Cake.
Ingredients
- 230 grams (1 cup or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, roughly chopped
- 300 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 245 grams (1 and 3/4 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 60 grams (3/4 cup) cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 160 ml (3/4 cup) full fat or whole milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (360 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Grease a 10-12 cup capacity bundt pan really well with soft butter.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter, sugar and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined and then turn speed up to medium and beat for a further 1-2 minutes or until butter turns pale, creamy and almost fluffy.
- Add eggs, one at a time, and beat briefly to combine – don’t worry if the mixture goes a little bit lumpy at this stage – then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Start to mix together on a low speed. Add milk. Continue to mix until cake batter is smooth and creamy (but try not to over mix).
- Pour cake batter into your prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out mostly clean.
- Leave cake to cool in Bundt pan for at least 15 minutes before gently turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Cocoa powder: We use unsweetened cocoa powder in this recipe. You can use regular cocoa or Dutch processed cocoa in this recipe.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 slice Calories: 344 Sugar: 25.9 g Sodium: 76.5 mg Fat: 17.6 g Carbohydrates: 44.7 g Protein: 5.2 g Cholesterol: 88 mg
Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.
Jo Warren says
My boys (10;12) in the UK love this recipe. We have made cup cakes using it (20mins in oven) and we have made a chocolate sandwich cake (2 8 inch tins 20-30 mins oven) Also used for a 3D sphere cake. On the day I own a Bundt tin I’ll be bundting too!
Jessica Holmes says
That’s amazing! So happy to hear that Jo!