Chocolate Pound Cake

Chocolate Pound Cake Video (scroll down for printable recipe)

My grandmother Hornsby was pound cake’s biggest fan. Any excuse to break out the frozen Sara Lee, she was right on top of that. A dollop of Cool Whip and maybe a few sliced strawberries and voila. Dinner is served.

I don’t recall her ever actually baking a pound cake, but she sure did collect a ton of recipes for them. A few months before she cashed in her chips, she gave me her entire recipe collection, including no less than 10 pound cake recipes. This chocolate pound cake with chocolate glaze and pecans came from her files. I suspect she would have also served it with some Cool Whip, because it really isn’t a very sweet cake. I enjoy a not-too-sweet cake precisely because it makes a better foil for ice cream. Or Cool Whip. Either or neither, it’s still a fantastic pound cake recipe.

Get her lemon pound cake recipe, too. And if you have leftover chocolate poundcake, make a Black Forest Trifle! (Leftover pound cake freezes well.)

chocolate pound cake

Chocolate Pound Cake Recipe – printable

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Chocolate Poundcake

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4.8 from 4 reviews

  • Author: Hilah Johnson
  • Prep Time: 30 mins
  • Cook Time: 50 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 24 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup softened butter (226 grams)
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar (500 grams)
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 5 eggs, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup cocoa powder (88 grams)
  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (280 grams)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup sour cream (227 grams)
  • Chocolate glaze:
  • 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted (125 grams)
  • 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, sifted
  • 12 tablespoons milk or coffee
  • 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans

Instructions

  1. Set oven to 325ºF (160ºC) and grease two 9×5 loaf pans. Sift a teaspoon of cocoa into each and shake it around to coat the pans. Set aside.
  2. Cream butter with sugar over medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add vanilla and mix. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
  3. Sift flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.
  4. Add half flour to butter mixture and mix on low speed until moistened. Add half the sour cream and mix. Add remaining flour, mix lightly, then sour cream and mix completely.
  5. Divide batter between loaf pans and bake for 40-50 minutes until the cakes test done.
  6. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn onto racks to cool.
  7. For glaze, whisk all together until smooth. Drizzle over cakes once cooled and sprinkle with pecans.
  8. To freeze: Cool completely and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Then wrap again in aluminum foil. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator over night.

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chocolate pound cake

27 Comments

  1. Bianca Roberts on October 4, 2015 at 4:14 am

    Hi Hilah, I just made this today and it’s delicious. Thanks for sharing. It’s going to be my goto recipe for chocolate pound cake now 😀






    • Hilah on October 4, 2015 at 4:51 pm

      So happy to hear, Bianca! Thanks for letting me know you liked it 🙂

  2. Meghan on October 13, 2015 at 11:02 am

    I made this yesterday and brought one of the loaves to work. It’s delicious and the texture is awesome! I swapped out the pecans with mini chocolate chips, because I can’t leave well enough alone. 🙂

    Thanks, Hilah!

    • Hilah on October 14, 2015 at 9:33 am

      Hooray! Thanks for the feedback, Meghan.

  3. Sul Neveservet on November 7, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    I’ll try it out Hilah. Thanks for sharing.






  4. Charles on December 13, 2015 at 7:05 pm

    Well I found you on YouTube a few days ago while searching for Migas, because I had some recently and had to make my own. Tried yours, and BOOM! You make awesome videos, and even better food. Made the chocolate pound cake this afternoon and the ginger snaps are in the oven right now. Your pound cake was delicioso beyond belief. (Like the Migas). You have great taste in food and now I’m watching all your videos. Thanks so much for making the videos lively. You deserve a drink!!!!!!

    • Hilah on December 14, 2015 at 9:26 am

      Thank you, Charles!! Your comment made my morning 😀 Have fun baking!

  5. Salma Tariq on January 27, 2016 at 10:35 pm

    Hi hilah, I just made this cake and it is scrumptious, although my cake didn’t turn as dark as yours, do you think it’s my cocoa powder? I used the Toll House brand. Please let me know the brand of cocoa powder you used in this video.
    Thanks a ton for this amazing recipe! 🙂

    • Hilah on January 28, 2016 at 7:57 am

      Hi Salma!
      I used Hershey’s Special Dark, which is a very dark cocoa powder.

  6. Hanaa on February 9, 2016 at 8:22 am

    Hi… any substitute for sour cream?? Its not available in india….plz reply ..

    • Hilah on February 9, 2016 at 1:25 pm

      Hi Hanaa, thick yogurt will work instead of sour cream 🙂

  7. SY on March 4, 2016 at 5:21 am

    Hello Hilah!

    I have been making your lemon pound cake so many times, we all love the moisture, and taste very much! However, it always cracks so badly on top, like the surface is not leveled anymore. I made sure I do not over-mix and I tapped the loaf tin many times before popping it into the oven.

    Can I ask, is this choc pound cake less proned to cracking, due to the sour cream?

    I am considering making this choc pound cake and ganache to coat it, but if it cracks as badly, the ganache layer would not look as nice and smooth.

    Hope to get a reply! So helpless haha

    • Hilah on March 4, 2016 at 7:52 am

      Hi Sy!

      I haven’t had a problem with either pound cake cracking badly on top, so I don’t know the answer here. Have you checked your oven temperature? I wonder if your oven is running hot; that could be the cause of the cracking. If the outside cooks much faster than the inside of the cake, it will crack as it rises.

  8. Laura Blake on March 9, 2016 at 4:49 pm

    Help, I followed everything to the letter, I even weighed my ingredients. Cakes have been in 50 minutes at 325 degrees, and they are still VERY giggily. I’ve put a thermometer in my oven, because it seems that’s the only possible answer. I notice no comments with the same probe as me. Any ideas on how to save the akes?

    • Hilah on March 9, 2016 at 6:40 pm

      Did it ever set up?

  9. Ruhan Hossain on April 10, 2016 at 11:06 am

    Hi Hilah,
    I was just wondering how many servings this is. I’m a big fan of you!

    • Hilah on April 11, 2016 at 9:54 am

      Hi Ruhan,
      It makes 2 loaves and I ccut each into 12 slices. So 24 slices.

  10. Yoko Ohara on April 12, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    Hi Hilah,

    I’m Yoko from Japan. I found your videos several weeks ago on You Tube and I’m trying to watch all of them because they (you) are hilarious! Your videos make me happy. 🙂
    Last night I baked your chocolate pound cake and it was so good! Even I reduced the amount of sugar to about two thirds from the recipe (I usually do when I use American recipes). Reading your comment here, I used yogurt instead of sour cream and it was totally fine, I didn’t feel any sour taste. Awesome! I think this sour cream or yogurt keeps moisture in the cake. I also baked your cocoa brownies and lemon pound cake last week. My whole family love your cakes! I’ll try other recipes later. I wish I could share my photos of the cakes (I don’t know how to do that).
    Anyway thank you for sharing wonderful recipes and we’re looking forward to watch your new videos!






    • Hilah on April 13, 2016 at 7:20 pm

      Hi Yoko!

      I’m so glad you liked the cake! And thank you for letting me know that it works with reduced sugar. That is a great tip!
      It makes me happy that you enjoy my videos and I hope you make many more recipes 🙂

  11. Oyeronke on April 22, 2016 at 8:24 am

    Hi, please what can milk be used in place of sour cream?

    • Hilah on April 22, 2016 at 2:56 pm

      Hi,
      If you have plain yogurt that is the best substitute for sour cream. If you have neither, you can try using about 3/4 cup of regular milk mixed with 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to thicken it.

  12. Pip on October 4, 2017 at 5:01 am

    Can I use thick cream instead of sour cream please. Recipe sounds fab!!

    • Hilah on October 4, 2017 at 2:11 pm

      Hi Pip!
      You could as long as you acidify it a little bit. The recipe’s leavening depends on the sourness. Just add a teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to the cream and mix it in. Let it sit 5 minutes or so and voila, sour cream!

  13. Nancy Kosar on August 16, 2018 at 4:57 pm

    Is it ME, but I don’t see how many eggs you used in this recipe.

    • Hilah on August 17, 2018 at 6:51 am

      It’s there, 4th line down. 5 eggs. Be sure to leave them out on the counter for an hour or place in warm water for a few minutes before adding them to the recipe.

  14. Baishakhi on June 5, 2022 at 10:19 pm

    It looks delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe.

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