Chocolate Pound Cake: the easy recipe for a beautifully rich, chocolatey dessert

Chocolate pound cake is a decadent, rich, dense chocolate dessert that's hard to resist. It's so delicious it melts in your mouth. This moist, tender cake boasts a wonderful buttery crumb and has an intense chocolate flavor that will satisfy your sweet tooth.

Pound cakes are denser than either bundt cakes or regular cakes, although they're often baked in bundt pans. Traditionally, pound cakes were made with a pound of each ingredient, although that's not so much the case today.

Chocolate pound cake is a perfect dessert to tuck into with a dollop of whipped cream or some fresh berries or can also be enjoyed as a snack with a cup of tea or coffee.

Chocolate Pound Cake Ingredients

Coffee granules are the secret ingredient to making the best chocolate pound cake. Coffee will amp up the chocolate flavor without making your pound cake taste like coffee.

Buttermilk and baking powder are a must – the two will react and help give your pound cake a melt-in-your-mouth texture.

Butter, eggs, and cocoa powder bring richness and chocolate flavor to the cake.

As with any other type of cake, you'll need flour and sugar as well! All-purpose flour is the best type of making a rich, dense pound cake. For a lighter texture, you can use cake flour instead.

How to Make Chocolate Pound Cake

Ready to start baking? Here's how to make the best perfectly moist, rich chocolate pound cake from scratch. Whisk the coffee granules in the hot water until they're dissolved. Add in the buttermilk, then set the bowl to the side.

Beat the butter and sugar in your stand mixer until the mixture becomes light and airy. Mix the eggs in one at a time, followed by the vanilla, salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder. Don't forget to scrape down the sides every so often! Alternating between the flour and buttermilk, gradually add the two into the batter.

Transfer the batter to a greased bundt pan and bake your pound cake for 40 to 45 minutes at 375F. Leave the cake to cool in the pan for 20 to 25 minutes, then carefully run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Flip it onto a rack to cool completely.

After the cake has finished cooling, dust it with powdered sugar or add a drizzle of ganache, caramel, or another topping of your choice and serve it with some ice cream.

How to Tell If Pound Cake is Done

To test when your chocolate pound cake has finished baking, you can poke a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it's clean and mostly crumb-free when you pull it out, your pound cake is ready to come out of the oven. A few crumbs are fine – this will ensure your pound cake stays moist and doesn't wind up overbaked and dry.

Tips for Making the Best Chocolate Pound Cake

You can leave out the coffee granules, however, we recommend leaving them in the recipe. Why? Because coffee will intensify the chocolate flavor in your pound cake without adding any coffee flavor.

Jazz up your chocolate pound cake by garnishing it with a generous dusting of powdered sugar or drizzling some chocolate ganache or caramel over the top.

For an even softer, more moist pound cake, you can use oil instead of butter.

Love chocolate? Add chocolate chips to your pound cake batter to make it even richer.

If you don't have a bundt pan, you can use a loaf pan instead.

Use room temperature ingredients to make your pound cake.

If you don't have buttermilk, you can use sour cream or Greek yogurt as a substitute.

How to Serve Chocolate Pound Cake

Serve your chocolate pound cake with ice cream or whipped cream and fresh berries.

You can also top it off with a drizzle of chocolate ganache or caramel to make it even more luxurious.

How to Store Moist Pound Cake

Cover or wrap your pound cake and keep it at room temperature for up to 3 days.

For longer storage, it'll keep fresh for about one week in the fridge, however, it may dry out slightly.

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 375F. Grease a bundt pan with cooking spray.

Pour hot water and coffee granules into a bowl. Whisk until granules have dissolved.

Mix in buttermilk then set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a stand mixer until fluffy.

Beat the eggs in one at a time.

Beat in vanilla, salt, baking powder.

Add in the cocoa powder. Scrape down the sides.

Alternating between the two, beat the flour, then the buttermilk, into the mixture, working in stages.

Transfer the batter to the bundt pan.

Make sure not to fill the entire pan.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let the cake cool in the pan for 20 to 25 minutes.

Run a knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it, then flip it onto a rack to cool completely.

Decorate the chocolate pound cake with powdered sugar and serve.

Notes

Use a 10 to 12 cup bundt pan for making your chocolate pound cake.