Detailed Recipe Instructions For Chocolate Pound Cake
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Chocolate Pound Cake is an vintage recipe that uses cocoa powder for a new spin on traditional pound cake. This cake has a dense, moist texture that can be served up for breakfast or dessert.
Chocolate Pound Cake Recipe
It’s me again. I spent another weekend flipping through my Pot O’Gold Cookbook, and I stumbled upon this pound cake recipe using cocoa powder.
I treasure my Pot O’Gold Cook Book. In the front is a handwritten note from my Great Aunt Gertie stating that she gifted the book to my grandparents for their 60th wedding anniversary. Aunt Gertie, Grandma and Grandpa are watching down on me, and I’m sure they still delight in every recipe that I make from this book. And, there are a lot of recipes in it. Almost 400 pages, and every page has 2-3 recipes. Each one contributed by a member of the St. Patrick Altar Society in Imogene, Iowa.
If you’ve ever spot a book like this one at garage sale or in an antique store, take it home and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the assortment of amazing recipes from home-cooks around the country.
Tips on Using a Bundt Cake Pan
What is it about a pound cake that I can’t resist?
I love the dense, moist texture, and the presentation of a Bundt cake is show-stopping, even if i’m just making it for my family.
Using a Bundt pan can be a little scary if you’ve never used one. Most recipes say to “grease and flour” or pour into a “greased and floured pan.” The key is to take a paper towel dipped in shortening, and then rub it all around the pan. Then take a couple tablespoons of flour and sprinkle it all around the pan. Dump out the excess flour. When complete, the entire pan should have a coating of flour.
If you are making a chocolate cake like this one, you can also use a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder if you are worried about flour on the outside of your cake.
Greasing and flouring ensures easy removal of the cake from the pan. Also, take a butter knife and loosen all edges around the outside and center.
Take a plate or cooling rack and put against the top of the cake, and then flip it over. The cake should slide right out. There’s always a moment where you are holding your breath to see if it comes out in one piece.
Ingredients
- Butter, softened
- Shortening
- White Sugar (granulated sugar)
- Large Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Milk
How to Make Chocolate Pound Cake from Scratch
Step by Step Instructions
- Grease and flour a Bundt pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
- Cream together softened butter, shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer or stand mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go.
- Alternately add dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, cocoa powder and salt) and the milk.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean
- Let cool in pan for 15 minutes on a wire rack; loosen all edges and center with a knife, and remove from pan.
For the full instructions for pound cake using cocoa powder, scroll to the bottom of this post.
Recipe FAQs
- This chocolate pound cake gets it’s flavor using cocoa powder.
- Be sure to grease all sides of the Bundt pan (including center), and then lightly flour. This will help the chocolate pound cake to be removed from the pan easily.
- Substitute margarine for butter if desired.
- Be sure to soften the butter or margarine.
- Let the eggs sit at room temperature if possible.
- The glaze is completely optional. Leave it off, if desired.
- For a glaze isn’t clumpy, soften margarine and sift the powdered sugar before mixing.
Recipe Variations
- Serve topped with a chocolate ganache, chocolate frosting, with fresh berries, or a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Add a teaspoon of espresso powder or instant coffee granules to take the chocolate flavor to a whole new level.
- For a rich chocolate flavor, use Dutch process cocoa powder.
It’s no secret that I love using my Bundt pan. Here are some of my favorites Bundt pan recipes:
Kitchen Utensils
Chocolate Pound Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Pound Cake
- 1 cup butter or margarine, softened
- 1/2 cup shortening
- 3 cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a Bundt pan.
- With a mixer, cream together softened butter, shortening, sugar, eggs and vanilla until smooth.
- Combine flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder; alternately add dry ingredients with milk to the creamed mixture.
- Pour into prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool in pan for 15 minutes;
- Loosen edges with knife, place a plate on top, flip to over to remove from pan.
Notes
- This chocolate pound cake gets it’s flavor using cocoa powder.
- Be sure to grease all sides of the Bundt pan (including center), and then lightly flour. This will help the chocolate pound cake to remove from the pan easily.
- Substitute margarine for butter if desired.
- Be sure to soften the butter or margarine.
- Let the eggs sit at room temperature if possible.
- The nutritional information is auto-calculated and can vary depending on the products used.
Nutrition
Why is my pound cake still wet in the middle?
It is possible that your pound cake is still wet in the middle because it may not have baked long enough. Check the doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, then the cake is done. It needs to bake longer if it comes out wet.
If the top of your cake is getting too brown, place a sheet of aluminum foil loosely over the top until it’s done baking.
Also, make sure your oven temperature is accurate as too low of a temperature can result in an under-baked cake.
