Best Chocolate Pound Cake

Sour Cream Chocolate Pound Cake

by Alli

Chocolate Pound Cake is moist, tender, and has just the right amount of chocolate flavor! This pound cake is another family favorite! You can find more of my pound cake recipes here!

I love to bake pound cakes because they are really easy to make. Plus, since pound cakes are so large, these cakes can feed up to 16 people. It all depends on how thin or thick you slice the cake.

Ingredients You’ll Need To Make A Chocolate Pound Cake

  • softened unsalted butter
  • granulated sugar
  • large eggs
  • all-purpose flour
  • unsweetened cocoa (I use Hershey’s)
  • baking soda
  • salt
  • sour cream
  • boiling water
  • pure vanilla extract

Simple Steps To Make A Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan (or spray with a cooking spray with flour.) Set aside.
  2. Cream butter on medium speed and gradually add the sugar, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  3. Combine the dry ingredients – flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, mixing on low until just combined after each addition. Be careful about adding too much flour at a time if your mixing bowl is on the smaller side. You don’t want the batter to splash out of the bowl. 
  4. Add boiling water, let settle for a few seconds and mix on low until combined. Stir in vanilla extract. Pour into the prepared tube pan.

chocolate cake batter in tube pan

5. Bake for one hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

pound cake cooling on a rack

6. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before serving.

chocolate sour cream pound cake featuring a slice of cake with the entire cake in the background

Why Add Boiling Water To Chocolate Cake?

  • Boiling water enhances the chocolate flavor of the cake by reacting with the cocoa to help it dissolve and bloom. 
  • Adding boiling water helps keep the cake moist and soft. 

How To Keep A Pound Cake From Sticking

I’ve made many pound cakes over the years and I’ve learned a few tips and tricks. 

  1. Use a good quality cake pan and take care of it! I hand wash cake pans and never wash them in the dishwasher. I use a plain tube pan to bake pound cakes. Cakes are less likely to stick when you use a regular tube pan. Here is a link to the tube pan I always use. I’ve never had a cake stick using this pan. It’s amazing.  
  2. I use Baker’s Joy cooking spray. It’s a cooking spray with flour. I coat the pan really well (including the sides and the tube in the middle). 
  3. Follow the recipe exactly and use the correct measurements. 
  4. Butter and eggs should always be at room temperature. 
  5. Cool the pound cake in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes before removing the cake from the pan. 

slice of pound cake on a white dessert plate

You Will Love These Pound Cakes!

Yield: 14-16 servings

Chocolate Pound Cake

Chocolate Pound Cake on glass cake plate with one slice missing

Chocolate Pound Cake is tender and delicious, with just the right amount of chocolate!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
  • 3 cups granulated sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 (8 oz.) container of sour cream
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Set aside.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and gradually add the sugar, beating well and scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed.
  3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
  4. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, mixing on low speed after each addition.
  5. Carefully add boiling water and mix on low until combined. Stir in vanilla extract.
  6. Pour batter into the prepared tube pan. Bake for one hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before serving.

Notes

I use Baker's Joy cooking spray to coat the tube pan. It has the flour already mixed in.

My classic KitchenAid stand mixer was used for this recipe. It has a 4.5-quart mixing bowl (a smaller bowl than some of the newer models). When adding the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, I add these ingredients a little at a time and mix on low speed after each addition. This helps keep the ingredients from splashing out of the mixing bowl.

When I add the boiling water, I let it settle for a few seconds before mixing on low. Again, you don't want the boiling water to splash out.

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Nutrition Information

Yield

16

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 470Total Fat 25gSaturated Fat 15gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 120mgSodium 122mgCarbohydrates 57gFiber 1gSugar 38gProtein 5g

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