This One-Bowl Chocolate Pound Cake Recipe Is a Dessert Lover’s Dream: So Rich + Easy
Plus, this pastry chef's trick removes the moist and tender cake from the pan easily!
If baking makes you dread cleaning a mountain of dishes afterwards, we’re here to put your mind at ease. We recently learned about a chocolate pound cake recipe that’s sweet, decadent and comes together in just one bowl! This reduces your cleanup time while still producing a wow-worthy cake. As far as icing goes, the treat gets drizzled with ganache (a glaze made with chocolate and heavy cream) before it’s time to slice and serve. It’s sure to become one of your favorite desserts, and we’ve got tips from a pastry chef so you can avoid any baking uh-oh’s. Here’s how to make an easy yet impressive chocolate pound cake from scratch!
The basics of homemade pound cake
Pound cake’s original formula from the 1700s combined a pound each of flour, eggs, sugar and butter before baking the batter in a pan. These identical measurements resulted in the cake having a dense and buttery texture. But today, recipes use differing measurements and incorporate baking powder or baking soda to create moist and fluffy cake. Pound cake can also be flavored with a variety of ingredients like lemon zest, shredded coconut or, our favorite, chocolate.
Putting a chocolatey spin on pound cake
To infuse regular pound cake with chocolate’s decadent essence, April Franqueza, pastry chef at High Hampton Resort in Cashiers, NC, adds unsweetened cocoa powder to the batter. This provides the cake with a deep earthy flavor and a rich brown hue. For the ganache, she uses dark chocolate that contains 60% raw cocoa as it offers an intense flavor that pairs well with the buttery cake.
Baker’s secret to easily removing the cake from the pan
Pound cake is often baked in a bundt plan because the fluted shape helps it cook and brown evenly. Plus, a standard 10-inch bundt pan will yield about 12 to 16 slices. Greasing the bundt pan helps you release the cooled cake from the pan. But, if you’re having trouble removing it, Chef Franqueza suggests letting it sit cake side down. “If your cake isn’t coming out of the bundt pan on the first try, simply leave it inverted on the wire cooling rack, then come back to it 15 minutes later, as the steam will have loosened the cake from the pan,” she says. This trick allows you to lift the pan away from the cake without it breaking apart. Watch this video from Arina Photography’s YouTube channel for a quick refresher on how to remove a cake from a bundt pan without hassle.
How to make chocolate pound cake
Now’s the fun part: actually making the chocolate pound cake! This recipe from Chef Franqueza mixes the batter in the same bowl, which creates a smooth mixture without needing to dirty up extra dishes. Once baked and cooled, the cake is finished with a velvety 2-ingredient chocolate ganache. If you’re keen on sprinkling more toppings onto the cake for added crunch, try chocolate shavings or toasted coconut flakes!
Chocolate Pound Cake
Ingredients:
Cake:
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour + extra to coat the cake pan.
- 2½ cups granulated sugar
- 1½ cups brewed coffee, cooled
- 1¼ cups cocoa powder + extra to coat the cake pan
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup grapeseed, vegetable or canola oil
- 4 eggs, room temperature
- 2 Tbs. vanilla extract
- 2½ tsp. baking soda
- 1½ tsp. salt
- Melted butter (for greasing cake pan)
Ganache:
- 8 oz. (two 4 oz. bars) dark chocolate, chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
Directions:
- Yield: 1 10-inch bundt cake (approximately 12 to 16 slices)
For cake:
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- In small bowl, combine equal parts of additional flour and cocoa powder. Grease 10-inch bundt pan with generous layer of melted butter. Add cocoa-flour mixture to pan, turning it so the dry ingredients completely coat surface. Shake out excess dry mixture.
- In bowl, whisk cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda and salt thoroughly to combine. Then, whisk in coffee, oil and eggs. Add sour cream and vanilla extract, again mixing until homogenous. Pour batter into bundt pan and smooth top.
- Bake cake about 45 minutes and then insert toothpick or butter knife gently into center. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If there’s wet batter on it, check again in 5-minute intervals, until toothpick or knife comes out clean.
- Allow cake to rest in pan 25 minutes, then turn upside down onto wire rack to further cool completely. Lift pan and transfer bundt to plate or cake stand to be iced.
- Note: You can make this cake up to 2 days in advance and store it in an airtight container at room temperature. Before serving the day of, top it with the ganache.
For ganache:
- Place heavy cream in saucepan and bring to simmer over medium-high heat. As it’s heating, add chocolate to medium heat-resistant bowl.
- Once cream is heated, pour over chocolate and allow it to melt the chocolate 2 minutes before gently stirring with rubber spatula. Stir until mixture completely combined, with no streaks remaining. Cool 15 minutes before pouring over cake.
- Spread ganache over cake’s surface if needed and serve.
Keep reading for more indulgent dessert recipes!
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Mini Bundt Cake Recipes That Are *Almost* Too Cute to Eat — Our 7 Best-Ever Treats
Fried Cheesecake Bites: Crispy, Creamy, Deliciousness That Comes Together Easily
