As much as I adore chocolate, I’m not always the biggest fan of standard chocolate cake fare. I usually find either the flavor or the texture lacking in some way. But, this rich and dense pound cake is one of my favorites.
It gets its rich chocolate flavor from a big helping of cocoa powder. As I tend to do, I will now mount my Good Ingredients Soapbox. You definitely want to use the very best cocoa powder you can find for this cake. I personally like Scharffen Berger’s unsweetened cocoa powder. I’ve been using it for years and have always been pleased with it. There are many other great brands out there, so just find the kind you like best.
Now, back to the cake. It’s absolutely delicious all on its own, but it also benefits from a little something extra.
I topped the cake off with a simple vanilla glaze for a little sweetness to complement all the richness of the cake. The glaze features another of my favorite ingredients, Vanilla Bean Paste. You’ll get a bit bolder vanilla flavor from paste versus extract. Plus, it has all those lovely vanilla bean specks!
For a lot of you, half of the glaze recipe will suffice. I like lots of glaze, so I use it all. In lieu of the glaze, you can also top off slices of this cake with berries or a even a little smear of peanut butter.
Ingredients
- 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (4 ounces) sour cream
- 3/4 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 & 1/2 tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 325°. Generously grease a 9”x 5” loaf pan.
Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
Decrease mixer speed to low. Add flour mixture in three portions, alternating with sour cream. Begin and end with flour mixture.
Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until a pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then, remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze:
Whisk together confectioners’ sugar, milk, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. If mixture is too thick to pour, add more milk, a tablespoon at a time until pourable. Pour glaze over cooled cake. Allow glaze to set.
http://www.bakeorbreak.com/2013/02/chocolate-pound-cake-with-vanilla-bean-glaze/
February 5th, 2013 at 12:32 pm
Perfect with the mid morning coffee!
February 5th, 2013 at 2:55 pm
That looks delicious. I don’t have vanilla bean paste; however, I do have vanilla and vanilla beans, so I’m sure I could figure out the substitution.
February 5th, 2013 at 3:40 pm
Looks like a delicious loaf, I’m with you on loving chocolate but not usually a chocolate sponge, bet the vanilla is a great addition!
February 5th, 2013 at 4:26 pm
ooooh that so looks like something I need to make . . . on a pantry challenge till vacation and just used up all my sour cream on muffins – after our trip I’m making this FIRST
February 5th, 2013 at 10:52 pm
I so want to make it today. The one hitch is sour cream….not available easily (if at all) in my part of the world & has to be a homemade version which takes time. Do you think I could get away with using buttermilk instead?
February 5th, 2013 at 11:05 pm
Pooja, buttermilk will likely work well enough. Let me know if you try it!
February 6th, 2013 at 8:13 am
I love pound cakes, this mixture of chocolate and vanilla sounds brilliant!
February 6th, 2013 at 12:02 pm
I’m not a big fan of cake either, but this looks so moist and dense. Something I do like!
February 6th, 2013 at 8:40 pm
chocolate pound cake is the best when it’s used in a strawberry shortcake parfait
i have vivd memories of it, eating it in mass quantities during the summer
i don’t know why i had to share that with you
lol
February 6th, 2013 at 10:32 pm
I like any kind of chocolate cake. This pound cake looks really worth trying.
February 13th, 2013 at 11:53 am
I recently re-discovered the joys of baking pound cakes. Adding chocolate & vanilla glaze to the mix seems a winning combination. Thanks for sharing!
March 10th, 2013 at 12:40 pm
Tried this recipe yesterday and it was very yummy! Could I add some choc chips to give it some “crunchiness” … or would they sink to the bottom of the cake? thanks!
March 10th, 2013 at 7:06 pm
Katia, you can add chocolate chips. Scoop out about 1/4 cup of the measured flour and toss the chips in that. That will sometimes prevent them from sinking.
March 11th, 2013 at 11:08 am
Thank you! Will try that