Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake

This is a moist, deep chocolate sour cream pound cake with ganache for even more addictive chocolate flavor! This old fashioned chocolate pound cake recipe is the best chocolate pound cake for any occasion! 

Can't get enough chocolate? Try my Chocolate Walnut Brownies, my Mini Chocolate Cake, and my Chocolate Olive Oil Cake with Crystallized Ginger!

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Old Fashioned Chocolate Pound Cake

You guys. This cake! I had the hardest time photographing it because I honestly wanted to eat it all IMMEDIATELY. If you're like me, the words "chocolate sour cream pound cake" are enough to make you run out to get the ingredients immediately! If not, let me assure you -- you're gonna want to make this cake.

It has a soft, dense-yet-fluffy crumb, rich chocolate flavor deepened with espresso powder, and a luscious satin chocolate ganache glaze drizzled on top. I'm not even that much of a chocoholic, but I could honestly eat this moist chocolate pound cake all day long. When I baked it recently, I gave most of it away to my neighbors (after having a couple slices myself), and they said it was the BEST chocolate cake they'd ever had!

What is the secret to a good pound cake?

There are lots of important tips to follow for the best chocolate pound cake, all of which I mention below, like measuring your flour with a kitchen scale, and making sure all your ingredients are room temperature before you start.

But my favorite way to make pound cake even better is by adding a rich, tangy dairy product like buttermilk, cream cheese, and especially sour cream! So if you're here making this southern chocolate pound cake, you're in the right place!

And to try some other amazing pound cake flavors, check out this Peach Cobbler Pound Cake or this German nut pound cake! Also check out my post on the differences and similarities between pound cake vs Bundt cake!

What does adding sour cream to cake do?

Sour cream is a perfect addition to pound cake recipes because it adds an acidic element to the batter, much like buttermilk or cream cheese. It gives sweet treats a more complex flavor and makes the batter richer and more moist by adding dairy protein and fat. That's why so many cakes with sour cream stay moist and velvety!

Best of all, the acid in sour cream tenderizes the gluten in the flour to produce a finer, more tender crumb. This is absolutely perfect for our purposes with this old fashioned sour cream chocolate cake. We're going for a tight crumb, but we don't want it too heavy or dense. The best pound cakes find that perfect balance!

How much sour cream do you put in pound cake?

You'll need 1 cup of sour cream (one whole 8-oz. container) for this moist chocolate pound cake. That's enough to really achieve a moist, close crumb but not so much that the cake turns out gummy or dense. I'd recommend using full-fat sour cream, but light sour cream or even greek yogurt would work too. Now let's get into the other ingredients we'll need.

Moist Chocolate Pound Cake Ingredients

• salted butter - your butter should be room temperature -- not overly soft, but soft enough to indent when pressed.
• granulated sugar - adds just the right amount of sweetness to this chocolate sour cream pound cake to balance out the rich cocoa flavor!
• eggs - like your butter, make your your eggs are room temperature.
• vanilla extract - I definitely suggest using a high-quality vanilla extract for the best vanilla flavor! Or better yet, check out my post on how to make vanilla extract at home with just 2 ingredients!
• sour cream - this is the star ingredient of this chocolate sour cream pound cake! Sour cream acts similarly to buttermilk, yogurt, or cream cheese to add a moist texture, a close crumb, and a rich, complex flavor.
• all-purpose flour - It's very important to measure your dry ingredients correctly -- I would definitely recommend using a kitchen scale to measure by weight -- for this recipe you'll need 256 grams of flour.
• unsweetened cocoa - I used Hershey's unsweetened cocoa for this recipe, but you can use any unsweetened cocoa (regular cocoa, not Dutch-process) that you like!
• instant espresso powder - this is a secret ingredient that brings out the chocolate flavor so much in this chocolate sour cream pound cake! The rich coffee flavor doesn't come through in the flavor of the cake, but it works to deepen the rich chocolate flavor. It makes this chocolate bundt cake the best!
• baking powder & baking soda - these two leaveners work together to add lift to the cake batter, giving your cake its best texture and rise!
• boiling water - finally, we'll be adding hot water to "bloom" the cocoa powder and bring out that rich chocolatey flavor even more!

Then, for that amazing chocolate ganache glaze, you'll need:

• bittersweet chocolate - I use a Ghirardelli 60% Cocoa Bittersweet Baking Bar for this chocolate glaze. I love the balance between deep chocolate flavor and a bit of sweetness.
• heavy cream - heavy cream adds a creamy richness to the glaze and helps it to melt smoothly.
• light corn syrup - helps to add shine and a thin, pourable consistency to this glaze. I like to use Karo light corn syrup. If you can't find corn syrup, you could substitute agave nectar or even honey for a similar effect.

Equipment

First, you'll need your cake pan! I used this Nordicware Elegant Party Bundt Pan because I love the neat, sleek shape. But feel free to use any 10-12 cup tube pan or Bundt pan that you love! I also love the look of this Nordicware Heritage Permier Bundt Pan, and I bet it would look amazing with the glaze drizzled on top! Here are all the tools I'd recommend for this dark chocolate sour cream pound cake recipe!

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Last Updated on September 7, 2023 by Chenée Lewis