This chocolate sour cream pound cake is moist, chocolaty, and easy to make. It's topped with a silky smooth chocolate ganache that makes this cake irresistible.
This cake is dense, fudgy, chocolaty, and perfect for chocolate addicts like me! The sour cream in this cake makes it so moist and tender, you will absolutely love this!
If you like chocolate recipes as we do, you should check out our double chocolate banana bread, chewy and fudgy brownies, best ever chocolate cake, chewy double chocolate cookies, and our easy chocolate cupcakes!
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Why this recipe works
- Extremely easy to make.
- An extra moist pound cake that stays moist for 3 days!
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Perfect to make when you are craving chocolate!
Ingredients
Before you start to make this recipe, measure and prepare your ingredients so the cooking process will go smoothly and easily.
Butter- use unsalted butter for this recipe. Only butter will work for this recipe, no margarine, and no coconut oil. Margarine has a weird taste and can ruin the flavor of these delicious cookies.
Flour– we used all-purpose flour for this recipe, self-rising flour, and cake flour will work great as well.
Dutch cocoa powder– we like to use Dutch-process cocoa powder for our chocolate cake because we like the deep and rich chocolate taste, but the natural cocoa powder will work great as well!
Sour cream- use either sour cream or Greek yogurt. Both will work great.
Buttermilk– gives the cake extra moisture. You can make your own buttermilk if you don’t have one on hand. Simply mix a cup of milk with a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice and let it sit for at least 10 minutes.
Baking powder and baking soda – to allow the cake to rise.
Espresso powder- to enhance the chocolate flavor and make it richer. You won't taste the coffee on the cake.
Granulated sugar– we like to use granulated sugar, also the most common sugar used in baking. Caster sugar will work great as well.
Eggs- To give the cake a good structure. Make sure you’re using room-temperature eggs.
Vanilla extract- Vanilla extract Is an essential ingredient for chocolate cake.
Salt- We used kosher salt for this recipe. Salt doesn’t give the cake a salty taste, it helps to enhance the chocolate flavor.
For the chocolate ganache:
Chocolate- use the best quality semisweet or dark chocolate bars for the best flavor. using the best quality dark chocolate is very important in this recipe.
Heavy cream- use full-fat heavy cream for this recipe. the heavy cream makes this french hot chocolate extra creamy and silky.
Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Step 2: Into a big mixing bowl, add the soft butter and cream it with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes or until it's light in color.
Step 3: Add the sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla extract, and mix for another minute or so.
Step 4: Add the buttermilk, sour cream, and eggs, and mix until well combined.
Step 5: Sift in the dry ingredients: flour, dutch cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and espresso powder. Mix until the mixture is just combined.
Step 6: Bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Step 7: Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature.
Make the chocolate ganache:
Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until the chocolate ganache is smooth and silky.
Top the cake with the warm chocolate ganache and using a spatula, spread an even layer of the ganache on top. Serve and enjoy!
Expert tips
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making this cake, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least 1 hour so it will be more firm and won’t crumble up, and prevent the ganache from melting.
Faq's
This cake will last up to 5 days stored in the fridge. Cover the cake with plastic wrap or foil to prevent it from drying out. This cake tastes amazing the day after.
We like to use Dutch prosses cocoa powder, because it gives the cake a deeper rich chocolate taste, and natural cocoa powder will work! It’s just a personal preference.
We use all-purpose flour for this cake, cake flour will work great as well.
Freezing
Freeze this cake after it cooled completely in an airtight freezer-friendly container for up to 3 months, some people find the cake tastes better after freezing it.
our tip is not to freeze it decorated or covered with frosting, because it can ruin the decorating on the cake, we suggest freezing the cake and decorating it when you defrost it.
If you’re not looking to impress anyone with your decorating skills, it’s absolutely okay to freeze the cake with the frosting on.
Substitutions
There are a few substitutions that may be helpful for your diet:
- Gluten-free - if you want to make this recipe gluten-free, simply replace the flour with gluten-free flour.
- Dairy-free- you can make this cake dairy-free by replacing the butter with vegan butter or using your favorite dairy-free chocolate ganache.
More chocolate recipes:
Small chocolate cake- This small chocolate cake is perfect when you're craving a chocolate cake but don't want to make a big chocolate cake. We made this chocolate cake in an 8x8 inch baking pan.
Triple chocolate brownie mousse cake- This triple chocolate brownie mousse cake is made with a brownie bottom, topped with a creamy eggless chocolate mousse, and topped with silky chocolate ganache.
Double chocolate banana bread- This double chocolate banana bread is filled and topped with chocolate chips, extra moist, and melt in your mouth delicious.
Best ever chocolate cake- This decadent chocolate cake is made by making two simple cake layers with the easiest and most chocolaty chocolate frosting. This chocolate cake is a moist, fluffy, and rich chocolate cake that is not too sweet.
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📖 Recipe
Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 230 g Butter
- 4 Eggs
- 1 ½ cups Granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- â…” cup Sour cream or greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon Espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Baking soda
- ½ cup Dutch cocoa powder
- 1 ½ cups Flour
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- ½ cup Buttermilk
Chocolate ganache
- 130 g Dark chocolate or semisweet
- 130 g Heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Into a big mixing bowl, add the soft butter and cream it with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes or until it's light in color.
- Add the sugar, kosher salt, and vanilla extract, and mix for another minute or so.
- Add the buttermilk, sour cream, and eggs, and mix until well combined.
- Sift in the dry ingredients: flour, dutch cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and espresso powder. Mix until the mixture is just combined.
- Bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool to room temperature.
Make the chocolate ganache:
- Melt dark chocolate and heavy cream in a small to medium mixing bowl in the microwave for about 50 seconds.
- Let the chocolate and the cream sit for 10 minutes for the chocolate to melt, then mix until the chocolate ganache is smooth and silky.
- Top the cake with the warm chocolate ganache and using a spatula, spread an even layer of the ganache on top. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
- Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
- Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
- Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
- Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making this cake, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
- Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least 1 hour so it will be more firm and won’t crumble up, and prevent the ganache from melting.
Nutrition
Looking for more chocolate recipes? You should check this chocolate zucchini cake recipe by my friends over at Chef Lindsey Farr. It's a rich, moist chocolate cake made with zucchini!
Kathie
Thank you thank you thank you!!! Finally a chocolate cake recipe void of oil. I am not a fan of chocolate cake made with oil. This cake is so delicious. I am not a lover of sugary sweet desserts so I reduced the sugar amount by 50g. The flavour was perfect. The butter flavour came through. I used salted butter and eliminated the 1/2 tsp of kosher salt. I made cupcakes and the recipe yielded 24 standard size cupcakes. They were moist and spongy, not dense at all. I also skipped the ganache. It reminds me of a chocolate cake I made regularly many years ago but when I wanted to make it recently I could not find the right recipe. This recipe is a keeper.
Linda Berggren
I made this cake this morning in a bundt pan because there was too much batter for a loaf pan. It was perfectly baked at 45 minutes. So glad I checked before the timer went off! I greased the pan with butter and coated with granulated sugar. I also used GF flour, and the cake turned out moist and delicious! No need for the ganache. Thanks for a great recipe!
Roby
Hi, what about giving th recipes as well in Grams. I leave in Europe thus have no notion of Cups
RichandDelish
Hi! You have the option to convert the measurements into grams in the recipe card below! Click on 'metric'.
ida
hello, what is the size of the loaf pan?
Shamistha
Hi can I use vegetable oil instead of butter or half butter half oil? Will it affect the taste and texture ?
Diane Patnode
I don ‘t see how much kosher salt on the list of ingredients. Thank u
RichandDelish
Hi! you will need 1/2 tsp of kosher salt for this recipe.
Ani
Just made this today. It was a really good moist cholocatey cake & an easy recipe which I followed closely . The only issue was, it was dense/uncooked in the centre bottom, despite testing with skewer in 3 places. Please advise coz the fmly & I really loved the cake.
RichandDelish
Hi there! It sounds like the cake needed to bake for a little more. This cake does take a long time to bake. Hope this helps!