This chocolate sour cream pound cake is moist, and chocolaty, and is topped with a silky smooth chocolate ganache.
This cake has a velvety crumb and deep chocolate taste. To make it even more indulgent, it's often topped with a smooth chocolate ganache.
The ganache is a simple mixture of chocolate and cream that, when poured over the cake, creates a glossy, decadent finish and a creamy and rich chocolate flavor.
This extra layer of chocolate adds another dimension of flavor and texture, making each bite a perfect balance of sweetness and richness.
Whether served on a special occasion or enjoyed as an everyday treat, this cake is sure to satisfy any chocolate lover's cravings.
For more delicious chocolate cake recipes, check out my chocolate mayonnaise cake, chocolate brooklyn blackout cake, chocolate caramel cake, and Matildas chocolate cake.
Jump to:
Why this recipe works
- Chocolate flavor- the combination of chocolate and sour cream creates a deep, complex taste that's both indulgent and tangy. The sour cream adds a subtle tartness that perfectly balances the sweetness of the chocolate.
- Texture- sour cream is a secret ingredient that ensures the pound cake remains incredibly moist, even days after baking. This results in a tender crumb that melts in your mouth with each bite.
- Versatile- this cake is suitable for various occasions, from casual family gatherings to more formal events. It's equally delicious served as a simple afternoon treat or dressed up for a special celebration.
- Chocolate ganache topping- the smooth, glossy, and luxurious chocolate ganache topping adds an extra layer of chocolatey goodness and visual appeal.
- Long shelf life- thanks to its dense structure and moist ingredients, this pound cake stays fresh longer. It can be enjoyed over several days, making it an excellent make-ahead option for busy households or entertaining.
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; avoid margarine and coconut oil. Margarine has an unusual taste that can ruin the cake's flavor.
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. Make sure that your baking powder and baking soda aren’t expired.
Espresso powder- to enhance the chocolate flavor and make it richer. You won't taste the coffee on the cake.
Granulated sugar– I 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. Room-temperature heavy cream is best for this recipe.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Add the soft butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract, into a large mixing bowl, and cream it with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes or until it's light in color.
Add the buttermilk, sour cream, and eggs, and mix until well combined. Sift the cocoa powder, and mix until well combined.
Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until the mixture is just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible.
Pour the batter into a parchment paper-lined loaf pan and smooth the batter with an offset spatula.
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
Pour the cream into a saucepan and heat it over medium heat until it begins to simmer gently. Be careful not to let it boil over.
While the cream is heating, chop your chocolate into small pieces. This helps it melt evenly.
Once the cream is hot, pour it over the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes without stirring to allow the heat from the cream to melt the chocolate.
After letting it sit, gently stir with a whisk or spatula until you have a smooth, glossy mixture.
Pour the chocolate ganache over the cooled cake and spread it evenly with an offset spatula. 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.
- 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.
- Cream the butter and sugar well. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This step is crucial for a tender cake texture.
- 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.
- If refrigerated, serve at room temperature for optimal taste. Bring the chocolate cake to room temperature before serving to ensure that the frosting and the cake are creamy and not hard and will melt in your mouth.
- Check doneness early. Start checking if your cake is done about 5 minutes before the recommended baking time by inserting a toothpick into the center; it should come out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- 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 to let it reach room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If it's too cold, it will be harder to mix, and lumps of butter will form in the cake batter.
- Cool completely before ganache. Let your pound cake cool completely on a wire rack before pouring ganache over it to avoid melting or thinning out too much of it on contact with heat.
Faq's
Pound cakes can become dry due to overmixing, incorrect ingredient ratios, overbaking, or improper storage. To keep your cake moist, measure ingredients accurately, mix minimally, follow baking times, and allow it to cool completely before serving.
Sour cream enhances cakes by adding moisture, richness, and tangy flavor. Its acidity activates baking soda, promoting rise and lighter texture. The fat content improves mouthfeel, resulting in moist, flavorful cakes.
Pound cake differs from regular cake in its ingredients and texture. It traditionally uses equal parts flour, butter, eggs, and sugar, resulting in a denser, richer texture with a tighter crumb and slightly crisp exterior.
This makes it ideal for slicing and toasting, unlike the lighter, fluffier regular cakes.
Storing
Cover tightly with plastic wrap or place in an airtight container. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate for up to 5 days. If refrigerated, bring to room temperature before serving.
Freezing
First, cool the cake completely to prevent condensation. Then, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap to avoid freezer burn.
Since the loaf is topped with ganache, freeze it uncovered for an hour first to harden the topping before wrapping.
For slices, chill the loaf, cut portions, wrap each slice in plastic wrap, and store them together in a container or freezer bag.
This way, you can thaw only what you need while keeping the freshness intact. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw portions at room temperature or in the fridge before serving.
Substitutions
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.
Serving Tips
Whipped cream- top each slice of cake with a dollop of whipped cream.
Vanilla ice cream- add a large scoop of ice cream next to a slice of this cake.
Berries- top each slice of cake with fresh berries of your choice like raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.
Equipment
- Mixing bowls- best glass mixing bowls.
- Whisk set- our favorite copper whisk set.
- Loaf pan
- Offset spatula
- Rubber spatula
- Electric hand mixer
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.
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.
If you tried this recipe, don’t forget to leave a rating and a comment below. We love hearing from you.
If you liked this recipe:
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup Butter room temp, unsalted
- 4 Eggs
- 1 ½ cups Granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ⅔ 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
- 3.5 oz Dark chocolate or semisweet
- 3.5 oz Heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c (350f) and prepare a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Add the soft butter, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract, into a large mixing bowl, and cream it with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes or until it's light in color.
- Add the buttermilk, sour cream, and eggs, and mix until well combined. Sift the cocoa powder, and mix until well combined.
- Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda, and mix until the mixture is just combined and there are no lumps of flour visible.
- Pour the batter into a parchment paper-lined loaf pan and smooth the batter with an offset spatula.
- 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
- Pour the cream into a saucepan and heat it over medium heat until it begins to simmer gently. Be careful not to let it boil over.
- While the cream is heating, chop your chocolate into small pieces. This helps it melt evenly.
- Once the cream is hot, pour it over the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Let it sit for about 5 minutes without stirring to allow the heat from the cream to melt the chocolate.
- After letting it sit, gently stir with a whisk or spatula until you have a smooth, glossy mixture.
- Pour the chocolate ganache over the cooled cake and spread it evenly with an offset spatula. 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.
- 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.
- Cream the butter and sugar well. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This step is crucial for a tender cake texture.
- 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.
- If refrigerated, serve at room temperature for optimal taste. Bring the chocolate cake to room temperature before serving to ensure that the frosting and the cake are creamy and not hard and will melt in your mouth.
- Check doneness early. Start checking if your cake is done about 5 minutes before the recommended baking time by inserting a toothpick into the center; it should come out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- 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 to let it reach room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If it's too cold, it will be harder to mix, and lumps of butter will form in the cake batter.
- Cool completely before ganache. Let your pound cake cool completely on a wire rack before pouring ganache over it to avoid melting or thinning out too much of it on contact with heat.
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!
Min Jie says
Thank you for this recipe!! The cake is dense and tastes so good!
Darlene says
Perfection on a plate! This cake is amazing, a goldilocks cake, not to sweet, not dry, but dense, rich and delicious. I made a chocolate mousse instead of the ganache, mmmm, a few raspberries, sides of vanilla iced cream for those who need it, and it’s just wow! Thanks!
Nadine says
Easy peasy, very good. Thank you!
Kathie says
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 says
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 says
Hi, what about giving th recipes as well in Grams. I leave in Europe thus have no notion of Cups
RichandDelish says
Hi! You have the option to convert the measurements into grams in the recipe card below! Click on 'metric'.
ida says
hello, what is the size of the loaf pan?
Shamistha says
Hi can I use vegetable oil instead of butter or half butter half oil? Will it affect the taste and texture ?
Diane Patnode says
I don ‘t see how much kosher salt on the list of ingredients. Thank u
RichandDelish says
Hi! you will need 1/2 tsp of kosher salt for this recipe.
Ani says
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 says
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!