Chocolate Pound Cake

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 1

Total Time: 1 20

Servings: people

Sweet and rich in flavor, this Chocolate Pound Cake is just what your taste buds desire. It's a delightful twist on my usual pound cake, and the best part… half the butter.

Ingredients

2½ cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon fine salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup sour cream
½ cup whole milk
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons water, boiling
¾ cup sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup bittersweet chocolate chips
½ cup dried cranberries
⅓ cup caster sugar

US - Metric

Instructions

Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat at 350º. Butter and flour a Bundt cake pan with butter and flour, tap out the excess. Sprinkle caster sugar evenly on bottom of pan.
Whisk flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
Whisk sour cream and milk in a small bowl.
Sift cocoa into a small bowl. Whisk in honey and 2 tablespoons boiling water until smooth. Cool completely.
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in another medium bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Beat in eggs 1 at the time, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. Beat in vanilla. Add cocoa mixture, stir until smooth, scraping down the bowl occasionally.
Beat in flour mixture alternately with sour cream in 2 additions each until just blended.
Stir in chocolate chips and dried cranberries.
Transfer batter to prepared pan, smooth top.
Bake until tester inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 1 hour. Remove cake from pan and cool.
Sprinkle with powder sugar.

Notes

I used a small Bundt cake pan; however, a regular 9 x 5 x 3 loaf pan will also work.
For great chocolate, I recommend Droste or Ghirardelli. They are two of my favorites with the best pure flavor. I have been using Droste, a Dutch-process cocoa powder, since I was a child living in France, and I have never been able to find another that I like so much.
Sift all your dry ingredients to ensure that no small pieces pass through. Sifted flour is best for all baking, as it allows it to be lighter.
To prevent having a white flour-looking cake when serving, I mix a tablespoon of chocolate into the flour, mix well, and then add the chocolate-flour mixture to the cake pan after it is buttered. Shake off any excess. Once your cake is served, no traces of flour will be there.

Nutrition

Giangi's Kitchen provides nutritional information, but these figures should be considered estimates, as a registered dietician does not calculate them.