Old Fashioned Chocolate Pound Cake with Icing

If you’re looking for the best chocolate pound cake to share with your family or serve your dinner guests, you’ve got to make this homemade old fashioned chocolate pound cake with icing. This recipe is scrumptious and super easy, and with our help, we’ll make sure it turns out perfect!

This delicious chocolate cake pound cake is made with butter, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, and milk to make it super moist, fluffy and full of chocolate flavor. The decadent chocolate icing is made easily with butter, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, powdered sugar and hot water, all in one bowl!

Reasons you’ll love this recipe

• CLASSIC: Who doesn’t love a fudgy chocolate cake? It’s great to have at the house for a nice little dessert after lunch or dinner, just like our lemon pound cake recipe, and especially with a cup of tea!  
• PERFECT FOR SHARING: This chocolate cake pound cake can feed a bunch of people and is a great dessert to bring to your next occasion or make for your dinner guests! Add this to your Thanksgiving or Christmas dessert list; your friends and family will love it!
• EASY: This homemade recipe for easy chocolate pound cake is very straightforward and uses basic ingredients.  We are going to make it even easier with clear, easy steps!

Recipe Ingredients

• BUTTER: Softened butter is used in the cake batter and creamed with sugar. This helps the pound cake become moist and delicious. Melted butter is used for the chocolate icing and gives it a silky smooth texture. 
• SUGAR: Granulated sugar is used in the cake as a sweetener, and powdered/confectioners sugar is used to sweeten the chocolate icing.
• VANILLA EXTRACT: For a delicious hint of vanilla flavor, vanilla extract is used in both the cake and icing. 
• EGGS: The eggs are used in the cake batter and make the cake super rich and moist. 
• FLOUR: All-purpose flour is used in the cake batter to give it structure.
• COCOA POWDER: Cocoa powder is where all the decadent chocolate flavor comes from! It’s used in both the cake and the icing.
• SALT: To enhance the flavor of the cake, a pinch of salt is used in the batter. 
• BAKING POWDER: Baking powder is used in the cake and helps the cake rise. 
• MILK: This recipe uses 2% milk, and helps keep the cake moist. 
• HOT WATER: Boiling hot water is used in the chocolate icing and helps make the icing consistency smooth. 

See the recipe card below for the ingredient measurements. 

Kitchen Equipment

• ELECTRIC MIXER: To make the cake batter. 
• BUNDT PAN: For baking this easy chocolate pound cake.
• CAKE SERVER: For serving the perfect old fashioned chocolate slice. 
• WHISK: For making the chocolate icing.
• MESH STRAINER OR POWDERED SUGAR SIFTER: For dusting powdered sugar over the top of the cake.
• MIXING BOWLS: Three mixing bowls will be needed. One for the wet cake ingredients, one for the dry cake ingredients, and one to make the icing. 
• MEASURING SPOONS AND CUPS: For measuring the ingredients. 

Step-by-Step Instructions

Chocolate Pound Cake

1. Prepare: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease a bundt pan and set it aside. 
2. Wet Ingredients: In a mixing bowl, combine the softened butter and sugar and mix with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and eggs and mix until fully incorporated. 
3. Dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder. 
4. Combine: Alternate mixing in the dry ingredients and the milk slowly into the wet mixture bowl, while mixing on low until just incorporated. Do not overmix. 
5. Bake: Bake the cake in the middle rack uncovered for 1 hour and 15-20 minutes. Poke the cake with a fork, and if it comes out clean with a few crumbs, the cake is ready. 
6. Rest: Let the cake rest in the pan for 10 minutes and then remove it from the pan and transfer it to a cooling rack. 

Chocolate Icing

1. Combine: Mix the melted butter and cocoa powder together in a bowl. Add the vanilla and powdered sugar. Add and mix in the boiling hot water. Pour the icing over the cake and sprinkle powdered sugar over it as desired. Wait 10-15 minutes before cutting the cake to give the icing time to stop dripping.

Expert Tips

• Refrain from overmixing. To ensure you’re chocolate pound cake is fluffy and moist, try to avoid overmixing the cake batter. 
• Poke the cake with a fork. Once the cake is finished baking, poke a fork in it and if it comes out mostly clean with a few crumbs, it's ready. If it comes out wet, pop it back in the oven and check on it every two minutes until it's ready.
• Transfer the cake to a cooling rack. This will keep the cake from overcooking in the pan and drying out the cake. It’s super easy to remove cake from a bundt pan by turning a cooling rack upside down over the cake and then flipping both the cooling rack and cake over at the same time, and then removing the bundt pan from the cake.
• Let the icing thicken. After you pour the chocolate icing over the cake, give it time to stop dripping and thicken a bit. This will help you cut a clean slice of cake without any mess! 

Recipe FAQ’s

Alternative Ingredients

• Orange Zest: Talk about a flavor combo. Orange and chocolate go together like peanut butter and jelly! Add about 2 teaspoons of orange zest to the cake batter for a delicious citrus twist that will wake your taste buds. 
• Banana: Banana and chocolate are complementary flavors that pair super well together. Try adding one mashed spotted banana to the chocolate pound cake for a heavenly flavor, and rich, moist texture. You may need to cook the cake a bit longer if you add mashed banana, so keep an eye on it every few minutes!
• Coffee or Espresso: Try adding a couple of tablespoons of espresso or coffee to the cake batter. The flavor of coffee and espresso both help enhance the chocolate flavor of baked goods. 

The alternative ingredients are just suggestions and have not been tested. 

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