This chocolate sour cream pound cake is everything I love about a classic chocolate dessert: rich, moist, and full of deep cocoa flavor. The sour cream keeps the crumb soft and tender, while a splash of hot coffee (or water) enhances the chocolate beautifully.
It's simple but special — serve it plain with coffee or dress it up with a glossy chocolate glaze. If you'd rather have a buttercream-covered dessert, try my sourdough chocolate cupcakes, or for a party-style cake, my chocolate sheet cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting.
Quick Look: Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
⏱️ Ready In: About 1 hour 25 minutes
🔥 Bake Time: 45–55 minutes at 325°F
🍽️ Makes: 12 servings (10-cup Bundt)
✨ Calories: Approximately 369 per serving
🥄 Main Ingredients: Cocoa powder, sour cream, hot coffee, optional chocolate glaze
🌿 Dietary Info: Vegetarian (easily dairy-free)
💛 Why You'll Love It: A rich, moist chocolate Bundt with deep cocoa flavor and a tender crumb — lovely plain or with a glossy chocolate glaze.
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Deeply chocolatey. Bloomed cocoa plus hot coffee makes the chocolate flavor rich and full.
- Moist and tender. Sour cream gives the crumb a soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
- Simple but special. A one-bowl-ish Bundt that looks impressive with minimal fuss — cozy like my coffee and walnut loaf cake.
- Glaze optional. Beautiful dusted with powdered sugar or drizzled with chocolate glaze.
- Warmly versatile. Add espresso for a mocha note, the same direction as my chai sheet cake with espresso buttercream.
Jump to:
- Quick Look: Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients
- Easy Substitutions & Variations
- How to Make Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
- Expert Tips
- What Makes This Recipe Special?
- Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake FAQs
- Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake Troubleshooting Guide
- Storage
- Other Cake Recipes to Consider
- Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the cake
- Unsalted butter + granulated sugar: Creamed for a rich, tender crumb.
- Eggs (plus an optional extra yolk): For structure and richness.
- Vanilla extract: Rounds out the chocolate.
- All-purpose flour: The structure.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: The main chocolate flavor.
- Baking soda + kosher salt: Lift and balance.
- Sour cream: Keeps the cake moist with a subtle tang (Greek yogurt works too) — the same tender-crumb trick as my sourdough lemon pound cake.
- Hot brewed coffee or hot water: Blooms the cocoa and deepens the chocolate.
- Instant espresso powder (optional): For an even bolder, mocha-like flavor.
For the optional chocolate glaze
- Dark chocolate, heavy cream, and butter: Melted into a glossy ganache glaze.
See recipe card for quantities.
Easy Substitutions & Variations
- Sour cream: Use Greek yogurt for a similar texture.
- Coffee: Replace with hot water if you prefer no coffee flavor (it doesn't taste like coffee — it deepens the chocolate).
- Dairy-free: Use plant-based butter and a dairy-free sour cream.
- Skip the glaze: Dust with powdered sugar for a lighter finish.
- Loaf or mini loaves: Bake in a loaf pan or mini loaf pans instead of a Bundt — like my chocolate zucchini loaf cake with fudgy chocolate icing.
- Extra chocolatey: Stir in ½ cup of chocolate chips before baking.
- Nutty twist: Add chopped pecans or walnuts — or go all-in on chocolate with my triple chocolate chunk cookies.
How to Make Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
Note: I bake by weight for accuracy. Cup measurements are approximate and may vary depending on how you scoop.
Step 1: Prep and bloom the cocoa: Preheat the oven to 325°F and grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan. Whisk the hot coffee (or water) with the cocoa and espresso powder until smooth; let cool slightly.
Step 2: Mix the batter: Cream butter and sugar, then beat in eggs, vanilla, and sour cream. Whisk dry ingredients separately, then fold into wet.
Step 3: Finish & bake: Stir in the cocoa mixture until smooth and glossy. Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 325°F for 45–55 minutes.
Step 4: Cool & glaze: Let cool 10–15 minutes before unmolding. (if you wait longer, it might stick to the pan so take it out at the 10-15 minute mark).
Drizzle with optional chocolate glaze and top with powdered sugar if desired.
Weigh your ingredients! Using a kitchen scale ensures your measurements are accurate, which is key for getting consistent results in baking. It takes the guesswork out of measuring and helps your recipes turn out exactly as intended every time.
Expert Tips
- Bloom the cocoa. Whisking the cocoa with hot coffee or water deepens the chocolate flavor — don't skip it.
- Prep the pan well. Grease and flour (or use a baking spray with flour) thoroughly so the Bundt releases cleanly.
- Unmold at 10–15 minutes. No more, no less — too long in the pan and it can stick.
- Alternate wet and dry. Adding them in additions keeps the batter smooth and prevents clumping.
- Glaze a cooled cake. Let the cake cool before glazing so the ganache sets into a glossy finish.
What Makes This Recipe Special?
This is a true pound cake — dense, buttery, and tender — but made deeply chocolatey with bloomed cocoa and a splash of hot coffee. The sour cream is the secret to its soft, moist crumb, and because it bakes in a Bundt pan, it looks impressive with almost no effort. Serve it plain with coffee or drizzle on the glossy chocolate glaze for a bakery-worthy finish.
If you love this one, there's a handheld version too — my chocolate sour cream pound cake cupcakes. And for more deeply chocolate bakes, my sourdough chocolate sheet cake with brown butter buttercream and fudgy sourdough brownies are favorites.
Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake FAQs
No — the hot coffee just deepens the chocolate flavor. Use hot water instead if you'd rather skip it.
Yes — full-fat Greek yogurt gives a similar tang and keeps the cake moist.
Grease and flour the pan thoroughly (a baking spray with flour works great), and unmold at the 10–15 minute mark — not later.
Yes — use a loaf pan or mini loaf pans; adjust the bake time and check with a toothpick.
No — it's lovely plain or dusted with powdered sugar. The glaze just adds a glossy, extra-chocolatey finish.
Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake Troubleshooting Guide
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Cake stuck to the pan | Pan under-greased or cooled too long. | Grease and flour well; unmold at 10–15 minutes. |
| Dense or gummy crumb | Batter overmixed. | Mix just until combined; alternate wet and dry. |
| Weak chocolate flavor | Cocoa not bloomed. | Whisk the cocoa with hot coffee or water first. |
| Dry cake | Over-baked. | Start checking at 45 minutes; pull at a few moist crumbs. |
| Glaze ran off | Cake too warm. | Cool the cake before glazing. |
Storage
- Store tightly wrapped at room temperature for up to 3 days, or refrigerate for up to 5 days.
- Freeze slices individually (or the whole cake) wrapped in plastic and foil for up to 2 months; thaw at room temperature.
Other Cake Recipes to Consider
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Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake
Equipment
- 10-cup Bundt pan
- Mixing bowls
- Whisk
- Electric hand mixer or stand mixer
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Kitchen Scale
- Rubber spatula
- Wire cooling rack
- Heatproof bowl (for blooming cocoa and making glaze)
- Small saucepan (to heat cream and butter for the glaze)
Ingredients
For the cake
- 140 g unsalted butter ½ cup + 2 tbsp, softened
- 250 g granulated sugar 1 ¼ cups
- 2 large eggs + 1 yolk room temperature (for best texture)
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 205 g all-purpose flour 1 ¾ cups
- 35 g unsweetened cocoa powder about ⅓ cup
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 205 g sour cream ¾ cup + 1 tbsp
- 100 ml hot brewed coffee or hot water a generous ⅓ cup
- ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
Optional chocolate glaze
- 120 g dark chocolate chopped, (4 oz)
- 60 ml heavy cream ¼ cup
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Instructions
- Prep the pan: Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C). Generously grease and flour a 10-cup Bundt pan, or grease and dust with cocoa powder for a neat chocolate finish.
- Bloom cocoa: In a small bowl, whisk the hot coffee (or water) with the cocoa powder and espresso powder (if using) until smooth. Let cool slightly.100 ml hot brewed coffee or hot water, ½ teaspoon instant espresso powder, 35 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- Cream butter & sugar: In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, 2–3 minutes.140 g unsalted butter, 250 g granulated sugar
- Add eggs & vanilla: Beat in the eggs one at a time (or 2 whole + 1 yolk for extra richness), then mix in the vanilla.2 large eggs + 1 yolk, ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Mix dry ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.205 g all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- Combine wet & dry: Add ⅓ of the dry mixture to the butter mixture, then half the sour cream. Repeat with another ⅓ of dry, the rest of the sour cream, and the final ⅓ of dry ingredients. Mix gently, just until combined.205 g sour cream
- Add cocoa mixture: Pour in the bloomed cocoa mixture and stir until the batter is smooth and glossy.
- Bake: Spread the batter evenly into the prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 45–55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the deepest part comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool & glaze (optional): Let the cake cool in the pan for 10–15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. For the glaze, heat cream and butter until steaming, pour over chopped chocolate, let sit 1–2 minutes, then stir until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cake. Once set, top with powdered sugar if desired.120 g dark chocolate, 60 ml heavy cream, 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
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