Julie Clark
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Mocha Pound Cake
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Sour cream mocha pound cake recipe made in a loaf pan. This moist from scratch cake is flavored with chocolate and coffee and topped with a rich chocolate glaze. It’s like your favorite coffee shop drink in a cake.
Pound cake is one of my favorites. Well, if we are being real, all cakes are my favorite! But what I love about pound cake is the moist, close crumb and how it stays fresh for several days. Did you know they originally got the name from the weight of the ingredients? One pound each of flour, sugar, butter and eggs. Before the age of the internet, that certainly was an easy recipe to memorize!
Today pound cakes come in all shapes and flavors, and this one is no exception. The mocha flavor comes from a bit of cocoa powder, and some instant coffee. You can also use instant espresso powder. I generally have one or the other in my pantry, but just for baking. I usually don’t drink instant. I just take a whole pot of regular drip coffee, thank you 🙂
The recipe makes enough for a loaf pan pound cake. Essentially about half the size of a pound cake baked in a circular bundt pan. I find with pound cake the slices can be thinner, and this was enough for approximately 10 slices. Of course that can vary according to how thick you would like to slice it!
Pound cakes rise because of the air bubbles created when creaming together the butter and sugar, and from the eggs being beaten into the batter. Now recipes today ordinarily include a bit a leavener, and I did too but just as a little insurance. Dense is good for pound cake, but a flat and under-risen cake is not the same!
I add sour cream to make the cake extra moist. As a substitute, sometimes I’ll use greek yogurt if that’s all I have on hand. The chocolate glaze could not be easier. Just melt together chocolate chips and butter. That’s it! Pour the glaze on while it is still warm, and then as it cools it will firm up to more of a frosting consistency. I love the way it drips down the sides, so inviting!
Although it’s fun to think about which cake is my favorite, the more important choice is which one to bake next? After this pound cake, maybe Marble cake, coffee cake, or even a ricotta olive oil cake. My wish list never ends 🙂
Mocha Pound Cake
Sour cream mocha pound cake recipe made in a loaf pan. This moist from scratch cake is flavored with chocolate and coffee and topped with a rich chocolate glaze. It’s like your favorite coffee shop drink in a cake.
Servings 10 servings
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter Softened
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar (8 ounces)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cups and ⅓ cup cake flour (6 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon instant coffee
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking Powder
- ½ cup sour Cream
For the glaze
- ½ cup chocolate Chips
- 3 tablespoons butter
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare an 8x4 loaf pan by lining with parchment, or grease and lightly flour.
- In a small bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, coffee, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer for several minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs and yolk, 1 at a time, beating for 15 seconds after each one. Add in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again for several seconds.
- With the mixer on low, add in ½ the flour mixture, then the sour cream, followed by the rest of the flour mixture. As soon as the flour is absorbed stop the mixer. It is important not to overmix at this point. Sometimes I mix in the last addition of flour by hand.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean, or with just one or two moist crumbs attached.
- Allow to cool 15 minutes in the pan, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
For the Glaze:
- Melt the chocolate chips and butter together in the microwave. Stir until smooth. Pour over the top of the cooled cake.
Video
Notes
If you don’t have cake flour, it can be made by replacing 1 tablespoon flour with cornstarch per cup of all purpose flour. If you only have a 9x5 inch loaf pan, the cake will not be as high so it will bake quicker.
Nutrition
Serving: 90g | Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 19g
Is it possible to substitute espresso powder for the instant coffee 1:1 ?
I’d also like to sub semisweet/dark chocolate chips.
Your recipe says to combine all the dry ingredients including the sugar. That’s a typo since you follow it up by saying to cream together the sugar and butter which is how you’d normally bake a cake.