This easy chocolate pound cake is flavoured with espresso, cinnamon, and cardamom. Makes a great snack but also you can serve slices of chocolate espresso pound cake topped with berries for a pretty dessert !
Pound cake recipes
Replace flour with cocoa powder
How to serve pound cake
Pound cake doesn't have to be fancy or elaborate and it shouldn't require hours of your time, but that doesn't mean it should be boring. Slices of pound cake served with coffee or tea in the afternoon are perfect. The slices of cake make a great snack or dessert to pack in a lunch box too. For dinner and dinner parties, you can serve slices of pound cake with whipped cream and fresh berries or even roasted rhubarb! Fun toppings are the way to go when it comes to the simple pound cake.
Chocolate espresso pound cake recipe
I baked this chocolate loaf cake in an OXO non-stick loaf cake pan that is slightly smaller than the usual 9x5in (this pan is closer to 8.5 in L x 4.5 in W). The gold finish is non-stick which makes unmoulding loaf cakes less stressful, but the finish isn't so dark that cakes bake too quickly on the edges. The OXO loaf cake pan available on Amazon if you want to check it out! The plates used in the photos above are from Le Creuset, specifically the salad/dessert plates from the Minimalist line of dinnerware in Meringue colour. Dishwasher safe and they are even oven-safe (broiler too!) and microwave-safe!
Chocolate espresso pound cake
Equipment
Ingredients
- 130 grams (1 cup) bleached all-purpose flour
- 45 grams (½ cup) Cacao Barry extra brute cocoa powder sifted
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon (¾ teaspoon) baking powder
- 230 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
- 150 grams (¾ cups) granulated sugar
- 100 grams (½ cups) light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) instant espresso powder
- 4 (4 ) large egg(s)
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan. Line with parchment, then grease and dust with cocoa powder.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sifted cocoa, spices, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugars, and espresso powder until it is nice and smooth.
- Gradually add in the egg/vanilla mixture. Scrape the bowl as needed with a spatula.
- Gradually add in the dry ingredients, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Drop the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top.
- Bake for 1 hour–1 hour 10 minutes. Remove from the oven
- Let the loaf cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack.
Nutrition
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RavieNomNoms says
That looks incredible!
thehungryartist says
Yes, I don't deal with light bulbs either! lol.
Love that you added cocoa and omitted the other stuff, so that it didn't get in between you and the cocoa flavor!
Victor says
This looks heavenly delicious!
briarrose says
Beautiful job! This looks so tasty.
[email protected] says
There are no problems that can't be made better with chocolate poundcake.
Joy says
That looks wonderful.
The Mom Chef says
Well, I don't like chocolate, but I did laugh out loud at the serving size; and the story. Bravo to you for figuring it out!
Nina says
Wow. At first I thought, "how did I miss this one in that issue of BA?" I never miss a good pound cake. Then I realized the recipe is not one I would have made. Your adaptation is perfect and my kind of cake. Cocoa + Espresso = poundcake heaven.
Sarah says
Hi! This is a really nice recipe and my cake turned out really good. One thing to note though, is that you are missing butter from your list of ingredients. I found the amount of butter needed by going to the original recipe, but just figured I should inform you on this. Thanks for a great recipe!
Janice says
Sarah, thank you so much for commenting and catching that mistake! Much appreciated! And I'm glad the cake turned out well (after you did a little investigating to find the butter).
Marcellina says
Wow this cake includes my favorite flavours - chocolate and coffee! Can’t wait to try it.