Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Imagine a moist, tender pound cake and a chocolate chip cookie all in one, and you have this chocolate chip pound cake. Rich and buttery, there’s a generous swirl of chocolate chips throughout. It’s decadent and luscious, reminiscent of your favorite chocolate chip cookie dough. It’s perfect as a dessert or snack, on it’s own or with a chocolate frosting on top.

Pound cakes are such a classic, and classy dessert. But what if we made it…fun? I really do love a good chocolate chip cookie, and possibly the cookie dough even more. Chocolate chip pound cake brings all that together into one glorious dessert.

Traditional pound cakes follow a particular formula (a pound of butter, sugar, flour, etc.), and don’t have any rising agents like baking soda or powder. However, that generally yields a cake that’s a bit stodgy and dense.

So instead, I added just a bit of baking powder, and played with the liquid and dry ingredient quantities to get the texture of a classic pound cake without it being unpleasantly dense. I made an embarrassing number of these cakes to make it perfect, but the end result is so very worth it.

It’s buttery and tender, with just enough chocolate to make a statement without being overpowering. You can sprinkle sugar over the top of the cake before baking for a crusty, sweet topping. Or, make a batch of chocolate glaze for an extra decadent dessert.

What to Serve with a Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

This cake is really perfect all on it’s own. In fact, it’s even great as a snacking cake since it’s sturdy. However, if you want to go for a more formal presentation, you could serve it with a scoop of vanilla or strawberry ice cream. Or maybe some berries and a dollop of whipped cream?

Ingredients

• Butter — I like to use salted butter in all my baking, but you can use unsalted if you prefer it. Increase the salt by 1/4 teaspoon if you do.
  
• Granulated Sugar
  
• Eggs
  
• Vanilla Extract
  
• Milk –Whole is always best for baking, but use whatever you’ve got on hand!
  
• All-purpose flour
  
• Baking Powder — The leavening that gives your cake a little boost. Don’t sub baking soda, as it will ruin the texture and flavor of the finished cake.
  
• Salt — It rounds flavors and just makes them taste fuller.
  
• Mini Chocolate Chips — The star of this show, but still not a scene stealer.

Ingredient Substitutions

• If you only have large chocolate chips, you can use those instead of minis. The larger chips won’t be as well distributed as the mini chips, but will still work well!
• For the topping, you can sprinkle a tablespoon of sugar on before baking rather than making the chocolate frosting. This will give the pound cake a lovely crusty, sweet topping.

Equipment Needed

• Electric Hand Mixer — you can make this pound cake with nothing but a spoon and bowl, but the mixer not only combines ingredients more thoroughly, it also helps aerate the batter for a lighter finished product.
• Mixing Bowl — nothing fancy, glass or stainless are my preferences, but use whatever you’ve got on hand.
• Rubber Spatula
• Kitchen Scale or Measuring Cups and Spoons — I will forever preach the doctrine of baking with a scale for accurate, consistent results, but you do what you’re most comfortable with.
• 6 cup loaf pan— This is entirely up to you, and how fancy you want your cake to be. If you opt for a standard loaf pan, a metal version will give you the best results. If you want to go for a little more, this Nordicware loaf pan is beautiful. Just be aware that you’ll have to trim the domed top off your cake to be able to flip it and show off that gorgeous pattern.

Making the Chocolate Chip Pound Cake

Mixing the Batter

Grease a 6 cup bundt or loaf pan. If it’s not a non-stick pan, flour it after greasing. Preheat the oven to 325°.

In a mixing bowling, beat together the softened butter and sugar until it’s fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one. This helps create an emulsion, or more evenly dispersed the liquids and blend them with the fat of the butter. Add the vanilla extract with the last egg.

Put about half of the flour in the bowl (it doesn’t need to be exact), as well as the salt and baking powder. Stir it in until it’s just incorporated into the wet ingredients.

Add the milk and mix until it’s well combined, then add the rest of the flour. Stir until there’s just a few visible traces of flour, then dump in the chocolate chips. Fold them into the batter until they’re well distributed and the flour is thoroughly mixed.

Scoop the mixed batter into the prepared baking pan. Spread it out into an even layer, making sure it’s spread into the corners of the pan.

If you are not planning to frost the cake, evenly sprinkle a generous tablespoon of sugar over the top of the loaf.

Baking the Cake

Bake the cake at 325° for an hour, then check to see if it’s done. The center should be domed, and the outside a deep golden brown. Make sure the center is baked by inserting a toothpick. If it’s still doughy in the center, continue to bake until it’s done.

A loaf pan will take longer than a ring bundt pan to bake because they have less surface area and the cake is much thicker. My loaf took about an hour and a half, but yours may take more or less depending on the accuracy of your oven temperature.

Making the Frosting for the Cake

Set out a bowl that’s slightly larger than your small saucepan and fill it most of the way with ice and cold water. Get out your hand mixer with the beaters ready to go.

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, butter, cocoa powder, and sugar together. Place it on a burner set to medium heat and stir it constantly. Turn the heat down if you feel like the edges of the pan are scorching.

Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly. Allow it to boil, continuing to stir, for 1 minute. Remove pan from the heat and pour in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Place the pan of frosting in the bowl of ice water, holding onto it to make sure it stays above the water level. Beat it with a hand mixer or whisk until it thickens to a pour-able consistency, with whisk marks staying behind when you mix. Don’t overbeat the frosting, as it can become fudge.

Pour the frosting over the cake and allow it to harden slightly before slicing.

Recipe Notes and Tips

• Don’t overmix the batter, and it can create gluten strands and make a tougher cake
• If you’re using a metal pan, make sure to grease and flour it before putting the batter in. If you opt for a nonstick, like the Nordicware option above, greasing it should be sufficient.

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