Of course y’all know that I love to cook, but did you know that I’m really not much of a baker? Baked goods kind of make me crazy. All that fiddly measuring and beating and folding. Well, it’s just not so much my favorite kitchen activity. I’d much rather be making a savory recipe, throwing in a dash of this and a pinch of that. So when I do decide to bake it’s usually something easy and quick. Like a one pan cake or maybe muffins or cupcakes. They’re just so easy and simple, you know?
That’s why I thought this Chocolate Walnut Pound Cake would be the perfect recipe for a Valentine’s Day treat. Simple ingredients. Not too much measuring. One pan. How could you go wrong with that? Plus it has a double dose of chocolate. Serve this with a dollop of whipped cream. Or some fresh sweetened strawberries. Or both! Your Valentine will thank you.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Butter a 9x5x3 loaf pan and dust it with sifted cocoa. Any time you’re making a chocolate cake, dust your pans with cocoa. It keeps the finished cake from having a dusting of white flour on the outside. Just makes a prettier layer.
Now cream the butter and then add the sugar gradually. Continue beating the butter and sugar for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternately with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
Stir in the vanilla extract, nuts, and chopped chocolate.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes being very careful not to overcook.
Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn the cake out on a wire rack and allow it to cool completely.
Enjoy!
–Recipe from The Pound Cake Cookbook by Bibb Jordan
A moist, rich pound cake with walnuts and a double dose of chocolate.
Ingredients
- Sifted cocoa, for preparing the pan
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup cocoa
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt at room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
- 6 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Butter a 9x5x3 loaf pan and dust with sifted cocoa.
- Cream the butter.
- Add the sugar gradually and continue beating for 5 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternately with the yogurt, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Stir in the vanilla extract, nuts, and chopped chocolate.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for approximately 1 hour, 10 minutes being very careful not to overcook.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Turn the cake out on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.
Other chocolate pound cake recipes you might enjoy from around the internet:
- Chocolate Pound Cake from Leite’s Culinaria
- Double Chocolate Pound Cake from a Dash of Sass
- Bake or Break’s Buttermilk Mexican Chocolate Pound Cake
- Joy of Baking’s Chocolate Pound Cake
- Double Chocolate Pound Cake from London Foodie in New York
What I was cooking…
- One year ago: Peas with Lettuce
- Two years ago: Neena’s Company Chicken
- Three years ago: Overnight Sweet Rolls
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh yum, this is my kind of pound cake! Although I’m not a big fan of nuts in cakes, I think walnuts pair perfectly with chocolate!
My usual first choice of nut for most anything is pecans, but I do agree that walnuts and chocolate are really nice together.
This is the pound cake of my dreams. I love how it looks and I am sure it tastes chocolaty delicious!
It’s definitely a dreamy chocolate cake, Mari!
This looks yummy. I’ll bet it is good served warm. Great Valentine dessert.
It is delicious warm! With a little scoop of vanilla ice cream :-)
Looks delicious – great flavors and love that you use yogurt in the recipe
mary x
Yes, the yogurt really helps keep it moist for several days, Mary.
Love pound cake. Your photos are great, and the recipe looks easy. Great combination! Can’t wait to try this
You seem like such a great baker! You should do it more often! ;)
You know, my baked goods do always turn out great. It’s just not my favorite thing. I’m much more of a savory girl :-)
That looks gorgeous, Lana. Love walnuts, especially with chocolate!
I don’t know what you are talking about, not a baker? This looks amazing, like a beautiful loaf of chocolate happiness! :-) Hugs, Terra
Thanks, Terra! Actually, I’m a pretty good baker. It’s just that I don’t really enjoy baking. Much rather be cooking up something nice and savory :-)
Thank you for a great recipe.
I tried a somewhat lighter version today: I used only half of the butter (1 stick), 1/5 less sugar + only 4 tbsp cocoa. With all the wonderful cocoa taste, I skipped the chocolate altogether, while slightly increasing the amount of yogurt (I used plain + real vanilla from a pod) and walnuts (1 cup) – it worked wonderfully!! :-)
It looks amazing Lana ! Can’t wait to try it , and I’m sure it will turn out great .
what is 11/3 cup sugar what does that mean? how much do i use
That means one whole cup plus 1/3 cup of sugar.