Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Glaze

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This easy chocolate pound cake recipe is an old-fashioned Southern favorite that’s always moist and perfect for any occasion. Pair your chocolate pound cake with glaze for the ultimate chocolate dessert.

Hero image for chocolate pound cake with glaze

I have received a lot of requests for recipes in the past, but Grandmama’s chocolate pound cake with glaze is the one cake that I am asked to make most often. It’s just a good old-fashioned chocolate pound cake recipe from my Grandmama that is sublimely soft and moist on its own. But when you add Grandmama’s rich and decadent fudge glaze (what the old folks called boiled icing), it becomes a favorite to all, especially chocolate lovers.

So, what is boiled icing? Traditionally, this means you make it in a pot on top of the oven and it is brought to a boil to thicken it. Truly it is very much like making fudge, but we use a timer instead of a thermometer to trust it gets to the right temperature.

Have you ever had your granny make one of those cakes that when she cut into it, the icing cracked and broke off in huge fudge chunks? THIS is THAT icing! I make a peanut butter version of it, too. 

It’s just a good old timeless homemade chocolate cake recipe that’s made using simple ingredients you probably already have sitting in your kitchen. I hope you get to try this cake’s melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness soon.

Ingredients for chocolate pound cake with glaze.

Recipe Ingredients

Chocolate Pound Cake

  • Milk
  • All-purpose flour
  • Sugar
  • Baking powder
  • Vanilla extract
  • Cocoa
  • 3 sticks of unsalted butter
  • 5 eggs

Chocolate Fudge Icing

  • Milk
  • Sugar
  • Cocoa
  • Unsalted butter 
  • Shortening
  • Vanilla extract
  • Salt

Now let’s get to baking…

First, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Then grease and flour your pan.

How to Grease a Cake Pan To Keep Batter From Sticking

What I do is fold a paper towel, put it over my hand and dip it into the shortening, then smear it all around.  Take a bit of flour and pour it into the pan and move your pan around, patting it a bit, to get the flour to coat the sides. Then I turn it upside down and shake out the excess flour into the trash can.

Cream butter and sugar.

Cream butter (which should be at room temperature) and sugar with mixer until light and fluffy.  Above is what “light and fluffy” looks like.

Mix dry ingredients together in separate bowl.

In a separate bowl, stir together the baking powder, flour, and cocoa powder.

Add vanilla to milk.

Add vanilla to milk.

Pound cake batter.

Alternately add milk and dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar mixture, mixing after each addition.

Add eggs, one at a time, to the cake mix while still running the mixer.

Cake batter in bundt pan.

Spoon chocolate pound cake batter into the prepared pan and spread it out a bit.

Place this in the center of the oven and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Baked chocolate pound cake.

Remove the chocolate bundt cake from the oven and let it sit for 10 minutes. 

Turn out onto cooling rack. Let cool completely while mixing up the icing.

How To Make Fudge Glaze

Making the fudge glaze - boil ingredients on stovetop.

Place milk, sugar, butter, shortening, and salt in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. 

Fudge glaze boiling in saucepot.

Stir continuously while bringing to a boil.

Once it reaches a rolling boil, stop stirring and allow it to boil on its own for 2 minutes.

Remove the chocolate fudge icing from heat.

Add cocoa powder and vanilla.

Stir until well blended.

Keep stirring icing a minute or two until it cools just a bit. I sometimes stick the bottom of my saucepan in a bowl of cool water to speed the process.

Pouring fudge glaze over chocolate pound cake.

Now act quickly!

Use a large spoon to spoon the icing over the chocolate cake or just pour directly from your saucepan. It will begin to set up rather quickly.

Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Glaze

Allow the cake to sit until the icing hardens a bit.

Slice of Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Glaze.

Dig in and enjoy this chocolate bundt cake recipe from the old days!

Storage

  • I recommend storing leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can then transfer any remaining slices to the fridge, where they will last another 3 days.
  • You can also store cooled slices of cake in an airtight container (or double wrapped) in the freezer for up to two months. Thaw in the fridge or at room temperature before serving.

Recipe Notes

  • Make sure all ingredients for this chocolate pound cake recipe are at room temperature before you begin.
  • If you want to skip the chocolate glaze, I’ll forgive you! Here are some other serving suggestions:
    • Serve the chocolate pound cake with a dusting of powdered sugar.
    • Opt for a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a drizzle of chocolate syrup.
    • Serve with some fresh berries.
  • If this isn’t enough chocolate flavor for you, add a cup of semisweet chocolate chips to your chocolate pound cake batter!
  • I recommend using natural unsweetened cocoa powder, regular cocoa, or Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
  • To know if your chocolate bundt cake is cooked, insert a toothpick in the center, between the inner and outer edges. if it comes out clean, you’re good to go!

Recipe FAQs

What do I do if I don’t have a bundt pan?

Fear not! This chocolate pound cake with glaze tastes delicious no matter the pan you choose. You can instead use 2 8-inch cake pans or 3 6-inch cake pans. Just keep an eye on your cakes, as they might cook faster in separate pans. You can also use a 9×5-inch loaf pan.

You might also enjoy these other delicious cake recipes:

Apple Pound Cake

Aunt Sue’s Famous Pound Cake

Buttermilk Lime Pound Cake

Pound Cakes In Jars

Easy Birthday Cake Recipe From Scratch

Fresh Strawberry Cake With Cream Cheese Icing

Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Glaze

This easy chocolate pound cake with glaze is an old-fashioned Southern favorite that's always moist and perfect for any occasion.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cake, chocolate
Servings: 4
Calories: 783kcal

Ingredients

Chocolate Pound Cake

  • 1 1/2 cups butter
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk

Fudge Glaze

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 7 tablespoons whole milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons shortening
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1/2 cup cocoa

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325. Grease and flour bundt pan and set aside.
  • Cream butter in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
    1 1/2 cups butter, 3 cups sugar, 5 eggs
  • In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, and baking powder. Measure milk and stir vanilla into it. Add milk and flour mixture alternately to the cake batter in the mixing bowl, mixing after each addition.
    1/2 cup cocoa, 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 cup milk, 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Pour cake mix into the prepared pan and bake for one hour and 20 minutes. Let the chocolate cake cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan and allowing it to cool completely before adding glaze.

Fudge Glaze

  • For the glaze, combine the sugar, cocoa, milk, shortening, margarine, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Once it reaches a rolling boil, allow it to boil without stirring for two minutes. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Stir until cooled just slightly.
    1 1/2 cups sugar, 7 tablespoons whole milk, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons shortening, 2 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup cocoa, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • Spoon over the cooled cake.

Nutrition

Calories: 783kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

 

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103 Comments

  1. Can you please confirm the correct amount of milk in the cake recipe. The recipe calls for 1 cups of milk, so I don’t know if it should have been 1 cup or 1 1/4 cups, etc.

    Thanks

    1. Did you ever get a response on the milk portion on that chocolate pound cake?? it calls for “1 cups” & I agree south you, it doesn’t seem like enough!!! Need help NOW, my phone is 254 723-9026, thx diana

      1. Hey Diana! Some days I get thousands of comments a day on this site so a few inevitably slip through the cracks.
        The measurements in this recipe are correct as written. In fact when I want to make this now I just pull up this page and use it as my recipe.
        Hope this helps!
        I’d really reconsider before listing your phone number on here or anywhere publicly on the net for that matter. Southernplate folks are good as gold but trust me, there are some craaaazy folks on the Internet! 🙂
        Gratefully,
        Christy

  2. I am a SOUTHERN girl through and through….born and raised in Georgia! Chocolate pound cake is my absolute FAVORITE dessert of all time! I am really looking forward to making this! Thanks for sharing!

  3. Christy: Thanks for letting me use your chocolate pound cake with icing recipe. I baked it today and it is incredible. I can’t wait for my family to try it tonight

  4. My Mama (actually grandmother age 92) always made this type of icing to put on a yellow cake. I put in on a sheet cake, but she put hers on a two layer cake. Absolutely my favorite – she would also make a caramel icing that would have the same hard, candy-like texture. She always used that on her Jam Cakes that she made every Christmas.

  5. My mom makes a frosting that she cooks on the stovetop, but it doesn’t crack when we cut into it. She likes to make a sheet cake (well, in a 9×13 pan) and chop it all up with a fork, then pour the icing all over it-it soaks down into the cake when she does this. Perhaps that is why I have never noticed if it cracks. It is part of the cake. I will try the cake the way you have posted, then try the icing on a sheet cake and see if it is the same. Thanks for sharing this!!

  6. You’re right. I buy a lot from Sam’s Club and freeze. I forget how expensive buying individually can be. This is a wonderful place to live. Not too swift on those conversions. Have only lived here 18 months. Originally from NC. I will give the cake a try and let you know! It looks yummy in the picture. Blessings!

    1. eek! You’d think there would be a book they hand you with all of the handy dandy cooking conversions in it for newcomers! Wish we knew who to call on that!
      I think North Carolina is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, but I’m sure Montana isn’t far behind!

  7. A good southern cook always uses real butter! I can’t stand anything fake. Yep, I still use grease to make my gravies etc. Looking forward to making this cake this afternoon. I live in Wyoming at 8200 ft. How much more flour will I need to all?? Have an awesome day!!!

    1. A poor Southerner can’t be a good Southerner, then! lol I use butter when I can afford it. I guess I’ll get demerits on my Scarlett O Hara card. I’ve never been to Wyoming, have always wanted to see it though, but I’m afraid I’m little to no help when it comes to altitude conversions, you’d be the expert there! Do let me know how it turns out though!
      Gratefully,
      Christy

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