Bundt cake dusted with powdered sugar

Dietary: Contains dairy, eggs, and gluten; vegetarian-friendly.

Retro Pound Cake with Chocolate

A fluffy, marbled pound cake inspired by Philadelphia bakery traditions. Cream cheese enriches the batter while a deep chocolate swirl adds contrast in both flavor and presentation.

Instructions

  1. Heat the oven and prep the pan

    Preheat to 325 °F (160 °C). Spray a 10-cup Bundt pan with nonstick spray and dust with flour, tapping out the excess so the swirl releases cleanly.

    Prepared Bundt pan coated with flour

  2. Whisk the dry ingredients

    Whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt until evenly combined. Set aside.

    Bowl filled with sifted dry ingredients

  3. Cream fats and sugar

    Beat cream cheese, butter, and vegetable shortening until pale and fluffy (3 min). Sift in dry ingredients on low and mix until combined (1 min).

    Mixer bowl filled with fluffy pound cake batter

  4. Add eggs and vanilla

    In a 2-cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together eggs and vanilla extract; set aside. With stand mixer running on low, slowly add 1 cup granulated sugar, then slowly pour in egg mixture. Add remaining sugar and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes, scraping the edges and bottom of bowl as needed to ensure mixture is well combined.

    Silky batter streaming into a mixing bowl

  5. Make the chocolate swirl base

    Whisk chopped chocolate, sugar, cocoa, and espresso powder. Add hot water and stir smooth. Fold in 1 ½ cups of batter to create the swirl.

  6. Marble the batter

    Spoon half of the vanilla batter into the pan, dollop the chocolate on top, cover with the rest of the vanilla, and drag a knife through to swirl.

    Chocolate batter swirled into vanilla batter in a Bundt pan

  7. Bake and cool

    Bake 55–65 min until golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool 25 min, then invert and let cool completely before finishing.

    Baked Bundt cake cooling on a rack

  8. Serve

    Dust the cooled cake with confectioners' sugar or drizzle with warm chocolate sauce. Slice with a serrated knife for clean edges.

Make-ahead & storage

The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerated for up to 5 days.