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    Home » Recipes » Cakes, Cupcakes & Cheesecakes

    Published: Jan 26, 2013 · Modified: Jun 20, 2019 by Paula Montenegro · Income from ads and affiliate links 25 Comments

    Chocolate Walnut Pound Cake

    Jump to Recipe

    Dense, with a lot of texture, this pound cake has walnut cream and a swirl of chocolate. It keeps well and can be frozen.

    Chocolate Swirl Walnut Pound Cake

    This chocolate swirl walnut pound cake made me look back on these past years.

    A few years ago I ventured into the gastronomic business with a small café, something you probably know if you come here often. I closed it (sold it) a few months ago, have absolutely no regrets whatsoever of any shape, size, or form, just in case you're thinking how sad, and got my life back.

    Chocolate Swirl Walnut Pound Cake

    Gastronomy.
    It's a hard life, which you hear about endlessly, and yet nothing compares to reality. Especially when you dive into it with another job going on and not a drop of experience.  Molly of Orangette, brilliantly explains the feeling 'A couple of years ago, not long after we opened Delancey, back in the days when I was still cooking there every night and trying to write on the side and living on pizza and cookie dough and adrenaline and contemplating a third career as a mass murderer, ..'

    Chocolate Swirl Walnut Pound Cake

    Now that I have more time, and before it magically disappears again, for whatever reason, I decided to start investigating certain things I had on my mind for the longest time, like nut pastes and creams.

    I am very familiar with the well-known frangipane (almond cream), a mixture of almonds, sugar, and eggs mainly, and an extraordinary base for fruit tarts, like pears, peaches, plums, figs, or apples as in this crackly apple almond tart.

    Unbaked loaf cake with chocolate swirl on metal pan. A spatula in bowl in the background.

    The almond paste is the first step when making almond cream, where the nuts are ground with powdered sugar and a binding ingredient is added, in my case egg whites, though I've made it with honey and corn syrup too.

    I often wondered why other nuts were not used as often as almonds. I mean, pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts, all marvelous flavors to use in fruit tarts. Or as is the case here, in a gooey, tender walnut chocolate pound cake.

    Streusel over cake batter in a rectangular dark metal pan.

    So, taking matters into my own hands, I made a walnut cream and used it in this cake, where it is treated almost as a butter and then swirled with chocolate, before a crumble is added on top. Simply wonderful.

    This is a pound cake with a texture, unlike a regular pound cake. It is more buttery, not so doughy. Any nut goes well with chocolate, so feel free to change the flavor.
    The crumble is a nice and crunchy surprise, which might seem too much, but it works.

    Being this a very rich cake, if you have to feed many people, it's a good idea to bake it in square form, and cut it into smaller pieces. Or serve it with coffee after a meal for a perfect sweet bite to end the night.

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    Chocolate Swirl Walnut Pound Cake

    Chocolate Swirl Walnut Pound Cake

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    Beautiful walnut loaf cake swirled with chocolate. It keeps well and can be frozen.

    • Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
    • Yield: 8 servings

    Ingredients

    Units

    For the cake:

    • 8 oz unsalted butter, at room temperature
    • ¾ teaspoon baking powder
    • ¼ cup sugar
    • 1 cup walnut paste, below
    • 5 large eggs, at room temperature
    • 2 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour
    • 4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, melted

    For the streusel:

    • ½ cup flour
    • ½ cup sugar
    • 4 oz unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

    For walnut paste:

    • 1 cup walnuts
    • 1 cup powdered sugar
    • 1 egg white

    Instructions

    For the cake:

    1. Preheat oven to 350º. Butter or spray a non-stick 9x5 inch loaf pan.
    2. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter with baking powder. Add sugar gradually and then walnut paste and beat for 2 or 3 minutes.
    3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove from the mixer and add flour in three additions, mixing well with a spatula.
    4. Pour into prepared pan, level batter and add chocolate on top. Swirl with a knife, bringing some white batter to the top. Add crumble over batter and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until a tester inserted in center comes out clean.
    5. Cool on wire rack and unmold. It keeps, well wrapped in plastic, for a few days.

    Walnut paste:

    1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, put walnuts and powdered sugar.
    2. Process until well ground and mixed.
    3. Add egg white and continue processing until a crumbly paste forms.
    4. Keeps well covered and refrigerated for a few weeks.

    For the streusel:

    1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, mix flour and sugar.
    2. Add butter and process until crumbly.
    3. Do not let it form a ball.

    Notes

    You can also use almond cream (also called frangipane) for this recipe.

    • Author: Paula Montenegro
    • Prep Time: 20 minutes
    • Cook Time: 50 minutes
    • Category: Cakes
    • Method: Baking
    • Cuisine: International

    Keywords: chocolate walnut loaf cake

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @vintagekitchenblog on Instagram and hashtag it #vintagekitchenblog

    Adapted from Pastries from La Brea Bakery, by Nancy Silverton

    More Cakes & Cheesecakes

    • Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake
    • Lemon Poppy Seed Bundt Cake
    • Red Velvet Bundt Cake
    • Chocolate Kahlua Cake

    About Paula Montenegro

    I'm Paula, a baker for more than 30 years and your designated recipe developer, sharing the best ones here with simple ingredients + easy-to-follow instructions.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

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    1. June Levy says

      February 05, 2013 at 3:47 am

      Just checking that only 1/4 cup of cane sugar is the correct amount. I know there is sugar in the walnut paste that is added to the cake, but just wanted to confirm the measurement.

      Reply
    2. June Levy says

      February 05, 2013 at 3:44 am

      As a kid I loved Sara Lee chocolate swirl pound cake which was taken off the market, then returned and taken off again.The chocolate was distinct and you could really taste the swirls. It also had almond extract. Your pictures look pretty convincing that I might be able to nearly replicate the swirl experience. One question- the cake call for 1/4 cup of sugar- is that correct? I realize the the walnut paste has 1 cup of confectionery sugar but I just wanted to confirm the sugar measurement before trying the recipe. Thanks

      Reply
    3. Carol | a cup of mascarpone says

      January 30, 2013 at 5:42 pm

      OMG, Paula! This looks absolutely incredible! I am very familiar with Nancy Silverton's wonderful recipes...I've made her bran muffins on my blog, and they are the best ever, so I'm positive this is no different!

      Reply
    4. Janet Rudolph @ DyingforChocolate says

      January 28, 2013 at 6:11 pm

      Love the walnut paste which will give it such fabulous flavor. I'm a huge fan of chocolate and walnuts.. Great recipe--and photos.

      Reply
    5. a farmer in the dell says

      January 28, 2013 at 5:35 am

      I am glad that you have the time to experiment with walnut paste now!!! how amazing.

      Reply
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    A baker for more than 30 years and your designated recipe finder, sharing the best ones on this blog, with simple ingredients + easy-to-follow instructions.

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