This chocolate loaf cake really is a cross between chocolate cake and brownies. It's lighter than fudge brownies, but every bit as fudgy.
The cake's crumb is impossibly soft and tender, cuts into easy to serve slices that you can eat with a plate and fork, or with your fingers, on the go.
Just like this simple one layer chocolate almond cake, a chocolate loaf cake is the kind of thing that can be casual enough for an afternoon snack or dressed up for a dinner party with ice cream and hot fudge or salted caramel sauce.
Serving Suggestions
This cake is so rich and chocolatey it needs no adornment. However, I would never turn down a slice that's been topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of hot fudge.
For step by step photos and instructions, please see the original recipe: Chocolate Loaf Cake
3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1 ¼ cup (155g) cake flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoon (3oz/ 85g) butter, melted
6 tablespoon (89ml/ 85g) vegetable oil
1 ¼ cup (270g) packed brown sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup (177ml) strong hot coffee
½ cup (88g) mini chocolate chips (*optional; see note below)
Instructions
Heat oven to 350 degrees F (176 degrees C). Grease and flour the inside of a 9-inch loaf pan.
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place it in a microwave safe bowl. Place the bowl in the microwave and heat on 50% power for 2-4 minutes, stopping to stir after every 60 seconds. When the chocolate is about 90% melted, remove the bowl from the microwave and stir until the chocolate is completely melted. Set aside.
Add the cake flour, baking soda, and salt to a bowl and stir with a wire whisk to combine.
Add the melted butter, vegetable oil, brown sugar, eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla to a bowl and beat with an electric mixer on medium high speed for about 20 seconds, just until combined.
Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until fully incorporated.
Add the hot coffee and flour mixture in alternating additions, beating on low speed, starting and ending with the flour: ⅓ of the flour, ½ of the coffee, ⅓ of the flour, ½ of the coffee, ⅓ of the flour. Beat just until combined.
Stir in the mini chocolate chips, if using.
Scoop the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Set the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out without any evidence of raw batter. (*See note below.)
The chocolate chips in this recipe are optional. They add a little bit of texture to the cake's super fine texture. If you decide to use them, it's important to use mini chocolate chips in this recipe because regular-size chocolate chips have a tendency to sink to the bottom.
What if you can't find cake flour?
If you don't have cake flour, here's how to make a good substitution: Add 1 cup + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour and 3 tablespoons cornstarch to a bowl and stir with a wire whisk to combine. Use this in place of the cake flour in the recipe.
Why you should put the pan on a baking sheet
Setting the pan on a baking sheet before baking will save you the headache of a mess in the oven if the cake spills over the sides of the pan while baking.
In most cases, this won't happen. But, if your loaf pan is slightly smaller than average, or if altitude or humidity causes the batter to rise extra high, having a baking sheet under the pan will save you the hassle of cleaning burned cake from the bottom of your oven.
How to know when this cake is done baking:
This is a very moist, fudgy cake, so it can be somewhat difficult to know when it's done baking. To test the cake's doneness, insert a toothpick in the center of the loaf and remove it. The toothpick will be covered in chocolate but you shouldn't be able to see any raw batter.
Does this cake taste like coffee?
No. Coffee enhances the flavor of chocolate in this brownie cake without making the cake taste like coffee. In addition, the temperature of hot coffee reacts with the chocolate in the cake batter creating an even deeper chocolate flavor and ultra-tender crumb.
+ Subscribe to my newsletter for new and exclusive recipes in your in-box every month! As a full time traveler, living, working, cooking, and baking from a 5th wheel RV, it's also where I share our experiences of life on the road.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0