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Chocolate Loaf Cake

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This is the best and easiest moist Chocolate Loaf Cake I have ever made. A bold but true statement I knows. It took me rather unawares……….

chocolate loaf cakeI love researching for this blog. I love pouring over cook books, discovering simple delicious recipes and I LOVE eating all my experiments of course, well most of them……….

I only write the recipes here that really, really float my boat and I feel passionately about. I could shout very loudly about all of them but this one I would run naked through Sainsburys for……..

It is DIVINE. It’s  simplicity in making only adds to it’s stupendous qualities. Damp and so deeply chocolatey you can’t believe it only contains cocoa. It just can’t be………

I first made it at the weekend when the P.T.A put out a distress call for Cakes and Biscuits for the local village fete. NO one had donated a single crumb.

How awful I thought, imagining crestfallen P.T.A mums standing around a packet of store bought Garibaldis all day.

That’s not going to even raise enough for a Pritt Stick. So at 6 a.m the next morn  I found myself answering that call to arms in my very unattractive pyjamas (my top has shrunk….yeah right).

chocolate loaf cake sliced in halfI knew exactly what I wanted to bake. I couldn’t muster up the energy or enthusiasm for a sandwich cake. I get stressed about all the levelness involved if it’s for public consumption.

I needed something super reliable and no nonsense. A builders answer to a Victoria Sandwich if you like. I also wanted a bit of a WOW factor. You know what the school gates can be like……

So I came up with this dark beauty of a Chocolate Loaf Cake and I think it is in my top three of favourite family recipes…… ALREADY.

Chocolate Loaf Recipe

It was taken in part from Nigella’s Quadruple Chocolate Loaf and  tinkered with to suit what I had in my fridge and the needs of my P.T.A ego.

The original used dark chocolate chips but as I usually do I substituted milk chocolate instead. I used Green & Black’s Baking Milk Chocolate and it kept it’s chunkiness in baking just brilliantly. I cut up a bar into 1.5 cm pieces.

I felt my anxiety hit espresso levels on an empty stomach when I saw how thin the batter was. WTF I thought as I literally poured it into the loaf tin…….Garibaldis it is then.

chocolate loaf cake batter in baking tinBut it was like something from the movies. It actually rose and not only level with the tin, it rose craggily higher, resembling something from the Brecon Beacons as I pulled it excitedly from the oven.

chocolate loaf cake just bakedGosh it was weighty too. Not only did it look like a brick it felt like one too. I could feel all the moistness from that liquid batter hanging on in there.

Oh and the smell. I felt like I was in the Von Trapp family as the children came down the stairs one by one bleary eyed and asking what the delicious smell was…..I just knew the day was going to be a good one………Climb every Chocolate Loaf Mountain.

Nigella recommends a chocolate syrup for the crowning glory. That sounded too low on the visual aspect scale. I was needing to compete with candyfloss and giant dummies remember. So I whipped up some real chocolate buttercream and slathered it on good and thick.

The real problem was by now I had become aware just what I had created and the realisation that I was going to have to part with it hit me hard………I seriously thought about buying some Garibaldis instead but that would be very bad sharing……….

iced chocolate loaf cakeI dutifully delivered this damp chocolate beauty and it was received with suitable P.T.A reverence and I came away proud of my sharing and, moreover, intent on baking another that very same day. I simply couldn’t not.

Again the anxiety levels rose as I slipped it into the oven and watched, hopeful once more for craggy peaks. She did not disappoint. What an absolute goer.

After another jolly good slicking of chocolate icing I was finally, finally able to sink my gnashers into this Chocolate Loaf. I just knew it was going to be good but I really did not expect it to be as good as it was. It was one of the best chocolate cakes I have ever eaten.

It is a deeply chocolatey cake, darkly damp, positively moist in fact and studded with milk chocolate pieces. The  chocolate icing elevates it all to another level too and it will be my chocolate cake go to forever more.

So EASY to make and it keeps brilliantly. In fact I think it even gets better the longer it lasts. I just finished the last piece off this morning (Wednesday) and I made it Sunday and it was still completely and utterly LUSH.

chocolate loaf cake sliced in halfBaking Tips

  • I use a paper loaf tin liner and bake in a loaf tin that is a large 2lb tin measuring 24 cm long, 13 cm wide and 7 cm high. It is just a tin that I have in my cupboard and I like the extra space it gives.
  • However I have also baked it in a 2 lb tin that is 21 cm x 11 cm x 7 cm and it fits perfectly.
  • You can also bake it in a deep 8 ” lined loose bottomed cake tin. Again I use the paper liners. It makes it so much easier. Lining with baking parchment is also fine too.
  • I would say that the top of the cake, if baked in an 8 ” cake tin, is a little crusty. My children don’t mind but just saying.
  • You can make this in a free standing mixer. Repeat the steps as if you were using the food processor but be very careful when mixing in the hot water. Start on the lowest speed until it is safe to speed it up without the water splashing over the bowl.
  • I have made this with plain flour too and added 2 tsp of baking powder.
  • Depending on your tin, oven etc then your cake may take a little longer to bake than this recipe states. 

Can You Freeze Chocolate Loaf Cake

Yes you can.This stores extremely well in any air tight container and will freeze beautifully if double wrapped in cling film and then silver foil. Thaw for 4 hours at room temperature on a wire rack. Then unwrap and frost as normal. You can do the same with individual slices. Obviously they will take less time to thaw.

IF YOU LIKE CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE THEN YOU MAY LIKE

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Chocolate Muffins

Easy Ginger Cake Loaf

Easy Victoria Sponge

Coffee and Walnut Cake

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Easy Lemon Drizzle Cake

lemon drizzle cake sliced on a board

Lemon Drizzle Cake

chocolate loaf with chocolate icing
4.91 from 20 votes
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Chocolate Loaf Cake

 This Chocolate Loaf Cake is a deeply chocolatey cake, darkly damp and studded with delicious milk chocolate. The  chocolate icing elevates it all to another level too and it will be my chocolate cake go to forever more. 

Course cake
Cuisine Universal
Keyword chocolate cake, chocolate loaf cake
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 54 minutes
Servings 10
Calories 586 kcal
Author Apply To Face Blog

Ingredients

  • 200 grams self raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 300 grams caster sugar
  • 175 grams unsalted butter soft
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 80 mls buttermilk
  • 50 grams cocoa
  • 2 large eggs
  • 125 mls boiling water
  • 100 grams milk chocolate chips

Chocolate Icing

  • 100 grams unslated butter
  • 150 grams icing sugar
  • 100 grams dark chocolate melted
Metric - U S Customary

Instructions

  1. Pre heat the Oven to 170 C - Gas Mark 3 - 325 F

  2. By far the easiest way to make this cake is to do so in a food processor. Put all the cake ingredients apart from the water and chocolate chips, into your food processor and whizz well to combine. You can also make this in a free standing mixer or large mixing bowl and electric whisk. Mix well to combine.

  3. Tip the just boiled water down the funnel and whizz again until the mix is a liquid batter. You need to scrape the bowl down with a spatula before whizzing again. If mixing in a bowl be careful that the hot water does not splash everywhere as you begin mixing.

  4. Take the blade out of the bowl and loosely mix in the chocolate chips.

  5. Pour the batter into a 3lb lined loaf tin. I use paper liners.

  6. Bake for 50/60 mins and check that an inserted skewer comes out mostly clean. The loaf will be split and domed. Think Brecon Beacons darling.

  7. Wash out the food processor and put all the icing ingredients in before whizzing together for ultimate chocolate pleasure.

  8. Allow the cake to cool. I take it out of it's tin and put it on a wire rack to hasten the cooling.

  9. Slather on the chocolate icing when completely cool.

  10. Apply to Very Proud of Herself Face.

Recipe Notes

Keep the Milk Chocolate Chips chunky so they don't melt in the batter. I use Green and Black's Cooking Milk Chocolate. It's perfect because it is a thick bar. The chocolate chips that you buy in a bag will just melt into the batter.

This Cake keeps ecstatically well in a cake dome or air tight container. I mentioned above how I think it may actually get better for it. I have kept it for four days so far and it was just as good as the first day.

It does freeze well too. Wrap in a double layer of clingfilm and then foil once completely cool. Freeze for up to 3 months. Obviously without the Icing.....

Nutrition Facts
Chocolate Loaf Cake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 586 Calories from Fat 270
% Daily Value*
Fat 30g46%
Saturated Fat 18g113%
Cholesterol 99mg33%
Sodium 106mg5%
Potassium 173mg5%
Carbohydrates 73g24%
Fiber 1g4%
Sugar 53g59%
Protein 5g10%
Vitamin A 775IU16%
Calcium 65mg7%
Iron 1.7mg9%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

PIN ME FOR LATER!

Chocolate Loaf Cake.

Chocolate Loaf Cake

Easy Chocolate Loaf with real Chocolate Icing

 

Bake of the Week over at Mummy Mishaps and Casa Costello

This week I am co-hosting Fiesta Friday. Please pop over and have a look at the incredible array of recipes linked up. It’s positively a Jamboree!

 

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Comments

  3. Janice

    5 stars
    I’ve just taken this chocolate loaf from my oven and I agree it is a totally brilliant recipe. It was so easy to make the mix in the food processor and it does rise like magic. The smell in the house is so delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

    Reply

  4. Phil in the Kitchen

    5 stars
    Well that’s a bit of a revelation. This does sound excellent and definitely the sort of the cake to produce whenever an emergency requires it – or at any time, really. I’m impressed that you were disciplined enough to share this with others. I must go back to the Brecon Beacons and compare it to this cake at the first opportunity.

    Reply

  10. Life Diet Health

    Oh Jen, I just love your story of this cake (& PJ’s)! – how wonderful! 😀 I’m guessing it was devoured very quickly by the P.T.A. Mums! My menfolk usually eat plain sponge but you’ve made this sound so yummy and irresistible I’m sure they would love this. Thanks for sharing at Fiesta Friday and thanks for co-hosting (again)! 😀 x

    Reply

  12. frugal hausfrau

    Darn you, I am now going to have to bake this and that means I am going to have to eat it. Maybe I’ll have some company to help me. But then I really need to pick up my living room and sweep the floor. And I am going to have to convert into US measurements. You just made my life very complicated, you know that, lol!!

    I think the cake will be worth it!

    Mollie

    Reply

      • frugal hausfrau

        Yes good advice,but they might not be able to tell the difference between the floor and the cat or dog right now, lol! I didn’t notice the button! I need one! That’s fabulous!:)

  13. Judith A. Graber

    Chocolate and more chocolate is always a plus with me and my family! Thanks for providing the U.S. conversion – not many bloggers do that. As a result I often don’t try a recipe – I wonder if I could do the same and provide grams, etc.

    Reply

  14. Lisa Alford

    Can’t wait to give this bad boy a go oh and by the way I’d pay to see you run naked through Sainsburys ?????chortle xxx

    Reply

  16. jenny paulin

    oh yes come to mumma! I love me a loaf cake and there are so many versions to make. A chocolate one is probably one I don’t make as often tbh, BUT having seen this one I am thinking it is next on my list!!! Maybe not even to include bananas, which I usually end up doing so as not to waste those over ripe ones lurking in my fruit bowl each week! My boys would love me if I made this too!
    Thank you for sharing with #Bakeoftheweek x

    Reply

  17. Rebecca Smith

    My goodness this looks delicious and so moist too…I’ll admit that I’d probably add less frosting…or at least scrape some off my slice…always been like that…I know, I know, I’m odd 😀 but I could sink my teeth into a slice of that right now!

    Reply

  19. Sarah

    5 stars
    I’ve made it and it’s delicious. Didn’t have any buttermilk so used 50/50 natural yoghurt and milk. Also used 50/50 milk and dark chocolate chips – they seem to have melted away but the cake is so flipping good I couldn’t care less. Haven’t tried it with buttercream on top yet! Made a ganache with 100g Bourneville dark chocolate and 100ml double cream. Probably need to double these if you want gooey chocolate down the sides of the loaf as well. Cake does improve the next day if you can hold yourself back. Will definitely make again. It did take about 1hr15mins to bake though. Need to try your ginger cake next.

    Reply

    • applytofaceblog

      Thank you Sarah so much for your comment. I LOVE to hear how people found my recipes. I too found that chocolate chips can melt into the batter so adjusted my recipe to encourage chopping up a chunky chocolate bar instead. I love the sound of your ganache. The baking time can vary depending on real oven temp and tin used. Glad you found it as good as I do. That makes me very happy!

      Reply

  20. Gill Westwater

    Hello! Was searching for a chocolate loaf and found this… great recipe – forgot to put the butter in so just melted it and added to the batter… then forgot to add the chocolate chunks so took it out of the oven and lobbed them in… (aren’t hormones fabulous!) … and it was still delicious. I don’t even like chocolate cake – I made it for my husband who has broken his tooth and is rather miserable. He’s not eating much and I wanted to ensure that he doesn’t come out of lockdown thinner than when he went in because that would be super irritating. Sadly I am eating just as much of it as he is. Damn. I have no willpower so may not make it again. But if I do I will make sure my chocolate chunks are chunkier. They were so fabulous. Also made the icing with Dairy Milk as I had run out of dark chocolate. Not very sophisticated but superb.

    Reply

    • applytofaceblog

      Oh that’s so brilliant! Thank you so much for letting me know. It is one of my most popular cakes on the blog. The chunks do need to be chunky I agree.I love the sound of your icing too. I do keep meaning to make a cadburys choc icing. The kids would LOVE it! Hope you manage to fatten your hubby up and his tooth doesn’t give him to much pain! Stay safe x

      Reply

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