Chocolate Loaf Cake
, Updated Oct 13, 2022
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The best Chocolate Loaf Cake! This simple chocolate sponge uses just a handful of ingredients, is super chocolatey, soft, moist and delicious. Serve plain or topped with rich chocolate glaze.
Love Loaf Cakes? Try my deliciously sticky Malt Loaf!
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This simple chocolate loaf cake recipe is SO YUMMY! You just need a handful of pantry staple ingredients and five minutes of your time 🙂
I love a pound cake and since my vanilla loaf cake I wanted to post a chocolate version (at the request of my children).
CHOCOLATE CAKE INGREDIENTS
My chocolate loaf cake recipe uses these easy to find ingredients – just make sure the butter and eggs are room temperature before mixing together! For best results use digital scales to measure the ingredients. Bake in a 1lb Loaf Tin
- Plain flour (all purpose flour or cake flour). You can also use self-raising flour (see notes).
- Soft light brown sugar
- Baking powder and a little salt
- Cocoa powder – use good quality dark chocolate powder such as Dr Oetker or Green & Blacks
- Softened butter or baking spread such as Stork
- Medium eggs
- Vanilla bean paste or good quality vanilla extract
HOW TO MAKE A CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page. Please take a look at the steps and video before attempting this recipe!
Measure the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
Add the butter, eggs and vanilla bean paste and beat on low speed using an electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer).
Increase the speed and continue to beat until the batter is glossy and smooth. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure it is well mixed.
Pour the batter into a small lined loaf tin and level. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until the cake is well risen, springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Cool the cake on a wire rack, lifting it out of the loaf pan. Make sure the cake is totally cool before adding the chocolate glaze.
Add chocolate chips, butter and honey or golden syrup in a bowl. Microwave for 20 second bursts until the butter and chocolate start to melt. Stir until glossy and completely smooth and allow to cool slightly.
Spread the chocolate glaze over the cake. Add chocolate shavings, sprinkles or any other decoration you like!
CHOCOLATE CAKE TIPS & FAQS
- Make sure your baking powder or self raising flour are fresh.
- Grease and line your loaf tin or use a loaf tin liner.
- Make a chocolate chip loaf cake by folding dark chocolate chips into the batter.
- This loaf cake is delicious left plain but you can also spread it with Nutella or chocolate glaze.
- Create chocolate shavings by scraping a chocolate bar with a vegetable peeler.
- This chocolate pound cake stays fresh and moist for days! I think we managed to make it last almost a week, though we had to put it in the fridge as I baked it in the middle of a heatwave. You can also freeze it (without the glaze ideally) for up to three months.
MY MOST POPULAR CHOCOLATE RECIPES!
- School Days Chocolate Concrete
- Delicious Chocolate Cake For Two
- Melt-in-the-middle Chocolate Pudding
- Chocolate Strawberry Cake – Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Filling
- Easy Chocolate Trifle
- Easy Chocolate Cake Traybake
HAVE YOU MADE MY CHOCOLATE LOAF CAKE RECIPE? Please leave a rating, post a photo on my Facebook page, share it on Instagram, or save it to Pinterest with the tag #supergoldenbakes and make my day!
Chocolate Loaf Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake
- 175 g ( 1 cup + 1 tbsp) plain flour AP flour or Cake Flour
- 200 g (1 cup) sugar soft light brown
- 25 g (3 ½ tbsp) cocoa powder unsweetened
- 1 tsp baking powder see notes!
- ¼ tsp salt
- 200 g ( ¾ cup + 2 tbsp) softened unsalted butter or Stork baking spread
- 4 medium eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Chocolate Glaze (optional)
- 100 g (heaping ½ cup) dark chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp honey or golden syrup
- sprinkles or chocolate shavings to decorate
Instructions
Make the chocolate loaf cake
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin, or use a loaf tin liner.
- Measure the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the butter, eggs and vanilla bean paste. Beat on low speed using an electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer). Increase the speed once the ingredients have combined, scraping the bottom and sides of your bowl halfway.
- Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and level. Bake for 55-60 minutes until the cake is well risen and springy to the touch. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Make the Glaze
- Add the chocolate chips, butter and honey in a bowl. Microwave for 20 second bursts until the butter and chocolate start to melt then stir until the glaze is glossy and smooth. Cool slightly.
- Spread the glaze over the cake (you can use a fork to add texture to it if you like). Add sprinkles or chocolate shavings, slice and enjoy!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients and ideally measure using scales.
- Make sure your baking powder or self raising flour are fresh and make sure not to use both in this recipe!
- Grease and line your loaf tin or use a loaf tin liner.
- Make sure the cake has cooled down completely before frosting!
- Store in a cake tin for up to five days or freeze for up to three months (without any frosting).
Nutrition
Nutritional information is always approximate, and will depend on quality of ingredients and serving sizes.
This is the 2nd time I’ve made this recipe. This time I replaced the vanilla with 2 tsp of orange extract. Left the chocolate glaze as is but decorated with orange zest. Family love it and its so easy to make. 1st one I made I left plain and had it with a dollop of cream. I suppose it could be used with custard to as a dessert