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This moist Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe is the answer to every chocolate lovers dreams! It’s full of rich chocolate flavor, almost like a brownie but in loaf form. Quick and easy to make with a beautifully rich and moist texture and dazzling chocolate ganache glaze on top!
For more chocolate cake recipes, try my chocolate mousse cake and triple chocolate cake!
Ok friends, I take GREAT pride in this Chocolate Loaf Cake recipe. It’s taken me SO long to perfect it but it’s finally here – soft, intensely chocolatey but also smooth and buttery. After what feels like a million tests, I’ve developed a fudgy chocolate cake recipe that’s easy, only calls for simple ingredients, and yield the most moist cake ever.
It’s as if chocolate ganache cake and chocolate pudding cake got together and had a baby.
For the finishing touch, I added a little chocolate ganache on top for added chocolatey goodness.
It’s delicious on its own with a cup of tea but also with a scoop of vanilla ice cream as a dessert (especially when you’re looking to satisfy those chocolate cravings).
Why You’ll Love this Chocolate Loaf Cake
- SO Moist and Rich! The texture of this cake is melt-in-mouth soft!
- Incredibly Easy Recipe! No Stand Mixer needed! This is such an easy chocolate cake – all you need are mixing bowls and whisk. You can use an electric mixer but it’s not needed.
- Simple Ingredients! This will be your new go-to recipe when you want something that’s simple to make!
- Even better the next day! This bread loaf is delicious fresh out of the oven but even better the next day! Cover with plastic wrap to keep that moisture in and enjoy in the morning with a cup of coffee for the ultimate treat.
Key Ingredients
(full list of ingredients and quantities are listed in the recipe card)
- Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder – it’s important to note that there’s a difference between unsweetened cocoa powder and dutch process cocoa powder. Dutch process cocoa powder is alkaline, or neutral, and has a smooth chocolate flavor. That’s why I use it in my 3 ingredient mug cake!
- Cake Flour – just like my carrot pound cake and coconut cake recipe, cake flour gives this chocolate bread it’s soft crumb due to its lower protein content. You can use all purpose flour. However, cake flour will provide the best results!
- Vegetable Oil allows for the cake to remain moist, even at room temperature!
- Sour Cream – to add richness and moisture to the batter. It also inhibits gluten development, ensuring that this is a super soft and decadent chocolate bread.
- Hot Coffee brings out the chocolate taste and makes for deeper flavor. It’s even the star of my chocolate espresso cake to add that rich chocolate flavor. If you don’t have coffee, you can use hot water and instant coffee or espresso powder. Or even just straight boiling water.
Variations
- Top with your favorite fruit! Once the chocolate topping sets, add some raspberries on top. Or even some chopped strawberries like I did with my strawberry chocolate cake. Fruit and chocolate go SO well together.
- Add a peanut butter swirl! Microwave about a 1/2 cup of peanut butter until it’s spreadable (but not piping hot). Place the batter in the baking pan and swirl the peanut butter into the batter. It’ll bake up beautifully in the oven and give you a delicious chocolate peanut buttery taste!
- Use nutella! If you want to balance out all of the chocolate flavor with a little nutella goodness, simply microwave about 1 cup of nutella for about 15 seconds. Pour it on top of the cooled loaf as an alternative to the chocolate ganache.
- Top with extra chocolate chips! The ganache on top is enough for me, however, if you’re a chocolate fiend, add some additional milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips on top of the ganache for even more chocolate flavor.
How to make Chocolate Loaf Cake
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, add sour cream and oil. Mix together until combined, then add the eggs and egg yolk and vanilla extract. Continue to mix until everything is fully incorporated, about 30 seconds.
In a separate large bowl, add sour cream and oil. Mix together until combined, then add the eggs and egg yolk and vanilla extract. Continue to mix until everything is fully incorporated, about 30 seconds, then add in the cocoa powder and mix until combined.
Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, then pour hot coffee and mix together until a loose batter forms, about 15 seconds.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the center of the loaf with just a few crumbs and just slightly coated in the batter. Let the loaf sit in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- When the loaf has cooled completely, prepare the chocolate ganache topping by adding heavy cream to microwave safe bowl. Warm for one minute, then add the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Mix together until the chocolate melts into the cream (microwave in 10 second increments if the chocolate doesn’t melt completely but be careful not to burn the chocolate!).
- Pour the ganache on top of the chocolate cake while it’s still on the wire rack to prevent making a huge mess.
Tips
- Use a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients!
- Don’t confuse dutch process cocoa powder with unsweetened cocoa powder – they’re different!
- Don’t overmix – Mix until just combined after adding dry ingredients—overmixing can lead to a dense or rubbery texture.
- Line the pan with parchment – Especially if it’s a darker metal loaf pan (which can brown the edges quickly), parchment makes for easier release and cleaner edges.
- Test for doneness at the center. A toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs or just slightly coated in chocolate —not wet batter. The edges may bake faster than the center. Be careful not to overbake.
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
Recipe FAQs
Loaf cake and pound cake are similar in that they can both be baked in a loaf pan, but they are not exactly the same. Pound cake is a specific type of cake traditionally made with a pound each of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. Loaf cake refers more to the shape of the cake rather than its specific ingredients.
If you cut thick slices, you can get about 8, however, for thinner slices, about 10-12.
There are a number of reasons that a loaf cake can sink in the middle – most commonly is because the cake is underbaked and was taken out of the oven too soon. Another reason could be that there’s too much leavening agents in the recipe, the batter was overmixed, or your ingredients were not properly measured.
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If you make this recipe, please leave a star rating on the recipe card and comment below! You can also tag @BritneyBreaksBread on Instagram and hashtag #britneybreaksbread so I can celebrate your beautiful creations!
Easy Chocolate Loaf Cake
Equipment
- 9×5 loaf pan
- Electric Mixer
Ingredients
Chocolate Loaf Cake
- 1 1/2 cups (188 g) Cake Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 2 tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/8 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) Kosher Salt
- 1 cup (240 g) Sour Cream, (room temperature)
- 2/3 cup (150 ml) Vegetable Oil
- 2 large (100 g) Eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup (86 g) Dutch Process Cocoa Powder
- 1 cup (240 g) Coffee, (hot)
Chocolate Ganache Topping
- 1/2 cup (90 g) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) Heavy Cream
- 2 tbsp Salted Butter, (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, add sour cream and oil. Mix together until combined, then add the eggs and vanilla extract. Continue to mix until everything is fully incorporated, about 30 seconds, then add in the cocoa powder and mix until combined.
- Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined, then pour hot coffee and mix together until a loose batter forms, about 15 seconds.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55-65 minutes, until a toothpick comes out of the center of the loaf with just a few crumbs and just slightly coated in the batter. Let the loaf sit in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- When the loaf has cooled completely, prepare the chocolate ganache topping by adding heavy cream to microwave safe bowl. Warm for one minute, then add the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Mix together until the chocolate melts into the cream (microwave in 10 second increments if the chocolate doesn't melt completely but be careful not to burn the chocolate!), then add butter and mix until fully melted and smooth.
- Pour the ganache on top of the chocolate cake while it's still on the wire rack to prevent making a huge mess.
Notes
- Use a kitchen scale to measure the ingredients! Click the “metric” button below the list of ingredients for the gram measurements.
- Don’t confuse dutch process cocoa powder with unsweetened cocoa powder – they’re different!
- Don’t overmix – Mix until just combined after adding dry ingredients—overmixing can lead to a dense or rubbery texture.
- Line the pan with parchment – Especially if it’s a darker metal loaf pan (which can brown the edges quickly), parchment makes for easier release and cleaner edges.
- Test for doneness at the center. A toothpick should come out with a few moist crumbs or just slightly coated in chocolate —not wet batter. The edges may bake faster than the center. Be careful not to overbake.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Hey Britney I really love your recipes. I have baked for 58 years. Your chocolate loaf cake recipe has some corrections that need to be made. The corn starch in the ingredients is not in the recipe directions. Also the vanilla and the egg yolk is not in the directions. I did not use the cornstarch because the recipe calls for cake flour. I love your blog. I love the recipe you had in the Baked from Scratch magazine. I was so happy to see a Black woman that is making her mark in the culinary industry. I just wanted to bring those mistakes to your attention. I want the best for you.
Hi Marilyn! Thank you so much for your kind words! All of the ingredients are listed in the ingredients list and when to add them in the instructions – the vanilla extract and egg yolk are listed in step 3! I hope that this helps and I hope that you loved the recipe! Thank you so much for your support!!
I saw this recipe this weekend, and had to make it immediately! This is DELICIOUS! I sliced it into individual slices and froze the left overs! Perfection for a sweet treat when the mood hits!
Hello,
How much sugar do you suggest? I’m not seeing it on the recipe card.
Thanks
Hi! It’s 1 1/2 cups of sugar, thanks for catching that!
what is the vanilla measurement? thanks,
It’s 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, added just after the eggs.
Have you tried this without the almond flour? It’s a food allergy issue. Just curious how it turned out due to your comments in the recipe. Thanks!
I’ve tried it without almond flour and it’s a bit dense without it. Some like it that way, but I recommend just adding 1/4 cup of flour instead of the 1/2 cup of almond flour.
This looks DIIIIIVIINNNEEEE!! Will be making this chocolate loaf asap!
Just FYI, the webpage URL for this recipe is called “peppermint bark brownies”. You might want to look into that! I think your actual peppermint bark brownie recipe might have disappeared, because I don’t see it when I search for it.
Hi! Thanks so much! Yes, I updated an old recipe to be a beautiful chocolate loaf cake as opposed to the peppermint brownies. Sorry if that’s confusing, but this cake is SO worth it!
The brownie is moist and rich and the peppermint bark on top takes it to the next level.