For my final cake in my mini chocolate challenge I have decided to fall back on a favourite cookbook of mine. Cake Days by the Hummingbird bakery, I decided to do another loaf cake. I wanted the chocolate to be the main aspect and not buttercream or sprinkles. Don’t worry they will be coming back soon. So this time it is chocolate and coffee loaf, I am a total coffee addict. I drink and eat it as often as I can and coffee and chocolate are well known bedfellows, coffee can really enhance chocolate flavour. Its almost like it deepens it somehow, making it darker and richer.
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One thing I have learnt through my little chocolate experiment is that dark chocolate is definitely my favourite type to bake with. I enjoy milk and white chocolate to eat but dark chocolate is the one for me when baking.
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So lets talk a little more about this cake, its rich, dark and moist. Each slice is perfect without anything to accompany it, I don’t feel it needs buttercream, but if you wanted dress it up for a more fancy dessert you could glaze it with a chocolate ganache topping or drizzle melted chocolate over the top. But for me the dense crumb was rich enough by itself.
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Cookbook favourite.
I knew I would have a cake success with this cookbook, we all have our favourites and I knew the hummingbird bakery wouldn’t let me down. I’m still cautious when baking with chocolate, I am not 100% confident yet with the flavour combinations and the amount to add to cakes but I am definitely gaining ground. I am pleased with what I have achieved during my mini chocolate-a-thon, a deeper appreciation of it as a dessert. I will definitely not turn my nose up at it as a dessert anymore, fruity desserts will always be my number one choice but I shall definitely let chocolate get a look in now and again.
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The flavour combinations with chocolate almost seem endless; during my chocolate themed research I found that people use it in savoury dishes as well, one day I shall be brave enough to give one of them a go. But this time I stayed in safer territory and stayed with sweet treats. I love cake, I think that much is obvious and I love my cookbooks hence why I used a recipe from one of them this time.
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Everyone who tried it loved it and it didn’t last long in my house but should you want to make it last a little longer or bake it a day or two in advance that will be fine. This cake will keep up to 5 days in an airtight tin. Good luck with keeping it that long! Its rich dark colour is just so inviting and so hard to resist.
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Recipe:
Chocolate and Coffee Loaf
Ingredients
- 190 grams unsalted butter - soft ((1 cup))
- 130 grams plain flour - (all purpose, (1 cups + 1 tablespoon))
- 190 grams soft light brown sugar ((a scant 1 cup))
- 3 large eggs - at room temperature
- 60 grams good quality cocoa powder ((1/2 cup))
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 4 teaspoons milk
- 1 tablespoon strong black coffee - cooled
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 170C / 325F / Gas mark 3 and prepare you loaf tin by either lining it or greasing it.
- In a medium sized bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time beating between each addition.
- Give the whole mixture a good mix making sure you have scraped down the side of the bowl so everything is well incorporated.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
- Pour the milk into a jug add the coffee and mix.
- Add half of the flour mix and mix on a low speed. Then add half of the liquid ingredients and mix in on a low speed.
- Add the final half of the flour mix and again on a low speed combine. Then add the remaining milk and coffee mix.
- Once everything is combined put you mixer on a medium speed or beat vigorously with your wooden spoon until everything is well combined and you have a smooth batter.
- Pour your batter into your prepared loaf tin, smooth out the top and place in the centre of your oven and bake for approximately one hour.
- After an hour if your cake is firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean take it out of the oven and allow it to cool for a while in its tin. If it’s not ready give it anther few minutes.
- Once cool to the touch take it out of the tin and place it on a cooling rack to cool completely.
- When completely cool, serve.
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I love chocolate, and with coffee its taste is even more yummy!
Thanks Sarah 🙂
Have just taken your recipe out the oven. Double batched as one is supposed to be for the freezer though not sure it will make it there. Added a sprinkling of demerara sugar to the top before baking and has resulted in a lovely crunchy top. Can’t wait for it to cool, looks yum….thank you!!
Hi Anna, I am glad you liked the recipe its a great loaf cake this one 😀 The Demerara sugar topping sounds great!
Made this cake this morning. I love chocolate and have been looking for a recipe to include coffee and fortunately stumbled across this one. I reduced the heat on my oven to 150c as it gets quite hot! didn’t want to burn the top of the loaf and baked cake for a little longer than an hour.
Baked using a silicone loaf mould and popped out after loaf was cooled. The taste is moist dense and dark rich chocolate flavour with a hint of coffee. I love it!!!! look forward to my husband sampling it when he gets home from work later. He loves a slice of cake with his coffee. I will definately be baking this again wonderful recipe thank you for sharing.
I hope your husband loved it when he got to try it 😀 It’s great that you were able to adjust the recipe to suit your oven. As I always say every oven is different! I am so glad you liked the recipe, I love coffee and chocolate together they are great partners. Thank you for such a lovely comment 😀
This looks delicious and am so glad you used coffee to intensify the flavor – have been doing it myself for quite some time now
Hello and thanks for stopping by 🙂 I too often use coffee to boost the flavour of chocolate in cakes, it really does add a wonderful depth to the flavour. Also being a coffee addict helps 🙂
I love all kind of chocolate, but dark chocolate is my favorite for baking too! I didn’t know about the coffee tip, sure will try it out. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Hi Ave, the coffee really does help intensify the chocolate flavour they go so well together definitely give it a go next time you’re baking with chocolate.
This looks amazing! I would totally use the coffee in it as an excuse to eat it for breakfast 🙂
Hi Deanna, thanks for stopping by 🙂 I love your reasoning I never considered using that as an excuse for having it for breakfast before 😉
Love the sound of chocolate and coffee together. This looks decadently delicous Emma!
Hi Kelly, thank you, it is a really good combination the coffee gives the chocolate a little something extra, it’s like it makes the flavour deeper somehow.