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My Chocolate Loaf Cake is So Good!
I love cake, but I don’t often want to make a layer cake. These take so much time! Loaf cakes are more my speed—and this Chocolate Loaf Cake is ridiculously easy and good!
It’s rich and moist, but still light (there’s actually no oil in the cake). It’s also topped with a quick, 3-ingredient chocolate glaze!
If you’ve ever made a quickbread (like banana bread or zucchini bread!) this chocolate loaf cake will be a piece of cake for you to make (pun intended!). It basically just requires separately mixing dry and wet ingredients, then combining the two!
Instead of melted chocolate, I use cocoa powder to give this loaf cake its deep, chocolate flavor. I also call for instant espresso and brewed coffee in place of water, which doesn’t make the cake taste like coffee, but instead bumps up the flavor of the chocolate! While I could absolutely eat a slice as-is, topping the loaf cake with a quick chocolate glaze just makes my heart happy.
Ingredients to Make Chocolate Loaf Cake
- All-purpose flour: You could try a gluten free flour that is able to be substituted at a 1:1 ratio.
- Granulated and powdered sugar: You’ll use granulated sugar in the cake and powdered sugar in the glaze! I wouldn’t recommend substituting either.
- Unsweetened cocoa powder: For a less bitter cocoa powder, look for Dutch cocoa.
- Baking powder and soda: Use aluminum free baking powder to avoid any metallic after taste.
- Instant espresso: You can use regular powdered instant coffee if that’s what you have.
- Eggs: Use room-temperature eggs, which are easier to combine with the other ingredients.
- Greek yogurt: You can use sour cream, or applesauce in place of the Greek yogurt if that’s what you got on hand.
- Milk: Whole milk has the best flavor, but you can use unsweetened, unflavored almond and oat milk instead!
- Vanilla: Use pure vanilla extract if possible.
- Hot water or coffee: Use hot water or coffee, which helps the cocoa powder ‘bloom’ bringing out all the chocolate flavor!
Popular Additions
- Add more chocolate. Fold chocolate chips (any kind!) into the cake batter.
- Make it nutty. Chop and mix in toasted almonds, walnuts, or pecans into the batter.
- Add orange zest. Orange and chocolate are like two peas in a pod. You can add 1 tablespoon of zest to the batter if you’re a fan of this combo.
How to Make Chocolate Loaf Cake
You’ll need just a couple of mixing bowls, a whisk, and a loaf pan to make the easiest, chocolatiest loaf cake.
How to Make the Chocolate Glaze
Tips for Making the Best Chocolate Loaf Cake
- Line the loaf pan with parchment paper. Placing parchment paper into a loaf pan so the sides of the paper overhang the pan will make it easy to lift the chocolate loaf cake up and out.
- Don’t overmix the batter. Overmixing develops gluten, which can make the cake tough! You want to mix the batter until it’s just combined.
- Don’t turn the cake out of the loaf pan right away. You need to let it cool in the loaf pan for at least 10 minutes. It will be soft and could crumble if you try to remove it right after it comes out of the oven.
- Cool the cake totally before glazing. If you don’t, the glaze will melt right off!
Frequently Asked Questions
The cake will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days! You can store it whole or slice it and place layers of parchment or wax paper in between the slices so they don’t stick together.
You can, but I’d recommend freezing it without the glaze! To freeze, wrap the cake in plastic wrap then place it in a zippered freezer bag for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge before slicing!
The easiest way is to use a toothpick. Insert the toothpick into the center of the cake. If very few or no crumbs stick to the toothpick, the cake is done!
More Cake Recipes:
- Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
- Phyllo Crinkle Pistachio Cake
- Easy Cheesecake
- Gingerbread Cake
- Lemon Ricotta Cake
- Easy Chocolate Souffle
- Chocolate Mug Cake
- Best Cake Pops
- Layered White Cake
If you try this feel good Chocolate Loaf Cake recipe or any other recipe on Feel Good Foodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! It helps others who are thinking of making the recipe. We would love to hear about your experience making it. And if you snapped some shots, share it on Instagram so we can repost on Stories!
Chocolate Loaf Cake
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso optional
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- ½ cup Greek yogurt at room temperature
- ½ cup milk at room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla
- ¼ cup hot water or coffee
For Chocolate Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 3 tablespoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the length of a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving some overhang on each side to use as a sling to remove the cake once baked.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a separate medium bowl or measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, milk, and vanilla until smooth.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and whisk until just combined and no flour streaks remain.
- Slowly pour in the hot water, stirring consistently, to loosen the batter.
- Transfer the cake batter to your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Allow the loaf to rest in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Chocolate Glaze
- While the cake is cooling, whisk together the chocolate glaze ingredients until smooth. Then drizzle on top of the chocolate loaf cake for serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
