Double Chocolate Loaf Cake
A velvety, deeply chocolatey cake from renowned baker Claire Ptak, of Violet Cakes in East London.
- MakesMakes One 9-inch loaf cake
- Cook Time1 1/4 hours
- Active time plus cooling20 minutes active, plus cooling
- 15
This loaf cake comes together quickly and easily, and boasts a remarkably deep color, intensely rich flavor and a plush, velvety crumb. The recipe came to us by way of Claire Ptak, of Violet Cakes, a bakery-café in East London. To achieve the cake’s deep, complex chocolatiness, she uses a generous amount of bittersweet chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder. Any type of bittersweet chocolate will work, but we recommend using one that’s tasty enough to eat out of hand and contains about 70 percent cocoa solids. Serve slices with spoonfuls of crème fraîche, which has a subtle tang and creaminess that are fantastic foils for the cake. Store leftovers at room temperature, tightly wrapped, for up to three days.
Don’t use natural cocoa. Dutch-processed is best because the alkali used in its production gives the cocoa a richer, deeper hue and smoother taste that’s important for color and flavor intensity. If your cocoa does not indicate type on the label, check the ingredient list. If it reads “processed with alkali,” the cocoa is Dutch-processed.
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