Photo: Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 sticks soft unsalted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon good-quality vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or morsels
Syrup:
- 1 teaspoon cocoa
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1-ounce dark chocolate (from a thick bar if possible), cut into splinters of varying thickness, for garnish
- Special equipment: 2-pound loaf tin (approximately 9 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 3 inches deep), lined with greased foil, pressed into the corners and with some overhang at the top. Alternatively, substitute a silicon loaf tin, no foil lining necessary.
Directions
Take whatever you need out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F, putting in a baking sheet as you do so.
Put the flour, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into the processor and blitz until a smooth, satiny brown batter. Scrape down with a rubber spatula and process again while pouring the boiling water down the funnel. Switch it off, then remove the lid and the well-scraped double-bladed knife and, still using your rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips or morsels.
Scrape and pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and put into the oven, cooking for about 1 hour. When ready, the loaf will be risen and split down the middle and a cake-tester will pretty well come out clean.
Not long before the cake is due out of the oven (when it has had about 45 to 50 minutes), put the syrup ingredients of cocoa, water and sugar into a small saucepan and boil for about 5 minutes, to give a thick syrup.
Take the cake out of the oven and sit it on a cooling rack, still in the tin, and pierce here and there with a cake tester. Pour the syrup over the cake.
Let the cake become completely cold and then slip out of its tin, removing the foil as you do so. Sit on an oblong or other plate. Sprinkle the chocolate splinters over the top of the sticky surface of the cake
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By dianewhite
Pittsburgh, PA
on November 23, 2011
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Just made this last night...I kept the temp at 325* but added 20 min. to the bake time. I made the chocolate syrup with just 5 min. to go in baking. I had mine at a rolling boil for a solid 5 min. It reduced by half, no crystallization. I added vanilla and chocolate extracts after I removed it from the heat and poured over my punctured cake. Covered with bittersweet shavings and let it sit overnight, in the pan, to cool. It's perfect...moist, dark, rich. I used a dark cocoa powder and 64% Ghiradelli large baking chips (twice the size of normal chips. They did not sink at all. I did not use a processor though. I dumped everything into a large bowl and used my hand mixer on the highest setting until everything was incorporated, drizzling the hot water in last. This could not have been easier. Using dark cocoa powder and chips offsets the sweet syrup, as well as any additional sauces or ice creams.
By Juliebythesea
Lauderdale by t...
on August 09, 2011
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Just baked this cake and it looks so beautiful! Just like Nigellas, I sprinkled a few pecans on top before baking and did not use the syrup but I would make it again in a minute. Had to adjust baking to 1 hour and 30 minutes at 325
By TX_Southpaw
San Antonio, TX
on July 18, 2011
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This was my second Nigella recipe. I was really happy with the results; I cooked the cake longer as most suggested. My cake was a little crumbly, I'll chalk that error up to me since I've only done box cakes prior to this. I wasn't concerned with the presentation anyways. The taste was fantastic, and I got thumbs ups all around. Hopefully, I can figure out my baking error. So I can start taking this to potlucks, since you can make this ahead of time.
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