The Best Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe
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This easy chocolate loaf cake recipe is moist, tender, and delicious! No stand mixer required! Great with or without frosting!
Love chocolate cake? I’m sharing this loaf cake version of my favorite Best Chocolate Cake recipe that so many have loved through the years! I think you’ll love it for an even quicker, smaller, and super easy chocolate loaf cake recipe. No frosting is required, but it is oh so good!
Table of Contents
How to Make Best Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Be sure to see the recipe card below for the full listing of ingredients, instructions, notes, and estimated nutritional information.
- Flour – I use all-purpose flour
- Sugar – you’ll need granulated sugar
- Cocoa powder – use unsweetened cocoa powder for this cake recipe.
- Baking powder and baking soda – you’ll use both baking powder and baking soda as leaveners in this cake recipe.
- Salt – I use kosher salt
- Espresso powder – you can use homemade or store-bought espresso powder. It enhances the flavor of the chocolate without leaving a coffee flavor. You can omit it if you prefer or do not have it on hand.
- Milk – Use whole milk, buttermilk, or a dairy-free milk substitute if you prefer
- Oil – you can use your choice of canola oil, vegetable oil, melted coconut oil, or your favorite oil for baking
- Egg – you’ll need one room-temperature egg
- Vanilla extract – Be sure to use a high-quality vanilla extract and not imitation vanilla flavoring. I love to use my homemade vanilla extract.
- Water – the boiling water releases the flavor of the cocoa powder and makes the cake so delicious! It will make for a thin batter, but do not worry! The cake bakes into a perfectly moist, delicious cake!
- Frosting (Optional) – While the cake is delicious served without a frosting, I love to use my Chocolate Buttercream Frosting recipe.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare the loaf pan by buttering and lightly dusting with cocoa powder or flour. Alternately, you may also want to use my chocolate cake goop recipe.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder to a large bowl. Whisk until combined well.
- Stir together the wet and dry ingredients. Add the milk, oil, egg, and vanilla extract to the flour mixture and stir together. Carefully add boiling water to the cake batter until well combined.
- Bake the cake. Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the chocolate cake comes out clean. See my guide for how to tell when your cake is done for more tips.
- Cool the cake. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely.
- Frost the cake (optional). Frost cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, if using.
Room Temperature Ingredients
Make sure your ingredients, including egg and milk, are at room temperature for better mixing into the cake batter.
Storage Tips
To store. Cool the cake and store it on a cake plate or platter covered with a cake dome or wrap it at room temperature. If you add a frosting that requires refrigeration, such as cream cheese frosting, wrap the cake well and store it in the refrigerator.
To make ahead. This cake is a wonderful make-ahead cake recipe! Prepare it as directed, wrap it well or store it under a cake dome.
To freeze. Wrap the cooled cake well with wrap and then with foil. Put inside an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze for up to two months. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight with the wrapping left intact.
Frequently Asked Questions
I use unsweetened cocoa powder, but others have said that they have used Dutch processed cocoa powder in my original Best Chocolate Cake Recipe.
It freezes beautifully! See how to freeze this cake under my Storage Tips section.
To make gluten-free, use your favorite gluten-free flour substitute and make sure all other ingredients are gluten-free.
You can substitute 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce for the egg in this recipe.
Use a dairy-free milk substitute such as almond milk or oat milk for the milk in this recipe.
Here’s my Best Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe! I hope you love it as much as we do!
The Best Chocolate Loaf Cake Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (198 g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (42 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon (4 g) baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon (4 g) baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon (1.4 g) kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon (1.15 g) espresso powder
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) milk, whole, buttermilk, or plant-based milk substitutes at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (49.5 g) oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil
- 1 large (50 g) egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon (4.7 g) vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) boiling water
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat oven to 350º F. Prepare the loaf pan by buttering and lightly dusting with cocoa powder or flour or spreading with chocolate cake goop.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. Add flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder to a large bowl. Whisk until combined well.
- Stir together the wet and dry ingredients. Add the milk, oil, egg, and vanilla extract to the flour mixture and stir together. Carefully add boiling water to the cake batter until well combined.
- Bake the cake. Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center of the chocolate cake comes out clean. See my guide for how to tell when your cake is done for more tips.
- Cool the cake. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely.
- Frost the cake (optional). Frost cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, if using.
Notes
Storage Tips:
To store. Cool the cake and store it on a cake plate or platter covered with a cake dome or wrap it at room temperature. If you add a frosting that requires refrigeration, such as cream cheese frosting, wrap the cake well and store it in the refrigerator. To make ahead. This cake is a wonderful make-ahead cake recipe! Prepare it as directed, wrap it well or store it under a cake dome. To freeze. Wrap the cooled cake well with wrap and then with foil. Put inside an airtight, freezer-safe container and freeze for up to two months. To serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight with the wrapping left intact.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I’ve made your chocolate layer cake and it is incredible. This loaf cake is just as good and much safer in my household of only 2! you are known as the chocolate cake queen at our house now! thanks so much for reliable recipes They can be hard to find online sometimes.
Thanks so much, Heidi. I love the loaf cake for a smaller chocolate cake. I hope you find many more recipes here that you love.
It looks like this is the same recipe as your delicious chocolate cake recipe but scaled down by half for a loaf version. The only exception is the cocoa. 3/4 c for cake and 1/2 c for loaf. I’m going to make two loaf cakes but not certain if I should use 1c cocoa or 3/4c. What do you advise?
Linnea, I use 1/2 cup cocoa powder for each loaf cake so I would use 1 cup cocoa powder for 2 loaves. I hope you enjoy.
I made the cake exactly as written. Easy and delicious! The chocolate buttercream frosting took some time but go for it. I made 1/2 recipe of the frosting and had half of that left over. What I especially love about this cake, besides its deliciousness, is that it makes a small cake. Dessert for 4 with just a little left over. I think a little cinnamon added to both cake and frosting would be quite nice.
Thanks, Audrey. I’m so glad you love the size and taste of this chocolate loaf cake.
I add freshly grated nutmeg and am going to add sliced pears in the loaf’s centre next time. 😋