Oh chocolate! How I love thee, let me count the ways… There are four ways in this cake. Cocoa powder, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, and dark chocolate shavings. Rich, moist, and for real chocolate lovers. I found this recipe a while ago and had been saving it for a special occasion. I decided to bake it for my family’s Christmas celebration. My niece loves chocolate as much as I do and I knew she would enjoy the cake. I remember the two of us eating bars of chocolate in the car as we were driving across the magnificent countryside of Germany. European chocolate is so good.
Extra good chocolate went into this cake. I had purchased some high quality Trinitario cocoa powder from a chocolate shop on Small Business Saturday. Ghirardelli chocolate chips were in my pantry just waiting to be used. My friend Asta, @DoorHardwareLux on twitter, sent Pergale dark chocolate from Lithuania to me for Christmas. I never had Lithuanian chocolate before and was so excited to try it. Putting all these ingredients together made this cake so special and so delicious. I will have a hard time eating regular chocolate cake from now on.
A food processor is needed to make this cake. It is unusual and another one of the reasons I saved the recipe. The typical method of using a mixer, creaming the butter and sugar, is all I have ever used. This gave me the opportunity to try something new. The original recipe is by the beautiful Nigella Lawson and I found it on Food Network’s website. I adapted it with a few changes in the method/instructions and baking time.
The cake is best served slightly warm. The easiest thing to do is to put a slice on a plate in the microwave and cook on high for 10 seconds. (A cooking tip I learned from my brother). Serve with whipped cream or ice cream. Enjoy!
Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake
Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s recipe
For the cake:
1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup cocoa
1 ⅓ cups sugar
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
⅓ cup sour cream at room temperature
½ cup boiling water
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
For the syrup:
1 teaspoon cocoa
½ cup water
½ cup sugar
1 ounce dark chocolate shavings (use a peeler on a bar of dark chocolate)
Put a baking sheet in the oven. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a loaf pan (about 9½ X 4½ X 3 inches) with non-stick aluminum foil. Be sure to press the foil into the corners and have at least an inch or so of overhang (this will keep the syrup from spilling later). Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature (except boiling water).
Put the flour, baking soda, cocoa powder, and sugar in a food processor (10 cup capacity or larger) fitted with a knife blade. Pulse a few times to combine. Add butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream and process until you have a smooth, satiny batter. Scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula and process again while pouring the boiling water down the tube opening. Scrape down the sides and process a few seconds to fully combine. Pour batter into a large bowl. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Place the loaf pan on the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean (or mostly clean).
In the last 10 minutes of baking time, put the syrup ingredients into a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 to 9 minutes until you have a thin syrup. Turn off heat and set aside.
When you take the cake out of the oven, place it on a cooling rack. Turn up the sides of the foil. Poke holes in the cake (I used a long wooden pick) then pour the syrup over the cake. Let the cake cook completely in the pan. Once cooled, remove the cake from the pan and foil and place on an oblong platter. Sprinkle the chocolate shavings on top of the cake.
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Oh my goodness – quadruple! It’s posts like this that keep me a chocoholic. I’d love a slice right now to go with my hot cup of tea. I have a smaller food processor, not a 10 cup for sure. What would you recommend I do to make this?
You could give it a try. I have a 12 cup food processor and I had to adapt the original recipe to pour the batter into a bowl to mix in the chips because if I had taken out the blade the batter would have run out. That’s why I suggested at least a 10 cup one or it might be too much batter for a smaller food processor.
will definitely try this fabulous recipe! delighted to hear that you included the Lithuanian dark chocolate:)
Thank you so much again for sending the chocolate to me. It is so good!
yum, this looks absolutely amazing! well done, renee!
Thank you Amy!
I’D LOVE TO MAKE THIS CAKE BUT I DON’T HAVE A 10 OR 12 CUP FOOD PROCESSOR. I HAVE A 1 CUP FOOD PROCESSOR AND I KNOW THAT WON’T WORK. CAN I USE A SMOOTHIE MAKER OR A BLENDER OR MAYBE A KITCHENAID MIXER WITH BOWL, YOU KNOW, THE KIND THAT COMES WITH A BOWL ATTACHED. I REALLY WANT TO MAKE THIS CAKE. PLEASE TELL ME WHAT I CAN USE.. THANKS A BUNCH
I would suggest using the KitchenAid mixer before a blender. Use the flat beater on it. Beat all the ingredients together (except the boiling water and chips) until smooth. With mixer running, add the boiling water and mix until combined (be careful not to splatter boiling water and burn yourself). Then stir in the chips by hand. Give that a try and I hope it works for you. I have not tested this method.
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