August 8, 2020
Chocolate Fudge Loaf Cake!
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A Thick, Fudgey and Delicious Chocolate Fudge Loaf Cake, topped with Luscious Chocolate Fudge Buttercream Frosting, and more!
Loaf cakes… loaf cakes… I wish I’d known about your popularity before this past year, otherwise I would have done more recipes sooner. I honestly cannot get my head around how popular my loaf cake recipes have been! So, here is another..
My Terry’s Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake, and my Lemon Drizzle Loaf Cake have been super popular recently – and I love it! Although, I have had request after request for a really lovely, dense, fudgey and amazing chocolate fudge version, so here it is!
I couldn’t resist this from the beginning because you all know how much I adore a chocolate fudge cake. My Chocolate Fudge Cake Traybake and the Cupcake version have always been popular, but nothing is as popular as the layer cake version! They all directly inspire this one, as they are all based around the same recipe!
As you may be aware, a classic and easy chocolate cake is based around five ingredients, usually. Flour, cocoa powder, eggs, butter and sugar – they make a chocolate Victoria sponge style cake, and I use that style of recipe all the time in my various bakes.. but this one is very very different.
This sponge recipe uses ELEVEN ingredients, so quite different. Flour, cocoa powder, butter, eggs and sugar are still all there, but so is instant coffee, water, dark chocolate, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and buttermilk. This will sound a bit extreme, but trust me – it’s worth it.
This cake recipe is very easy to make. You need to melt the dark chocolate and butter together until smooth – like you would for the base of a brownie mixture – and dissolve the coffee into the water.
YOU CAN’T TASTE THE COFFEE in the end results.. so PLEASE, trust me here, and use it. The coffee is designed to bring out a rich and delicious chocolate flavour. It’s 100% worth it!!
Instead of self raising flour, you use plain flour, baking powder, and bicarbonate – they react with the other ingredients and create the texture you are after! You whisk the dry ingredients together with the sugar into a bowl with just a spatula or something – you really do not need or want to use an electric mixer here.
You then whisk the eggs and buttermilk together – buttermilk is there to react with bicarbonate to create a rise in the cake – it’s very different to your regular use of self raising flour!
However, if you don’t want to buy a pot of buttermilk (which is found with the creams in the uk) you can make your own using whole milk (full-fat) and whisking in 1tbsp of lemon juice and leaving it to sit. It will look split almost, but that’s what you want!
You then combine the three different mixes together, with a whisk – stir as little as possible, pour into the tin and bake! As it’s a loaf cake, it will take a long time to bake – loaf cakes are similar to bundt cakes in that sense.
I use my favourite 2lb loaf tin as normal, but they can also vary in size (never understood why?!) – so if you think your tin is too full, make a few cupcakes with the spare mix. I usually fill my tin up to about 3/4 full, so by the time it rises, the tin is full!
For the frosting, I used the same idea as the best ever frosting ever – evaporated milk being the key ingredient. The only thing is that yes you will have some evaporated milk leftover, but don’t worry, you can freeze it!
With loaf cakes I just like to slather the frosting all over the top, or pipe, but it’s up to you – I often use some strawberries and some more chocolate goodies to decorate and it’s done, but that’s up to you – sometimes just chocolates are good! It’s a bit more effort with the ingredients, but otherwise, it’s such an easy cake to bake! I hope you love it!
Chocolate Fudge Loaf Cake!
Ingredients
The Cake
- 175 g Dark Chocolate
- 175 g Unsalted Butter
- 2 tsps Instant Coffee
- 100 ml Boiling Water
- 135 g Plain Flour
- 25 g Cocoa Powder
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 300 g Light Brown Sugar (or caster sugar)
- 3 Medium Eggs
- 75 ml Buttermilk
The Frosting
- 125 g Unsalted Butter (room temp - not stork/spread)
- 250 g Icing Sugar
- 25 g Cocoa Powder
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla (optional)
- 50-75 ml Evaporated Milk
Decorations
- Sprinkles
- Chocolates
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan, and line a 2lb loaf tin!
- In a microwave proof bowl, add the chocolate and butter and heat and mix until melted. I usually do 30 second bursts!
- Add the coffee granules to a mug, and pour over the boiling water and mix till smooth - add the coffee mix into the chocolate/butter and mix until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and sugar to a large bowl and whisk till distributed.
- In another bowl, mix together the buttermilk and eggs.
- Add the three mixes together - I pour the chocolate/coffee mix and the egg/buttermilk mix into the dry ingredients and fold until smooth. You do not need to use a stand mixer as you may over-mix it.
- Pour the mixture into the lined 2lb loaf tin - bake in the oven for 55-60 minutes, or until baked through!
- Leave to cool fully once baked!
For the Frosting
- Make sure your butter is at room temperature!
- Beat the butter on it's own for a few minutes to soften!
- Add in the icing sugar and cocoa powder 1/2 at a time, and beat until combined.
- Add the vanilla, and then the evaporated milk a little at a time beating fully in-between each go!
Decoration!
- Slather the frosting onto the top of the loaf cake, and then decorate how you want - chocolates and more!
- Sprinkle on your favourite sprinkles and enjoy!
Notes
- This recipe is based on my Chocolate Fudge Cake and Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with a few changes to suit the loaf cake!
- I used this 2lb loaf tin as always!
- The evaporated milk cannot be switched to condensed milk.
- PLEASE USE THE COFFEE - it just makes it taste more chocolatey, it doesn't taste of coffee.
- You can make your own buttermilk with 75ml full-fat milk, and 1tbsp of lemon juice.
- This cake will last for 3-4 days, at room temp.
ENJOY!
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J x
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Hi Jane
Looove this recipe, made it for Easter this year and my family loved it!
Do you think it would get dry if I baked it as a sheet cake, to make those letter cakes?
I have a traybake version on my blog – it is a very delicate sponge though so it’s risky moving it about too much or cutting into shapes! x
Hi Jane
I’ve only got kenco smooth coffee granules are these OK? And do I wait for chocolate/ butter and coffee to cool before mixing?is stork OK for the cake ? Thank you x
That coffee is fine, no you don’t have to wait as it all cools together, and for the cake yes it is but not the frosting xx
Just baked this for the first time. Used the tin Jane recommends and it got a huge thumbs up from the whole family. Definitely one I’ll be baking again….the evaporated milk makes the icing that little bit special.
Sorry to say the same happened to me as a few other posters and it sank completely in the middle (whilst cooking). I’m an experienced baker and didn’t touch the oven door – it just rose up and sank. Followed to the letter so not sure what went wrong as all the other recipes I’ve followed on this site worked perfectly.
Hi Jane,
If I wanted to make this into a normal size round cake instead of a loaf cake, what would the measurements of the ingredients need to be? Cannot wait to try this x
Have a look at my normal chocolate fudge cake already on my blog..! x
Greetings! Do you have a substitute for evaporated milk?
Greetings, do you have the nutritional values?. My daughter is Type 1 Diabetic, and it would be a treat for her to have a small slice. Or if possible I’d love to request a cake aimed at diabetics. Much appreciated, kind regards.
This is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made, it’s so delicious!! Trouble is, it always bubbles over the top of the tin and always sinks in the middle…any tips for this please?
Sounds like your tin is smaller than mine – so you need to use less mixture! 2lb loaf tins can vary greatly so only fill 2/3 of the way!
Amazing, thank you.
Mine has just done the same. Thought I’d done something wrong but just read Jane’s comment about the size of the tin.
I gave my son the choice of every cake on your website and he chose this one. It’s come out perfectly and I have a very happy 17 year old birthday boy. Not often I get a spontaneous hug nowadays but this cake got me a huge hug.
Another amazing recipe! First chocolate cake I’ve ever baked and came out perfect. Not too sickly and the frosting perfectly balances the the dark chocolate in the cake. Can’t wait until the book comes out!
Hey! Ahh thank you so much this is so lovely. I know, neither can I, it is so exciting xx
Easy to make,a few ingredients I didn’t have,like the buttermilk and evaporated milk..and I found out my loaf tin isn’t a 2lb one!!!😂
The cake took a while to cook,maybe another 15 mins on top of what it says here,but my oven is a bit like that anyway.
Cake is dense,fudgey,chocolatey and super tasty! Am yet to make the frosting but will do toast.
If anyone’s worried about the coffee,you honestly cannot taste it.
I’ll definitely be trying other recipes after finding this one so easy(once I’ve bought a bigger loaf tin!!!!)
Hi,
I use this recipe and I love it. I was just wondering if I wanted to do this again but just to make a large batch of cupcakes how many cupcakes would I be able to make? I was thinking 18 but wasn’t sure.
Hi Jane,
Is it possible to freeze this cake please?
Thanks x
Yes it can be frozen!!
Made for a friend’s birthday – went down a storm! Thank you 🙂
Hi Jane, would it be possible to halve this recipe for use in a 1lb loaf tin, rather than a 2lb? Thanks 🙂
Yes that should be okay! x
I’ve made this cake before and it was lush! I want to make a loaf cake with a hidden heart in the middle- if I put cooked cake in heart shapes into this mixture would it be too runny or would it be okay? Hopefully that makes sense!?
This mixture is quite runny to be honest – I would use a more classic mix compared to fudge cake!
Okay- ‘l will just use the recipe from your creme egg one thank you!
Hey Jane, i made this wonderful loaf last week and its fantastic! could i put chocolate chips or chunks of chocolate into the cake its self or will they just melt? Thanks
They would probably just melt, and sink. The mixture is quite thin so it’s not the best for chocolate chips!
I made this cake and everyone loved it, definitely make again, when you want a good chocolate fix, this is the cake to make.
Hi Jane I discovered you through my Instagram after many failed attempts at baking, ever since using your recipes everyone has raved over my bakes! Although I feel guilty taking credit for all your hard work 😛 super excited to continue baking my way down your list of recipes!!
Thank you for all your hard work <3
Quite easily the best chocolate loaf cake I’ve ever had. I make it all the time, it’s delicious!
My cake sunk in the middle could you tell me why?
This usually means the oven door was opened too early during the bake and the heat change in the oven caused it, or it was under baked x
Hi Jane! I’d like to make this as a desert for our Sunday roast later, but I don’t have any buttermilk so could I make it with lemon juice and whole milk if so how much do I use? Xx
Use the same quantity of whole milk and one tbsp of lemon juice! x
Hi Jane I have made this a couple of times & it is the best chocolate cake ever. Everyone who has tried it says the same. I love your recipes full stop.
I was wondering if you could actually freeze the cake before icing.
Thanks
Hi Jane! Love your recipes! Just pulled this one out of the oven at 50 mins – first attempt. The top is quite hard/has a crust? Is this normal or should it be soft? Wondering if I’v slightly overdone it. I put less mixture in the tin as my 2lb tin seems small and didn’t want it to overspill! Xx
It may be over done/your oven was too high! x
One of the best cakes ever!!!
I made this a few weeks ago. I bought the same tin and it worked a treat. Icing was delicious x
I didn’t have buttermilk, so used the alternative with whole milk and lemon. Perfect. And you’re right, you can’t taste the coffee.
Delicious!
Just made this and it looks amazing
Just made this and it looks amazing
Hi Jane,
I made this recipe today, I love the taste of it, very moist and good but I have a problem here. The top of the cake was not dense enough and it’s middle top sank 😭 Wonder what’s wrong with this? Is it because the flour not sufficient enough in the dough? I did exactly as per your recipe. Please give me your opinion and advice as I love this cake 🍰
The recipe is correct for sure, sinking cakes often means it is under baked slightly, or the oven door was opened too early causing it to sink.
Hi Jane, I’ve loads of Demerara cane sugar can this be used for brown sugar???
Haven’t used it for baking as seems to be bigger crystals.
It can be a bit grainy I won’t lie, but if you have any form of blender you can try and blend the sugar to make the crystals finer x
Sadly, it completely collapsed in the middle. I didn’t touch the oven door for the first 55 minutes! It wasn’t wasted though as it tasted delicious just tearing mouthfuls out of the tin!
Hey Jane,
Is there any substitute for egg in this recipe??
I have not made this one eggless I’m afraid so I don’t know exactly what would work or not but its worth looking into egg replacements if you have done it before!
Hi Jane, could I use normal baking spread/stork for the cake instead of butter? Would it change the texture of the cake?
Many thanks x
For the cake yes, but not the frosting! X
I used 70% dark chocolate and a premium cocoa powder and it was almost too chocolatey for me. Could I use a 50-60% dark chocolate instead? Also do you reckon I could use half butter and half oil to get a more springy finish?
I always recommend using the 70% cocoa content personally, but you could always use a lighter cocoa powder (the risk with the lower percentage is how it bakes) and I’m afraid I have only ever made this with the butter x
I gave up making chocolate cakes some time ago because I was fed up that they were always too dry. After being pestered by my cake loving nephew I gave this recipe a try. All I can say is wow! It’s very simple to make and the final result was AMAZING. Th moistest, most tastiest chocolate cake recipe I’ve every followed. My partner, and ex-chef, said “this is the best cake I’ve ever eaten.” So that I you Jane for restoring my faith in chocolate cakes.
One of the best of Jane’s recipe in my opinion! The frosting is so smooth and chocolatey, it was a hit with every in the family!
Made this today and honestly it was the yummiest thing I’ve ever tasted!! Your recipes are fool proof babe I can’t thank you enough for this yummy recipe.
OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! this cake is amazing!!!! Wonderfully moist and fudge and the icing is out of this world!!!!! My cake was a bit crusty on top (maybe I had the oven too high) but the fudge icing made it forgivable!
Will be making this again for sure!
Hi! Can I use self raising flour instead? And if yes what I have to change ? Thank you
The raising agents are slightly different in this cake (so the texture will be different if you use self raising – it would probably also over flow the tin so ideally you would still use plain! x
Struggled with this one Jane, it didn’t rise at all in the middle….did it twice today with same result. ??
Any ideas why ?
This can happen if the oven door is opened too early – it will cause it to completely collapse on itself. Or, the raising agents weren’t measured correctly, or it was over mixed! x
Hi Jane
Instead of using dark chocolate any chance I can use cocoa powder instead?….if yes, what is the quantity of the cocoa powder i need to use and any changes i need to make?
Thanks
Unfortunately not for this – you need the dark chocolate in the base recipe x
Hi Jane, I’m going to try this lovely recipe at the weekend but only have oat milk, coconut milk or lactose free. Would that work for the buttermilk?
I’m afraid I have only made homemade buttermilk using whole milk (which is typically what you should do) – I’ve read that soya milk is the best alternative if using dairy free, but I assume it work the same with the others as long as they are full-fat x
Hi Jane,
I’m so excited to make this cake but I have one question.
How come adding the coffee water mixture to the melted chocolate will not ruin the melted chocolate i.e. why won’t it seize up? Or is it because it’s is being added after the chocolate is melted?
The chocolate is mixed with butter, and the amount of water is quite considerable – you can even make chocolate sauce with just chocolate and water. Water is dangerous for chocolate in small amounts (even one drop of water can ruin chocolate) but like this there are absolutely no issues!
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Could it be made in two 1lb tins for those with eating restrictions?
I’m not sure what you mean by eating restrictions? But it can be – does reduce baking time but I am unsure how long. x
HI,
If i have left over mixture and make cupcakes, how long do the cupcakes need to be in the oven? The same amount of time or less?
Thanks 🙂
The cupcakes will take about 20-22 minutes! x
Delicious cake! Day 2 microwaved for 40secs and served with ice cream. Oh yes! Another 5 star recipe.
Hiya, I bake using your recipes every week and they are such a hit! But I can’t seem to get the frosting thick and sturdy, it’s always runny. Any tips? X
It is a softer frosting – but what butter are you using? It needs to be a block butter and no spread of any sort x
hi jayne i have made your choc fudge loaf twice and twice it has sunk in the middle i have followed the recipe as you say to and still sunk a little but tastes amazing any idea why this is happening cooked it for 1 hour 10 min
Did you make any ingredient swaps? Such as dark for milk chocolate etc? And how did you mix it? Jane
What are the measurements of a 2 LB loaf tin? I’m in Australia and recipes usually stipulate the length and width (or diameter) of the tins required
Typically ours do too, just not loaf tins or bundt tins – the one I use is linked on the post, which I believe has the exact measurements on!
Hey Jane! This looks like such a delicious and amazing recipe. Was wondering though, does this taste the same as your chocolate traybake? As fancy making a traybake version as my old 2lb tin is too small and waiting for the one you use to come in the post. Or are they still slightly different? Thanks!
Hey! Yes its the same sponge style, just slightly different measurements is all to fit the tins! xx
Hi Jane,
50 minutes into cooking I notice my mix is leaking out over the tray quite badly. I use the same size tray as you, any ideas? 🙂 Thanks!
Hiya – so as mentioned on the post, 2lb loaf tins can vary in sizing, so it probably just means that even though yours is called it, it wasn’t the same size as mine. Sorry! x
Hi Jane
Mines currently in the over (45 min in) and still quite wobbly so will check in 10-15.
Also, I must have put too much of the mixture in as it’s over spilled 😭 I didn’t see the part where you put in the write up about filling 3/4 way. I’m annoyed with myself as was going to stop then thought…nope, the recipe/method doesn’t state this so pour it all in! 🤦🏽♀️
I hope it still turns out ok 😔
Keep your fingers crossed for me x
Was just about to post that mines been in an hour and still wet inside, and no where near cooked. Not sure what’s gone wrong.
Did yours fix itself?
Yes it did for her! As long as you used the correct ingredients and didn’t over mix, it can just sometimes take longer – cover with foil and continue to bake x
Ok! It came out fine and tastes INCREDIBLE!!!! Thank you 😊
Hello …the recipe looks awesome …want to really try …what is evaporated milk ..I doubt I can get that here …if not what else can I use instead it can I make that at home
Hi – could I swap for GF plain flour?
I haven’t tried it – but I think with some xantham gum to help bind the mixture it should be okay!
This recipe looks awesome – can’t wait to try it! In the commentary above the recipe you suggest using strawberries in the decoration – these are featured in the recipe or on the photos, is that correct? Thanks
Sorry that was my mistake, it’s just meant as an example of something you can use!
75 ml of milk and a tblsp of lemon juice? I thought it was more like 1 tblsp for every 240 ml. Are you sure?
I’ve done it with 1tbsp and it’s fine, but you can do less if you prefer..
I read that’s you mentioned extra batter can be used for cupcakes, but if I’m looking for really fudge-y chocolate cupcakes, would you recommend this recipe? Not looking for light and airy chocolate cupcakes which most cupcake recipes I’ve tried have been. I want something rich.
Thank you !
Have a look at the chocolate fudge cupcake recipe on my blog x
Hi Jane, love your amazing life work! Please would you be able to come up with a chocolate cake recipe that uses oil instead of butter? (As oil gives a more soft, moist and bubbly texture and beautiful shine). I’ve seen so many recipes that use oil however when ever I make it (always 85g Cocoa recipes I’ve used I’m just not getting that really rich chocolatey taste and I would like to add more cocoa but I’m worried about it perhaps drying the cake
This one really is the best recipe, but it does still use butter – I’d recommend trying it!
Hi Jane. To make the butter milk, is it ok to use malt vinegar instead of lemon juice? Thanks!
Yes that should be okay – generally I just prefer the lemon method!
Would I need to change anything if I wanted to use espresso instead of instant coffee? Thanks!
Ideally you want the same volume of liquid, so I would use at least two shots of espresso (it depends what style you have!) x
Hi does it have to be dark chocolate? Or if I use dark chocolate does it taste very dark chocolaty if you get what I mean lol
Yes, it MUST be dark chocolate. You need the cocoa content to get the correct results.. it doesn’t taste ‘dark’ x
I’ve just put mine in the oven! Can’t wait to try it later. Thank you for the recipe! 🙂
Yay! I hope you love it!! x
Hi Jane! I hope you’re well!
My cake mixture seemed quite runny when I put it into the oven. Is this ok? Thanks! 😊
Hey! Yes it is meant to be! X
Thank you so much Jane! I just finished making it. You weren’t wrong when you said it’s the best chocolate frosting ever! I have posted my picture on Instagram and tagged you. Thank you so much!
Hi, what are the chocolate balls on top of the cake?
Lindt chocolates!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to make it, have just done the Sticky Toffee Loaf and loved it.
Ahh thank you!! And yay!!
I’ve done the cupcakes and the large cake absolutely delicious so moist , it’s my families favourite!
Ahh yay! It’s just the best chocolate cake isn’t it!!