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You are here: Home / cakes / Family Recipes: Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake aka Grandma Ellie’s Favorite Chocolate Loaf Cake

Family Recipes: Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake aka Grandma Ellie’s Favorite Chocolate Loaf Cake

August 22, 2009 By Laura 10 Comments

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For this month’s Family Recipes event, my sister posted a recipe of mine. I was really floored, completely complimented. But she also took our little event in a brilliant new direction. After all, I have hardly been making Vietnamese Bun my entire life. But I do make it regularly now and she and I talk about Vietnamese food (well, all food) a lot. 50 years from now I can totally see her making it for her family, telling her (as yet unborn 😉 ) children that this is one of Aunt Laura’s favorite dishes…


Family Recipes is an event hosted by myself and HoneyB of The Life and Loves of Grumpy’s Honeybunch; you can check out the rules and requirements here. You have until Saturday, August 29, midnight to send me your submissions.

This event has always been about emotional connections for me. Not what dish your family eats the most or what dish did your grandmother actually invent, but rather what dishes are emblematic of the bonds we have within our families. In light of that–and inspired by Josie’s seemingly unorthodox but actually pretty perfect choice, I made a somewhat strange dish myself this month. I have been wanting to make a dish from my in-laws; my first choice was not season appropriate (holiday candy), and after that I was a little stuck. My mother in law is a wonderful cook, but like me she likes to keep changing and evolving, so every time I ask my husband about recipes–a childhood favorite rhubarb pie springs to mind–she no longer has the recipe or he cannot think of what she made repeatedly. It has been brought to my attention that there is a shrimp dish I could make, but we all know *I* am picky about seafood dishes since I don’t like shrimp–we’ll just blame that one on me. So instead of asking John for more suggestions, I decided to contemplate what I associated with my mother in law–what dish, 50 years from now, would I be telling my grandkids that their mom’s grandmother really loved?


This cake immediately sprung to mind. Now this is truly an unorthodox choice, much more so than Josie’s choice, because I actually found this recipe first and made it for my in-laws one Christmas at their house. But the more I thought about it, I realized that for me this dish is totally about my mother in law, not me. First of all, I have only made it for them, never since (until now). Second of all, she loved it so much that I know she has made it since on her own. So from here on out I have decided I am thinking of this as Grandma Ellie’s Favorite Chocolate Loaf Cake. OK, she never told me it was her favorite, but I am guessing since I have never seen her eat or make any other chocolate loaf cakes. And “grandma” because, well, once you have kids your parents pretty much become grandparents, not parents, at least in terms of how they are referred to around the house.


I discovered something while making this cake this time around. I have come a long way as a baker. I remember being intimidated by this recipe and thinking it was rather fancy. I have no idea why. It is dead simple. I did overbeat the eggs this time–be sure to mix gently rather than beating until light and fluffy (unlike me), but otherwise this is so simple you will want to make it for a weekday treat. And if you do overbeat, as I did, the cake still turns out great, it just sinks a little more in the middle than it would normally (but it will sink some no matter what–this is a damp, rustic, heavy, gloriously chocolate cake).


Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake aka Grandma Ellie’s Favorite Chocolate Loaf Cake
Closely adapted from Nigella Lawson, How To Be A Domestic Goddess

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 2/3 cups (375 g) dark brown sugar
2 large eggs — beaten
1 t vanilla extract
4 oz/100 grams bittersweet chocolate — melted, good quality (I used Scharffenberger)
1 1/3 cups (200 g) AP flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 cup milliliters boiling water

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Put in a baking sheet in case of batter overflow while baking; line a 9X5 loaf pan with parchment paper. The lining is necessary because this cake is quite moist and heavy. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar until well blended and somewhat lightened. Add the eggs and mix in thoroughly, but use a low speed, such as 2, if using a mixer. Do not overbeat. Add the vanilla and mix in completely. Next, gently mix in the melted and slightly cooled chocolate–mix well but do not overbeat, use the lowest speed or fold by hand. Add the flour mixture, alternating by spoonful with the boiling water, mixing on low speed (or gently by hand). I did this in about 6 additions of each. The batter will be smooth and fairly liquid. Pour into the lined loaf pan, and bake for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 325 F and continue to bake for another 15 minutes. This is not a cake you check for doneness as the toothpick would come out messy, so just trust that it is done and remove it from the oven.

Place the loaf pan on a rack, and leave to get completely cold before turning it out. Nigella mentions (and I can confirm) that it is better the next day, like gingerbread, so I like to make it a day in advance. Don’t worry if sinks in the middle.

Slice and serve with whipped cream (or ice cream or strawberries or…).

Filed Under: cakes, chocolate, family recipes

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Comments

  1. Joanne says

    August 22, 2009 at 10:08 am

    Thanks for commenting on my blog Laura! I have been an avid reader of yours for a long time and love so many of your recipes. This cake looks delicious. I think that your event (at least as I interpret it) is less about what dishes your family members actually made and more about the memories associated with certain dishes. The dish my mom always made when I was a kid was breaded chicken cutlets but we bonded way more over dishes we shared together on various occasions.

    I love this recipe, though, and will have to try it!

    Reply
  2. HoneyB says

    August 22, 2009 at 11:19 am

    Joanne you are so right in your interpretation and Laura, this is a fantastic post – exactly how I feel about this event. I have actually been thinking about my "former" MIL and there are a few things she used to make and actually contemplated stopping in to see her to talk about them and the possibility of posting them since my blog is out here mainly for the purpose of giving my sons and future (yet unborn here also) grandchildren. I hope our event goes on and on because this is what the heart of it all is.

    Oh, and the cake, I'm dying for chocolate this morning and would love to try a piece of this very chocolaty cake right now!

    Reply
  3. Jen Bendeck (skelton) says

    August 22, 2009 at 12:07 pm

    Hi Laura –

    In the spirit of dishes that remind you of memories/people rather than the actual dish….Can you post your recipe of noodles with cream cheese? I constantly associate you with this as a little girl 🙂 Josie and I talked about this the other night. Ha ha…hope you are doing well.

    Reply
  4. Barbara Bakes says

    August 22, 2009 at 2:00 pm

    I love a really moist cake like this! Bookmarking

    Reply
  5. Josie says

    August 22, 2009 at 4:46 pm

    Holy cow that was the funniest comment I have ever read on a blog Jen 🙂

    Reply
  6. Laura says

    August 22, 2009 at 7:06 pm

    Haha, Jen. 🙂 Yes everyone when I was 14 or so I was sposed to make dinner for my sibs and I either made mac-n-cheese or noodles with Philly melted on them. I was 14!!! 🙂 🙂

    Reply
  7. Cynthia says

    August 23, 2009 at 6:14 pm

    You know, I am not a chocolate lover but the one thing that I do like and am always on a quest for is an excellent slice of chocolate – dense yet moist and this one looks likes it suits the bill!

    Reply
  8. Grace says

    August 24, 2009 at 5:30 am

    "dense" is definitely the word i'd use to describe this concoction! it looks absolutely amazing–i actually love the warped top. lovely memories–thanks for sharing, laura!

    Reply
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  10. Palidor says

    August 30, 2009 at 4:30 pm

    I just about died when I saw this heavenly chocolate cake. That's exactly how I like chocolate cake – dense, moist, and made with dark chocolate.

    Reply

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Hi! I’m Laura and I am a recovering history major who has re-channeled all of my passion for learning about the history of different countries to learning about their food culture. That doesn’t mean every dish on here is strictly authentic, but it does mean that even my adaptations are not undertaken lightly. My goal is to show you–by doing–that these dishes are possible in your kitchen. Including desserts because I have quite the sweet tooth! Read More…

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