Chocolate Loaf Cake with Sucanat & Sourdough

I’m a big fan of Alexandra Stafford’s food blog, Alexandra’s Kitchen, and in the past few weeks she has sent a couple emails mentioning Nigella Lawson’s Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake and how absolutely delicious it is. I couldn’t resist trying it out and updating it in the Naturally Sweet & Sourdough way by incorporating natural sugar (in this case, Sucanat) and sourdough starter discard. I’m not sure what the original tastes like but my updated version is absolutely delicious as well - so chocolatey! I hope you’ll give it a try!

Makes one 9x5 inch loaf pan

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1.5 cups (240 g) Sucanat

• 1 and 1/4 cup (140 g) all purpose flour

• 1 tsp. baking soda

• 1 tsp. salt

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 4 oz (113 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, melted

• 1 cup (227 g) brewed coffee (alternatively, you can use boiling water)

• 60 g sourdough starter discard

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease a 9×5-inch or 10×5-inch loaf pan (or line with parchment paper).

2. Grind the Sucanat in a coffee/spice grinder.

3. Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.

4. With either a wooden spoon or a mixer, cream the butter and Sucanat together (for 2-3 minutes if using a mixer). Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.

5. Fold in the melted and slightly cooled chocolate - make sure to blend well but be careful not to over-mix. Mix in the sourdough starter. Then stir in the coffee until combined.

6. Finally, add the flour mixture and mix just until the flour is absorbed. The batter should be smooth and pretty liquidy.

7. Pour into the loaf pan. Make sure the batter does not come more than 1 inch from the rim of the cake pan or there is a risk it will overflow (see note below). Bake for 30 minutes. Turn the oven down to 325ºF (160ºC) and continue to bake for another 15-20 minutes more. The cake will still be a bit soft inside, so a toothpick inserted in the center won’t come out completely clean.

8. Place the loaf pan on a rack, and leave it to get completely cool/cold before turning it out. The cake will likely sink in the middle because it is so dense and damp so don’t worry if this happens.

Notes: Ali at Alexandra’s Kitchen mentions that if you only have an 8.5×4.5-inch loaf pan, prepare it along with another small pan in order to make sure it doesn’t overflow. If you do this, then go ahead and remove this smaller pan after the first 30 minutes of baking.