This Chocolate Loaf Cake with a Dark Chocolate Whipped Ganache is any chocolate-lover dream dessert: moist, decadent and made with real dark chocolate!
150ml ( 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp)Heavy / Thickened Creamor whipping cream - at least 30% fat content (see note 1)
Garnish
8Fresh Raspberries
Dark Chocolate Shavingsto taste
Instructions
Whipped Ganache
Thinly chop the Dark Cooking Chocolate and place in a heat-proof bowl.
Warm up the Cream in a small pot until it starts to boil. Pour over the chopped chocolate then wait 2 minutes without touching it. With a spatula, gently stir the cream and chocolate starting in the middle of the bowl until all the chocolate has melted (see note 2).
Place in the fridge to cool down completely.
Chocolate Loaf Cake
Preheat your oven on 160'C/325'F. Grease and Flour a 25 cm / 10 inch Loaf Pan. Turn it over and tap it over a hard surface to remove any excess flour.
Thinly chop the Dark Chocolate and place in a microwave-safe bowl with the Unsalted Butter cut into small cubes. Melt in the microwave in 30 seconds increments, stopping to stir each time. Stop as soon as the chocolate has melted and stir more to combine if needed. Set aside to cool.
In a seperate large bowl, whisk the Eggs and Brown Sugar. Add the Melted Chocolate and Butter, and stir.
Add the Flour, Baking Powder, Salt and Espresso Powder. Whisk until combined then pour into the loaf pan.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean (see note 3). Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the pan than remove from the pan and transfer onto a cooling rack until completely cool.
To finish the loaf
When the Chocolate Loaf is completely cool, get the Whipped Ganache mixture out of the fridge. Beat on high speed with a mixer until stiff and well whipped.
Transfer into a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe over the chocolate loaf cake (see note 4).
Optional: garnish with some fresh raspberries sliced in half and dark chocolate shavings (see note 5).
Notes
General Disclaimer: I highly recommend using the measurements in grams/ml for more accuracy and a better result.You need to use Cooking Chocolate (versus eating chocolate/chocolate bar) for this recipe - eating chocolate will not properly and will end up adding an unpleasant grainy texture to the cake and ganache.
Make sure the cream you use has at least 30% of fat content in it. Otherwise, the ganache will not whip.
If you still see small pieces of un-melted chocolate, place the bowl over a 'bain-marie" or double boiler until completely smooth and homogeneous.
Don't worry if you can still see a few crumbs on the skewer - you want the cake to be baked but still very moist.
You can also simply spread the whipped ganache with a spatula if you do not want to pipe it.
To make chocolate shaving, simply use a peeler over a bar of cooking chocolate.