A moist and fluffy chocolate chip loaf cake marbled with moist chocolate cake and topped with ganache.
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marbled chocolate chip loaf cake
Hello hello! I’m here today with an upgraded chocolate chip loaf cake for you. It’s made with a super moist and fluffy vanilla cake that’s loaded with chocolate chips, then partially flavored with cocoa, swirled, baked, and topped off with a creamy chocolate ganache.
why you’ll love this marbled chocolate chip loaf cake:
- It’s super light and fluffy. While the flavor is delicious, the cake itself is also SO light and fluffy, the fork will just fall through the cake when you go to take a bite.
- Mini chocolate chips. This cake is loaded with mini chocolate chips, which means there’s little bits of chocolate chips in every bite.
- Ganache. The ganache is truly the icing on the cake and the perfect topping for all your chocolatey needs.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
How to make your chocolate more chocolatey:
The secret to getting more chocolate flavor into your chocolate cake? Bloom your cocoa powder! Blooming your cocoa powder just means that you’re mixing the cocoa with a hot liquid. Here we’re using hot esprseso to both bloom the cocoa and add moisture into the cake. Adding in the hot espresso releases the cocoa powder particles from a very thin membrane on them, exposing cocoa solids and bringing out more flavor. It’s truly such a simple way to add more chocolate flavor into your bakes, and makes it easier for the cocoa to incorporate into the batter.
Be careful when mixing the cake batter:
When you over-mix your batter, you create more gluten in the batter which will make your cake go from light and moist to dense and chewy. When you’re mixing in the dry ingredients, be sure that you only mix *just until* that last streak of flour disappears into the batter.
Room temperature ingredients
It is important for the ingredients to be at room temperature so that they properly incorporate with each other and you don’t end up with a curdled, uneven batter. Take out your cold ingredients about an hour before starting the recipe to allow them to come to room temp.
Keep an eye on the cake while it bakes
Things like to go from under-baked to over-baked super quickly so it is important to keep a close eye on them. Start checking around 40 minutes with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out wet, check again in 5 minutes and so on, until the toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs
When you should make the ganache
I’d recommend waiting to make the ganache until the cake is almost fully cooled. If your ganache sets up before you’re ready to pour it over the cake, simply microwave it in 5-second intervals and stir until it’s pourable again.
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
ingredients for marbled chocolate chip loaf cake:
marbled chocolate chip loaf cake:
- All purpose flour: gives the cake structure.
- Baking powder: helps the cake rise.
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the batter.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the cake and adding flavor. You can substitute in salted butter, just be sure to omit the extra salt in the batter. You can also use your favorite dairy-free butter stick in it’s place.
- Vegetable oil: for tenderizing the cake. You can substitute any neutral oil, such as canola, in place of vegetable oil.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetening the cake and keeping it moist. The sugar also helps aerate the butter to give this cake its rise.
- Egg: for binding and for moisture.
- Vanilla: for flavor.
- Sour cream: adds moisture and makes the cake tender. I recommend full fat sour cream for the best texture.
- Whole milk: adds moisture – like above I recommend whole for the best results. However, 2%, 1%, or your favorite non-dairy milk should work just fine.
- Dutch process cocoa powder: gives the cake a rich chocolate flavor. I highly highly recommend dutch process because it’s more flavorful – but you can use natural if it’s what you have on hand.
- Espresso: freshly brewed espresso helps to both bloom (bring out more flavor from) the cocoa, and adds some delicious strong coffee right to the batter. If you’re unable to brew espresso, you can use instant espresso with hot water, coffee, or milk.
- Mini chocolate chips: for flavor and texture.
ganache:
- Heavy whipping cream: smooths out the ganache.
- Semi-sweet chocolate: chocolate chips or a baking bar will work here. If you’d like it sweeter, you can use milk chocolate – if you’d like it more bitter, you can use dark chocolate.
how to make marbled chocolate chip loaf cake
Here are the basic steps to follow to make this cake and some photos of the beautiful process. You can find the complete recipe at the end of this blog post.
- Beat together the butter, oil, and sugar – followed by the eggs and vanilla.
- Alternate folding in the dry ingredients and sour cream/milk.
- In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa and hot espresso, then mix in ~1 1/4 cups of cake batter.
- Swirl the batters together, bake, top with ganache, and enjoy!
marbled chocolate chip loaf cake
recipe q&a
What size loaf pan do I need?
I used a 8.5 x 4.5″ (1.25 lb.) metal loaf pan for this cake. You can use a 9×5, just note that your cake will be a tad shorter and will take a little less time to bake. I recommend against glass bakeware because it just doesn’t conduct heat as well which affects bake time and browning on your bakes. So please note that if you do use a glass pan, your bake will take more time.
How to store this loaf cake
Ganache is safe at room temperature for up to 2 days. If you have the cake for more than 2 days, please store it in an airtight container in the fridge.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Marbled Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
Ingredients
Vanilla Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
- 200 g all purpose flour (1 ⅔ c.)
- 1 ¾ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
- 85 g unsalted butter room temperature (6 tbsp.)
- 50 g vegetable oil (¼ c.)
- 200 g granulated sugar (1 c.)
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla
- 90 g sour cream room temperature (¼ c. + 2 tbsp.)
- 80 g whole milk room temperature (⅓ c.)
- 105 g mini chocolate chips (½ c. + 2 tbsp.)
Chocolate Cake
- 15 g dutch process cocoa powder (2 ½ tbsp.)
- 30 g freshly brewed espresso (1 oz.)
Ganache
- 130 g heavy whipping cream (½ c. + 1 tbsp.)
- 150 g semi-sweet chocolate chips or baking bar (¾ c. + 2 tbsp.)
Instructions
Vanilla Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Butter and line a 1 lb (8.5 x 4.5) loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat together the butter, oil, and sugar for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat in one egg until it's well combined. Then, add in the next egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.
- Fold in ½ of the flour mixture until just combined. Then, gently mix in all of the sour cream and milk until just combined.
- Fold in the remaining flour mixture and chocolate chips until just combined.
Chocolate Cake
- Brew the espresso. To a small mixing bowl, add the cocoa powder and hot espresso. Mix until well combined and no clumps remain.
- Add 280g (1.25 c.) of the vanilla chocolate chip cake batter to the cocoa mixture. Fold the batter into the chocolate mixture until the mixture is cohesive.
- Alternate scooping the two batters into the loaf pan. Once all the batter has been used, use a knife to gently swirl the batters together.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Ganache
- Once the cake has cooled to room temperature, make the ganache. Add the chocolate to a small bowl and set it aside.
- Add the heavy cream to a small saucepan set over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
- Remove the cream from the heat and immediately pour it over the chocolate. Whisk the mixture together until it's smooth.
- Place the ganache in the freezer and stir it every 5 minutes until it cools down (this should take about 15 minutes total)
- Pour the ganache over the cake. Slice, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
Very delicious😃 I had to substitute the sour cream for plain yogurt but it baked up just fine and tasted good too. I didn’t make the ganache bc I was lazy😭 but i bet it would be really good.
Thank you so much Madison, I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂
Hi.
For the chocolate cake part of the recipe, I was just wondering what can you use instead of the espresso?
Hi! You can use instant espresso or coffee + water, hot water, or milk in place of the espresso. 🙂