Chocolate Surprise Loaf Cake – Good for Any Holiday or Wherever Your Imagination Takes You
I have not forgotten that Christmas has passed! And yes, I should have updated this before New Years but the concept is solid and can be used for other holidays and occasions (think gender reveal) so as I am trying to clean up old posts and this one for chocolate surprise loaf cake appeared I thought, why not? Valentine’s Day will soon be upon us and this would be a fun cake to make with heart cut outs inside so use the technique for a delightful cake to share with friends and loved ones.
Baking From Scratch or Homemade?
Plus sometimes baking is making everything from scratch and sometimes baking is using a premade item to help things along a little. In my humble opinion there is nothing wrong with that especially if you are pressed for time or just want to get things done. So look at this more as a this can be anything rather than it has to be Christmas trees. Or hey – it could be a celebration of the forest! That’s it!
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Plus there is nothing that says you have have to stick with chocolate cake as I did. Why not go crazy – use a red velvet cake as the exterior. Or a vanilla cake and some (affiliate link) plant based food dye and go green. If you are really into wild go for a swirly design. Try things – that is half the fun of baking. What’s the worse that can happen? And you get to eat the mistakes.
There is a little patience involved in the production of this cake as you want to get the most out of the prepared pound cakes as you can. Although there is nothing that says you can’t bake your own pound cakes. Just be sure it is a sturdy recipe so as to stand up to being cut into the shapes to be set inside the second cake.
I would say don’t use absolutely freshly baked pound cake. Also partially frozen would work the best. If it’s too tender it will not hold up to the batter being poured on top and the second baking.
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Chocolate Surprise Loaf Cake
- 1 (10.75-ounce) frozen pound cake
- 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup sour cream or buttermilk
- 2 (1-ounce) squares bittersweet or semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted, cooled
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Glaze
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons milk
sprinkles to decorate if desired (these Valentine’s Sprinkles are adorable. Or if you want to look even further ahead, St. Patrick’s Day Sprinkles)
- Heat oven to 350
- Grease three (6×3 1/2-inch) disposable baking pans; set aside. Or use non disposable small baking pans
- Slice frozen pound cake into 3/4″ slices
- Cut two shapes from each slice using one (1 1/2″ to 2″) cookie cutter. Set aside
- Combine brown sugar, butter, eggs and vanilla in a bowl. Beat at medium speed until combined.
- Add sour cream and melted chocolate. Continue beating until well mixed. Add all remaining cake ingredients. Beat on low until smooth.
- Add 1/3 cup batter to each pan, smooth.
- Stand the pound cake cut outs in center of each pan, in single row, touching to form one long shape. Lightly press into batter if necessary.
- Pour remaining batter into pans to cover – about 3/4 cup each.
- Place loaf pans on baking sheet and bake 35 – 40 minutes or until chocolate batter is baked through and toothpick poked near edge of cake comes out clean. (center of loaf may dip slightly)
- Cool completely in the pans on a wire rack.
- Combine the powdered sugar with enough milk to make a pourable glaze. Drizzle over the cooled cakes and sprinkle with edible glitter or decorations if desired.
How Was the Chocolate Surprise Loaf Cake?
These were definitely fun little cakes to make. Relatively easy too – you just have to take care with cutting the shapes for the inside and making sure they are well covered by the cake batter. Not complicated, just takes a bit of patience. The reward is a delightful surprise for either your guests or whomever you might gift one of these little cakes.
As you can see if it all lines up, when you cut open this chocolate surprise loaf you end up with a fun, two flavor cake to serve, and if you gift one the person who receives it will enjoy what they find inside. I think this makes a really sweet (heh – no pun intended) gift to give any time of year. Just choose a cute cookie cutter. Imagine a small flower with a random assortment on the bottom, then a layer of cake batter and another random placement of small flowers.
Fun, right? I might just try that now that I have though of it! Or what about a lovely shamrock for St. Patrick’s Day? See – once you start to think about it you can make these little cakes for any holiday or reason.
Presentation
The next step is to buy some pretty packaging (just be sure it is food safe) and tie up your chocolate surprise loaf for gift giving. I am sure that anyone who receives one of these cakes at any time of year will appreciate the tasty gift. Baked goods are generally welcome and when it comes with something sure to generate a smile how can you lose?
Just imagine the possibilities with this one recipe concept.
