I remember baking and photographing this particular loaf on a grey and rainy winter afternoon. The chocolatey aroma wafting from the kitchen was just heavenly, and the wait while it cooled and was being photographed felt like forever. This simple chocolate loaf cake is a delight with its soft crumb and crunchy pops of pecan nuts, all slathered in velvety chocolate buttercream.
As cakes go this moreish loaf requires minimal fuss, nor will it test your decorating prowess. It’s a lovely everyday bake that is sure to go down well at tea time. Store it in an airtight container and it’ll be good for a few days – although I really can’t guarantee that this loaf cake will last that long. It certainly didn’t in our house!
If you do try this loaf cake or any of my other recipes don’t forget to share your photos on Instagram and tag @cupcakes_and_couscous. I love seeing your pics!
CHOCOLATE AND PECAN LOAF CAKE
For the loaf cake:
- 2 large eggs
- 250ml (1 cup) castor sugar
- 160ml (⅔ cup) sunflower oil
- 160ml (⅔ cup) warm milk
- 180ml (¾ cup) flour
- 45ml (3 tbsp) cornflour
- 60ml (¼ cup) cocoa
- 10ml (2 tsp) baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 125ml (½ cup) pecan nuts, roughly chopped
For the icing:
- 115g butter, softened
- 50ml cocoa
- 375ml (1½ cups) icing sugar
- 2.5ml (½ tsp) vanilla essence
- 30ml-45ml (2-3 tbsp) warm milk
- 60ml (¼ cup) pecan nuts, toasted and roughly chopped
1.) Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease and line a large loaf tin.
2.) Whip the eggs and sugar together for a few minutes until thick and pale. Add the oil and milk and whisk to combine.
3.) Sift the flour, cornflour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl. Add the pecan nuts and toss gently so that they are coated in flour. Add this into the wet ingredients and fold together until combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin.
4.) Bake the loaf for 50 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then carefully turn the loaf out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
5.) To prepare the icing whip the butter until soft. Sift in the cocoa and icing sugar and mix until combined. Add the vanilla and some of the milk and mix into a soft icing. Continue to add the remaining milk gradually until you have a spreadable consistency.
6.) Spread the icing on top of the cake, sprinkle with the pecan nuts and serve.
Cupcakes and Couscous 
Hi Teresa – I’m a huge fan of your recipes and tried this Chocolate and Pecan nut cake today. Just a quick heads up, the measurement for the cornflour shows 45ml but 3 tbsp – think this may be an error? I bake with a gas oven and always struggle with the bake time – usually my bake times are almost 20% more, this cake baked for almost 1hr10. My oven has a fan function, should I use this for baking? Thanks and happy Sunday!
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Hi Elise, thanks for trying the recipe. Baking in a gas oven is very tricky so hats off to you! 😉 I calculated the cornflour as 3 x 15ml tablespoons = 45ml. 😉
Re your comment below, I think it’s very likely that the cake sunk because the door was opened too soon. I hope it tasted good at least, but sorry that it didn’t come out perfectly this time around. Thanks for your support!
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Hi again Teresa. Further to my earlier post, I meant to add that the cake rose beautifully but sadly flopped in the middle towards the last 20mins of baking. May be because I opened the oven door to check the cake after 50 mins.
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Looks too yummy. I’ll be making this soon.
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Fantastic! Enjoy it. 🙂
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I baked this twice and on both times it has sunk in the middle … do you perhaps know what causes that?
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Oh no, I’m sorry to hear that! Usually under-baking is what causes that sinking in the middle. All ovens are different so try extending the baking time by 5-10 minutes. Also be sure to pop the cake in the oven straight away (i.e. don’t leave the batter standing out for too long) and keep the oven door closed during baking. Hope that helps! 🙂
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