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This chocolate loaf cake is SOFT, moist, and decadently rich, and you’re never going to believe it’s made entirely without eggs and dairy (so yeah, it’s vegan!). Made intensely chocolatey with black cocoa powder and topped with a silky dairy-free milk chocolate ganache, this chocolate loaf cake is a little too easy!

sliced chocolate pound cake

Why you’ll love this ridiculously easy chocolate loaf cake:

If ever there was a recipe I would warn you that it’s a little too easy, it’s this one. Okay, and my single serve chocolate chip cookies! But back to this chocolate loaf cake- oh my goodness, it’s ridiculously easy and oh so good.

We’re talking incredibly moist, intensely deep in flavor, and perfectly sweet to balance the richness of the chocolate. And you only need a bowl, a whisk, and absolutely no eggs nor dairy (I’m serious!). 

It’s like the perfect complement to my vanilla pound cake, and topped with my 2 ingredient chocolate ganache, you won’t be able to stop enjoying a slice!

slices of vegan chocolate pound cake

Why I use black cocoa powder here:

Typically in my chocolate recipes, I call for Dutch-process cocoa powder. I use it in my vegan fudge brownies and my ultimate vegan chocolate cake recipe, all with hundreds of 5 star reviews! So why switch it up?

Well, like Dutch-process cocoa powder, black cocoa powder is rich in chocolate flavor and is much less acidic than all-natural cocoa powder. This creates a super fudgy flavor and texture. However, black cocoa powder is even more alkaline, creating that ultimate fudge texture with a deep chocolatey flavor that is just truly unmatched.

I will note that black cocoa powder does make the cake more delicate, so it’s VERY soft, but absolutely delicious!

slice chocolate loaf cake
close up of chocolate loaf cake

My tips for baking a perfect vegan chocolate loaf cake every time:

For a perfectly domed chocolate pound cake: place a long strip of cold vegan butter in the middle of the batter on top. This will help create a weakness in the structure of the batter as it bakes, causing the batter to dome and bake around it and create that classic bakery-style structure.

Use decaf espresso powder if needed: the espresso powder will help intensify the chocolate flavor. But if you cant’ do caffeine, I recommend just using decaf!

Let the ganache cool before topping: you can always just pour the chocolate ganache on top. But I really love a more solidified ganache- almost a frosting instead of a liquid. So what I do is I place the ganache in the fridge and stir every 30 minutes until I reach the desired thickness I want. Usually, that’s about 1.5 hours total!

chocolate pound cake
assembled chocolate loaf cake
bitten chocolate loaf cake

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

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sliced chocolate pound cake

One Bowl MOIST Vegan Chocolate Loaf Cake

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  • Author: Britt Berlin
  • Prep Time: 10
  • Cook Time: 55
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 12 1x
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Baking
  • Cuisine: American
  • Diet: Dairy-Free, Vegan
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Description

This chocolate loaf cake is SOFT, moist, and decadently rich, and you’re never going to believe it’s made entirely without eggs and dairy (so yeah, it’s vegan!). Made intensely chocolatey with black cocoa powder and topped with a silky dairy-free milk chocolate ganache, this chocolate loaf cake is a little too easy!

Ingredients

Scale
  • 3/4 cup (180 mL) dairy-free milk, room temperature
  • 2 cups (250 g) cake flour
  • 3/4 cup (75 g) black cocoa powder, sifted
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1 1/4 cups (250 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup (100 g) light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) neutral oil
  • 2/3 cup (150 g) vegan Sour Cream or dairy-free yogurt, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp espresso powder, decaf if desired
  • 1/2 cup (118 mL) hot water
  • 1 tbsp cold vegan butter, sliced into a 9″ strip (see video)
  • 1/2 batch vegan chocolate ganache

Instructions

  1. Be sure to read all instructions before beginning. Measure out all ingredients for the cake.
  2. Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a 9″ loaf pan with parchment paper.
  3. Whisk the wet ingredients: Add the sugar, brown sugar, neutral oil, vegan sour cream, vanilla extract, espresso powder, and hot water to a large bowl. Whisk until combined. Then add in the cocoa powder, and whisk until there are no clumps of cocoa powder in the mixture. Then add in the baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt, and whisk to evenly distribute the leavening ingredients throughout the batter.
  4. Finish the batter: Add in the flour and dairy-free milk, and whisk just until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the chocolate cake batter.
  5. Bake: Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf pan. Place the 9″ strip of cold butter right in the middle of the pan on top (see video here), and place into the oven to bake for 50-55 minutes. 
  6. Cool: Remove the cake from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely, which will take several hours. Do not frost until the cake is fully cooled.
  7. Make the chocolate ganache: Follow the instructions for making the vegan chocolate ganache frosting. For a thicker ganache, set in the fridge to chill for 1.5 hours, stirring every 30 minutes. 
  8. Frost and serve! Top the cooled chocolate loaf cake with the chocolate ganache. and spread to the edges of the cake. Slice and enjoy!

Notes

Gluten free: You can use a 1:1 gluten-free baking flour, such as King Arthur Measure-for-Measure gluten-free baking flour.

Black cocoa powder: I use King Arthur’s black cocoa powder, but there are several on the market. You won’t get that gorgeously rich and intense flavor if you use anything higher than Dutch-process cocoa powder, but black cocoa powder is preferred!