As you probably know by now, tea time has become a very sacred ritual for us, mainly because my boyfriend is British and loves (!!) his cup of tea in the late afternoon early evening. And as we all know (right?), tea and cake go very well together. I grew up with tea and cake most evenings after supper so I obviously like it too. Sometimes we have biscuits but loaf cakes are a favourite because one can easily eat just a slice and pick it up with one’s hands.

This cake is my regular chocolate cake recipe scaled down to a loaf tin size, with added chocolate chunks and an icing, so more tried and tested than groundbreaking Because the batter is quite thin all the chocolate sinks to the bottom while baking, but I quite like that. The top is crunchy and has the icing and the bottom is soft but hides all the chocolate pieces.

My favourite thing about this cake though is that it lasts. It doesn’t get dry after two days, so there is no rush to eat it, just enjoy it when you want a slice. I would say it lasts well for up to a week, but it will probably get eaten much sooner than that! It also freezes well. Such a good cake!

Triple chocolate loaf cake with chocolate icing, serves 6-8

400 ml caster sugar

330 ml plain flour

4 tbsp cocoa

2,5 tsp vanilla sugar

2,5 tsp baking powder

135 g melted butter

3 eggs

200 ml recently boiled water

40 g milk chocolate, roughly chopped

40 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Icing:

100 ml icing sugar, sifted

1 tbsp cocoa, sifted

1-2 tbsp water

Mix the dry ingredients. Add eggs, butter and water, stir to incorporate. Add the chocolate. Pour into a greased loaf tin, lined with parchment paper. Bake in a low oven, 175 C for 35-45 minutes. Leave to cool.

Mix the ingredients for the icing in a bowl and spread onto the cake while it’s still warm but has cooled down a little.