Raspberry and Dark Chocolate Cake

4 from 4 votes

Makes 1 x 22x12cm (8.5x4.5 inch) loaf cake, enough for 8 generous slices

Prep Time10

Cook Time45

Total Time55

Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert, Morning Tea, Snack

Cuisine: American, Western

Keyword: chocolate cake, loaf cake, raspberry and dark chocolate cake

Servings:

Calories: 454kcal

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F, combination steam setting. If your oven has variable steam settings, choose 30% (if not, doesn’t matter! Just choose combi steam and let the oven figure out the humidity). Grease and line a 22x12cm (8.5 x 4.5 inch) loaf pan (you can use baking paper or a pre-cut liner, which I have in a few shapes and sizes now).
Put the melted butter, eggs, ricotta, milk and vanilla into a bowl and mix well to combine and break up the ricotta.
Put the sugar, flour and baking powder in another bowl and give it a quick whisk to combine. Pour in the wet mix and stir until it’s almost smooth. Gently fold through the chocolate and raspberries, taking care not to overmix.
Pour the batter into your lined pan and smooth the top a little. Bake until it’s golden and a skewer tests clean in the centre of the loaf, about 45 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out to cool completely before slicing.
The cake will keep, covered, for a couple of days, or can be frozen in individually wrapped slices for up to two months.

Makes 1 x 22x12cm (8.5x4.5 inch) loaf cake, enough for 8 generous slices.
You can definitely bake this in a round pan if you prefer. I’d use one around 20cm/8in in diameter. I’m not sure exactly how long it would need in the oven, but would think the time should be similar or a touch less than the loaf version. I’d love to know if you try this, please leave a comment below letting me know how long it took to bake!
I love ricotta in this cake, but if it’s hard to get where you are, unsweetened thick Greek yoghurt is an acceptable substitute. Instead of the ricotta and milk, use 1 1/3 cups yoghurt.
For the semi-sweet chocolate, I use my favourite Callebaut 54% dark chocolate here. It comes in enormous blocks but I just buy it a couple of times a year and keep it well-wrapped in a dark place, hacking off pieces as I need them for recipes.
Finally, though I struggle to think of many flavour combinations which beat raspberries and very nice chocolate, you could easily switch up the flavours here. Diced pears in place of the raspberries would be nice, or you could swap out the raspberries and chocolate for chopped dates and a handful of candied ginger.