At the BlogHer Annual Conference last week, the staff provided us with lunch both Friday and Saturday. When Dorothy, Trish, and I found seats after our morning breakout session, we looked slightly forlornly at the center of the table. Two trays of hoagie sandwiches and a plate of vegan wraps stared back at us, instead of the gourmet plates of chicken and veggies we were served at BlogHer Food in Miami.
With the bread somewhat stale and slathered in mayo (my least favorite condiment), I reached for the vegan wrap instead. When I set it on my plate, the tortilla fell open and refused to fold back up, so I slid the few bites of vegetables onto my fork and reached for a turkey sandwich too.
But because I can’t stand mayonnaise, I also picked the filling out of that! I cut the large thin slices of turkey into smaller pieces to politely shovel into my mouth, and with my stomach still rumbling, I did that again with another turkey hoagie. Desperate times call for desperate measures!
On the second day, Ashley and I walked into the dining room where Dorothy saved us seats, and I stared at our plates in disbelief. An appetizer-sized salad greeted us, all of 10 pieces of lettuce, with 3 tiny bowls of chopped chicken and steak to sprinkle on top…
For the entire table of 8. Each bowl only held a standard serving of protein; I could’ve easily polished off one all by myself! But that would’ve left just 2 servings for the 7 other people…
So instead, I ravenously devoured that teensy tiny salad and turned to Ashley when I finished. “Would it be weird if I ran into the Expo hall to grab ice cream from the sponsor’s booth?” I asked.
Before she could answer, Dorothy return from refilling her iced coffee and whispered, “I’m going to get ice cream from the Expo.”
I laughed and exclaimed, “I’m coming!” and Ashley followed us out too.
With very few food options and almost no desserts at BlogHer, I came home completely craving sweets! Nothing fancy like tartlets or cheesecake—just simple treats like cookies, brownies, and cake. With the memories of all our afternoon caffeinated lattes and iced coffees powering through the conference, I decided to bake something with similar flavors…
Coffee Loaf Cake with Dark Chocolate Drizzle! Lightly flavored with java and maple, each thick slice of this cake tastes like the aromas wafting through a coffee shop. It has all of the sweetness and moisture of regular indulgent cakes, but it’s secretly low fat, low calorie, and clean eating too!
When it comes to baking cake, I’m all about the no-fuss recipes. No butter to cream, no mixer required—just one pan, one layer, and a simple drizzle. So that’s exactly what this cake is!
With how successful my fudgy salted caramel brownies were, I wanted to try another gluten-free recipe. I mixed together my own blend of brown rice, millet, almond, and tapioca flours, plus a little xanthan gum to act as the gluten and provide the structure.
It turned out beautifully! The cake rose perfectly, didn’t sink, and had a really moist and tender texture. However, you can still use all-purpose or whole wheat pastry flour instead if that’s what you have on hand—or even regular whole wheat (although the texture might be ever so slightly denser).
For the coffee flavor, I turned to instant coffee crystals. We need the kind that dissolves in liquid, NOT regular coffee grounds. Both regular and decaf instant coffee work just fine.
Because the coffee is competing with the maple syrup to flavor the cake, I used 2 tablespoons of the instant crystals. For a more pronounced flavor, use up to 1 tablespoon more, or reduce the instant coffee to 1 tablespoon for a stronger maple taste.
Like with many of my cake recipes, alternating additions are mandatory, especially if you’re using regular (not gluten-free) flour! Alternating additions prevent over-mixing the batter, which would over-develop the gluten strands and result in a tough gummy cake. That’s not what we want, so let’s keep our cake tender and alternate additions!
Now for the drizzle… It’s just 3 ingredients! Cocoa powder, agave, and milk. Feel free to substitute your favorite sweetener in place of the agave (i.e. honey, maple syrup, or even regular granulated sugar). The drizzle’s flavor is really dark, so add more sweetener and less milk if you prefer a lightly taste. The recipe makes a lot, so you may have extra. It’s perfect for dipping strawberries and drizzling on ice cream too!
It took almost all of my willpower not to devour 3 whole slices of this healthier Coffee Loaf Cake with Dark Chocolate Drizzle as soon as I finished its photo shoot! The moist texture and sweet flavor were much too tempting… With how easy the cake is to make, I imagine it’d be lovely for an afternoon tea, weekend brunch, or a fun dinner party.
…Or just because. After all, you can never have too much cake!
And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your coffee loaf cake with dark chocolate drizzle!
Coffee Loaf Cake with Dark Chocolate Drizzle
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
- ½ cup (120mL) nonfat milk
- 2 tbsp (12g) instant coffee granules
- 2 cups (240g) whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
FOR THE DRIZZLE
- 3 tbsp (15g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ½ tsp agave
- 6 ½ tsp nonfat milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and coat a 9x5” loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- To prepare the cake, add the milk and instant coffee to a small bowl. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or unsalted butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup and yogurt, thoroughly mixing until no large lumps remain. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk mixture, stirring just until incorporated, beginning and ending with the flour. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts and the milk mixture in 2 equal parts.)
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan, and bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with some crumbs attached. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To prepare the drizzle, stir together the cocoa powder, agave, and milk in a small bowl. Drizzle on top of the cooled cake.
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
Omg I am definitely making this!! It’s rainy here and today is the perfect baking day 🙂
Yay!! Rainy days are my favorite baking days too. There’s something so comforting about freshly baked treats with the water drops sliding down the windows. 🙂
No way! I usually have to supplement a regular salad with a good old sweet (because I’m THAT kind of person 🙂 ) so I can only imagine how hungry you gals were! Bless your hearts 🙂 I love that you baked up a loaf inspired by the good memories of coffee and chocolate! And your first pic is gorgeous. You nailed the icing drizzle! Pinned!
Thank you so much for your sweet comment Mary Frances! You’re totally right — if I eat a salad, I definitely need (or “deserve,” in my mind) dessert! Next time, I’ll know to pack my own cookies. Never want to go through that again! 😉
This coffee cakes looks so yummy! I can’t believe you were at the BlogHer conference! I also attended the conference, and I wish I could have met you there! You’re right, the whole lunch situation was a bit weird. I got to lunch about 15-20 minutes late on both days, and I had SO much trouble trying to find a empty seat for lunch! I didn’t even get any salad by the time I got there! I must admit, I may have had one too many mini scoops of ice cream from the expo!
Thank you Lisa! Aww it would’ve been so fun to meet you at BlogHer!! But it looks like you’re from the Bay Area, and since I was born and raised there, it’d be fairly easy to meet sometime in the future! 🙂 I still can’t believe what happened at the lunches… I’m so sorry you didn’t get any salad, but thank goodness for ice cream! It definitely saved my sanity — and my sweet tooth!
No way! I just read your bio, and I went to Davis, too! I majored in History and Poli Sci, so I doubt that we would have crossed paths while we were there. Isn’t it such a small world?
That’s so crazy!! I only took one Poli Sci class, but I actually enjoyed it more than I expected. 🙂 Definitely a small world!
Amy, I’m sitting at my office desk drooling over the photo of this cake. It looks sooo good!
Thank you so much Ally! I used to read food blogs during my breaks at my old job too. It made the days go by much faster! 😉
This is gorgeous! Love how it uses non fat milk, it’s all I can have so when I find recipes which use it, I’m in!! Also, is that paper you have the slice on? I love the edges! How do you do that? Whenever I try and tear it looks awful!
Thank you Annie! I love nonfat milk too. I grew up on 2%, but when I was in high school, it started to taste a little off. I switched to nonfat then and never looked back — funny how our taste buds can change! 😉 And yes, those are slices of regular tissue paper that you’d stuff in the top of gift bags. I’ve found that tearing them with their grain is easy, but once you go against their grain, all bets are off! I try to tear a much larger piece than I actually need since they almost always rip in directions I don’t want them to. That way, it’s easier to clean up the edges and still have a useable-sized piece!
Thanks so much! Definitely going to give it a try. Completely relate, I find any other % fat milk tastes odd too!
I’m excited to hear what you think Annie! 🙂
I can’t stand mayo either! Bleh…I hate when they forget to leave it off of my Panera sandwiches. 🙁 And that dark chocolate drizzle–I’m going to use that for sure.
I’ve scraped mayo off off too many sandwiches to count… One time, it happened to me twice in two days at two different restaurants. Maybe I should just string a sign around my neck saying “No Mayo Please!” when I order. 😉 I’m excited to hear what you think of the drizzle Kaylin!
This looks SO MOIST! I just want to take a bite out of my screen! And how sad that the food wasn’t up to par at the conference! I’m sure that was what you were all looking forward to, being food bloggers after all!
YES! BHF in Miami was so awesome with all of the incredible food options, so the regular annual conference was a bit of a let-down in that regard. But thanks for your sweet comments about my cake! 🙂
My only hope is that they were making people be hungry for the closing party, but I can’t help but thing that someone forgot to order, you know, ACTUAL lunch. If there had been a bread booth in the expo I would have overdosed on carbs.
I LOVE THIS BREAD! Pinned!
Did they seriously forget to order lunch??? Because that would make total sense why it was so… Umm, how shall I put this… Sparse? Thank goodness we overdosed on ice cream instead! 😉 And thank you so much for the pin!!
OMG, this tastes soo good, tried it the other day and what’s even better it goes well with my Loaded Gun Diet.
I’m so happy you enjoyed the cake Steph!! 🙂 I haven’t heard of the Loaded Gun Diet before — sounds interesting!
Yeah, loved it really. It’s a combination of two of my favorites – coffee and chocolate.
LGD is basically about eating what you like in moderation. As they say, craving and being on a diet is like carrying a loaded gun with you – it’s bound to go off sooner or later.
That’s such a perfect name for a diet like that! Restrictive diets are the hardest, and they usually seem to backfire. So awesome that people are finally recognizing that!