Chocolate Cinnamon Spice Loaf

You may remember this post from 2009.

A Starbucks had opened in my town back then and was selling delicious baked goods (they used to be so good).
I couldn't stop myself from going in to buy a piece of this ridiculous chocolate cinnamon loaf with my daily coffee at 3 pm.

Thank goodness that bad habit has been broken. I now can make this cake at home, and I make my own coffee.
;)

The recipe was published back then on the Starbuck's site, and was originally made by chef Marcus Samuelsson.

This has to be my favorite chocolate cake on the planet.

This recipe adapted from the Starbucks website makes 2 loaves, but you can cut the recipe in half to make 1 loaf.

Chocolate Cinnamon Loaf (makes 2 loaves):

3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs at room temperature
2 cups flour
1 ¼ cup dutch processed cocoa
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
¼ cup water
1 tsp vanilla

Cocoa Spice Topping –
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp dutch processed cocoa
Pinch of ground ginger
Pinch of ground cloves

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease two 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pans and line the bottom of the pans with overhanging sheets of parchment paper (this will make it easier to remove the baked cakes.)

Make the Chocolate Batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating until each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next and scraping down the sides of the bowl several times.

Meanwhile in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and baking soda.

In another bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, water and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to butter, beginning and ending with the flour and beating just until blended. Divide the batter between the two pans, shake the pans to even the tops and set aside.

Make the Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust: In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, cocoa, ginger and cloves. Sprinkle the surfaces of both batters with the cocoa sugar mixture, dividing evenly.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely, run a thin knife around the sides to release the breads and remove from pans.

I swear, this is the BEST chocolate cake ever.....it's so moist and lasts for days. It freezes beautifully too.

Love it.