Name: Coconut, Almond and Chocolate Loaf Cake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 70 min
Ingredients: 170g unsalted butter; 170g caster sugar; 3 eggs; 85g ground almonds; 85g desiccated coconut; 85g plain/all-purpose flour; ½ plus ⅛ teaspoon baking powder; ¼ teaspoon fine salt; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 85g chopped chocolate, I use Bournville dark chocolate which has 36% minimum cocoa solids

Jump to Recipe

Soft, moist, vanilla and almond sponge loaded with desiccated coconut and chunks of dark chocolate. Exceptionally tasty with a cup of tea or coffee and perfect to pack up for a picnic or packed lunch, this cake is wonderfully quick to make, and keeps really well in an airtight container for a few days. Known as Naini’s Coconut, Almond and Chocolate Loaf Cake in our house, this recipe was from Andrew’s Naini (or grandmother).

Arnold’s 90th birthday

When my father-in-law turned 90, we were struggling to decide what to buy for him. As he is a massive fan of ‘a cup of tea and a piece of cake’ (who isn’t frankly?) I decided to make him 52 loaf cakes for the freezer – one for every week of the following year. This loaf was right at the top of the list – not only is it a fabulous cake, the recipe came from his mum.

Where did this recipe come from?

Where the original recipe came from, or how old it is, I have no idea. But it’s definitely been around for a few decades and it has certainly stood the test of time. Although I don’t think this is a Welsh recipe per se, I think of it in this category, purely because Naini was Welsh to the core, she lived in North Wales her whole life, and her only experience of going abroad was …. to go to England!

How to make Coconut, Almond and Chocolate Loaf Cake

Collect all your ingredients together:

unsalted butter
caster sugar
eggs
ground almonds
desiccated coconut
plain/all-purpose flour
baking powder
fine salt
vanilla extract
chopped chocolate, I use Bournville dark chocolate which has 36% minimum cocoa solids

How to make Coconut, Almond and Chocolate Loaf Cake:

It is important that the butter is at room temperature and soft enough to beat. If it is a little hard, beat it with an electric whisk before adding the sugar. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This should take 1 – 2 minutes with an electric whisk.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Weigh in the ground almonds, desiccated coconut, flour, baking powder and salt, as well as the vanilla extract, and fold into the egg and sugar mix until nearly mixed in.
Add the chopped chocolate and fold in.
Tip into your lined baking tin and level the surface.
Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 1 hour – 1 hour and 15 minutes until cooked. It is cooked when:
- the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains.
- a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- the cake is beginning to come away from the sides of the tin.
Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.

Coconut, Almond and Chocolate Loaf Cake

Soft, moist, vanilla and almond sponge cake loaded with desiccated coconut and chunks of dark chocolate. Exceptionally tasty with a cup of tea or coffee and perfect to pack up for a picnic or packed lunch, this cake is wonderfully quick, and keeps really well in an airtight container for a few days.

Serves 10 – 12

Course afternoon tea, Morning Coffee, treat

Cuisine British

Keyword Almonds, coconut, dark chocolate chunks, loaf cake

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

170g unsalted butter
170g caster sugar
3 eggs
85g ground almonds
85g desiccated coconut
85g plain/all-purpose flour
½ plus ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon fine salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
85g chopped chocolate, I use Bournville dark chocolate which has 36% minimum cocoa solids

Instructions

Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Preheat oven to fan oven 150°C/170°C/325°F/Gas 3.
Grease and line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with baking parchment. Alternatively, use a cake tin liner.
It is important that the butter is at room temperature and soft enough to beat. If it is a little hard, beat it with an electric whisk before adding the sugar. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. This should take 1 – 2 minutes with an electric whisk.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
Weigh in the ground almonds, desiccated coconut, flour, baking powder and salt, as well as the vanilla extract, and fold into the egg and sugar mix until nearly mixed in.
Add the chopped chocolate and fold in.
Tip into your lined baking tin and level the surface.
Bake in the centre of a preheated oven for 1 hour – 1 hour and 15 minutes until cooked. It is cooked when:
– the centre feels springy when lightly touched with your finger and no imprint remains.
– a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
– the cake is beginning to come away from the sides of the tin.
Remove from the oven and leave in the tin for 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

kitchen scales and measuring spoons
mixing bowl and electric whisk
chopping board and knife
900g/21b loaf tin lined with baking parchment or a loaf tin parchment case

Where is this recipe from?

Known as Naini’s Coconut, Almond and Chocolate Loaf Cake in our house, this recipe was from Andrew’s Naini (or grandmother). Where the original recipe came from, or how old it is, I have no idea. But it’s definitely been around for a few decades and it has certainly stood the test of time. Although I don’t think this is a Welsh recipe per se, I think of it in this category, purely because Naini was Welsh to the core, she lived in North Wales her whole life, and her only experience of going abroad was …. to go to England!