I’m pretty smitten about this Chocolate Valentine Surprise Loaf Cake, which is a super cute recipe created especially for Valentine’s Day.
My friend Amanda Rettke wrote a cookbook a few years back: Surprise-Inside Cakes (Amazon affilitate link). She’s kinda the queen of cute shapes “hidden” inside of cakes, and her book is all about that. This Valentine Surprise Loaf Cake recipe was inspired by Amanda’s cakes. It’s much like a chocolate pound cake- dense and chocolatey and slightly fudgy in the middle. I’ve hidden a heart in the middle of the cake- so when you cut into it, you get the surprise of the heart in every slice.
How to make a Chocolate Valentine Surprise Loaf Cake:
The wet ingredients are combined with the dry ingredients to create your chocolatey batter.
You also need a frozen pound cake for this recipe (any brand, but I usually pick up the basic Sara Lee). You certainly could make your own homemade pound cake, but it’s totally not necessary. Plus, the sturdiness of a frozen pound cake is the kind of consistency you need. You’ll cut a bunch of heart shapes from slices of the pound cake. Those will end up being the “surprise” inside your cake!
About half of the batter is spread into the bottom of your loaf pan.
A snuggly row of evenly stacked hearts is placed on top of the batter.
Then the rest of the batter is spooned on top.
I sprinkle on chocolate chips to make sure everything was going to be extra-chocolatey!
Here is the loaf all baked- you’ll see that the hearts in the center of my cake pop out the top when the cake rose and cracked. At first, I was like… OH NO! But then I decided that I liked that the hearts peeked out the middle to tell everyone, “Hey, this is a Valentine’s Day cake!)
Go ahead and surprise your Valentine’s this year with this delicious Chocolate Valentine Surprise Loaf Cake. They’ll love ya for it!
Here are a few more Valentine’s Day recipes you might like to try:
- Red Velvet Cheesecake
- Pink Champagne Cupcakes
- Nutella Heart Ravioli
- Valentine S’Mores Trail Mix
- Red Velvet Pancakes
- Fantasy Fudge
- How to Make a Heart Shaped Cake
- Vanilla Apples with Sweetheart Croutes
Chocolate Valentine Surprise Loaf Cake
Recipe Details
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons (1 stick + 2 tablespoons) salted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- 1/2 cup 2% or whole plain Greek yogurt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips, divided
- 1 loaf frozen pound cake, (like Sara Lee), cut into ¾-inch slices
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8x4-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- In a medium bowl, use and electric mixer to combine the butter and the sugar. Then mix in the yogurt, eggs and vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Add to the dry ingredients and mix to combine. Stir in ¼ cup chocolate chips.
- Using a small heart cookie cutter (1 to 2 inches), cut heart shapes from each slice of frozen pound cake. Cut enough of them so (when stacked) they'll fit across almost the entire length of the loaf pan.
- Spread about half of the batter onto the bottom of the loaf pan. Lay a row of the evenly stacked hearts on their side on top of the batter- spanning the length of the pan and leaving about an inch of space on each end (see photo or video in recipe post). Scoop remaining batter over the top to cover the pound cake hearts and create a smooth surface. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top.
- Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until almost completely set (it will look a tiny bit like lava cake in the very center, and that's okay!) The hearts you put in the center of the cake may or may not pop up out of the cake as pictured- it depends on how deep the top layer of batter is. Let cool for 20 minutes or so in the pan, then loosen the edges of the pan with a knife and pop out onto a rack to cool completely. Keep well wrapped- this cake is best eaten within a day or two.
How do you know where to slice so you don’t chop up the hearts? This recipe sounds so good. I can’t wait to make it. Thank you.
It doesn’t seem to really matter. They just kind of stick together. I didn’t have any problem with the hearts breaking apart at all.
This cake looks like it would taste SOOOOO good!!! Thank you so much for the kind words. I love your cake and design and recipe and I really need to make this! 🙂
Thank you for your “surprise inside” ideas!!!
I live this adorable cake. How fun to find the little heart inside.
I love this and your step by step photos are fantastic!
Love how adorable this cake is… I can’t wait to try this as a surprise for my boys!
Very cute idea. Since the pound cake is already baked does the taste/texture of it change being baked again?
Could you do this in mini loaf pans? By how much would you decrease the baking time?
That is too cute! I was wondering how those perfectly formed hearts were there…pound cake idea is great. This could have so many uses!
We finally got some rain last night in SD.
Oh, this chocolate bread is the cutest! I love the surprise!
How completely adorable is this?! Too fun Lori!!
I’m in love with this cake!! What an incredible idea!
How fun is this!! I’ve seen Amanda’s surprise cakes and always wanted to make one. This loaf is not only delicious looking but sounds so easy! Pinned!
Very cool indeed! I just saw this on another website with a red velevet cake – which is very festive for valentine’s day. Thanks for sharing a chocolate version!
Love this cake! So cute and it looks delicious 🙂
I heart this chocolate cake..plus I think even I could do this! Your sweets recipes are the best. Happy Valentine’s day. 🙂
My kids would adore this cake! P.S. Love Amanda, too!
Thank you for de-mystifying the surprise cake for me! ha This looks absolutely delicious and perfect for Valentine’s Day. That cookbook sounds like one that I need to pick up, too. 🙂
Super cute Lori!
I’ll tell you my initial reaction (too much work!) Then, I read through the entire post and thought, THIS IS THE CUTEST THING EVER! Haha. This is great. I may not be able to make it for Valentine’s Day but I may just make it another time just for fun. 🙂
I may have missed it, but when do you add the additional 1/4c. chocolate chips on top? I assume before you bake it? Love this recipe. I am so going to make this for Valentine’s day!
Yes!
I LOVE this!! So easy and adorable 🙂
This is SO CUTE! love that you used frozen pound cake to make it easy! That last close up is making me drool….this cake looks so moist and chocolate and….yum.
This is adorable! Perfect for Valentine’s Day! And I agree — the one that popped out is a perfect “sneak peek.” 🙂
I feel like you just gave away this HUGE secret!! I saw the first pic and I was like HOW DID she do that?!! Frozen pound cake. GENIUS! Those mini chips on top, too. Omg! pinned