(Perfect) Chocolate Cinnamon Cake

I wish I had better pictures that fully showcased how insanely delicious this cake was. It's extremely chocolatey, and while it's made with cocoa powder (which is the reason I think I don't always like chocolate cakes) it tastes like there's real melted chocolate in the batter. The cake is dense, moist and soft - in other words, perfect.

The recipe actually comes from Starbucks' website, but I found it through Baking Bites. Starbucks has only given out a few recipes over the years on their site so I was really excited to try this one. While the recipe is for cinnamon chocolate loaf, you can definitely omit the cinnamon and replace it with something else, or with nothing and just have a yummy chocolate cake! I made it with cinnamon this time but I don't think I would again just because cinnamon and chocolate is not my favourite combination. My only problem with this cake is the sugar crust on top. As you can see from my pictures, there is way too much sugar on top so most of it ends up falling off. Some of the crust forms into hard little pieces/strips. Maybe a light sprinkling of sugar, or icing! Not that this cake even needs icing. (I keep calling it cake but for some reason the original recipe calls it "bread"?)

Chocolate Cinnamon Bread (Cake)
Adapted from Starbucks & Marcus Samuelsson

Chocolate Batter
3 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cocoa-Spice Sugar Crust
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Dutch-processed cocoa powder
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans and line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper.

Make the chocolate batter: In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment on medium speed, until light and creamy, about 5 minutes. 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 another 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.