Since it’s nearly Valentine’s Day, I wanted to bake up something chocolatey, something pink, something with a lovey-dovey vibe. Of course I bake love into everything I make (my inner Hallmark card just had to throw that in, sorry), but this time there’s evidence. Ripe, red, heart-shaped evidence.

I wanted this Chocolate Heart Loaf to be indulgent, but it turned out to be even more indulgent than I had intended. It turned out to be more indulgent than should be allowed!

What I was trying to make was a chocolate loaf with a strawberry heart in the middle. What i did make was a chocolate banana loaf with a gooey pudding center and a strawberry heart at its heart. Lots of flavors and textures inside and out, and pure decadence the whole way through.

I didn’t anticipate how much moisture the strawberry core would add while baking, so the lava part was a happy surprise even for me! But when life gives me chocolatey, gooey surprises, I don’t object.

A simpler strawberry alternative • If your don’t want to bother will all the strawberry slicing and stacking to achieve the strawberry heart, then you can just scatter a line of frozen strawberries (or even cherries) down the center of the batter, hide it with another layer of batter, and bake. The cross-section may not be as impressive, but the taste will still be very impressive.

A less gooey alternative • If you don’t want a gooey chocolate lava-loaf (for someone bizarre reason that I can’t understand), then chill the whole thing before slicing it. It will still be fudgey, but a little less messy.

Chocolate Lava Loaf with Strawberry Love

Makes a 8×4 inch loaf pan

12 large strawberries

3 ripe bananas

1/2 cup non-dairy milk

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I used gluten-free, but whole wheat works too)

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 cup cacao powder (or cocoa powder)