No matter if you call it bread or cake, this chocolate and pumpkin swirl bread is a revelation, with mesmerizing swirls of deeply spiced pumpkin and rich dark cocoa in a moist and tender loaf. Give it a swirl!

Whether you enjoy it for breakfast, as a satisfying afternoon snack, or as a decadent after-dinner dessert, this dramatically swirled quick bread is a flavorful fall delight.

Cake, bread. Bread, cake. Really, what’s the difference?

Just one of the many reasons I love quick breads: they’re basically cake disguised as breakfast food. Especially if there’s a little chocolate in the mix.

Calling it bread means it’s perfectly acceptable for breakfast, served warm with your morning tea or coffee. Calling it cake makes it similarly satisfying as a dessert (take it a step further with a drizzle of chocolate glaze or a scoop of vanilla ice cream and it’d be downright decadent!)

I’ve also been enjoying the heck out of this bread in the afternoons, as it makes a perfect, satisfying snack to get me through the afternoon lull.

This is a loose adaptation of my sweet potato crumb cake recipe. In addition to chocofying half the batter, I also made a few more adjustments to give the crumb a bit more depth and heft. I wanted a dense, weighty cake that was packed with spices and pumpkin flavor and that stayed moist for days.

The result is quite remarkable, like your favorite banana bread all dressed up for fall. All it needs is a cable knit sweater and a pile of leaves to play in.

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