Rich, moist and not sour at all, this sourdough chocolate cake recipe will be your new go-to for birthdays, holidays, and any other special occasion! It's heaven in a cake pan… topped with a decadent, velvety chocolate ganache!
When you've found a great cake recipe, why stop there? Why not make it traditional and sourdough, to boot?
Many times when you search for a sourdough recipe online, it's not a TRUE traditional sourdough recipe, but rather a regular recipe that uses a bit of sourdough starter.
Unless a recipe calls for a long souring stage of at least 8 hours, you're not actually reaping the benefits of sourdough. Read here to learn more about what makes sourdough so healthy.
A great example of a “non-sourdough” sourdough recipe is the sourdough chocolate cake by King Arthur Flour. Yes, there is sourdough starter in the sourdough chocolate cake recipe, but it calls for a souring stage of only 2 to 3 hours.
Thankfully, I've gotten pretty good at converting regular recipes to sourdough. However, because the King Arthur recipe already called for sourdough starter, I actually gave it a “traditional foods makeover” by removing ingredients we like to avoid and swapping them for healthier options (and, of course, increasing the souring time).
Why Use Sourdough?
Do I have to use sourdough in this sourdough chocolate cake? Why not just make a REGULAR chocolate cake?
It's simple. Of the many benefits of sourdough, here are a few. The process of sourdough…
- makes gluten easier to digest (for sensitive individuals and everyone else, too)
- lessens bread's effect on blood sugar
- increases available minerals by reducing phytic acid, an anti-nutrient
- resists spoilage microbes, meaning sourdough bread goes bad less quickly
- and, delays staling of bread!
Whether or not to use a souring method is among the many frequently asked questions I get about sourdough. My answer: it's definitely worth it!
In fact, I love sourdough baking so much that I wrote Sourdough A-Z — an eCourse of 48 video lessons that covers everything you need to know about getting started with sourdough!
Also, because many of you have asked how to convert your sourdough starter to einkorn (an ancient whole grain), I created another eCourse on Einkorn Baking. Einkorn is an entirely different beast from all-purpose wheat flour!
No matter what your reason for choosing sourdough — whether a gluten sensitivity, gut health issues, or just for fun! — and even if you only bake with it every once in a while, I know you'll love this sourdough chocolate cake recipe!
Why Make A Cake Sourdough?
Once you've figured out a good sourdough feeding schedule (here's my sourdough care routine), you'll likely be looking for more recipes to use up that sourdough discard!
This sourdough chocolate cake uses a full cup of starter discard — a.k.a. sourdough starter that's been fed 6 to 12 hours prior to baking.
For more ways to use up discard, check out sourdough pancakes, sourdough waffles, sourdough cookies, and even sourdough cinnamon rolls!
Sourdough Chocolate Cake Ingredients
As you may notice, the ingredients for this sourdough chocolate cake are much like the ingredients in ANY chocolate cake recipe. However, we're adding the sourdough starter to break down the flour and make it more digestible.
We're also allowing the sourdough starter plenty of time to do this, before mixing in the baking soda and other last-minute ingredients to make a nice and fluffy cake.
Chocolate Sourdough Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Rich, moist, and not sour at all, this chocolate sourdough cake will be your new go-to cake for birthdays, holidays, and special occasions.
Ingredients
Soaking Stage
- 1 cup sourdough starter recently fed
- 1 cup raw whole milk cow or goat
- 1-3/4 cup spelt flour
Baking Stage
- 1 to 1-1/2 cups evaporated cane juice or Rapadura, or Sucanat
- 1 cup coconut oil just barely melted
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon Teeccino I used the Mediterranean Hazelnut blend (optional)
- 2 organic or pastured eggs
Chocolate Frosting
- 3/4 cup coconut cream
- 1/4 cup raw honey
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Soaking Stage
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Combine the fed starter, milk, and spelt flour in a mixing bowl.
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Cover and let rest at room temperature for 8 hours.
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If not ready to bake the cake, transfer this mixture to the refrigerator until ready to finish the cake, but allow it to come back to room temperature before proceeding.
Baking Stage
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Grease (1) 9x13-inch cake pan or (2) 8x9-inch square or circular cake pans with coconut oil. Set aside.
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In a separate mixing bowl, combine the evaporated cane juice, coconut oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, and Teeccino.
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Mix well.
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Add the eggs and beat well.
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Combine the sourdough mixture with the chocolate mixture.
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Mix gently until smooth.
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Pour into prepared pan(s).
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Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly.
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Remove from oven and set on a rack to cool.
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Once cool, if cakes are in square or circle pans, tip them out onto a platter.
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Spread frosting (see method below) between layers and on top. If cake is in one rectangular pan, spread frosting on top.
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Serve!
Chocolate Frosting
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Combine all frosting ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth.
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Frost a completely cooled cake immediately, or chill until ready to frost. Simply let it come back to room temperature before frosting.
Recipe Notes
- Be sure to use sourdough starter that is well established and recently fed (within 6 to 12 hours prior to baking).
- Check out recipe ingredients above for possible substitutions.
- Other frosting choices: basic chocolate coconut cream, cream cheese frosting, or chocolate buttercream frosting.
- For an extra decadent and show-stopping cake, make cake in (2) 8-inch circles. Frost each layer and around the outside with cream cheese frosting, then drizzle the slightly warm chocolate frosting recipe above over the top allowing it to drip down over the edges. Chill the cake well before serving to secure layers in place.
More Dessert Recipes You Might Like
- 17 Yummy Desserts Using Sourdough
- Chocolate Walnut Brownies
- Dark Fudgy Sweet Potato Brownies
- Mixed Berry Bread Pudding
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart
- Deep Dish Blueberry Pie
This post was originally published and written by Wardee Harmon on 9/25/09. It was updated and republished on 6/12/20.
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Hi, Wardee! I was wondering what Sucanat is and how it is made, and why do you choose it above other sweeteners? Is it a liquid, crystals, powder? Thanks!
.-= Julieanne´s last blog post… College Success Begins at Home: Seasoned Homeschoolers Share Their Experiences =-.
Okay, so just what *is* the distinction between Sucanat and Rapadura? I’ve never had a clear idea of the difference.
.-= Mindy´s last blog post… as I bombard you with photos =-.
Okay, well, this is my understanding today… 😉
Sucanat – SUgar CANe NATural (unrefined sugar cane – juice, I believe)
Rapadura – dehydrated cane juice (unrefined, dehydrated juice of the sugar cane)
During the time that NT was published, Sucanat was being processed in a more refined way, which is why it is not included in the list of unrefined sweeteners. Since that time, they have gone back to processing it much the same as Rapadura. So you can use either knowing that they are unrefined sugar cane. Rapadura is more expensive, thus why people often choose Sucanat.
Then there’s evaporated cane juice (what I used in this recipe) which is somewhat refined. I bought it thinking it was “dehydrated cane juice” (Rapadura) but apparently there is a difference between “dehydrated” and “evaporated” What that difference is I do not know – but the former is unrefined and the latter is a little refined.
Of course, all sweeteners should be moderated!!! (But you both know that. 🙂 )
If I’m wrong on any of this, please set me straight…
A wonderful option is the muscovado sugar sold at http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com It”s delicious! Huge discount for buying club members.
Warde could I use dandy bend instead of Teeccino in this recipe??
Hi Leah,
Sure! That will work fine. Or you can leave it out completely. 🙂
Millie
Traditional Cooking School Support
So what is the equivalent suger to the dehydrated cane juice? I mean cane sugar is dehydrated cane juice right? So basically 1 to 11/2 sugar?
I’d love to try this just confused on that one ingredient ?
Hi, Amy: You can do a straight substitution, 1:1 dehydrated/evaporated cane juice to sugar. Or you can decrease the amount of sweetener overall, if desired. —Sonya, TCS Customer Success Team
Wardee, if you don’t have access to raw milk, can you give me a good substitute for it?
This cake sounds yummy and I’m dying to try it!
Oh, what would you use to grind your sucanat?
Thanks,
Jean
Hi, Jean – Whatever milk you normally drink would substitute fine. The sourdough is what neutralizes the phytic acid in the flour. I understand that not all people have access to raw milk – so feel free to substitute the milk you drink. 🙂 I use the Vita-Mix dry container or a food processor to powder the Sucanat. It works really well. The VM does a better job. Enjoy!
This looks amazing! Unfortunately, I killed my sourdough starter some months back and haven’t tried again. Plus the recipe I tried to make bread with… well let’s just say that loaf (or brick, rather), could’ve broken a window! I still have some learning & reading to do in the realm of sourdough but it’s so healthy for you that I hope to try again soon!
Umm… YUM!!! 🙂
mmm…you’re inspiring me to get a sourdough starter going again… although, for the cake, I’d have to use carob instead of chocolate as I’m alergic to chocolate (have you ever heard of a thing so absurd? kidding…sort of) 🙂
I realize that I am posting this years later, but I am intolerant of chocolate! I thought I was the only crazy person. Carob cake sounds delicious to me. . . I can’t wait to try the recipe!
I think I am going to make this as the second cake for my daughter’s birthday party this weekend, now that my sourdough seems to be happy. Too bad that I don’t think I’ll be able to track down coconut butter before then; I’ll have to save some coconut cream aside from our whipped coconut cream from Thursday!
.-= Rebecca´s last blog post… Tuesday Twister: Almond butter squash brownies – Oxtail soup – Spelt French bread – Gluten-free Deep Dish Pizza =-.
It’s soaking right now! Tomorrow is my birthday and I didn’t want a yucky store bought cake that my family would have picked up – so I’m making my own!
.-= tara´s last blog post… My delicious grain free breakfast. =-.
Wardee,
Tried this recipe today…what a delicious cake! I have to admit, I thought the sourdough would make it too heavy, but my whole family LOVED it! It was perfect! I didn’t have coconut cream for the frosting, so I made homemade whipped cream instead. It was a perfect complement!
A friend had given me some Teecino a couple months ago when I was trying to quit coffee (I did, BTW). I put it up in the cupboard and forgot about it. When I saw this ingredient in the recipe, I thought, ‘I just might have that.’ LOL! It was almond amaretto…gave it wonderful flavor!
My family gives this recipe 12 thumbs up! 🙂
.-= Tammy´s last blog post… Raw Milk Symposium =-.
Hi Wardee!
I just make this cake today (started last night) and it turned out LOVELY!
I made it for a friend’s birthday. She has digestive problems and usually cakes give her issues. But she ate two pieces of this one and said her stomach was fine! Yay! Success!
My only problems were:
1) I used wheat flour instead of spelt flour. I think wheat flour is slightly more dry than spelt flour and so my cake turned out a tiny (TINY) bit dry. I’ll try less flour next time.
2) I doubled the recipe and used two different cake pans: one metal cake pan and one glass cake pan. The cake in the glass pan was more moist and rose higher than the cake in the metal pan. Even so, I was happy to see the sourdough component behaving as expected! I’ll be sure to use only glass pans in the future. 😉
I really love this recipe! I’m going to try it sometime with stevia.
Thank you!
.-= gilliebean´s last blog post… Egg Troubles? =-.
This looks really awesome! I will try this one definitly! This is the second time I see that I should not use dutch cocoa powder. Since I am dutch and live in the Netherlands, I am afraid I can’t get anything else here and I wonder why this is?
.-= Iris´s last blog post… 1e muffins van geweekt meel =-.
Iris – I think you can go ahead and use Dutch cocoa. It has been processed to make it less acidic, which can affect leavening. But since this sourdough cake has the baking soda to react with the sourdough starter, it leavens fine. In fact, I used Dutch cocoa the other day and the cake was fine. Perhaps a gourmet would have noticed the difference, but I did not.
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/tastetests/overview.asp?docid=9942
Thanks Wardee, I really appreciate all your work! You must be a busy woman!
Wardee – what brand of traditional cocoa do you use?
Tara, I don’t know the brand because it comes in bulk. I could try to find out. But since putting up this post, I have used Dutch process cocoa in the cake. It doesn’t rise quite as well because it is not acidic and doesn’t react with the baking soda like the traditional does.
Wardee,
I’m outta milk.
What do you think if I substitute water and coconut cream (tropical traditions) to make a coconut milk? Maybe 3/4 c liquid and 3 eggs or keep 1 c liquid and 2 eggs? Should I skip the experient and get dairy? What’s your advice?
-Teresa
O.K.
Instead of milk I used 1 C H20 and 1 TBS coconut cream – the cake was moist and delicious. Everyone loved it even w/o the frosting!
Great recipe Wardee 🙂
-teresa
I’d like to make this cake this week for my daughter, but I don’t have spelt flour. Do you think rye or whole wheat would work? what adjustments should I make? Thanks!
Thanks so much for this recipe. I have two sourdough’s going, one wheat and one rye and as I’m not making rye bread in the summer I’ve been wondering what to do with them. The cake is a great idea!
Sourdough newbie here – Do I use starter I just fed or at it’s peak or …? I’ve been dying to try this cake for months!
Bernadette — It doesn’t need to be at its peak. It should have been fed within the last 12 hours or so, even fed 18 to 24 hours prior is fine. Very flexible!
I made it per the original recipe & WOW! Thanks so much!!!
I am making this for my 8 yr old Bday tomorrow, soaking now! I need to use Stevia because we cannot have any other sweetener, any idea how I would replace the bulk in the recipe in order to do that? and what amount of Stevia?
Amanda — Oh, dear, I have no idea! I am not experienced at all in baking with stevia. If you’ve done other research on ingredients that can supply bulk, I’d defer to that. I’m sorry I can’t help!
WELL, I used applesauce to replace the bulk and then added the stevia, came out great!!
I made King Arthur’s version of this cake today (hadn’t found your version yet) and it tastes really good, but was a bit dry and there were some little lumps of sourdough left that hadn’t mixed in very well. I mixed it in my Kitchenaid and it looked well mixed. Have you ever had that problem? Is it better to mix by hand? Aside from the lumps, it was a really good cake!
If you’re referring to lumps of cocoa…then I would suggest what I did and that’s mix the cocoa with a small amount of the liquid slowly until you actually get a paste – a bit like when you’re making homemade pudding. If you dump the cocoa into liquid you’ll get lumps. Mine came out with no lumps at all. (I did, however, accidentally add a 2nd cup of milk in the egg/oil/vanilla mixture) And although it was ridiculously moist as cupcakes, there were no lumps at all.
Being from The Netherlands I don’t know what you mean by : traditional cocoa powder (not Dutch process). What is Dutch process?
Hi Rose,
Dutch process cocoa has been treated with an alkali to neutralize its natural acidity. Because it is neutral and does not react with baking soda.
Rose, I am sure you are familiar with Droste cocoa brand. Droste is alkalized. By natural, they mean untreated natural cocoa, which is lighter colored and better for you, so very popular now with the healthy foods movement, but not as deeply flavored either. I am going to try the cake with Droste because it tastes so good, but will make sure to let the batter ferment the full 8 hours. Hopefully that will make more sour acid to replace the lack of cocoa acidity so the cake still rises properly. Had to go to a specialty store to get the Droste because it can be hard to find in the US.
I was wondering if you could make this without egg. My son is allergic and I’m not sure about how the different ingredients will react to not having the egg as a posed to a normal flour sugar cake. Thanks
Have you made this cake with einkorn? Any tips or changes? My starter is einkorn so I was wanting to use it in place of the spelt. Thanks!
Hi Jeannette,
Wardee does make the cake using einkorn. She doesn’t make any other changes to the recipe. 🙂
Millie
Traditional Cooking School
Great cake. Thank you! I am sure it will be as favorite of my grandsons as it is already of mine.
When we tried this recipe, it turned out 1/2″ thick brownie. Had nice oven rise, but settled back once removed from oven. I’m blaming it on the pan size (11.5″ x 11.5″) vs recommended 9″ x 12″. What do you think?
Hi Claudia,
Yes, I think so. The larger pan likely made it spread too much.
Millie
Traditional Cooking School
This cake is in my oven now. I am excited to see how it turns out! Thank you.
Hi Millie,
I made this cake this week for my husband’s birthday. This NEEDS to be my go-to cake. . .everyone needs one, don’t you think. I spouted, ground and sifted the spelt myself anf soaked in my own sourdough starter.
The taste was amazing (although it could have “soured” even longer) but it was a dry. I baked for 32 minutes. Any thoughts? Also I used ghiardeli (sp) cocoa. Is that ok?
Hi Roberta,
Yes, we do think everyone needs a go-to cake! Next time, try a little less flour and maybe bake for a little less time. 🙂
Millie
Traditional Cooking School
oops. ..one more thing. . .how can you alter this to make a vanilla sourdough cake instead of chocolate?
Hi Roberta,
We don’t have a vanilla variation. We think you might try this: Omit cocoa powder. May have to decrease liquid and/or increase flour/sweetener a bit. Increase vanilla. You might play around with it and see how it turns out. 🙂
Millie
Traditional Cooking School
did you ever try the Vanilla? i would LOVE to make this for mu husband next week for his birthday but he LOVES vanilla or “white” cake.
If I don’t use the baking soda, would the cake rise well? (as it already has natural yeast and eggs for leavening)
Hi Msk,
The baking soda does help it rise and makes it a little lighter. It’s a rather dense cake without the soda addition.
~Millie, TCS Customer Success Team
So….I made this today (started last night) using my immature starter that I pour off each feeding. I accidentally added a 2nd cup of milk! I made cupcakes (36) and they were extremely tender and moist! (so tender I couldn’t believe that this would actually make a layer cake – but now I know why!) I’m a little shocked that they even turned out…but they did. I added about 1/2 cup of mini chocolate chips and I replaced 1/2 cup of sweetener with a Stevia baking mix and then about 2/3 cup of coconut sugar. Also added a touch of almond extract along with instant coffee (about 1 tsp). Planning on freezing them to keep on hand for treats – but next time I make this I’ll try not to add the extra milk! LOL!
This cake is delicious! Made it for my daughter’s first birthday. my mom, who is rather picky about cake (doesn’t like dry cake) also loved it.
can you make this with Freshly ground spelt flour?
Hi, Erin.
Yes! We recommend using fresh ground whenever possible. 🙂
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team