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Sourdough Chocolate Cake

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Chocolate Sourdough Cake | I gave a chocolate cake recipe a traditional foods makeover last weekend for a friend's birthday! Instead of white flour, white sugar, and vegetable oil, I used spelt flour, evaporated cane juice, and coconut oil. With 8+ hours of souring time, my cake was delicious, rich, chocolate-y, and healthy! | TraditionalCookingSchool.com

When you've found a great cake recipe, why stop there? Why not make it traditional?

I gave this chocolate sourdough cake a traditional foods makeover last weekend for a friend's birthday!

Instead of white flour, white sugar, and vegetable oil, I used spelt flour, evaporated cane juice, and virgin coconut oil. Additionally, I let my dough sour for 8+ hours, instead of 2 to 3.

And you know what? My sourdough chocolate cake was delicious! Rich, chocolate-y, and sourdough to boot!

Check out our Sourdough eCourse and eBook for more sourdough recipes!

Chocolate Sourdough Cake

  • 1 cup fed sourdough starter
  • 1 cup raw goat or cow milk
  • 1-3/4 cup spelt flour
  • 1 to 1½ cups evaporated cane juice, Rapadura, or Sucanat
  • 1 cup unrefined, virgin 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 finely ground Teeccino (optional) (I used the Mediterranean Hazelnut blend)
  • 2 large pastured eggs

Combine the fed starter, milk, and spelt flour in a mixing bowl. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 8 hours. 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.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease (1) 9- x 13-inch cake pan or (2) 8- x 9-inch square or circular cake pans with coconut oil and set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the evaporated cane juice, coconut oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, and Teeccino. Beat. Add the eggs and beat well. Combine the sourdough mixture with the chocolate mixture. Mix gently until smooth.

Pour into prepared pan(s). Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly. Remove from oven and set on a rack to cool. Once cool, if cakes are in square or circle pans, tip them out onto a platter. Spread frosting (see recipe below) between layers and on top. If cake is in 1 rectangular pan, spread frosting on top.

Serve!

Chocolate Frosting

  • 3/4 cup coconut cream (cream part of whole coconut milk)
  • 1/4 cup raw honey
  • 1/4 cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all frosting ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Chill. Let come to room temperature before frosting a cake.

Other frosting choices: basic chocolate coconut cream, cream cheese frosting, or chocolate buttercream frosting.

Have you ever given a recipe a traditional foods makeover? Will you make this Sourdough Chocolate Cake?

This post was featured in 17 Yummy Desserts Using Sourdough.

We only recommend products and services we wholeheartedly endorse. This post may contain special links through which we earn a small commission if you make a purchase (though your price is the same).

Posted in: Celebrations Desserts & Cookies Fermenting & Culturing Food Preparation Recipes Sourdough

About Wardee Harmon

Wardeh ('Wardee') lives in the Boise area of Idaho with her dear family. She's the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Fermenting Foods and other traditional cooking eBooks, and she teaches online classes in the fundamentals of traditional cooking, sourdough, cultured dairy, cheesemaking, fermentation, kids cooking, dehydrating, allergy-free cooking, cooking outside, pressure cooking, and more. Connect with Wardee and Traditional Cooking School friends on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter and Google+.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Julieanne says

    September 25, 2009 at 2:20 pm

    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 =-.

    Reply
  2. Mindy says

    September 25, 2009 at 2:22 pm

    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 =-.

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      September 25, 2009 at 2:35 pm

      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…

      Reply
      • Denise says

        July 2, 2012 at 7:44 am

        A wonderful option is the muscovado sugar sold at http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com It”s delicious! Huge discount for buying club members.

        Reply
      • Leah king says

        January 6, 2017 at 11:07 am

        Warde could I use dandy bend instead of Teeccino in this recipe??

        Reply
        • Millie CopperMillie Copper says

          January 6, 2017 at 1:53 pm

          Hi Leah,

          Sure! That will work fine. Or you can leave it out completely. 🙂

          Millie
          Traditional Cooking School Support

          Reply
  3. Jean says

    September 26, 2009 at 7:21 am

    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

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      September 26, 2009 at 8:44 am

      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!

      Reply
  4. Emily says

    September 26, 2009 at 9:36 am

    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!

    Reply
  5. Jen says

    September 26, 2009 at 11:01 pm

    Umm… YUM!!! 🙂

    Reply
  6. rosebud says

    November 20, 2009 at 1:15 pm

    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) 🙂

    Reply
    • Nan says

      May 1, 2017 at 1:09 pm

      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!

      Reply
  7. Rebecca says

    November 24, 2009 at 11:00 am

    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 =-.

    Reply
  8. tara says

    January 27, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    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. =-.

    Reply
  9. Tammy says

    March 7, 2010 at 5:50 pm

    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 =-.

    Reply
  10. gilliebean says

    April 12, 2010 at 1:06 am

    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? =-.

    Reply
  11. Iris says

    May 11, 2010 at 10:54 am

    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 =-.

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      May 11, 2010 at 5:06 pm

      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

      Reply
  12. Iris Maier says

    May 15, 2010 at 8:12 am

    Thanks Wardee, I really appreciate all your work! You must be a busy woman!

    Reply
  13. Tara says

    July 14, 2010 at 8:57 pm

    Wardee – what brand of traditional cocoa do you use?

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      July 15, 2010 at 8:24 am

      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.

      Reply
  14. Teresa says

    July 18, 2010 at 9:19 am

    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

    Reply
  15. Teresa says

    July 20, 2010 at 9:20 am

    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

    Reply
  16. Vanessa says

    August 8, 2010 at 1:28 pm

    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!

    Reply
  17. Sheri says

    August 26, 2010 at 6:28 pm

    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!

    Reply
  18. Bernadette says

    February 7, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      February 7, 2011 at 8:43 pm

      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!

      Reply
  19. Bernadette says

    February 8, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    I made it per the original recipe & WOW! Thanks so much!!!

    Reply
  20. Amanda says

    April 17, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • Wardee says

      April 18, 2011 at 11:45 am

      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!

      Reply
  21. Amanda says

    April 21, 2011 at 7:32 am

    WELL, I used applesauce to replace the bulk and then added the stevia, came out great!!

    Reply
  22. Rachel says

    February 27, 2014 at 10:51 pm

    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!

    Reply
    • Pam Greenfield says

      May 20, 2018 at 2:26 pm

      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.

      Reply
  23. Rose says

    February 9, 2015 at 12:38 am

    Being from The Netherlands I don’t know what you mean by : traditional cocoa powder (not Dutch process). What is Dutch process?

    Reply
    • MillieMillie says

      February 10, 2015 at 8:09 am

      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.

      Reply
      • Catherine says

        August 29, 2016 at 8:20 pm

        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.

        Reply
  24. Stephanie says

    July 30, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    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

    Reply
  25. Jeannette says

    August 1, 2016 at 10:10 am

    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!

    Reply
    • MillieMillie says

      August 2, 2016 at 7:40 am

      Hi Jeannette,

      Wardee does make the cake using einkorn. She doesn’t make any other changes to the recipe. 🙂

      Millie
      Traditional Cooking School

      Reply
  26. Rene Pinet Plasencia says

    August 25, 2016 at 1:01 pm

    Great cake. Thank you! I am sure it will be as favorite of my grandsons as it is already of mine.

    Reply
  27. Claudia says

    September 16, 2016 at 5:56 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • MillieMillie says

      September 20, 2016 at 8:43 am

      Hi Claudia,

      Yes, I think so. The larger pan likely made it spread too much.

      Millie
      Traditional Cooking School

      Reply
  28. Angie says

    October 8, 2016 at 4:56 am

    This cake is in my oven now. I am excited to see how it turns out! Thank you.

    Reply
  29. Roberta Devers-Scott says

    January 11, 2017 at 7:59 am

    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?

    Reply
    • Millie CopperMillie Copper says

      January 12, 2017 at 11:20 am

      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

      Reply
  30. Roberta R. Devers-Scott says

    January 11, 2017 at 10:00 am

    oops. ..one more thing. . .how can you alter this to make a vanilla sourdough cake instead of chocolate?

    Reply
    • Millie CopperMillie Copper says

      January 12, 2017 at 2:36 pm

      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

      Reply
  31. Msk says

    May 1, 2017 at 4:20 pm

    If I don’t use the baking soda, would the cake rise well? (as it already has natural yeast and eggs for leavening)

    Reply
    • Millie CopperMillie Copper says

      May 5, 2017 at 6:46 pm

      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

      Reply
  32. Pam Greenfield says

    May 19, 2018 at 9:50 pm

    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!

    Reply
  33. Sarah says

    September 13, 2018 at 9:32 am

    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.

    Reply

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