Chocolate Sourdough Cake
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This chocolate sourdough cake is such a delicious way to use up extra sourdough starter. Nobody will be able to tell just how healthy it really is!
Sourdough and I go way back.
Fifteen years ago, my friends Kara and Ben came back from a year of volunteer work in Alaska, and they brought home with them an old Alaskan sourdough starter. Having finished my own volunteer year in the San Francisco area, I was a big fan of sourdough and I wanted to make my own sourdough bread.
Ben gave me a portion of the starter with detailed instructions about the care and feeding of the starter. I didn’t know how to take care of anything but myself at that point in my life, but I did my best with that little starter. I made the same bread recipe over and over, and I never even looked for another recipe. After some time, the starter got relegated to the back of the refrigerator as life got busier and I stopped making bread. I eventually threw the starter away.
Benefits of Sourdough
Nearly a decade later, I’ve recently found myself thinking about sourdough once again. But this time, I’m part of an online community that has educated me on the health benefits of sourdough bread.
The fermentation process involved in making sourdough bread breaks down the phytic acid in gluten, so people with gluten sensitivity can often enjoy sourdough. Nutrients in the bread can be more easily absorbed because the phytic acid is broken down, and the bread doesn’t mold as quickly as would a typical loaf of wheat bread because of the fermentation process.
Also, did I mention I love the taste of sourdough bread?
Making Homemade Sourdough Starter
I was so excited to learn that I could make my own sourdough starter with nothing but flour, water, air, and time. I now have a bubbly little starter on my counter waiting for me to create some great food.
Apparently it’s best to wait 6 weeks before attempting a bread recipe, so I’ve tried a couple other things while I wait. Chocolate cake seemed like a logical choice. Anything tastes good with chocolate, right?
This sourdough chocolate cake recipe is adapted from this recipe at King Arthur Flour as well as this recipe from GNOWFLINS. My cake uses maple syrup as the sweetener, and it’s not very sweet. It’s more of a snack than a dessert cake. It tastes delicious, and nobody can tell that it has sourdough in it.
Chocolate Sourdough Cake
This chocolate sourdough cake is a great recipe to use up extra sourdough starter.
$.35 per serving
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Servings: 16
Calories: 195kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup fed sourdough starter
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup maple syrup
- 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Mix together the starter, water, and flour in a bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it sit overnight. (Note: If your starter is very thick, add a bit of extra water so it will mix evenly into the cake mixture.)
- In the morning, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.
- In a small bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, stir together the eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla extract. Stir the cocoa powder mixture into the egg mixture. Then add the flour mixture that was sitting overnight, and stir to fully combine. (Again, if the starter mixture seems too thick to blend evenly into the chocolate mixture, add a bit of water to it so it will blend in well.)
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Nutrition Estimate
Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 259mg | Potassium: 131mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 30IU | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Mention @realfoodrecipes or tag #realfoodrealdeals!
Chocolate Sourdough Cake Price Breakdown
This cake costs $5.53 to make. It contains 16 servings, so the cost per serving is $.35. This is a delicious snack that you can feel good about eating.
Note: This post was updated in 2018.
Leeny says
Hi Annemarie,
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and for blogging about an important topic! I have been looking for a sourdough cake recipe! I am very excited to try it and have been learning a lot about fermentation lately. I make my own einkorn sourdough bread and was wondering how you decided on the proportions of starter to water and flour? I would love to understand how that works. Thank you so much!
Annemarie says
Trial and error! This proportion comes out with a nice texture.
April says
I was super doubtful when I mixed my fed starter with the water and flour because it rose so high. And the texture looked really weird when I mixed all the ingredients together (does not look like traditional cake batter, it was lighter texture almost middle of cake and bread). Boy was I WRONG. This came out PERFECTLY DELICIOUS!! I even subbed 1/2 of the oil with a banana and it was still delicious. Thanks for the recipe!!
Annemarie says
Thanks for the feedback. I’m so glad you liked it!
Shaynee says
Thank you for the recipe! If I were to make regular muffins how long should I bake them?
Annemarie says
You can bake these in muffin form for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Enjoy!
Shaynee says
Thank you for your reply
Lj says
6 weeks to make bread? No way! I made my starter from scratch 3 weeks ago and I’m already on my second batch of bread. First batch came out great last weekend and todays was too. My starter (Adam) is growing so fast…I was glad to find this recipe because we can only eat so many sourdough pancakes!
Denise Meyer says
Lovely recipe. The cake is very moist and fluffy (I whisked the egg whites separatelly, as I usually do). Tried a different version replacing the wheat flour for oats and the result was still great. Highly recommend!
Annemarie says
So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know. I’ll have to try the oat version.
Marie – Not Enough Cinnamon says
I am so intrigued by this recipe! I’ve never heard of a sourdough cake before and now I want to try!
kara says
Annemarie you are inspiring us this time! Ben just reminded me that Alaskan starter is STILL in the back of our fridge, maybe it’s time we fire her up again too!!
Real Food, Real Deals says
Do it! You’ll be so happy to taste that bread again.
kjmdinrome says
Great ideas!!
Jill says
This looks sooooo delicious!!!
Real Food, Real Deals says
Thanks, Jill.
myhealthyohana says
That’s awesome that you made your own starter! I’ve been thinking about doing it, but didn’t know if I would actually follow through with it. You’re making me think I should 🙂
Real Food, Real Deals says
You should do it! It’s so easy. You can stick it in the fridge and only feed it once a week when things get busy. I’m not sure if I would take on this project right before having a baby, though:)