Rich, delicious, sourdough chocolate cake is a healthier, more nutritious take on your classic dessert. Start the night before to ferment the grains, develop the flavors, and make the cake easier to digest.
Somehow, Daniel turned one year old a few days ago. I’m not quite sure how that happened. It feels like just yesterday I was holding my newborn baby in my arms (read his home birth story here).
After six children, I can tell you with all my heart that babies don’t keep. You blink and they are one year old, they’ve learned to walk around the house, and they’re convinced they can do most things on their own.
Although it hurts my heart to move past the precious baby stage and into toddlerhood, watching Daniel become a toddler has its own set of blessings.
I love watching them learn: learning about the world, how to communicate, and developing that curious personality. It’s a really fun stage. Soon enough, he will be running around barefoot on the farm playing with the goats and climbing trees.
It goes too fast.
This sourdough cake was the perfect way to celebrate Daniel. Light, fluffy, and boasting my favorite sourdough tang, this cake has so much flavor. Layers of rich, chocolate cake smothered with chocolate frosting.
Tips For Making Sourdough Chocolate Cake
- Ferment this recipe overnight to increase the nutritional value of the grains and make them more digestible.
- If you are in a pinch for time, skip the fermentation and use sourdough discard. You can use active sourdough starter or sourdough discard. Learn how to create your own sourdough starter here.
- Add finely ground coffee to give this a deeper and richer chocolate flavor. Coffee and chocolate go together perfectly in baked goods.
Why you will love this recipe:
- Start this recipe the night before (or even up to 24 hours before) to allow it to ferment. Starting the night before removes a few steps the next day, making it easier to whip together.
- Delicious, rich flavors that are light and fluffy with each bite will have your family asking you to make this recipe over and over again.
- It is healthier and easier to digest than a standard chocolate cake.
- It’s the perfect cake for a birthday, holiday, or even just a weekend.
- You can easily turn this into a sourdough discard chocolate cake by just using sourdough discard, mix the cake batter together, and bake.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure here.
Tools you may need:
Large bowl
Measuring cups and spoons
How To Make Sourdough Chocolate Cake
The Night Before:
In a bowl, mix together flour, coconut oil, sourdough starter, and water. Cover and allow to sit overnight or up to 24 hours.
The Next Day:
In a large bowl, mix together sucanat or rapadura (regular sugar would work, as well), salt, and finely ground coffee (optional).
To the dry ingredients, add eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder, and whole milk.
Next, add the sourdough mixture into the rest of the ingredients. Whisk to incorporate until smooth. Use a stand mixer for easier mixing.
Lastly, add baking soda and incorporate well.
Preheat the oven to 350º F.
Prepare two, 9-inch cake pans with butter.
Divide cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool.
Find More Sourdough Desserts
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love if you gave it 5 stars! Thank you! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Chocolate Cake
Rich, delicious, sourdough chocolate cake is a healthier, more nutritious take on your classic dessert.
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter - discard or active starter
- 1 cup water
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups sucanat or rapadura (regular sugar would work also)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon finely ground coffee (optional)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3/4 cup cocoa
- 1 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
Instructions
In a bowl, mix together flour, coconut oil, sourdough starter, and water. Cover and allow to sit overnight or up to 24 hours.
The Next Day
In a large bowl, mix together sucanat or rapadura, salt, and finely ground coffee (optional).
To the dry ingredients, add eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder, and whole milk.
Next, add the sourdough mixture into the rest of the ingredients. Whisk to incorporate until smooth.
Lastly, add baking soda and incorporate well.
Preheat the oven to 350º F.
Prepare two, 9-inch cake pans with butter.
Divide cake batter evenly between the two prepared cake pans.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Notes
- Ferment this recipe overnight to increase the nutritional value of the grains and make them more digestible.
- If you are in a pinch for time, skip the fermentation and use sourdough discard. You can use active sourdough starter or sourdough discard.
- Add finely ground coffee to give this a deeper and richer chocolate flavor.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 222Total Fat: 11gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 33mgSodium: 408mgCarbohydrates: 24gFiber: 2gSugar: 1gProtein: 5g
Pin It For Later
Sydney says
Happy Birthday to Daniel!!! That is so exciting!!!!!
Victoria says
And the fillling and icing? It felt like you only told us half the story 😜
Lisa says
Sounds delicious! Did I miss the recipe for the chocolate frosting? Excited to give this a try! Thanks for sharing
Christa says
I was hoping for the frosting recipe too. The cake recipe and pic look delicious!
Mary Odom says
I was hoping for the frosting recipe too. thanks ! this looks delicious. I am planning on using Einkorn flour… we’ll see
Erin says
I was looking for a sourdough chocolate cake recipe for my son, Daniel, on his 6th birthday. This recipe is perfect; it was meant to be!
Lisa Moran says
Can’t wait to make this! Do you have a recipe for the icing?
Love your youtube channel, the cooking segments are my favorite :0)
Sydney says
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DANIEL!!!! WOOHOO!!!
Carrie says
Where’s the frosting recipe? I’d like to try it soon!
Shaana says
I would love the frosting recipe as well!!
Ashley Lisa says
Yes Lisa please share the frosting I have a Halloween baby’s birthday coming up and would love to use this
Lori says
this cake is awesome. I made it last Sunday!!!
Lauren says
Please share the frosting recipe!
Nicolle says
This looks delicious, Lisa.
What kind of flour do you use for the cake?
Kelly says
Can I use honey instead of sugar? I haven’t heard of the sugars you mentioned before. What are they? Why do you use them
Michelle says
Do you put the mix in the fridge overnight or just on the counter? Doesn’t seem to specify where to let it ferment.
Looks amazing!!
Lisa says
I do room temp!
Ali says
When I make any baked goods with sourdough (cookies, waffles, cake pancake, etc) I let it the dough and starter mixture autolyse for one hour at room temp before overnight cold ferment in the fridge because you want to allow the wild yeast to incorporate and spread throughout the dough at a warm temp before the fermentation activity slows down at a colder temp. This is the similar process of making sourdough bread- bulk ferment then cold ferment.
Kari Vanhoozer says
This cake baked perfectly in a 9×13 pan. I replaced the flour, water and milk all with sourdough discard.
Kristin says
Would it work to bake this up as a cupcake? Have you tried that?
Brooke says
I just made these as cupcakes- baked for 15 min. They turned out great!
I also substituted half coco sugar and regular sugar. Would love to try substituting honey next but I’m not sure if it’s an equal amount…
Sandy says
Love this cake! I made a half recipe for the two of us and substituted coconut sugar for the sucanat. It’s delicious, and going fast. Thank you!
Kirsten says
I wish you included the frosting recipe you used!
Michelle Hertzler says
If I use active starter or discard… How much do I put in? Is it replacing the 2 c. flour, 1 c. water and 1/2 c. starter? So 3 1/2 c.??
Frank says
I baked the cake this morning using two cups of dark brown sugar and a bunt pan. It’s probably the best chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten or baked. And Lord knows I’ve eaten plenty. Wow. I opted not to make frosting. It’s perfect as is! Thank you!
Faith says
How long did you cook it in the bundt pan?? Thanks!
Jane says
This is so good! I was afraid my family may pick up the slight fermented taste of sourdough but not at all! I made a half recipe which gave up 12 good size cupcakes. They rose great and the top has a shiny appearance similar to a brownie. Great texture. Im an older baker and my standby was the Betty Crocker chocolate cake for the past 45 years. To note another comment…a keeper! Thank you
Mikayla says
This recipe sounds wonderful! My baby girl turns 1 in a couple of weeks, and I’d like to try a vanilla/almond version of this. Any recommendations on this substitution? I realize there would be less dry ingredients and more wet, so I’m wondering if I should add some flour to get the right consistency?
Lolly says
I made this as a birthday cake yesterday and it was delicious! I replaced the whole milk with rice milk (about 3/4 cup) and made a buttercream frosting (butter, creamed coconut, icing sugar and cocoa powder) and it worked perfectly. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Sarah Mazur says
Can the starter mix be left out for more than 24 hrs? We lost power before I could make the cake.
Maya says
So excited to make this! What kind of flour did you use? I want to use fresh milled einkorn. Would the measurements be different do you think?
Rachael says
I will try to pay attention when I make it again but I used einkorn and the measurements were pretty similar. I judge it by the consistency. It was sticky (as is everything with einkorn) and wetter than bread dough but thicker than pancake mix. This cake turned out SO well.
Karena says
Have you ever had anyone try this recipe with a flax egg or another egg substitute? I am allergic to eggs but I’d love to give the sourdough cake a whirl!
Marcy Grote says
how would I sub some whole wheat flour?
Rachael says
This cake is excellent! I have made it twice. And I am not normally drawn to cake. This recipe changed that!
I used cinnamon rather than coffee and a blend of maple syrup and coconut sugar to sweeten. I found this recipe for icing and used coconut sugar. It was
perfect with the cake. https://www.foxyfolksy.com/chocolate-buttercream-frosting-without-powdered-sugar-ermine-icing/#recipe
Danielle says
Thank you so much for the frosting tip! I’m going to follow the icing link and use it for this cake! It sounds amazing ❤️
Alaine says
Can vegetable oil be substituted 1:1 for the coconut oil?
Lisa says
Yes, it can be!
Ali says
I followed your recipe exactly and it came out so yummy, moist and rich. I will be using this recipe from now on. I blended it in a food processor to get it smooth since the dough had been in the fridge for 24 hours. I will also see if I can reduce the sugar by a cup and still taste great.
Allison says
Amazing cake!! We love it and great recipe to follow❤️
Megan says
Can I substitute cacao for the cocoa?
Devin Wood says
Can you sub with coconut sugar?
Melissa says
Delicious! My favourite chocolate cake recipe.
Judy says
It sounds great and it looks great. But I have no sour dough starter and I’m positive none of my friends or neighbors have it either. So I’m going to the link you shared on how to make our own sourdough starter and Then I’ll be able to try the recipe (but I know I will like it)!
Asako says
I love making this cake our family favorite now! Anyone tried to freeze them??
Brianna says
I can’t seem to find the instructions on how to only use sourdough discard. Does it replace the flour only? Would love instructions on how to do it.
Kristien says
This turned out perfectly! I make sourdough bread often, but a sourdough cake was new to me, and I wasn’t sure how the texture would be. It was very moist, and also very dense – in a good way! I always make my husband a chocolate cake for his birthday and so I tried this one this year. He said it was the best cake he’d ever had! I made it into three layers instead of two and I baked them for about 28 minutes. This recipe is a keeper for sure.
Kristien says
I wanted to add that I sub’d butter for coconut oil because my husband has a coconut allergy. Also anyone wondering about a good chocolate icing recipe, check out Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Lisa says
Wow! What a wonderful compliment! So glad your family enjoyed it and it became a family favorite.
Ashley says
Hi Lisa, thanks so much for this delicious cake recipe. I made this for my sons 2 yr birthday and it was a huge hit. Only problem I had was that the dough didn’t mix in completely with the rest of the batter. Has this every happened to anyone? It still tasted great, but I had chunks of dough in the cake. Also, I used the frosting recipe from your vanilla cake and used a vegan coconut oil butter and swapped out the dairy milk for pea milk and it all worked out really well!! Thanks again and definitely making this cake again.
Anonymous says
Could I substitute coconut sugar?
Lisa says
That should work just fine
Amy says
I use Kamut flour. I know the recipe calls for 2 cups of “reg” flour, how much would I use of Kamut?
Mary says
Can a 9 x 13 cake pan work for this recipe?
Lisa says
Yes for sure!
Magda says
Good recipe. I loved the cake but I cut sugar amount by half. It was still sweet and delicious.
Lisa says
Love that! I will have to try that the next time.
Dayna says
This was so so good! I used half of powdered swearve and half regular sugar. I wanted to lighten the sugar up in it, but also keep the fermentation process. It was so fudgey and flavorful! Will definitely be making this again!!
Darryl Alder says
Made this sweetened with honey and no coffee. Turned out great but got better the second and third day!
Lisa says
So glad you enjoyed it!