This sourdough chocolate cake recipe is rich, delicious, healthier, and a 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.
I’m a big fan of all things cake. Sourdough pumpkin coffee cake, sourdough lemon cake, gingerbread cake with einkorn flour, sourdough carrot cake and this sourdough chocolate cake recipe are some of our favorites to make for a special occasion (or any day of the week really). This chocolate sourdough cake is light, fluffy, and boasts my favorite sourdough tang, it has an amazing depth of flavor. Layers of tender chocolate cake smothered with chocolate buttercream frosting is just what dreams are made of if you ask me!
Plus, if you choose to long ferment this recipe, you can enjoy a slice of the best chocolate cake knowing that it is easier to digest and better for you, while also being extremely delicious. It’s a win-win!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Chocolate flavor – Chocolate lovers rejoice! This chocolatey, fluffy, layer cake with chocolate frosting will have your family asking you to make this recipe over and over again.
Healthier cake – 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, and making it easier to digest than traditional cake.
Special occasions – This rich chocolate cake is the perfect cake for a birthday, holiday, or even just a weekend.
Ingredients
Coconut oil: You could also substitute with another oil like avocado. I would avoid using vegetable oil as it is inflammatory and highly processed.
Sourdough starter – Discard sourdough starter or active sourdough starter will work.
Sugar – You can opt to use Sucanat or rapadura for a healthier option than sugar.
Vanilla extract: Homemade vanilla extract is so easy to make and adds an elevated flavor to baked goods. Learn how to make homemade vanilla extract in this post.
Salted butter: If you only have unsalted butter available, you may want to add a dash of salt to the frosting to bring out all the flavors.
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
How to Make Sourdough Chocolate Cake
Step 1: In a bowl, mix together flour, coconut oil, sourdough starter, and water. Cover and allow to sit overnight or up to 24 hours (optional).
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, mix together granulated sugar, salt, and finely ground coffee.
Step 3: To the dry ingredients, add eggs, vanilla, cocoa powder, and whole milk.
Step 4: Next, add the sourdough mixture into the rest of the ingredients. Whisk to incorporate until smooth.
Lastly, add baking soda and incorporate well.
Step 5: 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, place on a cooling rack, and let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Step 6: In a stand mixer bowl with whisk attachment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), add the softened butter.
Beat the butter on high speed for a few minutes until it becomes light and fluffy.
Step 7: Turn the mixer down to low speed and slowly add in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar until it is incorporated.
Step 8: Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons of cream.
Once the ingredients are incorporated well, turn the speed back up to medium and whip until light and fluffy. Add remaining cream if the frosting seems too stiff.
Step 9: Frost cake.
Tips
- 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 to easily turn it into a sourdough discard chocolate cake.
- You can use active sourdough starter or sourdough discard. It is a great way to use all that extra sourdough starter you may have on hand. 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
Recipe FAQs
Not only does it add a slight tangy flavor to the cake, but it also helps break down the gluten in the cake. This helps it be more tender rather than tough and chewy. If you ferment the grains with the starter it helps break down the phytic acid which makes the nutrients in the grains more absorbable.
It is sourdough starter that has not been fed in over 12 hours. When you feed a sourdough starter it gets nice and active, plus it should double in size.
Once the yeasts in the starter have fed off the new flour and water, the bubbles release, and it will then come back down (the process takes about 12 hours). This is then considered unfed sourdough stater. Normally, you toss half of the starter (or use it in a discard recipe). What you get rid of would be considered unfed sourdough discard.
This depends on the recipe. Some recipes like sourdough bread can be more challenging, while others like this sourdough cake recipe are much easier.
I love this type of recipe because you mix a portion of it the night before and then finish the recipe the next day. It does take some planning ahead (although you could just whip it up and forgo the fermentation), but it is worth it.
Frosted cakes (with dairy) should be stored with a cake cover in the refrigerator up to 5 days. You don’t want to keep it in an airtight container as the cake can absorb the frosting.
Frosted cakes without dairy can be kept at room temperature covered.
Freeze unfrosted leftover cake in an airtight container with a piece of parchment paper between layers to prevent sticking for up to 6 months. Allow to thaw at room temperature for 6-12 hours before frosting and serving.
Freeze frosted cakes in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Be aware that frosted cakes may not looks as pretty after they come out of the freezer.
More Dessert Recipes from the Farmhouse
- Pumpkin Ice Cream
- Easy Sourdough Discard Blondies
- Sourdough Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler
- Einkorn Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Sourdough Thumbprint Cookies With Discard
If you try this recipe and love it, I would love it if you could come back and give it 5 stars! Tag me on Instagram @farmhouseonboone.
Sourdough Chocolate Cake
Equipment
- 2 9 Inch Cake Pans
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup sourdough starter, discard or active starter
- 1 cup water
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon finely ground coffee, optional
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3/4 cup cocoa
- 1 cups whole milk
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together flour, coconut oil, sourdough starter, and water. Cover and allow to sit overnight or up to 24 hours. (Optional)
- In a large bowl, mix together sugar, 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.
Create the frosting:
- In a stand mixer bowl with whisk attatchment (or a large bowl with a hand mixer), add the softened butter.
- Beat the butter on high speed for a few minutes until it becomes light and fluffy.
- Turn the mixer down to low speed and slowly add in the cocoa powder and powder sugar until it is incorporated.
- Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons of cream.
- Once the ingredients are incorporated well, turn the spead back up to medium and whip until light and fluffy. Add remaining cream if the frosting seems too stiff.
- Frost cake.
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 could also substitute with another oil like avocado. I would avoid using vegetable oil as it is inflammatory and highly processed.
- You can use active sourdough starter or sourdough discard. It is a great way to use all that extra sourdough starter you may have on hand. Learn how to create your own sourdough starter here.
- You can opt to use Sucanat or rapadura for a healthier option than sugar.
- Add finely ground coffee to give this a deeper and richer chocolate flavor. Coffee and chocolate go together perfectly in baked goods
- Homemade vanilla extract is so easy to make and adds an elevated flavor to baked goods. Learn how to make homemade vanilla extract in this post.
- If you only have unsalted butter available, you may want to add a dash of salt to the frosting to bring out all the flavors.
- Add finely ground coffee to give this a deeper and richer chocolate flavor. Coffee and chocolate go together perfectly in baked goods
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This will continue to be one of two favorite chocolate cakes and more and more I am using this one more. Today added orange flavoring. So good. And I love starting it the day before to give my body a better chance of staying bairbung it!!
This is absolutely delicious. Super tender crumb, rich chocolate flavor, and delicious frosting. Will definitely make again. Love having delicious options to use discard for. Thank you!
Unless I misunderstood this recipe talks about leaving overnight, but your vanilla sourdough cake recipe does not. Why the difference?
A longer fermentation.
I love this chocolate cake recipe! I even substitute date sugar for other sugar and it always turns out delicious!
Can I substitute date sugar or coconut sugar instead of powder sugar in the frosting?
Do you think it would taste ok if I used goat milk or almond milk? I am out of whole milk.
Best chocolate cake ever. I made it for my girls birthdays and it was a huge success. I made it in one 9×13 pan and served it cold. It ages well: the flavors continue to develop over 2-3 days after baking. I’m currently making it for the second time right now. 🙂 Thank you for the recipe!!
It looks good and smells good. I did 2 8 in cake pans. I used vegetable oil. Seems to have fallen in the middle so it’s no straight or springy. Not sure what happened. Will still taste
I was hoping to make this recipe today. My question is if I am using discard. 1. Does the discard need to sit out to room temperature and 2. if using grams instead of half cup do I use the grams recommended for discard or the active starter on the gram chart? I started this last night and it doesnt look right. I think I need to start over.
You can use it straight out of the fridge. You can use the discard measurement.
Hi there. Planning to make this for my MIL birthday. Do you think it will be ok to make a couple days in advance and keep in the fridge? Thanks!
Yes, that would be fine.