Sourdough Chocolate Cake
Sourdough Chocolate Cake
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| Total time: | Overnight, |
| Yield: | One sheet cake, 18 servings |
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup "fed" sourdough starter
- 1 cup milk (whole milk or 2% preferred) or evaporated milk
- 2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 3/4 cup unsweetened baking cocoa (not Dutch process)
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder, optional
- 2 large eggs
Icing
- 6 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3/4 cup butter
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk
- 1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder
- 1 tablespoon hot water
Drizzle
- 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup
Directions
1) Combine the "fed" starter, milk, and flour in a large mixing bowl. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 2 to 3 hours. It won't necessarily bubble, but it may have expanded a bit.
2) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.
3) In a separate bowl, beat together the sugar, oil, vanilla, salt, baking soda, cocoa. and espresso powder. The mixture will be grainy.
4) Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
5) Gently combine the chocolate mixture with the starter-flour-milk mixture, stirring till smooth. This will be a gloppy process at first, but the batter will smooth out as you continue to beat gently.
6) Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
7) Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes, until it springs back when lightly pressed in the center, and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
8) Remove the cake from the oven, and set it on a rack to cool while you make the icing.
9) Sift the confectioners' sugar into a large mixing bowl, and set it aside.
10) In a small saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter and add the buttermilk or yogurt. Dissolve the espresso powder in the hot water, add to the pan, and bring the mixture just to a boil.
11) Immediately pour the simmering liquid over the confectioners' sugar in the bowl, and beat till smooth.
12) Pour the warm frosting over the cake. If you wait too long and the frosting stiffens up, spread it over the cake.
13) Combine the chocolate chips, milk, and corn syrup in a microwave-safe cup. Microwave till the chips soften, then stir till smooth.
14) Drizzle/drip the chocolate over the icing. You can do this while the icing is still warm, or wait till it's cooled.
Reviews
- Oh my goodness!! This cake is so dang good!! I followed recommendations and made 1/2 the frosting/glaze and I think it's the perfect amount. I cannot recommend it enough! Yum! :)
- Would definitely make this again........ I might have over-baked it by a few minutes, but it is really quite yummy!
- This cake is AWESOME! So moist and flavorful, it is one of my top two favorite chocolate cake recipes. It is so dense, I have never added frosting to it - just doesn't seem to need it, and I normally would never make a 'naked' cake. But be sure to mix in your sourdough completely, or you will end up with little white bread balls baked into your chocolate cake - a bit odd, but if it happens, just pick them out and move on. ;)
- This cake gets high praise from my "tasters!" I first made it in the 9x13 pan, and it came together easily. I worried a bit that the icing/glaze would overflow, but it seemed to be fine. The second time I made it, I wanted something a little prettier than a 9x13 pan sitting on the table, so I made it in a bundt pan. I made sure to spray it well with baking spray (the kind with the flour in the spray) since my pan has lots of intricate nooks and crannies that like to hold tightly to cake batter. This turned out beautifully. I poured the glaze over it - only needed half of the glaze doing this. It still got rave reviews and looked very nice. Thanks for another great recipe, and an unexpected use for sourdough starter.
- I'm 9 years old and I made this awesome cake. Split the frosting part in half it is way too much. I melted the chocolate for 15 seconds, then did it again. This tastes so good. I rate it more than five stars.
- Absolutely delicious. Stayed amazingly moist for days. Every crumb was devoured by my family. It is very rich so a little goes a long way.
- I love using my starter in unexpected ways. Today I made this delicious cake. My starter was thick and gloppy, so made a pretty heavy dough, with the flour and milk. It took several minutes of mixing with a wooden spoon to incorporate the chocolate mixture, and I still saw white bits of starter, when I poured the batter into the pan. I'm aware of them as bits of lighter, chewier cake, in the baked result. But they don't really detract. The cake is very moist. I made a thin ganache, using Callebaut espresso chocolate bits and cream and poured it over the top of the warm cake. It's very delicious and not too sweet. My husband is on his second helping! This is a big cake, so I plan to freeze half. An easy recipe.
- This cake was easy to make and delicious! If you like a cake that isn't sickening sweet, this is for you. A lot of cakes made from scratch tend to be dry...not this one...it's really moist. I'll make this again.
This recipe is a novel and delicious way to use fed sourdough starter! Happy Sourdough! Irene @ KAF
- I really messed this one up! I mistakenly added an extra 2 cups of flour when creating the chocolate mixture. I didn't want to let all those ingredients go to waste so I added extra water and baking soda. The cake didn't come out bad, I bet it would have been delicious if I hadn't screwed it up! I will have to try again.




