Decadent Sourdough Chocolate Cake

In celebration of #WorldChocolateDay today and #ChocolateCakeDay January 27th, you will enjoy baking this classic sourdough chocolate cake recipe developed by Martha Levie, Chief Baker at Abigail’s Oven. This is the same recipe the bakery uses every February to make Abigail’s Oven Chocolate Cake Loaves.

Her instructions tell you how to use a sourdough starter to make a deliciously decadent chocolate cake… and she has some serious experience with ten kids and a husband who loves this cake for his birthdays.

“Dark chocolate is a rich source of antioxidants and minerals, and it generally contains less sugar than milk chocolate.
“Some research suggests that dark chocolate may help lower the risk of heart disease, reduce inflammation and insulin resistance, and improve brain function.”
MedicalNewToday

Because of the long ferment, this incredible cake delivers all the nutrition from whole wheat and cocoa that is bioavailable from these ingredients, and your family won’t even know it is actually good for them.

Martha Levie is Chief Baker at Abigail’s Oven and mother of ten. She and her husband, make and bake more than 3000 loaves of bread every week. In addition to baking bread, they home-school their brilliant children.

Sourdough Chocolate Cake

Serving Size:

1 cake serves 8–12

Time:

Overnight (6–12 hours)

Difficulty:

Moderately easy

Cake Ingredients

1 cup/226g Active Sourdough Starter
1 cup.245g water or milk (if sweetening with honey, reduce liquid by half)
½ cup/125g apples sauce (if sweetening with honey, reduce this by half)
1½ cups/298g sugar (OR 1 cup/340 g honey)
2 tsp/10g vanilla extract
¾ cup natural, organic cocoa powder (NOT Dutch-processed)
2 cups/241g flour (all-purpose white, wheat, for any mix of both)
¼ tsp/1.5g salt
2 large eggs
1½ tsp/3g Baking soda dissolved in 2 Tbls/30g water

Ganche Ingredients

⅔ cup/160g heavy cream
1 cup/170g chocolate chips

Directions

Sponge
Using an electric mixer or whisk, mix the sourdough starter, with milk or water until dissolved.
Mix in the apple sauce, sweetener, and vanilla.
Whisk together the flour, salt, and cocoa in a separate bowl, then add to the wet ingredients and mix till smooth.
Cover and rest at room temperature for 6 to 12 hours.
Before Baking (next day)
Preheat the oven to 350° F (177°C).
Whip eggs in a bowl and dissolve the baking soda in 2 Tablespoons of water.
Add the whipped eggs and dissolved baking soda to the cake sponge and mix thoroughly (the batter should bubble as the acidic acid reacts to the baking soda).
Pour the batter into a bundt pan, 2 9-inch rounds, or a 9″ x 13″ pan.
Bake the cake on the center rack for 30 to 40 minutes, until it springs back when lightly pressed in the center, and a cake tester comes out clean.
Ganache
Heat cream in a saucepan over medium to low heat stirring constantly until hot.
Add chocolate chips and stir until melted.
Cool both ganache and cake 20 minutes before drizzling with topping and if desired, sprinkle with walnuts or pecans.