Chocolate Sourdough Cake

 A while back I saw a recipe for chocolate sourdough cake on just about every real food blog I read :P  My SIL also made it.  I figured I'd try it yesterday to have a special treat in the house for Justin.  And to use some of my sourdough.  It was super easy to make.  I made the sourdough mix first thing in the morning.  Then finished the cake in the afternoon.

It turned out well.  The texture is good.  It's hard for me to give much of a verdict since sweets are pretty nauseating to me right now.  I tasted a little.  It's good, but not what I want to eat right now.  It definitely does have the sourdough taste, though.  Justin had pretty much the same opinion...good, but not like a regular chocolate cake.  I also made the cream cheese frosting.  I personally liked the cake better without it.  But again that's probably just because I can't handle sweet right now.  Justin thought it was good.  I thought it tasted pretty gross :P

It's an easy, quick, healthy cake recipe.  And could be a nice alternative to traditional birthday cake.  But not something I'll be making all the time.

And as a side note.  It was kind of tough to mix.  I used my hand mixer.  The batter was so thick that every time I turned on the mixer the batter just went straight up the beaters.  So it made quite a mess of my mixer.  But it still worked fine.

Chocolate Sourdough Cake

7/8 cup fresh-ground spelt flour (if using flour that is not freshly ground (meaning it is ground that day), use only 3/4 cup... and you can substitute whole wheat pastry flour for the spelt) (I used freshly ground whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 to 3/4 Rapadura, Sucanat or other unrefined sugar
1/2 cup barely melted coconut oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 egg
3/8 cup cocoa powder, preferably not Dutch process
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon finely ground teeccino (or espresso powder) (I used instant coffee...it's all I had in the house)

Combine the starter, milk, and flour in a mixing bowl. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 8 to 12 hours, or overnight -- even 24 hours. (Mine soaked for about 13 hours)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease (1) 8″ or 9″ square or circular cake pan with coconut oil and set aside.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine the Rapadura, coconut oil, vanilla, egg, and cocoa powder. Beat. Add sourdough mixture, salt, baking soda, and Teeccino. Beat until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out cleanly (mine took 35 min.). Remove from oven and set on a rack to cool.

Frost when cool, although this cake is wonderful even without frosting! Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Probiotic Cream/Yogurt Cheese Frosting

1-1/2 cups soft yogurt cheese (or cream cheese if you don't have the yogurt cheese)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. maple syrup or raw honey

Combine yogurt cheese, vanilla, and maple syrup (or honey) in a bowl. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust sweetener. or add milk to thin if the cheese was on the dry side. Put in the refrigerator until the cake is cool and ready to frost.