Sourdough Discard Chocolate Cake

If you want an intensely rich, fudgy and tender Chocolate Cake made completely from scratch using sourdough discard, then look no further. This Sourdough Discard Chocolate Cake is so decadent, you won’t believe how simple it is to make. Topped with a whipped chocolate ganache frosting, this will be your new go-to birthday cake! 

Sponsored by Imperial Sugar

My perfect chocolate cake

This is truly the best cake I’ve ever made. I had a few requirements for my ideal Chocolate Cake, it had to be rich and decadent with a tender crumb that could hold its structure so I could display it on a cake stand without it breaking apart. While I absolutely love my original Sourdough Chocolate Cake recipe from my book Sourdough Every Day, the crumb is so tender it has to be sliced and served inside a baking pan. 

This recipe went through a few iterations because I couldn’t decide if I wanted something dense and fudgy or something that was a little more spongy, I was making a cake after all not a brownie. So I knew that people still expected something with a looser crumb. After a few trials, I finally landed on this recipe and I don’t think I’ll make another chocolate cake ever again. 

Recipe Box Series

This Sourdough Chocolate Cake recipe is the sixth in my Recipe Box Series with Imperial Sugar. Each month, I’ll be releasing recipes for classic bakes made with a sourdough twist! You can look forward to comforting classics like Sourdough Fudge Brownies,  Apple Pie with Sourdough Crust, Sourdough Pumpkin Bundt Cake and Sourdough Monkey Bread. 

Sugar is such a vital part of every dessert, it imparts flavor, texture, moisture, and without it, it would be impossible to make our favorite bakes. I use a combination of Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar and Imperial Sugar Light Brown Sugar in this cake. The granulated sugar gives the cake structure and lightness, while brown sugar adds moisture and rich molasses flavor. If you don’t have brown sugar on hand, feel free to use all granulated sugar (but your cake will be missing some flavor and texture). I would not recommend skipping the granulated sugar for this bake or your cake may turn out too dense and gummy. 

I’m so grateful to Imperial Sugar for making the Recipe Box Series possible and so proud to be partnering with a company with such a long tradition of producing such high-quality products. Imperial Sugar products are 100% pure cane sugar, non-GMO and provide consistently delicious results.

Baking with sourdough discard

Sourdough discard adds a great tangy flavor to this Sourdough Chocolate Cake. That little bit of acidity cuts through the rich decadence of this cake. You can bake with your discard directly from the fridge. Since you are not using it to make bread, your sourdough starter does not need to be activated or fed for it to work in this sourdough cake recipe. Your discard will affect the flavor of this cake. If you’re using sourdough that’s been in the fridge for weeks it will add more acidity to your cake, which you won’t get when using a freshly fed starter. Both will work for this recipe but you’ll get different results. 

Other sourdough discard recipes

• Sourdough Discard Biscuits
• Sourdough Discard Scones
• Sourdough Discard Blondies
• Sourdough Discard Banana Snack Cake
• Sourdough Pumpkin Bread

Chocolate matters

To achieve the perfect texture I used a mixture of cocoa powder and melted chocolate in my batter. Cocoa powder bloomed in coffee imparts a really intense chocolate flavor, while using melted chocolate in the batter gave my cake the dense texture I was looking for. Chocolate can really weigh down a cake so you end up with something that’s more like a brownie, but adding a good amount of liquid to my recipe ensured that I still ended up with the spongy crumb that I know people love in a chocolate cake. 

Your chocolate cake will only be as good as the chocolate you use so always go for the highest quality you can find. I made my Sourdough Chocolate Cake batter using Dutch Processed Cocoa and dark baking chocolate (don’t use chocolate chips as manufacturers use a chemical that makes it harder for them to melt). I’ve had great results with 60% Chocolate (Semisweet) or 70% Chocolate (Bittersweet). I’ve found that dark chocolate works better in the batter, while the frosting turns out better when using milk chocolate (45% Chocolate).   

Coffee and chocolate

Coffee intensifies the flavor of chocolate, if you don’t like the taste of coffee, rest assured it will not overpower your cake but will compliment it. If you refuse to use it, you can try using black tea instead, or just opt for boiling water. 

This recipe calls for blooming your cocoa powder in coffee to bring out its flavor. If your coffee mixture cools down too much before you add it to the rest of your batter, make sure you heat it up! Finishing this recipe off with the hot liquid of your choice helps emulsify the ingredients, leading to a silkier batter and a more velvety crumb.

Make ahead instructions

This cake is so moist it freezes beautifully and can be made well ahead of time. To freeze, let the cake cool completely on a wire rack before wrapping it in plastic wrap. It can be frozen for up to a month. Once ready to use, leave the wrapped cake at room temperature until completely defrosted. 

Frosting

I topped my cake with a whipped ganache but you can choose to top your cake with any topping you’d like! Sour cream or cream cheese lightens up the frosting and cuts through the richness of the ganache. You can adjust the amount of powdered sugar to adjust the sweetness of your frosting. If you don’t have any on hand, you can skip these additions and whipping the frosting altogether and simply top your cake with the cooled ganache. 

Let’s make Sourdough Chocolate Cake 

Cake Batter

ingredients	weight	volume
cocoa powder	40 g	⅓ cup
hot coffee	113 g	½ cup
butter	56 g	4 tbsp
semi-sweet chocolate	113 g	4 oz
eggs	100 g	2 large
whole milk	75 g	⅓  cup
vanilla extract	8 g	2 tsp
sourdough discard	75 g	⅓  cup
Imperial Sugar Extra Fine Granulated Sugar	200 g	1 cup
Imperial Sugar Light Brown Sugar	50 g	¼  cup
vegetable oil	56 g	¼  cup
all-purpose flour	90 g	¾  cup
baking powder	4 g	¾  tsp
baking soda	2 g	¾  tsp
salt	4 g	½ tsp

Frosting

ingredients	weight	volume
milk chocolate	226 g	8 oz
heavy cream	226 g	1 cup
sour cream or cream cheese	28 g	2 tbsp
Confectioners Powdered Sugar Poly Bag	30 g	¼ cup

Special equipment: 

• Round cake pan 
• Small saucepan
• Mixing bowl
• Parchment paper
• Cooling rack
• Offset spatula

Disclosure: Please note that this post contains affiliate links. I earn from qualifying purchases at no cost to you. This in no way impacts my recommendations.

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