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–+ servings
glass baking dish with missing piece of sourdough chocolate cake
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4.88 from 16 votes

One Bowl Sourdough Chocolate Cake

A moist and rich chocolate cake using your discarded sourdough starter.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time1 hour
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: desserts with sourdough starter, sourdough chocolate cake, sourdough discard recipes
Servings: 16 pieces
Calories: 373kcal
Author: Katie Shaw

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 ¼ cups sugar
  • ¾ cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • ¾ cup discard sourdough starter
  • ¼ sour cream
  • 1 cup boiling water

For the frosting

  • ½ cup 1 stick melted butter
  • ⅔ cup cocoa powder
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • ⅓ cup milk

Instructions

  • Prep oven and pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees with the rack in the center.  Prepare a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray.
  • Mix dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.   Stir until well combined.
    mixing bowl with sugar, cocoa, flour.
  • Add wet ingredients. Add the vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla, sour cream, and sourdough starter.  Stir to form a thick batter.  Pour in the cup of boiling water and stir well until a smooth batter forms.
    mixing bowl showing lumpy batter being formed.
  • Bake. Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 35-45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with only a few crumbs. (The top may crack.)
  • Cool. Cover cake with a clean tea towel and allow it to cool directly in the pan.  Cool completely before frosting.
  • Frost and serve. To make the frosting, combine the melted butter and cocoa in a large mixing bowl.  Add the powdered sugar and milk, alternating with each other, and beat with an electric mixer until a smooth frosting forms. Frost the cake and serve directly out of the pan.
    frosting in mixing bowl and spread on cake

Video

Notes

If you have a smaller amount of sourdough discard to use, use 1/2 cup of discard and 1/2 cup of sour cream
Cake can also be baked as 2 rounds.

Nutrition

Calories: 373kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 213mg | Potassium: 150mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 38g | Vitamin A: 292IU | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 2mg