Have you guys made your sourdough starter yet? No? What are you waiting for? 🙂 Sorry, I don’t mean to be pushy. The scientist in me just thinks it’s a really fun project to have a living thing in the fridge, especially when it’s so low maintenance and can be used in a ton of ways (pancakes, anyone?). And the fact that it’s not dead like all of the plants I try to keep makes me feel uber responsible.
Still not convinced? Need another reason? Two words: chocolate cake. It’s pretty much the last thing I would have expected you could make with a sourdough starter, but it absolutely works! It also happens to be the perfect way to usher in the weekend 🙂 I haven’t made a bundt in a while so that’s the route I took with my cake, but a 13×9 pan would also work here. And I think a naked bundt is sad, so I added a little glaze on the top to dress it up. The cake is moist and fluffy – mine was even better on the second day, so wrap it and wait if you can. If you had no idea there was sourdough starter in the cake, I don’t think you’d be able to guess. I was really trying to pick it out, and could detect the faintest hint of the classic yeasty scent, but still couldn’t taste it in the cake. The recipe makes a giant bundt, so you’ll need a few friends and a couple of glasses of milk to help you finish it off!
One quick note – you need “fed” sourdough starter to make your cake. All that means is that instead of pulling your starter from the fridge and using it immediately, you need to feed it before making the cake. The night before you are ready to bake, you remove 1 cup of the starter and feed what’s left with 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of water. Let it sit overnight at room temperature, and the next morning you’ll come back to find it bubbling away. It’s now “fed” starter you can use in your recipe! Just don’t forget to feed it again after you remove the portion you need to make the cake. If this sounds at all confusing, don’t worry – it’s simple, promise. If you need more information, refer back to these tips from King Arthur Flour.
Sourdough Chocolate Bundt Cake
adapted from King Arthur Flour
(Note: You can find step-by-step photos for this recipe on KAF’s site here. If you’d rather, you can bake the cake in a 13×9 pan instead of a bundt.)
1 cup (241 g) fed sourdough starter
1 cup (227 g) whole milk
2 cups (241 g) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (298 g) sugar
1 cup (198 g) canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 cup (64 g) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)
1 teaspoon espresso powder
2 large eggs
In a large bowl, stir together the fed starter, milk and flour – it’ll be fairly thick. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 2-3 hours. The mixture will expand slightly.
Preheat oven to 350 F and place a rack in the bottom third. Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, salt, baking soda, cocoa powder, and espresso powder. Beat on low speed to combine – the batter will be grainy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add the starter mixture to the batter, and beat on low until incorporated. This may take a few minutes, and you may need to scrape the starter off the paddle (the starter will have a slightly elastic quality that makes it stick to the paddle). Continue beating until the batter is smooth.
Transfer the batter to the prepared bundt pan and level the top. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out and let cool completely on the rack.
Coffee Glaze
adapted from The Best Light Recipe by Cook’s Illustrated
1 cup (4 oz) confectioners’ sugar
5 teaspoons brewed coffee
3/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder (optional)
Combine everything in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Drizzle over the cooled cake; let set for about 15 minutes before serving.
I really need to get on this sourdough starter thing, I keep talking about it but haven’t done it yet. This looks so delicious and rich, Tracey!
I have never heard of mixing chocolate with sourdough… but I will say that it looks delicious!
I don’t know how you do it, but your photos and your food look so amazing! I don’t even like coffee or coffee flavored things, but you make me want to ding into that coffee glaze like no tomorrow.
And the cake! Oh my gosh, it looks absolutely wonderful! And I’ve never heard of having sourdough starter in a cake before. Dough it help the cake rise? This sounds so interesting.
wow, all I can think about now is chocolate cake. Looks incredible!
With another dessert made from the sour dough starter you have convinced me to start my own!!!
Sounds like both a cool and delicious cake 🙂 I’ve never attempted to make a sourdough starter, but this cake looks so moist!!
I bookmarked this awhile ago and then let my starter die before I made it. Boohoo! 🙁 I really, really, really need to start another one. Or at least order one from KA. 😉
This is a beautiful bundt cake, Tracey! Great job on it.
Man that is such a plump, beautiful bundt cake!
I need to start preparing sourdough!
Wow! I never would have thought to use sourdough in a cake. This cake looks absolutely delicious.
What a gorgeous, moist Bundt cake! A new idea for me 🙂 And if you’re ever in Indy, you must stop by and give me a lesson in drizzling icing…so perfectly done~
Mmm, chocolate. I’ll have to try this one after I revive my starter. Well, and after I do some math, since I keep a firm starter and KAF uses a more liquid one in most of their recipes. But I like math. =)
wow, what a gorgeous bundt cake! it came out perfectly with no sticking to the pan!! i love that this cake is chocolate sourdough — so awesome!
Nowadays it is becoming famous such chocolates and I also like it.
This tasted as good as it looked! Moist and great chocolate flavor! Thanks for sharing with us Tracey, we all enjoyed a Friday afternoon treat with our coffee. (and sorry about the plate, we WILL replace! We function well as an office, not so well as dishwashers)
Yeah, I really need to make that sourdough starter cause there’s no way I’m giving this cake up!
I’d never heard of sourdough cake, but that looks really moist and delicious! I need to get going on the starter soon!
Ive got my starter going! Starting with bread and then moving on to some of these fun recipes
Oh my oh my …..
I have had sourdough starter for 25 odd years and while I have made a lot of bread, pancakes, waffles, and muffins with it, I never thought to use it in a cake.
I will have to try this for myself.
I’ll have to revive my starter to make this, but I’ve been thinking of doing that anyway. I never thought to make a chocolate bundt cake with it though. Looks great!
I didn’t realise you could make cake with sourdough! I feel an experiment coming on!
Hubby is on a bread kick these days and has started his second sourdough starter (I guess the first one didn’t work out). Today he proudly brought his starter up to me while I was working and insisted I smell it. He said, see it smells like sourdough! It was so cute. Now I’m just waiting for him to actually make something with it. I’m guessing he won’t make me this cake, but maybe he’ll let me have some of his starter. By the way, he has been saying he’s looking forward to trying your sourdough pancakes! I’ll let you know if I get treated to a special breakfast. 😉