Bready or Not: Sourdough Chocolate Loaf Cake
This Sourdough Chocolate Loaf Cake is rich with a deep chocolate flavor and tender crumb. It’s a fancy way to use up sourdough discard. My starter imbued this cake with a flavor like malt, so combined with chocolate, I was reminded of a chocolate milkshake.
When I say discard, I mean the mother starter should be 1) active and 2) likely fed the evening before if this is being made in the morning. After the starter is divided to be used in this recipe, feed the mother starter again and tend as usual.
Now, a confession: my first attempt at this recipe was a cake fail. The original Bake from Scratch recipe calls for baking an hour and five minutes. I did that, and the center of my loaf collapsed during cooling because it was completely raw inside. I did salvage the bottom, top, and sides, though.
On my second attempt, I monitored closely after the hour point, and I kept baking. At an 1 hour 30 minutes, I declared it baked, and slicing into it later revealed it was just barely done. So, keep an eye on things. I’d rather have a bake overdone than underdone.
Bready or Not: Sourdough Chocolate Loaf Cake
Equipment
- loaf pan
- parchment paper
- nonstick spray
Ingredients
Loaf
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) softened
- 1 cup brown sugar firmly packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 cup sourdough starter discard 275 grams
- 1/2 cup buttermilk or soured milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Glaze
- 1 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 Tablespoon milk or half & half
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 325 degrees. Cut parchment to fit inside the loaf pan like a sling, sticking up at the two long sides. Use nonstick spray in the pan and on the parchment paper.
- Beat butter and both sugars until fluffy. Add egg. Add sourdough discard, buttermilk or soured milk, and vanilla, scraping the bottom of the bowl a few times to make sure everything is incorporated.
- In another bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet, scraping the bottom again. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for somewhere between 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 40 minutes. After the hour point, use the toothpick test every so often to check for doneness; a digital thermometer is also a good way to check inside, with a goal of seeing over 190-degrees in the middle.
- After about 15 minutes, use the paper sling to lift the loaf out. Let cool completely on a wire rack, speeding in the fridge if desired.
- Make the glaze. Spoon it over the loaf pan to dribble over the sides. Let set at least 30 minutes. Slice and enjoy! Store in a sealed bag or container. Cake can also be frozen in slices for later enjoyment.
OM NOM NOM!
Notes
Bready or Not: Sourdough French Bread started in the Bread Machine (2 loaves)
Fresh French Bread is one of the best things on the planet. With your bread machine and a little bit of effort, you can create this wonder at home!
(Of course, you don’t NEED a bread machine to make the dough. You can just use the ingredients and mix by hand. This recipe aims for greater accessibility, though, for those who are crunched for time, have conditions like arthritis, or simply hate kneading.)
This recipe produces two loaves. A food scale will make for more precise results, both in assembling ingredients and dividing the dough later on.
Greatly modified from Making Artisan Breads in the Bread Machine by Michelle Anderson (a book I highly recommend).
Bready or Not: Sourdough French Bread started in the Bread Machine (2 loaves)
Equipment
- food scale
- bread machine
- food thermometer
- parchment paper
- baking sheet
- cake pan
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups active sourdough starter (around 350 grams)
- 3/4 cups lukewarm water (180 ml) about 100-110 degrees
- 2 1/2 Tablespoons white sugar (31 grams)
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- 4 cups bread flour (480 grams)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast or bread machine yeast
Instructions
- Most bread machines call for adding liquids to the bucket first. Therefore, place the starter and water inside. Use fingertips to whisk them together. Add sugar and salt, followed by the flour and yeast. Start the machine on dough mixing mode.
- Monitor the dough as it mixes. If it seems especially lumpy, drizzle in some extra water until the texture smooths out.
- Once the dough is done, measure it on a food scale to divide in half. Sprinkle extra flour on a clean work surface. Press dough out to a flat rectangle, about 10 inches long, then fold inward as if folding a sheet to go in an envelope. Pinch the seam together while gently elongating bread. Place seam underneath. Set loaf on parchment paper. Repeat with other half of dough.
- Let rise in a warm spot in the kitchen or in an oven on proof mode for an hour or so, until loaves look doubled. If loaves were in warm oven, remove them so the oven can preheat at 400 degrees. On a lower oven rack, place something like a metal cake pan that is an inch or two in depth so that it can heat as well.
- Once the oven is preheated, use a French lame or knife to slash the top of the loaf so that it can vent while baking. Being VERY careful to not overfill or get scalded by steam, pour water into the hot pan in the oven. Immediately place the risen loaves on the rack above and close the oven (and don’t open it again until the bread looks done!).
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until loaves are golden and sound hollow when tapped. A check with a food thermometer should find an interior temperature over 190 degrees.
- Let loaves cool at least 30 minutes before slicing in. Bread will keep in a sealed bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen right after cooling, and will keep well for up to a month there.
OM NOM NOM!
Bready or Not: Small Sourdough Boule
Begin the year as you intend to go, that’s what I have often heard. Therefore, we’re kicking off 2025 with a small bread round that entirely relies on sourdough starter as the rising agent. This Small Sourdough Boule begins a series of sourdough recipes that will continue into the fall, building up to the release of my new fantasy book from 47North, A House Between Sea and Sky.
One of my characters is a sentient sourdough starter by the name of Mother. Yes, I said “character.” Mother does not speak, but her feelings are still made known. I had early readers say that it was a testament to my writing that they came to deeply care for a sourdough starter.
Sourdough has a life cycle. It requires consistent maintenance to stay active. For this recipe, use a mature starter (at least a few days old) and feed it a half day before commending this recipe. Meaning, if the last feeding was in the evening, start making the dough the next morning. Because this bread relies entirely on the starter for leavening, the dough needs to be begun about a day and a half in advance of baking.
Bready or Not: Small Sourdough Boule
Equipment
- nonstick spray or oil
- parchment paper
- plastic wrap or towel
- small cast iron skillet or baking pan.
Ingredients
- 3 2/3 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 cups water room temperature
- 1/3 cup mature sourdough starter (83 grams)
Instructions
- Mix flour and salt in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the starter and water. Pour wet ingredients into the dry, mixing until the dough looks smooth and is no longer tacky. In a stand mixer with bread hook, this will be about 10 minutes.
- Turn the dough onto the counter and form it into a ball by tucking dough underneath the tighten the top. Apply nonstick spray or oil to the bowl. Place dough back inside and turn it to coat the surface with oil.
- Line another large bowl with parchment paper. Place dough inside, seam side down. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and allow dough to rise for about 12 hours at room temperature.
- Transfer bowl to fridge to continue its fermenting overnight. Keep there until baking time at some point the next day.
- Preheat oven at 500 degrees. Place the small cast iron skillet or baking pan inside to heat up as well. Once the oven and pan are at full heat, CAREFULLY remove pan from inside.
- Pull dough from fridge. Set aside the towel or plastic wrap. Use the parchment as a sling to transfer dough to the hot pan. Use a knife or French lame to score the top so that carbon dioxide can escape the bread as it bakes.
- Place pan in oven. After closing the door, change the heat to 475 degrees.
- Bake for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 and bake for another 20 minutes.
- When done, the loaf should sound hollow when thumped. A digital thermometer plunged into the center should read over 190 degrees.
- Let cool for at least 20 minutes before slicing in. Enjoy hot or at room temperature. Fresh bread can also be frozen for later enjoyment.
