Buttermilk Whole Wheat Chocolate Cake
By
Say, would you like a little chocolate cake with that chocolate fudge frosting? :)
This recipe is great because you can soak the flour to break down the phytates if you want. Or if you don’t, that’s okay too.
Buttermilk Whole Wheat Chocolate Cake
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/3 cups sucanat
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
1/3 cup melted coconut oil or melted butter
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
If you choose to soak your flour, mix the 2 cups of whole wheat flour with the 1 1/3 cups buttermilk. Cover and allow this mixture to soak overnight on the countertop. Add remaining ingredients (everything but the frosting, that is) and bake as directed.
Otherwise…
Mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, oil or butter and buttermilk. Mix with beaters until batter is smooth and well mixed.
Work very hard to avoid grabbing a spoon and eating the entire batter directly out of the bowl before it has been baked.
Butter two round cake pans or one 9×13 inch cake pan.
Bake round cakes at 350° for 25-30 or a 9×13 inch cake for 35-40 minutes. OR, leave the cakes in the oven until a toothpick poked in the middle comes out clean. Every oven is different, right?
Allow the cakes to cool completely before removing them from the pans. I used a butter knife to loosen the edges from the sides of the pan. Place the cakes on plates.
Did I forget to mention that you would need some of this Chocolate Fudge Frosting? Oh yes, you DO need a batch of this Chocolate Fudge Frosting. Plop a nice amount of frosting on one cake and spread it around well.
Like this…
Carefully place the other layer of cake on top of the frosted layer.
Oh look…it’s a chocolate fudge sandwich!!
Plop another nice amount of frosting on top of the second layer. Carefully spread the frosting over the top and sides. This step is not very easy for me and I’m usually messy and have to lick my fingers. Bummer.
All done.
Ah, a slice of chocolate heaven…
I will work (sometime within the coming months) to come up with a white cake and white frosting. However, when you’re using whole wheat flour and sucanat, the results are not going to be white. Anyone up for a Tan Cake? Mmm, sounds good to me!
Get ready to share YOUR recipes Friday!!! Can’t wait to see what you’re going to share!!!
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This is a bad week to ask you questions, I think :>) but have you tried sprouting your wheat (especially now that you have a dehydrator)? I did it once, following the Cardamom’s Pod guest post at Kitchen Stewardship here) and it was very easy… doesn’t grinding that and using right away give you pretty much the same result as soaking?
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Oh, yum! I can’t wait to make this recipe soon! I love healthy chocolate cake recipes. Keep em coming!
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YUUUUUUUM!!! I can’t wait to make this cake! I just love this blog….I’ve been tryng new things almost every day – yay. And, I FINALLY found sucanat!! whoo hoo – if I like it I will prob order the next batch online to save $.
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Heavenly indeed!
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Mmm. Can I just come to your house for dinner?
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Thinking this may make a good Halloween treat for my family this weekend. Have never made a sweet treat using just whole wheat flour, so curious if anyone notices.
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Yum!
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How often do you usually make sweets for your family?
I love this recipe and will hopefully be making it soon.
Thank you,
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Just made this cake (times two) for my sons’ birthday party tomorrow! :)
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Healthy chocolate cake? Seems like an oxymoron. But I think I’m going to have to find some sucanat – and soon!
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Those cake layers really look moist!!! I need to try this. I am not much for chocolate on chocolate, but I think I could it plain while it is warm…..
I did make a chocolate zucchini bread this summer and it was yummy. I used whole wheat flour and sucanat.
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Anything chocolate, anytime–spells good to me. Thank you for healthier ways to eat it. Tan cake sounds good too!
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yeah, i’m afraid i would eat the whole thing….it looks so good! i’ll have to make it for a birthday!
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looks moist!
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Hummm! It looks delicious and perfect for my son’s birthday. What are the benefits of soaking the flour?
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Laura Reply:
November 4th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Here’s a post that explains that a bit more: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/soaking-those-grainswhat-is-that-about
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Now could you please come up with a healthy cherry pie filling so I can make Black Forest Cake. :)
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My daughter is lactose sensitive – could this be made with rice/almond milk + vinegar?
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Laura Reply:
November 4th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Yes, I don’t know why not!
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i’m making this today for my sons birthday. I see there is no salt needed. I’m going to use salted butter this time and try the recipe as is…but, is there supposed to be salt in the ingredient list? if so…how much
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Laura Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
No salt needed, although your salted butter is fine to use!
Hope your cake turned out yummy!
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This looks good! I was just wondering if you had ever used any other types of whole grain flours. I like to use a variety of grains in my recipes if I can. I have used barley flour (from hulled barley, not the pearled kind)for many of my quickbreads. It seems to produce a lighter texture for me.
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Laura Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
I don’t have much experience in this area, I almost always use whole wheat. A friend of mine is experimenting with other grains and has found that often her cookies are crumblier, but the recipe still tastes good!
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So I have had this recipie for months now and made this cake two days ago and OH MY GOSH! My husband says this needs to be made weekly so he can lick the bowl and then indulge in this teriffic cake!
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Sue Reply:
October 19th, 2012 at 4:22 am
Since you have experience making this cake, have you tried any substitutions?
Have you tried honey or stevia? or flax seeds instead of eggs? Thanks!
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Mine came out fine, even though I used nonfat dry milk and lemon juice instead of buttermilk. My cake looks slightly denser than yours, but it is definitely not hard to eat. The density could be from the wheat type and flour coarseness. I am making my flour by cracking whole wheat in my malt crusher and then grinding the cracked grain in my coffee grinder. The resulting uniformity leaves something to be desired. I have a grain mill on order, due to arrive soon. Hopefully that will improve my flour.
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Amazing! I had no idea a chocolate cake could be made with freshly milled whole wheat flour. I cannot wait to try this.
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Yum! This looks SO GOOD! I cannot wait to try this. I was wondering if the butter instead of coconut oil would make a difference?
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Laura Reply:
May 11th, 2011 at 3:07 pm
I think it should work fine either way!
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Hi!
Is it ok to use regular milk in a pinch???
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Laura Reply:
April 15th, 2011 at 7:09 am
Yep, no problem at all!
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http://mrsbic.blogspot.com/2011/04/let-her-eat-cake.html
LOVED this! Thanks for all your great recipes!
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Would it be possible to sub honey or maple syrup for the sucanat? And if so, I don’t suppose you’d know how much of either of those would be required? (I’ve seen exchange amounts for sugar to honey, but it seems like it would be REALLY complicated if not dealing with whole cups…) :)
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Laura Reply:
June 1st, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Yes, I think I’d do 1 cup of honey to replace the sucanat.
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Would this work for cupcakes instead??
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Elizabeth Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 10:14 am
If so, would baking time and temp need to be adjusted? Thanks!
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
October 10th, 2011 at 11:07 am
If you made them into cupcakes I would adjust the baking time but
not the oven temp. Maybe try baking them for 18-22 minutes. I do think
I would keep an eye on them though and stick a toothpick in the
center when you think they are getting done just to be sure.
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
October 10th, 2011 at 11:03 am
Yes, that should work just fine!
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I don’t have any sucanat yet. Is there a different type of sweetener that I can substitute okay? (real honey & regular white sugar)
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
October 26th, 2011 at 9:14 am
You can substitute real honey or regular sugar just fine until you have
sucanat.
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Made this a couple of days ago! DELICIOUS!! One of my boys usually says he doesn’t like “the cake part of frosting” :) But, he loved this so much he wants to bake another to take to school for “Sample Day”
I enjoy your recipes as I try to make my family’s diet more healthy one step at a time.
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Hi.. I m wondering if it is possible to switch from using buttermilk to plain yogurt??
Thanks! :)
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Laura Reply:
November 15th, 2011 at 7:32 am
Yes, that would work!
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I would love to try this, but I’m wondering what type of wheat you use for your flour. Hard White, or Hard Red, or Soft White?
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 1:20 pm
Laura uses Hard White, but Soft would also work. :)
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Stacey Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Man, so bummed about that :( The only wheat I have available to me is har red wheat.
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I mean hard red! Wish I could get a truckload of hard white!
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Laura Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 1:24 pm
You can use hard red, it just isn’t my favorite. :)
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Stacey Reply:
December 19th, 2011 at 1:25 pm
I don’t know if it would be worth it. I’d hate to make a cake that just tasted “wheaty”.
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This just wasn’t good for us. If I hadn’t put the peanut butter chips in it would have tasted pretty bad..I used whole white wheat flour. To me it just seemed to have to much flour. I don’t know. I used unsweetened cocoa I’m not sure if that made a difference or not.. I used regular milk instead of buttermilk to b/c in the comments it said that would be fine…it’s ok though I’ll just keep on trying to find the right chocolate cake recipe! The brownies were good though :)
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How does the the soaked flour cake seem in comparison to the non-soaked? Which one is the picture above? Do you notice a difference in the moistness between the two? Thank you for the recipe!
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Laura Reply:
May 7th, 2012 at 2:53 pm
The one in the picture is non-soaked. Typically, the soaked variety is a little more moist.
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Made this cake and the fudge frosting for my husband’s birthday today, it was absolutely delicious! And my first successful from-scratch cake!
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Im looking for a vanilla/white or tan as you mentioned, cake recipe and frosting for my sons birthday. I wanted to know how to make this cake vanilla?? Can I just eliminate the cocoa powder??
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Laura Reply:
August 10th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Yes, I think just eliminating the cocoa should do it! Youy may want to try this recipe too: http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/healthy-strawberry-shortcake
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Can you use kefir in replace of the buttermilk, with the same results?
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LindseyforLaura@HHM Reply:
October 18th, 2012 at 9:56 am
Yes!
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I just made this recipe. It made 15 cupcakes.
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Just made this! It is wonderful, so nice to be eatting a cake that isn’t loaded with white sugar and flour. Thanks for the recipe. I appreciate your blog so much!
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