Sourdough Chocolate Cake

+ my all-natural trick for cleaning the oven

Remember a few weeks ago when I expressed my dismay about sourdough appearing in so many recipes well beyond bread and crackers? While I still stand firm in my belief that a well-maintained starter shouldn’t leave you swimming in discard, I found myself in a situation recently where my starter needed feeding but I didn’t need or want to bake bread with Passover looming. I also didn’t want to throw away the active starter. Flour is quite expensive right now, so throwing away active starter or discard feels like tossing money in the bin.

Since it was Shabbat, and I needed a dessert for dinner, I decided to take the leap beyond bread, pancakes, and crackers. I was also working with a rather limited pantry and bakeware at the boyfriend’s house, so needed to rely on what I had available. I wasn’t in the mood to drive 15 minutes to the grocery store. There’s that saying about necessity being the mother of invention, and that’s exactly how this chocolate sourdough cake came to life.

I loved it so much, I decided to recreate it again in my home kitchen with the pan I really wanted to use, a vintage ciambella pan, also called a savarin pan, I thrifted many years ago. While the cake is delicious on day one, it really shines on days two and three, so it’s a great make ahead cake. Oil in chocolate cakes is far better than butter, keeping them tender and devoid of dryness—isn’t this a case where moist would be better even though we’re supposed to avoid using it as a cake descriptor?

This is a mostly one-bowl recipe. I do prefer to whisk the dry ingredients in a separate bowl to ensure the cocoa mixes in properly, so it’s worth washing one extra bowl. Good news is you don’t need a mixer, just a whisk. I’ve written the recipe to use an 8-inch square pan since I’m guessing more people have this kind of baking tin at home but it also works in the ciambella pan if you have one. It can probably be baked as two 6-inch round cakes if you want to make a layer cake, though I didn’t test it that way.

Feel free to add your favorite frosting or a dusting of confectioners’ sugar. I’ve opted to serve this cake plain each time I make it, though a dollop of homemade whipped cream would also be nice. I’ll have to remember that when I make it again after Passover. Right now my attention has been on deep cleaning the house before the holiday begins Saturday evening. How is it possible for a toaster to hold so many crumbs?