Chocolate sourdough cake

For the weekend I now regularly bake sourdough bread on a Friday night. After its use, I usually ‘feed’ my ‘starter’ and then pop it back in the fridge for a few days, only bringing it back to life in the warmth of the kitchen on a Wednesday or Thursday to feed, nourish and grow again ready for baking once more on a Friday evening. This week, however, I wondered what else I could possibly make with the sourdough, other than bread. To my amazement, after doing some internet research, I discovered all manner of baked items can be made using sourdough starter. In particular, there are many American ‘Amish’ recipes and I hope to try some of these in the months to come. However, on this occasion I opted for a Chocolate Sourdough Cake, only adapting it a little from its American roots.

1 cup ‘fed’ sourdough starter

1 cup whole milk (I used a small tin of evaporated milk)

2 cups plain flour

1 ½ cups caster sugar

1 cup vegetable oil (I used ‘Mrs. Middleton’s’ Rapeseed Oil)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used ‘Ndali’ vanilla powder)

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa (I used ‘Green & Black's’)

2 teaspoons instant coffee

2 large eggs – beaten slightly

I combined the ‘fed’ starter with the milk and flour in a mixing bowl and left it, covered, at room temperature for a couple of hours. It didn’t ‘bubble’ but it certainly expanded a little.

In a separate bowl (I used my stand mixer) I beat together the sugar, oil, vanilla, salt, bicarb, coffee and cocoa. The mixture looked grainy.

I then added the eggs a little at a time – beating well.

I poured the batter into a prepared (greased and lined) brownie tin – approx. 10 x 8 - and baked for 40 minutes at 180C/170C fan.

The resulting cake had ‘domed’ and cracked a little but looked and tasted fine once iced and sliced.