Sourdough Chocolate Cake

You would barely believe that this is sourdough. With a full chocolate flavor and a great sourdough texture, this is a cake that is good for your gut.

For the entire cake you will need:

• 400 grams of flour
• 100 grams of cocoa
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
• 80 grams of sourdough starter Sourdough Starter
• 600 mls of warm water

• 230 grams of sugar
• 150 grams of butter
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Sieve the flour and cocoa into a bowl then add the sourdough starter, vanilla and water.

Stir until combined then leave your mix to sit for around 5 hours (I leave it overnight and make the cake in the morning) so the ferment can work through the batch. The appearance of bubbles tells you it's ready.

Once it has fermented until bubbly it is time to move it to a clean bowl. Why? We don't want any of the dry, lumpy mixture on the side of the bowl in the batch.

You will also need to line a cake tin with baking paper.

Add the baking soda to the sugar and stir it through. Then add it to the chocolate ferment and give it a really good stir.

Pour in around half of the butter and stir it through. You will need the rest of the butter in the next step.

Add 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar to the remaining melted butter then mix it thoroughly into the cake batter.

Quickly pour into the cake tin and place into your pre-heated oven at 175 C (350F) for 50 minutes or until a tooth pic comes out clean.

The reason why we work quickly is to make the most of the raising agent.

While cooking if it looks done on top but not cooked yet, sit some tin foil on top until cooked.

You'll need:

• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 4 tbsp icing sugar
• small amount of warm water (add sparingly until you achieve the desired consistency)

Mix it all together.

Spread the icing evenly on to the cake. Or, unevenly and let it run over the sides...your choice!

Pro tip: You may wish to garnish with white and dark chocolate chips, cherries or try some slices of fresh peeled orange. You may also want to serve with a good dollop of yogurt or cream.