Easy Everyday Chocolate Cake – one-bowl, lower sugar and deeply chocolatey. Just add a fork!
I feel the need to clarify the title of this post: this cake is everyday as opposed to birthday. It is the kind of cake to whip up on a whim because you really rather fancy chocolate cake, rather than bake it for a special occasion. No need for anything but the willingness to wait for it to cool enough to cut. No icing, sprinkles, clouds of whipped cream. Just a fork. Maybe some ice cream.
But feel free to drape it in folds of chocolate ganache. Or whap out the palette knife to cover it in this rather unique chocolate frosting. I dusted the cake you see with homemade unrefined icing sugar that I made in my blender. As I rarely need icing sugar (confectioner’s sugar) I make my own rather than buy it. You can do this with any granulated sugar.
Speaking of sugar, I’ve deliberately made it lower sugar than most cakes, but feel free to add a bit more sugar to your taste. By keeping the sugar on the low side I’ve let the subtle umami-ness of the cacao shine through. You can even add sweet miso to amp this effect: it’s really rather nice – and not at all salty or weird.

homemade milk kefir
Another kind of unique thing about this cake is that I recommend using milk kefir. If you make your own milk kefir you will probably have leftovers of it at some point. This cake is a brilliant way to use it up. With a natural tang, milk kefir also creates incredible moistness and soft crumb due to its gentle acidity. If you don’t have milk kefir – and I realise this is a bit niche, so no worries – just use buttermilk or plain yogurt.
And one last thing, I use half spelt flour and half whole oats to give body to the cake. I just bung the flour, oats and the remaining dry ingredients in my blender to blitz the oats and mix it all up. This combination is one of my favourites for not only its nutritional value – although let’s face it, we aren’t eating cake for its nutritional value! – but its taste too. In almost any cake recipe you can substitute some of the flour with oats or other whole grains to give it added value. You may use a good gluten-free mix instead of the spelt if you wish, as well as gluten-free oats, or even chestnut flour for the whole grain bit.
So, how will you eat this everyday chocolate cake? With frosting? Icing sugar? A big pile of berries? How about alone. Jk. 😉
Need more chocolate cake? How about my 1-Minute, 5-Ingredient Chocolate Mug Cake , Chocolate and Banana Rosemary Cake, Chocolate Chestnut Truffle Cake (it’s amazing!), Chocolate Beetroot Cake, or this (above image) sticky Swedish Chocolate Cake?
Everyday Chocolate Cake
Easy Everyday Chocolate Cake – one-bowl, lower sugar and deeply chocolatey. Just add a fork! xx
100g best dark chocolate, chopped
100ml olive oil or rapeseed oil
3 eggs
85g unrefined brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
165ml milk kefir or buttermilk or non-dairy equivalent
150g light spelt flour
150g whole oats
30g cacao or cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Optional: 50g chopped chocolate to stir through
Optional: Chocolate Ganache
Method
1. Heat the oven to 160C fan/180C/ 350F. Line a 1 lb loaf tin with baking parchment.
2. Melt the chopped chocolate in a double boiler or microwave. Set aside to cool a bit.
3. Mix the oil, eggs, sugar, vanilla and kefir in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the cooled liquid chocolate.
4. Add the dry ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until the oats are flour. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just amalgamated. Do not over beat. Stir in extra chopped chocolate if you wish – triple chocolate!
5. Spoon the batter into the lined tin and place in the oven. Bake for 35 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then carefully upend the cake from the pan to cool a bit more on the rack.
Serve dusted in icing sugar, with ice cream, whipped cream, cherry/berry compote or créme fraîche (my favourite!)
This cake keeps well for a few days if tightly wrapped in foil or parchment paper and kept at room temperature.
**Remember to follow me on Pinterest and, if you make this cake, click on the pin below and leave a photo of your make with a comment telling me what you think, or any awesome changes that you made. Whether on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or of course here on the blog, I love to see what you do with my recipes, and I welcome your comments, tweaks and suggestions.**
Follow my Facebook and Instagram accounts for extra, ultra-simple, complete recipes that don’t appear on the blog. Such as this Smoky Maple Tempeh Breakfast Salad with Vegan Ranch Dressing.
RIPE FOR PINNING!
Phenomenal with natural yoghurt!!! Great pics Mrs A
Indeed..thanks for the recommendation, Mr A xx 😘😘
This looks amazing. I love your recipes, I love your photos and I’m going to have to try this as the summer holidays are coming up and it would be too easy to let the kids have conventional sweet treats more than usual. I’m always on the look out for delicious low sugar options
Thank you so much, Nic. I remember those long school holidays very well even though my daughter is now 22. We loved baking projects (Scottish summers sometimes lend themselves to indoor activities😉). Perhaps your children do too? This is one that I’m confident kids would find rewarding to help with. I recommend topping it with my black bean frosting. I think these days something like this would be called chocolate hummus! Let me know how they like it if you make it xx
Oh my that does look good. You don’t by any chance have a good everyday vegan cake recipe do you?
thanks.
Have you been in my kitchen? 😉😉 I’m working on just that this weekend. I make vegan cupcakes and will work on how that is in cake form, but lower sugar and with whole grains. Thanks for asking xx
A girl can never have too many recipes for chocolate cake!
I’m finding that out myself!
Love a chocolate cake and this sounds brilliant. What a great idea to add the oats, love that. I shall most certainly be making this and I LOVE the photos, exquisite!
I like the “everyday” cake vs birthday cake definition! Great idea!
Hey, ANY DAY is appropriate to have cake. This chocolate cake looks SO decadent, but I cannot believe it is super easy!
I am always interested in healthy desserts made with chocolate. I like all the ingredients.
Absolutely stunning!