If you have been researching how to bake with whole wheat and/or fresh milled flour and you have wondered if it is possible to make delicious sweet treats with the same nutritious flour, then stick around! I’m here to excitedly tell you: yes, it is possible, and they are delicious! Keep reading to learn how to make a mouth-watering chocolate cake with whole wheat flour.

This recipe yeilds one 9X13 pan of moist, chocolatey goodness that will fill your soul and is made with wholesome and even nutritious ingredients! On top of that, the process is so simple to follow and realistically takes a very small amount of time. It is simply a matter of whisking together the dry ingredients, adding the water, and then the remaining wet ingredients and baking!

To create this recipe, I used an old recipe for a chocolate mayonnaise cake that my grandmother had used for years. With that recipe as the foundation, I tweaked and adjusted the ingredients and ratios to create a whole wheat version that rivaled the chocolate cake in flavor and texture. I have been very pleased with the results, especially knowing the complexities of baking desserts with whole wheat flour. I could not be more excited to present this simple recipe to you! Mark it down for your next birthday season!

The Ingredients

The flour –

I have tested this recipe with fresh milled spelt flour and hard red whole wheat. With both kinds, it came out delicious with slight variations in flavor and texture! While I have not yet tested with store bought whole wheat flour compared to fresh milled, I have found that store bought flour often functions very similarly to fresh milled– especially in treats, and they should be able to be exchanged at a 1:1 ratio.

The leavening agents –

This was one of the changes I made to my grandmother’s original recipe. Her cake was intentionally designed to be a dense and moist. By decreasing the flour and increasing the leavening agents and liquid, this helped to make the cake lighter and to give it a higher rise. This recipe includes both baking soda and baking powder to create a rise in the cake.

The cocoa powder –

This makes it a chocolate cake! I have little else to say about this ingredient other than if you want to swap this out with cacoa powder, you can do so simply with a 1:1 swap.

The sweetener –

In this recipe, I have given directions for using cane sugar. However, you can also replace this with honey, or use a combination of both. If you use cane sugar, you can combine it with the dry ingredients prior to adding your wet ingredients as I describe below. However, if you use honey, you will want to instead add it to the recipe when you are mixing in your wet ingredients.

If you want to experiment yourself and try a different sweetener of your choice, the same rule applies. Dry sweeteners can be mixed into the dry ingredients, and liquid sweeteners must be combine with the wet ingredients.

The mayo –

This is a part of the recipe that you can change based on what you have available or what you prefer! I originally derived this recipe, as I said above, from my grandmother’s chocolate mayonnaise cake recipe. Something about the mayonnaise gave the cake a more dense, but also more moist texture. Thus, using this along with yogurt, I believe, will yeild you the best results. You can use store bought mayonnaise for the simplicity, or you can make it yourself!

What you may not know about mayonnaise is that it is simply an emulsion of eggs and oil. You can make it yourself using only the two ingredients! I prefer to make mayonnaise myself to both save money, and to know what I have used for ingredients. You can read more about this here! Even “olive oil mayo” bought from the store often contains seed oils which I try to avoid if we can.

When making this cake, often I will “emulsify” (or blend) two eggs and oil with my immersion blender to quickly turn these into a rushed version of mayo right in my liquid measuring up. I then will add the appropriate amount of yogurt straight to the same cup for sake of ease, same with any liquid sweeteners, and this all gets added right to the cake. When practiced, even this part of the recipe is very uncomplicated!

If you do not have mayonnaise, or you do not want to use it, you can get very similar results in this recipe by simply replacing the mayonnaise with 2 eggs and 1/2 a cup of oil. You do not have to emulsify these ingredients to still get great cake results, so do not be intimidated by that idea!

The yogurt –

The yogurt is crucial for creating a cake with a moist and tender crumb. Originally, the mayonnaise was the ingredient that was the most helpful for creating the moist texture. By using yogurt instead, it is not as necessary to emulsify the eggs and oil, since the yogurt by itself adds moisture to the cake. This also helps to offset the density created by the thicker and more thirsty whole wheat flour versus the light and fluffy refined flour. You must add at least 3/4 of a cup of yogurt to this recipe, but if you add a bit more it will not hurt the cake by any means! Feel free to experiment and adjust ratios here.

The Basic Process

First: Combine all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk together.
Second: Add the water to the mixer, and whisk to fully combine.

Fourth step: Add the last wet ingredients to the stand mixer, and whisk together until fully combined. Be careful not to over-mix the batter at this point.

Allow the cake to cool fully and enjoy your wholesome, special treat with some delicious whipped cream frosting.

The Frosting

You can frost this with the frosting of your choice, or you can make your own. I am a fan of whipped cream style frostings, and I have a recipe for a chocolate version and a whipped cream cheese version here.

For a basic whipped cream frosting follow the directions below:
Combine 1 cup of heavy whipping cream and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment. For best results, ensure all the ingredients, the bowl, and the whisk are cold. Whisk on a high setting (6-10), and watch it closely to see when the cream appears to be thickening with stiff peaks. Don’t allow it to over-whip as this will create butter. Once the whipped cream is stiff enough to be moved without drooping, it can be smoothed out onto a cool cake. At this point, you have whipped cream, and you can enjoy a light and sweet topping for this delicious cake.

Bonus tip: Make this same frosting chocolate by simply adding 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the cream prior to whisking!

Storage Information

This cake is best when stored in an airtight container and refrigerated. You can expect it to last well for about 4-5 days.

The Recipe

If you gave this cake a try, leave a comment; I would love to hear from you! Share this recipe with a friend interested in from scratch, healthy baking!