Whole Wheat Chocolate Cake with Cocoa Cream Frosting

Honestly speaking I am not a big fan (or should I say till recently I was not) of whole wheat cakes. As I do not bake cakes very regularly, I prefer to bake with all purpose flour. But my earlier Apple Bundt cake forced me to change my opinion to a large extent 🙂 And this chocolate cake has convinced me that chocolate cakes can taste very good even with whole wheat flour. I already have an eggless whole wheat chocolate cupcakes in the

blog and according to few of my friends, it’s a nice and fool proof recipe not only for cupcakes, but also for cakes. So, when Neha decided to have a small party at home with few of her friends, I decided to try my maiden whole wheat frosted cake.

I made two cakes by doubling the recipe. The cake turned out to be quite good. Soft, porous and yummy. My only concern was that both the cakes had some cracks on the top. I know that while frosting, this is not at all a cause of concern, but me being a bit of perfectionist, I was slightly unhappy with the cracks. Over mixing was not an issue, neither did I open the oven during the first few minutes of baking. Also I bake a my cakes at around 150-160 degree Celsius, so definitely its not a case of high oven temperature. So, was the rising agents a bit on higher side? Maybe yes!! I shall try reducing it next time and update you guys.

Now, coming to the frosting part… Neha doesn’t like the taste of ganache. So I whipped the cream with some cocoa powder and powdered sugar. Always remember to use a good quality cocoa powder. I have used Callebaut cocoa powder. You may add a teaspoon of vanilla extract too to the whipping cream mixture. Make sure that the cream is fully thawed before you whip it up. Always thaw in the refrigerator. Chill the bowl and blades before whipping. Do not over whip. Just keep these points in mind and make a pretty frosted cake for your loved ones. It’s not all that difficult. The idea to add Oreo cookies was a last minute decision as the cake was looking a bit dull and unattractive at this stage. The difference before and after is quite obvious, right?

Before

After

As always, I have used 240 ml cup. Please try this cake and do not forget share your experiences and feedback.

Ingredients:

For the base cake:

• Whole wheat flour 150 gm
• Cocoa powder 25 gm
• Salt a pinch
• Brown sugar 100 gm
• Baking powder 1 tsp
• Baking soda 1/2 tsp
• Coffee powder 1 tbsp
• Hot water 1/3 cup (80 ml)
• Oil 1/3 cup (80 ml)
• Milk 1/2 cup (120 ml)
• Vinegar 1 tsp
• Vanilla extract 1 tsp

For the frosting and filling:

• Sugar 2-3 tbsp
• Water 2-3 tbsp
• Whipping cream 300-350 ml
• Powdered sugar 2 tbsp
• Cocoa powder 2 tbsp
• Oreo cookies as required

Method:

To make the base cake.

• I doubled the recipe and made 2 cakes.
• Preheat the oven at around 150-160 degree Celsius for atleast 10 minutes.
• Grease and eight inch round or square cake tin with butter and dust it with flour. Tap out the excess flour.

• Sieve the flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking agents very well. Sieve atleast 10-12 times for better aeration.

• Mix the coffee powder with the hot water and make a coffee decoction. Bring it to lukewarm temperature.
• Mix the vinegar and lukewarm milk and keep aside for 3-4 minutes. This forms the buttermilk.
• Mix the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, coffee decoction and buttermilk till the sugar dissolves.

• Transfer the dry ingredients into a big mixing bowl.
• Add the liquid ingredients into the dry mixture and fold gently. If the batter appears too thick, add a spoon of milk or hot water.

• Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and tap it on the counter to remove the air bubbles if any.

• Bake the cake for around 35-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
• Take the tin out of the oven and place it on a wire rack.
• Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 4-5 minutes.
• Transfer the cake onto a cooling rack and cool it completely.

• Slice and serve.

For the frosting:

• Once the cake is nicely cooled, either cling wrap it or store them in the cake tin and refrigerate it for few hours. Overnight would be ideal.
• If the top has cracks or is uneven, slice it off.
• Make a thin syrup with equal quantities of sugar and water and cool it.
• Moisten the slices with the sugar syrup.
• Thaw the required amount of whipping cream for atleast 6-8 hours in a refrigerator.
• Chill the bowl and the beater blades in the freezer for atleast half an hour.
• Transfer the cream in the chilled bowl (use a big bowl) and add the powdered sugar and cocoa powder and start whipping on low speed.

• Increase the speed and whip till you get stiff peaks. It would take around 4-6 minutes. Do not overbeat or else it will incorporate lot of air and make the cream dry.
• Apply required amount of cream on one slice and if desired you can add some crushed Oreo pieces on the filling.

• Cover the second slice and moisten the top with the sugar syrup.
• Apply cream on top and sides and crumb coat the cake. Refrigerate the cake after crumb coating for atleast half an hour.
• Apply more cream and finish off the frosting neatly. You can watch you tube videos on how to frost your cakes with whipped cream.

• Decorate it according to your liking.

• Arrange Oreo cookies or any home made choco cookies and complete the frosting.

• Refrigerate the cake for few hours.
• Remove the cake from the refrigerator and thaw it for few minutes before cutting.
• Slice and serve it to your loved ones 🙂 I had made it for Neha’s friends.