There are blueberries in this chocolate blueberry cake, a dark, delicious, dense, and almost brownie-like dessert.
There’s something peaceful about picking blueberries, even when you have to stand on a ladder to do it. If you get up early enough, before the sun has a chance to set itself on Broil and the air still has a hint of morning cool, you can enjoy the bird songs as you hunt for the elusive “bigger berries” among the top branches of a 15-foot-tall bush/tree.
For about 15 minutes. Then the realization sets in that the berries haven’t even reached the 1-quart line in your gallon bucket, the shady sides of the bushes have the fewest berries, and that bird whose nest you’re picking around sounds mad, really mad.
Still, picking berries is something E and I look forward to every summer, more so this year because we missed last summer after our favorite pick-your-own farm went out of business. So when a friend recommended another orchard, smaller but with a friendly owner who trusts people to leave the $6 per gallon charge under a bucket while he takes a breakfast break, we made plans to get up early and get out there the next day, bringing our house guest, E’s friend G, along with us for an extra set of picking hands.
We managed to pick a gallon apiece, which seemed a good idea until I got home with 3 gallons of blueberries and nothing to do with them. I decided to freeze two-thirds of them, so as soon as I got them home, I laid six kitchen towels out on my counters and kitchen table, spread out the berries, and started picking through them to remove stems, leaves, crushed berries, and the occasional spider.
The berries were damp with morning dew and condensation, so I left them out on the counter to dry completely. After a couple of hours of drying, I pulled up the edges of the towels and funneled the berries into gallon-sized freezer bags and popped them into the freezer. I did not wash the berries, which would have made them wetter, so we’ll have to wash them as we use them.
That still left a gallon of berries to eat up, so we started off by having blueberry pancakes for dinner, and for lunch the next day, I made blueberry vinaigrette for my salad. But neither of those meals put a dent in the shelf full of berries in my fridge. The girls were clamoring for a blueberry dessert, and I vaguely remembered a recipe I’d seen in Better Homes and Gardens that used blueberries in a chocolate cake. A quick internet search found it, Whole Wheat Chocolate-Blueberry Cake, the winner of BHG’s Annual Recipe Challenge.
The photo was beautiful, and the idea of blueberries in chocolate cake batter was intriguing, but the recipe wasn’t vegan because of its use of egg and light whipped dessert topping nor was it fat-free because of the semisweet chocolate. So I used the basic idea for the cake and omitted the delicious-looking chocolate topping in favor of simple blueberries with a swirl of agave nectar. I also cut the sugar in half and used a new-to-me sweetener, organic date syrup, which really helped amplify the chocolate taste.
The cake turned out dark, delicious, dense, and almost brownie-like; the predominant flavor is chocolate, the blueberry flavor coming mainly from the berries on top. Because it’s less sweet than most chocolate cakes, I considered it more of an “adult” dessert and worried that the kids wouldn’t like it, but both girls devoured their pieces and then demanded seconds.
Chocolate-Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour (white whole wheat preferred)
- 6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground chia seeds or flax seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup date syrup , maple syrup, or other liquid sweetener
- 1 cup blueberries (for serving)
- additional syrup or agave nectar to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, chia (or flax) and salt. In blender, combine water, 1/2 cup blueberries, and balsamic vinegar and blend until smooth.
- Make a well in the dry ingredients. Add the syrup and the blueberry mixture. Stir until completely mixed. Pour into an oiled 9-inch round cake pan.
- Bake 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before inverting onto serving platter.
- Serve with blueberries on top, drizzled with additional syrup or agave. (I recommend agave for drizzling.)
Nutritional info is approximate.
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ikon
just another thing to deglutinize 🙁
but it looks awesome!
SusanV
Sorry about that! I keep hoping to experiment more with gluten-free baking, but I’ve decided it’s important to get a working gluten-based recipe first. Otherwise, I might never find the time to bake at all.
Ellen @ I Am Gluten Free
Today, this afternoon, I am making a gluten free version of this! I will keep you posted, every pun intended! What a beautiful and delicious looking summer dessert!
SusanV
Good luck, Ellen! I can’t wait to hear how it comes out!
Coco @ Opera Girl Cooks
Your cake looks wonderful! I went to a u-pick strawberry farm about a month ago, and did the same thing as you and froze most of our berry haul. We’ve been enjoying them in smoothies and thawed on top of ice cream.
Tiffany
Whoa that looks so decadent. Yum.
Sarena (The Non-Dairy Queen)
Your cake looks beautiful. Love the fresh berries on top!
Olívia Pedroni
Wow, this looks awsome! Your’s is one of the best recipe websites ever! I’m a kind of freak for healthy food and here I find tones of delicious recipes! I wish i had 3 stomachs to eat all of them at once!
Barbara
Olivia, I so agree with you about wishing I had three stomachs so I could eat more. Since becoming vegan about 2 years ago (vegetarian for 22 years), I can’t stop buying cookbooks and visiting wonderful websites like this one. My husband and I just can’t eat that much, but I want to cook and bake everything!! Luckily we’re having 10 relatives from Europe visit for the summer so they are my reason to do some marathon cooking/baking. I’ve already won them over with my vegan dishes, but I bet once they taste this Chocolate Blueberry cake, I’ll see some eyes roll back in some heads!! Thank you, Susan!!
Sagan
I can’t wait to try this recipe! You come up with some of the best ideas.
Jenny
Blueberries make such a pretty topping.
moonwatcher
Susan,
This looks beautiful. So dark and rich. I gasped at the photos, too, when I first saw them. They are as scrumptious as the cake must be. I will look forward to experiementing with a gluten free version of this, when blueberries arrive here, and weather permits turning on the oven!
xo
moonwatcher
Metta
What a beautiful cake. Your photography is wonderful.
Kathryn
WOW. That is pretty much all I can say. Oh yeah – and WANT!
Karen
This cake looks awesome. For those people wanting a gluten free version I have had very good results substituting millet flour (Bobs Red Mill) and xanthan gum for the all purpose or whole wheat flour in recipes. Have not tried this recipe yet when I do I will use 1-1/4 cups millet flour and 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum.
Rachel
Wow, $6 per gallon of blueberries? I want to live where you do!!
Lauren
Me too. There is nothing like that in Australia – or the part that I live in anyway. At my local fruit shop blueberries cost $6 for a handful punnet!! Soo expensive!
highonhealthy
This looks amazing!! Definitely making it tonight or tomorrow.
Jaye Denman
I wish I didn’t have to revise your recipes when I try them, but I really want to make this cake (or a closely-simulated version) for a granddaughter who is coming to visit me tomorrow night. She loves chocolate and isn’t thrilled with my vegan pantry. I’d like to make a dessert that will be a treat for her.
Unfortunately, I have limited mobility and don’t get to the grocery store often, have a restrictive budget when I do and often do not have all the ingredients listed in your recipes. If I left out the seeds and balsamic vinegar, then substituted agave syrup for the date syrup, would I have a prayer of the cake binding together, having a moist texture and tasting good? What purpose does the balsamic vinegar serve? Same with the seeds? Sorry to ask so many questions, but cooking something new and interesting that is vegan is a bit challenging for me with the limitations listed above. Oh, yes…one more thing: How early does one have to rise to find a “…hint of…cool….” in the Jackson, MS summer morning? I’m not an early bird, so by the time I’m moving around, the sun is already “broiling”, and it’s much too hot for me! I know it’s wishing my life away to want autumn so badly, but I’ll be so glad when it’s October! Jaye
SusanV
Jaye, instead of the seeds, try using a teaspoon of cornstarch (or arrowroot or potato starch) and instead of balsamic use any other vinegar or lemon juice. Both ingredients are probably completely unnecessary for binding but may add a little to the rising (and the balsamic increases the chocolaty flavor).
As for how early you have to get up to find some coolness in Jackson, I agree that it’s pretty early. We got there about 9 am, and the day started out overcast and breezy. It got hot quickly, though, so I really recommend getting there even earlier.
K
I thought ground flax and water worked like an egg does and helps bind baked goods together?
Susan Voisin
It can be used as an egg substitute or an oil substitute. Here it’s just acting as a slight thickener.
Jaye Denman
Thanks for the suggestions, Susan. I have those ingredients on hand, so I’ll give the cake a try tomorrow. Also, I’ve got a “short list” started for the next time I go grocery shopping. I’ve been searching through your archives and found several recipes I want to try soon. JAYE
Angela
Wow what a beautiful picture!!
You are amazing Susan when are you going
to open up your own cafe 🙂
Helena
Looks wonderful, Susan. Thank you so much! I’ve got a question: are the flax seeds ground too?
SusanV
Yes. The best way to do it is to grind the seeds (chia or flax) and then measure out a teaspoonful.
Helena
Thank you! I’ve got everything ready to go then, yay!
Amy
Now I have something to do with all those blueberries I bought the other day. 🙂
Daniel
I just made this cake tonight and stuffed it in the freezer for about 10 minutes so it would cool faster so we could eat it. It has a nice moist chewiness and indeed, chocolate is the dominant flavor. Any way to get more of a blueberry flavor in it? I find it has just the right amount of sweetness and it turned out great for an on-a-whim recipe that I had to have after I saw the pictures.
Thanks again for the awesome cake recipe! 😀
Heather @ Side of Sneakers
I love recipes with unusual (to me) flavors!! I need to keep this one tucked away for a special occasion!
Donna
Susan,
That cake looks beautiful! I’ll think I’ll try making it tomorrow. Thanks!
DeeDee
Susan`-> I have saved each and every one of your recipes whether I intend to make it or not. And ditto to Angela’s request that you open a cafe displaying your food and photography genius!
Amber J
I wonder, would this work with carob powder instead of cocoa?
SusanV
You can try. Carob has less flavor than cocoa so you might need to use a little more and it burns more easily so you might need to reduce the temperature a little (though that would throw the timing off). More importantly, I’m not sure how acidic carob is. The acid in cocoa helps with the leavening, so the rising results may be different with carob.
Igirl
Can I substitute blueberrys with any other friut. Like peach/strawberries. Please suggest.
Thanks
SusanV
Haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not. Peaches, strawberries, cherries, raspberries all sound good.
Igirl
Thanks!
Ellen
Two glorious Yankee blueberry recipes, both with wonderful names:
Blueberry Flummery: boil the blueberries with a little sugar and enough water to cover. While they cook down, spread slices of soft bread with margarine, and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Line a baking dish with a layer of bread, pour a ladel of berry sauce over, and repeat until bread is used up, adding berries as final layer. Weight down with a plate and several cans in the fridge over night.
Blueberry grunt: boil the berries as above, but with more water. Make dumpling dough and drop by the small spoonful into the berries. Cover until dumplings are cooked.
Kaitlin
Beautifully styled! I have some blueberry bushes in my yard, but their yield is so small that I have been looking for a pick-your-own place nearby. Not much luck yet, but I imagine that when I do find one, I’ll do just as you guys did and end up with waaaaay too many 🙂
Datehoney
Great recipe! Do you care if we share it on 101usesfordatesyrup.wordpress.com?
SusanV
As long as you link back to this page and don’t copy the recipe in its entirety, I don’t mind your sharing. Thanks for asking!
Lori
Wow! That looks fantastic! And balsamic vinegar in the cake… very interesting! I can’t wait to try this!
Christine
Hi Susan – I’ve just stumbled upon your blog and am already obsessed as a new vegan. I’ve already forwarded to at least 5 people! I’m going to try to make this cake for a friend’s birthday this weekend. Can I use agave syrup instead of the date syrup? I saw that someone else asked this same question, but I didn’t see a specific response.
Thanks so much for the awesome blog and the amazing recipes!!!!!
SusanV
Hi Christine–so happy you found my blog. The answer to your question is yes. Agave nectar or any other liquid sweetener will work. Hope you enjoy!
Emily
This looks delicious! I love the blueberry-chocolate combo! I am hoping (fingers crossed!) that my mother ships some of her neighbor’s big, beautiful, organic blueberries to me so I can create this cake without breaking the piggy bank.
Elli @ 16 and Losing It
Wow that cake looks so amazing! I love foods that can be low-calorie and still be delicious! All the joy with none of the guilt!
Vegan cooking is somewhat new to me, so I’m always excited to find new recipes!
myrecessionkitchen
Thanks for the link about the date syrup, I love it when there are new healthy alternatives to sugar. Did you use chia or flax when you made the cake, it’s beautiful!!
SusanV
Thanks! I used the chia seed. (I always list the actual ingredient I used first, followed by any substitutions.)
Amber Shea @Almost Vegan
Blueberry and chocolate, how interesting! I love the inclusion of balsamic vinegar.
Emily
Hey Susan, I was wondering if you got the idea for this from the BH&G winning recipe (it just so happens to be my cousins wife) Thanks for always giving credit where its due! My husband and I visit your blog often as we generally (not strickly) try to keep a vegan diet….so I am happy to see the changes you made.
Georgie Fear
WOW! That cake is astonishingly beautiful! I think your substitutions sound very clever too! Any thoughts on other fruit it might work with?
Thanks for posting!
Georgie Fear RD
SusanV
I think it should work with most fruit. Apple sauce is a common substitute for oil in baking, and it or any pureed fruit will probably give similar results. I think cherries would be really good.
L. Burghardt
That cake looks delicious . as soon as i have translated all the ingredients into german i will run to the next store and buy the stuff i need 🙂
Jennifer @ Maple n Cornbread
What a fabulous idea and great way to up the fruit content in sweets!! beautiful!
Jasmine
Susan! I just wanted to say a big big big THANK YOU for your blog! This summer I took over cooking dinners at home, but as I am the only vegetarian in the family, I really wanted to show my parents that it could be plenty delicious. I told my parents about your fat-free vegan blog (as I’ve made many of your recipes while I was away at college and knew they were yummy!) and that I’ll be cooking more of them at home as well! They were very skeptical at the thought first, but after two weeks, my dad admitted to me that not only did he enjoy the food every day, his blood pressure had also lowered to a healthy range for the first time! We’re celebrating with this blueberry chocolate cake! 😛
Jennifer
We will be trying out this recipe tomorrow and are very excited.
I visit your site daily and have loved several of your recipes. We’re not a vegan family, but my 4 year old is allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts, so anytime we find a recipe that works for our family, we are very excited.
Thank you so much for the recipes!!!!