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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Jane
This cake looks deliciously awesome! I love blueberrys and chocolate! Can’t wait to make it!!
thanks!
Sara
I made this yesterday and it was awesome! I used flax seed for the binder and maple syrup for the sweetener. Since I didn’t have enough blueberries to top the whole cake, I made a raspberry and blueberry sauce by combining about three quarters of a cup of raspberries with a quarter cup of blueberries, with maple syrup and agave to taste and until the mixture becomes smooth and thick. It was delicious!
Carolyn
Another great one. Thanks for sharing.
Stacey@http://stacey-healthylife.blogspot.com/
That looks really yummy and so pretty with the blueberries on top.
Margo Cooper
I made it with maple syrup and just threw the syrup into the blender with the other wet ingredients. A suggestion I have for a topping is to blend up an extra few blueberries with some syrup (being Canadian, my vote is for maple!) and then stir the fresh blueberries into that. Of course that does mean you have to wash the blender twice . . . .
Dianne
Beautiful! I go wild-blueberry picking in Maine every year; there’s a tiny island with blueberry bushes near our vacation spot. Needless to say, it’s impossible to get a gallon of those tiny wild ones! We usually make blueberry-peach pie or something.
offmotorway
Wow, this looks fabulous! For those wanting gluten free, I’ve discovered a mix of brown rice flour, chestnut flour and cornflour works well – it’s best to eat what you cook fresh, as things can get a bit floury by the next day, but with this cake I can’t see that being a problem…!
Carolyn @ eatlivebewell.wordpress.com
Hi Susan,
After commenting on your blog yesterday, I picked up a few ingredients at the health food store and made this cake for dinner. It was super easy to make (thanks for recipes with short ingredients lists and not many foreign objects) and looked great as presented on the plate.
As for the taste, I think it is lacking some moisture. I followed the recipe to a T. Did yours come out lacking moisture as well?
I have pictures to my cake and more comments on the recipe on my blog at http://eatlivebewell.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/black-bean-burgers-chocolate-blueberry-cake/. I gave you lots of praise on your blog and cited the recipe source.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
eat well,
Carolyn
SusanV
I agree that without the blueberries and agave, it’s not that sweet or moist. It’s also not a very cake-like cake, meaning it’s not light or fluffy like my Chocolate-Orange Cake, which is why I think of it as more brownieish. I think if people want a more traditional chocolate cake, they should look at the orange one, but I did like this for a change of pace.
Carolyn @ eatlivebewell.wordpress.com
Thanks SusanV. I’ll try out this Chocolate-Orange Cake here soon! It looks delicious!
SusanV
Thanks for giving it a try, Caroline, and for writing about it on your blog. If you try the chocolate-orange cake, I’d be interested in hearing your results.
vegantickles
This cake looks like a piece of art-work! can”t wait to try it!
Ingrid
Love chocolate and blueberries! Great recipe!
Beth
I made this cake and it was delicious! I just have one question for you. Mine was pretty dense. I followed all the directions and just came out really dry and heavy. Is that how yours was? The only difference is that I used whole wheat flour, instead of white whole wheat flour. Is that where my problem lies?
SusanV
White whole wheat flour will definitely make a difference, but this is a very heavy cake, almost like a brownie. Mine wasn’t that dry, though, so it could be the difference in flours or some other difference (altitude, moisture in the flour, etc.) You could try adding another 1/2 teaspoon of flax or chia seed and 2 tablespoons of water and see if that makes it moister.
Shannon
I’ve been peeking around your recipes for a while and my intense craving for blueberries and love of brownie-like cake spurred me to try this one last night. I’m in love! I was very impressed by the flavor a texture given how healthy the ingredients are.
I used normal whole wheat flour, so it was a tad on the grainy side, but it was still quite moist. It did finish cooking in less time though, a little under 25 minutes, so I would recommend checking earlier for plain whole wheat users.
I used agave as my sweetener and reduced it a tad to make room for a small handful of vegan chocolate chips (naughty but soooo nice) and was generous with the 1/2 cup of blueberries. Between those two little changes, there was no need for the extra agave on top.
I also had a piece straight out of the oven and it definitely works warm as well, but is better when chilled.
Thanks again! I think I’m making your Blueberry Oat Bars next!
Gloria
I don’t digest sugar or wheat very well, so I made this tonight with whole spelt flour, reduced the maple syrup to just under 1/3 cup, added a few more blueberries and vanilla extract to the blender and added about a tablespoon of stevia (NuNaturals brand) and a dash of cinnamon to the flour…
OK, I know, I changed a lot but this seriously came out AWESOME! The spelt made the cake so light and it was perfectly moist for my taste. I topped it with a mix of smashed raspberries and a smidge of coconut oil – totally decadent 🙂 Thanks for the inspiration!!
VEGirl
Wow, once we get blueberries I am going to pull this out! If I sub quinoa flour for the wheat it will work the same and I even have date syrup. How wonderful…
Thanks Susan!
VEGirl
Lars
Hey
i made ur cake. it was reall great. but it was kind of hard and not very moist. any idea what i can do to fix that?? i used agave syrup as sweetener.
i thought about using sparkling water (might that work??) or should i use less starch ( we dont have chia seeds here in germany)
i loved that it wasnt too sweet, but just a little bit hard and firm
greetings
Sara
So good it belongs on the header of your site. Not bad.
I’m really loving blueberries this summer and am interested in trying your blueberry vinaigrette. I’ll let you know how that goes.
Morgan
I am loving all of the blueberries right now! THis cake is beautiful!
Linda
Hi Susan!
Thanks for another wonderful recipe!
I have a question. I have read that when freezing a non-fat cake they dry out easily. I was going to make several of your cakes and freeze them. What do you think?
Thanks/Linda
SusanV
I haven’t tried freezing one, Linda. They get eaten too quickly here! To be on the safe side, why don’t you just freeze one first to see how it does? I’d appreciate it if you could let me know your results.
I SO HUNGRY
Love the cake its so tasty looking. Thank you for sharing..
Rachel
WOW….that cake looks DELICIOUS! B-day is coming up, this may just have to be my cake 🙂
Tina
Hi Susan. Thanks for all of your recipes they are delicious.
I made the cake today. Should I put it in the refrigerator?
SusanV
I stored mine in the fridge just to be safe.
Rogene
Chocolate and blueberries? Oh, my! I am so going to have to try this one.
Gluten Free Cooking
Wow – those blueberries look wonderful! Can’t wait til summer rolls around here and we can go berry picking again. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Anna
Just made it and my Omni husband loves it! He store a taste.
I added a little blackberry syrup to the cake (about 1T) and I made a syrup with 1/2c blueberries and 3T blackberry syrup to go on top. And I plan to serve it with more fresh blueberries and a bluberry polmagranate acia berry sorbet.
Racheli
Hi, Susan. I want to make this cake for a friend’s birthday. The problem is: I live in Israel, and there are no blueberries in the stores! There are frozen blueberries, though, and I was wandering if they would work in this recipe?
Either way, thank you for sharing this recipe for such an amazing looking cake.
SusanV
Frozen blueberries will work. Just let them thaw and come to room temperature first. Good luck!
Keri
This cake is simply amazing!! Thanks for the recipe!
Vanessa
I made this – but couldn’t get to the store in time so it was made with black berries rather than blueberries. I tried to drain as many seeds as possible first and it turned out amazing. I ended up serving it with the plum cobbler (which was truly spectacular) at a birthday party where no one knew the better (that they are having healthy treats) 🙂 Thanks so much for the recipes.
Kellie
I can’t wait to try this. We went blueberry picking this past weekend and had 9 quarts to contend with afterwards. After McDougal’s Blueberry Cobbler that went like a flash, I was debating between a great Veggie Times recipe for Blueberry Pie or muffins. This sounds heavenly since blueberries and chocolate is 2 loves of mine.
Jessica @ Running From Cupcakes
Wowww! I’ve recently started changing my diet (and trying with my Hubby) and exercising lots, and I never thought I would taste anything “delicious” again. Was I ever wrong!! This cake was unbelievable! I found the recipe at another blog, and she suggested adding a mashed banana, which I did.. and omg, the banana with the taste of blueberry, and then blueberries on top… pure bliss! Didn’t even need a sweetener to drizzle on top.
Christine
I had the perfect confluence of events that led to me making this tonight – yesterday my mother-in-law brought over 2 pints of blueberries, I had exactly a tablespoon of balsamic left, and (as it turns out) exactly the amount of maple syrup needed, so I figured why not? I used potato starch as suggested instead of the seeds and it worked just fine. I also used regular whole wheat flour instead of white and it was great. This was delicious! Just sweet enough, just chocolatey enough 🙂 Thank you so much for your wonderful recipes!
Kylie
I can’t find agave nectar anywhere around here, but I did find some peach nectar, and I’m going to try it with that. It looks simply amazing!
marie
Hi Susan, I am without any liquid sweetener. Is there anything else I can substitute? Applesauce perhaps?
SusanV
Applesauce will probably not be sweet enough, but you can use regular sugar and add a tablespoon or two of water.