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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Elizabeth
Hey Susan,
I was put onto your site by my natruopath, and I have to admit, although I love my meat, you have some very tasty recipes. Curious though, as alot of your recipes say ‘fat-free’, is this just the bad fats? And what about the carbs and sugars, as they can be just as bad…..
Heather
This was delicious!! This was my first time making a cake from scratch. Thanks for the recipe!
Ellie
Great recipe, I’m always on the lookout for vegan cake ideas as I hold weekly tea parties for my five friends. Last week I found a fab cup cake recipe in Vegetarian Living Magazine. Not only did they taste great, but looked fab too.
joey zee
We finally got Organic Blueberries in at our local supermarket so I made this one when we had company (non-vegan) , it disappeared in one day…I’ll make it again, love love loved it.
Jaye Denman
When I made your chocolate cake with the substitutions you suggested, it turned out marvelously. I used blueberries, but next time think I will use strawberries. There WILL be a next time! Everyone who walked through my door that day ate and enjoyed a piece of it, and my granddaughter ate two slices! Since I don’t make many desserts, this will be the recipe I use when I’m expecting guests who like chocolate (most everyone I know). Thanks….Jaye
Dalia
Hey,
such an amazing job 🙂
seems very yummy
i was wondering is it okay if i didn’t put the chia seeds \flax seeds in the recipe ?!
Thank you
CM
The chocolate and blueberry cake is a definite winner. It is the next inclusion on the dinner party menu. We soooooo love what you do Susan!! We regularly have dinner parties and more often than not, I use your blog as inspiration. If I am honest, I delight in asking carnivores over for dinner – the expression on their face when they accept and then find out that we are vegan, is wonderful (and somewhat amusing). The expressions on their face after consuming meal is simply priceless!!! Thank you for making veganism a pleasure (for us) and a not-so-scary prospect for those who are not.
christina
thank you for this delicious recipe. i tried it for the first time today and i’m delighted. so delighted that i even took a picture of it and uploaded it on my blog. have a look 🙂
laina
Another great recipe, Susan. I made this tonight and dh and I both loved it. It came out a little dry so next time I’ll bake a few minutes less.
I used maple syrup and next time I’ll use the agave syrup since dh has diabetes. If I wanted to sub splenda, how would I change the dry/liquid ratio?
Mr. P
Thanks a million for this recipe. My daughter and I had a great time baking this together. I can’t believe how moist, and delicious this brownie/cake is!
I used parchment paper to eliminate all fat, and I also used a fat free brand of cocoa powder.
Again, Thanks a million!
Josie
this looks delishhh! do you think you could swap the blueberries for raspberries and it would still work?
Diana
My 17-year old son made this chocolate-blueberry cake yesterday using your recipe and I very excited to find out that not only is it good for you, but it’s actually pretty good tasting too. My husband and two younger sons also liked it. Thank you for this great recipe. I did want to ask you, what is the serving size for this cake?
SusanV
Diana, cut the cake into 8 equal pieces. A serving is one piece. Glad you all enjoyed it!
TeresaC
I’m going to bake this butterless, eggless chocolate cake for my mom. Thanks for the lovely recipe. I add ground flaxseed powder to my meals, but never in a cake. It would be interesting to see how it turns out!
Marty
We’ve had a bumper crop of wild blueberries here in Alaska this summer, they’re not sweet generally but tart, as are the low bush cranberries. I’m going to try some commercial (Washington or Oregon) fresh berries with the Alaskan tart for my quilting group on Thurs. I’m sure it will be a delightful hit, as they’re all chocolate lovers.
Re: freezing berries. How we do it here is after cleaning (as you’ve described), we spread them on cookie sheets with sides, or any pan with sides, in a single layer and freeze in the freezer. Then when frozen bag in baggies are store in freezer that way. They don’t solidy into a great block like mine have in the past. I do it for all berries and have even for banana’s whole or sliced (for smoothies). When banana’s are marked down for sale because they’re ripe I started freezing them for smoothies and GFV (gluten-free vegan) baking.
I love your website! You have the best GFV recipes anywhere! Thank you!
April
Wow! This recipe looks great. I have not yet used date syrup, but am seeing it in other recipes as well.
I wish I had seen this recipe a month ago when I too was trying to beat the southern heat and load up on gallons and gallons of blueberries. I will have to pull some from the freezer and give this cake a try. I love that they are blended and no blueberry bits in the cake, unlike pancakes.
Last year we had so many blue berries I juiced them and froze the juice for blue berry lemonade year round. The berry farm was giving away glasses of this yummy drink after we picked. How very refreshing!
Julie
I made this last weekend and topped it with blueberries and raspberries. It was divine!
moonwatcher
Hi Susan,
I used this blueberry chocolate cake as a template to create a gluten free carob version with raspberries on top instead of blueberries, since I had a lot of those in my backyard. Plus I borrowed the idea from a raspberry cake recipe in Get Healthy Go Vegan to use some Grand Marnier. So here’s what I did: I used a mix I had made up of sorghum, quinoa and brown rice flour and potato starch. I added a little more quinoa flour to make the amount exact as in your recipe. I added an extra tablespoon of carob powder, and maybe a half teaspoon of Grand Marnier to the batter. Instead of blueberry puree and water, I used raspberries in the puree. I oiled the cake pan with canola oil, but I also used a round of baking parchment on the bottom, since you never know with gluten free stuff if it will come out of a round pan easily. It came out like a charm. I covered the cake with raspberries with their little bottoms up, and then drizzled a whisked mixture of Grand Marnier and Agave on it. I didn’t measure this exactly, just did it until it seemed good but not too gooey. It was fantastic. My son and his girlfriend came to visit last week, so it was an early birthday cake for him, a celebration of his graduating from the internship he was in and also the fact that he got a job. 🙂 They loved the cake. One night we had it with “banana ice cream”–my new favorite—a frozen sliced banana, 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk and about 1/2 tsp vanilla. I swear, this cake feels as decadent as anythhing, and the gluten free texture, while different than your photo was thick, brownie-like, and satisfying. I hope I can do it again! Also, I didn’t have date syrup so used half agave and half maple syrup. After the fact I saw that we do carry it at our co-op. How do you like working with it? Do you keep it refrigerated? I am thinking about splurging on it next time I want to make a dessert. How does it affect texture in your opinion?
Thanks again for another winner!
xo
moonwatcher
Danni
This is delicious! I topped it with blueberry preserves and fresh blueberries. I had no idea this combination of flavours would be so good! Thank you for the amazing recipe 🙂
Alta Bergquist
I made this cake and it came out a little bitter. The only thing I substituted was Ube Plum vinager instead of balsamic because I didn’t have any on hand. I used agave for sweetener.
Ulya
I can’t wait to try this with some fresh sour cherries from the garden! It’s really nice to find such recipes that use healthier ingredients. Thank you!
Evangeline
I just made this recipe as cupcakes (it made 12) and sooooo good! Thank you Susan! I can’t wait to try your other recipes : )
libby
I made this last night, albeit a bit hastily, and also ran out of maple syrup so had to improvise.
I think next time I make this I will actually simmer the blueberries on the stove with the water and maple syrup which I think will help the blueberry flavor. I also needed a bit more sweet in the cake, I might add more sugar or use some golden syrup. Oh, and I also added a splash of vanilla. Overall pretty delicious!
Shelly
I tried the GF version substituting gf flour + 1/2 tsp xantham gum and it was incredibly gummy – any recommendations?
Julie
I made this cake 2 days ago and… it’s all gone!
I have to say that I’m very impressed with the texture (It’s pretty much half way between your regular chocolate cake and brownies… oh, mmmmm!) and moistness (I was scared it would be kinda dry after cooling down since there was NO fat in it) of this cake even after its cooled down.
Also, the portions are big for the amount of calories that’s in them. Which is a GREAT thing to me! lol
Thumbs up to a wonderful recipe! Definitely a keeper 🙂
audrey
do you have any advice for un-healthying this recipe? mostly the issue is that i don’t have ground chia or flax. what would you recommend substituting for these?
thanks!
SusanV
Try using a teaspoon of cornstarch instead. Good luck!
JillS.
You actually had me at “brownie-like”! And I have blueberries waiting for me to something different with them – think it is time for this cake… or I may try the cupcake idea. Great Photos!
Melanie
I made the cake this evening – it turned out perfect. I didn’t have access to fresh blueberries and so I used frozen and it worked just as well… I just thawed them before I used them. Thank you for the recipe!
Jenny@ The Healthy Teenager, green tea, yoga and vegan food.
I’m trying this recipe right now! The cake is currently baking away in the oven and it smells DIVINE!
I can’t wait to try it!
A.S.
Hello!
First off: your blog is amazing! Good work!
I’d really like to try baking this cake because it just looks sooo good! Actually this would be the first vegan recipe I’d do since usually I’m “only” vegetarian.
Now I have a question: Can this cake be done with other berries or fruits (strawberries or cherries and such) as well? Because I’d bake this for my family and my sister already stated that she doesn’t like blueberries (she’s odd when it comes to food).
Please excuse my cluelessness about this but I usually don’t cook and bake so I have no idea what can or can’t be done (:
SusanV
Strawberries or cherries would probably both work, though I can’t say for sure because I haven’t tried either of them yet. The recipe is based on this Pineapple Coffee Cake, so if she likes pineapple, give that one a try.
Anna
I blogged about this recipe on my blog, linking back to this website.
I hope that was ok. xx
Liz
Great recipe! I made it for a birthday vegan potluck, the cake and an additional 6 dozen cupcakes. Rave reviews from everybody. After searching the web for vegan and fatfree chocolate birthday cake, this was the only one I found. It will be a frequent favorite in our home. Thanks so much. Love the website and often suggest it to new vegans looking for great recipes. Liz
Lauren
I just tried this out. I used the blueberries for the cake, but topped it with pommegranate instead (cheaper during this time of year than blueberries). Delicious!!
Azahara
This was beyond amazing. I simply do not have words to describe it. We should have to make up a new adjective to do it justice. Its spongy texture and not-too-sweet flavor captivated my cake-hater dad and sister. Anyway, as most people have said, it was dead easy to make (worthy of your ‘ridiculously easy’ label), so I’ll soon be experimenting with muffin-sized brownies.
P.S.: I made this for my birthday, so instead of covering the whole top with blueberries, I made a circle with them, and in the middle I draw my age with more of them. So, not only was it healthy and delicious, but very beautiful too!
Thanks for the wonderful ideas, Susan.
Kathy
Hi! This is scrumptious! I must try it! But, of course, not right now, it’s winter. I will have to try out this recipe during the summer and when I have more time. But I do have a question, can I not have flax/chia seeds?
This sounds like a good idea for cupcakes…I should try them, cupcake form though too! Anyways, thanks for the recipe, and I love how you post nutrition facts too.