The Best Einkorn Chocolate Cake

If you’ve been around Live Simply for any length of time, you’ve probably noticed that when it comes to baking, I lean towards using one particular grain: einkorn.

If you look back in the archives of the blog, you’ll see a shift in how and what I use for baking. Back in 2013, when the blog was created, my family had been eating “real” for about 5 years and I was just learning how to cook from scratch.

At this time, I had just started learning about the idea of ancient practices, like souring and soaking grains (i.e. sourdough and soaking wheat flours to make them easier to digest). So, I began soaking whole wheat flour before baking. This practice became too much, as it demands a lot of planning ahead and also the texture of baked goods can be less than satisfying.

After a couple of years, I began learning about ancient grains, like spelt and einkorn, and how they tend to be easier to digest than modern wheat. At the time, einkorn was near possible to find in our local area and there weren’t cool places like Vitacost or Amazon selling food, so I tried my hand at spelt. Then, slowly, as I found sources for einkorn (thanks to Jovial Foods), I began experimenting with einkorn flour, too.

Einkorn proved to be the trickiest grain to work with, but I was determined to figure out this new grain. Today, einkorn is my absolute favorite flour to work with.

I think it’s fun to look back over the years and watch how my own real food journey has evolved. As I shared in a recent podcast about perfectionism…you don’t have to know it all to begin making changes. You don’t have to do it all, either.

Years ago, I didn’t know a thing about ancient grains. I just wanted to get away from the overly-processed bread. You know, the kind made with canola oil, enriched flour, and chemically-enhanced fillers. So, I took that one small step and made the switch to a bread made with easy-to-recognize ingredients. That one small step led to another small step and another. And here we are today.

What makes blogging so incredible is that you can see what this journey has looked like for me over the years, and, hopefully, that will encourage you to take your own small steps.

Now, let’s talk about today’s recipe, which is made with the ancient grain, einkorn. When I shared a sneak peek of this recipe, on Instagram last week, many of you went CRAZY for the photo: “Is this recipe on your blog? When will this be up on the blog? I can’t wait for this recipe!”

I had originally planned to share this recipe in June, but seeing that so many friends want/need the recipe ASAP (I mean, chocolate…hello!), let’s make some cake.

Before we make the actual cake, let’s talk about a few important notes.

Einkorn is known as the oldest variety of wheat making it an ancient grain. It is believed to have originated in the Tigris-Euphrates region. Einkorn is considered the most primitive species of wheat available today.

While modern wheat has been hybridized (to improve the yield and make wheat disease resistant), einkorn still holds true to its original properties. Einkorn is slowly gaining popularity, but is still grown in only a few regions in Europe and the US (some local farms in the US are now growing einkorn).

Einkorn is the only wheat that’s missing certain types of gluten proteins which some people are sensitive to. Personally, I’ve found that I digest einkorn well, along with wheat breads and baked goods that have gone through the sourdough process. This is why so many of the recipes on the blog feature this grain.

(Sourdough side note: If you have a Netflix account, I highly recommend watching Micheal Pollan’s Cooked Series, particularly part three, Air. Pollan explores the art, science, and reason why we should get back to making sourdough, particularly in a day and age when so many folks are afraid of gluten. If you don’t have a Netflix account, or don’t want to watch the documentary, read this short article. We’ll talk more about sourdough in the future.) 

Einkorn is NOT a gluten-free grain. If you have celiac disease, einkorn is not an option.

That said, in a day when so many folks are questioning gluten (and not because they are celiac), I think it’s important for us to consider a question originally asked by Robyn O’Brien…

“Are we allergic to food, or are we increasingly allergic to what has been done to it?”

 

When it comes to the subject of gluten, I believe we need to take a step back and ask more in depth questions about how we consume gluten. We need to look at the fact that our entire diet now revolves around heavily processed and manipulated grains, the type of grain we consume, the lack of variety and seasonality in our modern diet, the fact that we no longer consume fermented foods as our ancestors once did (which contributes to gut health), and mega amounts of stress which wreak havoc on the body and gut.

There are a lot of factors to look at when it comes to the gluten issue, but just declaring all gluten as “evil” isn’t the answer (in my opinion).

You can find einkorn at some Whole Foods and health food stores, Earth Fare, Vitacost, and Amazon. Definitely shop around as prices can vary based on the retailer. My favorite brand is Jovial since finding their products is fairly easy, and I’ve come to respect this brand as a leader in the real food movement. That’s why I asked the founder of Jovial to come on the podcast–to share all about einkorn, its origins, and what makes this grain so unique. You can listen to the podcast, here.

This cake is fairly easy to make. In fact, the first time we made this cake for testing purposes, we actually forgot to the add milk. We had to scoop the batter from the prepared pan back into the bowl and then add the milk. I share this because the cake turned out just as delicious on that first oops trial as it did on every non-oops test. (We always test recipes at least 3-4 times before photographing and sharing.) This recipe is forgiving. If you’ve ever made a cake from scratch, you’ll know that not every cake recipe is this forgiving.

That said, there is one thing that I highly recommend for fail-proof baking: a scale. Well, actually, two things: a scale and quality ingredients.

It’s so important to weigh ingredients. This isn’t something that most Americans are used to hearing. We’ve become accustomed to relying on volume (cups) for baking. But here’s the issue: my cup of flour may not be the same as yours. In fact, it’s probably not. There are too many variables involved with volume measurements. This means that my results may be different than your results and vice versa.

When it comes to baking, I recommend weighing your most important ingredients. Plus, weighing ingredients is much easier; just keep adding ingredients to the bowl until the scale essentially tells you to stop. Trust me, it’s easier and way more precise! If you’ve ever made a (baked good) recipe and it didn’t turn out quite right (and the recipe is solid), it’s probably because there was too much flour added. This is far too easy to do with volume measurements.

I’ve been using this scale, which we originally purchased for making coffee (weighing coffee beans), for a few years now.

I don’t often describe recipes here on the blog as “the best.” In fact, when people add such an adjective to a recipe, it drives me nuts. That’s a BIG claim to add to a recipe. Plus, everyone has a different idea of what’s considered “the best.” It’s a very subjective description.

I feel like every recipe we share on the blog is the “best of” Live Simply. That said, occasionally I’ll add this description to a recipe, because it just knocks my tastebuds out of the park in some unique way. This cake recipe did just that.

This cake is exactly what I expect for a chocolate cake: rich (but not too overbearing), chocolatey, moist, and (in my opinion) perfectly sweetened.

It does contain cane sugar, which you probably know I use sparingly. I like to keep daily recipes low in the overall sugar content, but when it comes to treats that are made at home, I’m 100% okay with breaking out the cane sugar.