If you love that rich chocolate and freshly milled flour combo, this sour cherry chocolate cake with fresh-milled flour is going to make you very, very happy. It’s deeply chocolatey, balanced with sour cherries, and the fresh-milled flour gives it the softest, most flavorful crumb. It looks impressive, but it’s totally doable at home. And once it chills and sets? It's one of the best things there is!
It feels fancy enough for Christmas, but it’s just as perfect for a birthday or Sunday family dinner.
If you're looking for a slightly easier, but still very festive fresh milled dessert to put on the table, check out my fresh milled sourdough star bread recipe!
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Quick Look
- Prep Time: 25–30 minutes
- Cook Time: 35–40 minutes
- Total Time: ~5–6 hours (including chilling)
- Servings: 8–10 slices
- Difficulty: Intermediate
- Baking Method: Oven
- Best For: Dessert, gatherings, make-ahead cakes
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- Summarize & Save This Recipe On:
- Quick Look
- Important Ingredients
- Substitutions & Variations
- How to Make Sour Cherry Chocolate Cake
- Baking Schedule
- 💭Crucial Success Tips
- Recipe FAQs
- How To Store Sour Cherry Chocolate Cake
- Other Delicious Recipes
- Sour Cherry Chocolate Cake with Fresh-Milled Flour
- Sourdough Discard Version (Optional)
- Need Help Tweaking This Recipe?
- Other Fresh-Milled Sourdough Recipes You'll Love
Important Ingredients
- Fresh-milled hard wheat flour gives the cake more flavor and a unique, more hydrated crumb
- Dark chocolate (50–60%) keeps the cream rich but not overly sweet
- Sour cherry compote adds freshness and keeps everything balanced
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions & Variations
- You can swap sour cherries with raspberries, strawberries, or apricots
- If you don’t have buttermilk, use milk + lemon juice or vinegar
- Add cacao powder to the batter if you want a more chocolate-forward cake
How to Make Sour Cherry Chocolate Cake
Step 1: Heat up the whipping cream until almost boiling.
Pour it over the chopped dark chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute, then stir until smooth, it should take no more than 3 or 4 minutes (Image 1).
Cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Step 2: Add all liquid ingredients to one bowl (eggs, sugar, melted cooled butter, oil, the buttermilk (or milk + vinegar mixture), and mix briefly to combine (Image 2). Don’t overmix.
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cacao powder (if using).
Step 3: Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients (Image 3) and gently mix until no dry flour remains. The batter will be quite thin. That’s normal.
Step 4: Line a 24 cm round cake pan with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 170°C / 340°F.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35–40 minutes (Image 4), until a toothpick comes out clean.
Step 5: Let the cake cool completely, then slice it horizontally into two layers.
Prepare the whipping cream, it should be fully chilled now. Whip it until soft, stable peaks form (with a stand mixer, that’s under 2 minutes!) (Image 5). Stop as soon as it holds its shape. Don’t overwhip.
Step 6: Drain the sour cherries and reserve the juice.
Place the first cake layer on your plate or cake stand (Image 6) and generously brush it with sour cherry juice.
Step 7: Spread a thick layer of chocolate cream over the cake and scatter sour cherries on top.
Add the second cake layer, brush again with sour cherry juice, then repeat with chocolate cream and cherries (Image 7).
Step 8: Use the remaining chocolate cream to frost the top and sides (Image 8) of the cake if you want - I usually don’t do that, because I think the cake looks prettier without the sides being decorated!
Refrigerate for at least 4–6 hours, ideally overnight, before serving and slicing.
Hint: when slicing layered cakes, use a sharp knife and wipe it clean between cuts. Clean slices make the cake look much better!
Baking Schedule
Make chocolate cream → chill (4 hours or overnight)
Bake cake → cool completely
Assemble → chill again (4–6 hours)
This is a true make-ahead cake, and that’s part of why it works so well. The resting time improves flavor and texture.
💭Crucial Success Tips
Do not overwhip the chocolate cream. Once it reaches soft, stable peaks, stop. Overwhipping makes it grainy and harder to spread.
Recipe FAQs
Yes. In fact, sour cherry chocolate cake with fresh-milled flour tastes better the next day. The chilling time allows the chocolate cream to set and the flavors to develop.
Yes. Thaw and drain them well. You can simmer them briefly with a little sugar to create a quick sour cherry compote.
Fresh-milled flour absorbs more liquid. If the cake is dense, it may be overmixed or overbaked. Mix gently and check doneness early.
How To Store Sour Cherry Chocolate Cake
Store the cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 2–3 days. It holds up well because of the moisture, but for best texture, serve slightly chilled or let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before slicing.
Freezing isn’t ideal once assembled, but the cake layers on their own can be frozen and used later.
Other Delicious Recipes
- Soft Fresh-Milled Sourdough Sandwich Bread
- Fresh Milled Blueberry Banana Muffins
- Fresh-Milled Palatschinken (Central European Crepes)
- Easy Homemade Gnocchi with Fresh-Milled Flour
If you tried this sour cherry chocolate cake with fresh-milled flour or any other recipe on my blog please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below! Happy Baking!
Sour Cherry Chocolate Cake with Fresh-Milled Flour
Ingredients
- ½ liter whipping cream 35% fat
- 300 g dark chocolate 50–60% cacao
- 3 eggs large
- 120 g sugar
- 80 g butter melted and cooled
- 60 g neutral oil
- 240 ml buttermilk OR 240ml milk + 2 tablespoon lemon juice/vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla Optional
- 260 g freshly milled hard wheat flour
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder 6 g
- ½ teaspoon baking soda 2.5 g
- ¼ teaspoon salt 1.5 g
- 2 tablespoon cacao powder optional, for giving the cake a chocolate lok and flavor if you want that
- 400 g sour cherry compote
Method
- Heat up the whipping cream until almost boiling. Pour it over the chopped dark chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute, then stir until smooth, it should take no more than 3 or 4 minutes. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Add all liquid ingredients to one bowl (eggs, sugar, melted cooled butter, oil, the buttermilk (or milk + vinegar mixture), and mix briefly to combine. Don’t overmix. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cacao powder (if using).
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and gently mix until no dry flour remains. The batter will be quite thin. That’s normal.
- Line a 24 cm round cake pan with parchment paper and preheat your oven to 170°C / 340°F. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 35–40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool completely, then slice it horizontally into two layers. Prepare the whipping cream, it should be fully chilled now. Whip it until soft, stable peaks form (with a stand mixer, that’s under 2 minutes!). Stop as soon as it holds its shape. Don’t overwhip.
- Drain the sour cherries and reserve the juice. Place the first cake layer on your plate or cake stand and generously brush it with sour cherry juice.
- Spread a thick layer of chocolate cream over the cake and scatter sour cherries on top. Add the second cake layer, brush again with sour cherry juice, then repeat with chocolate cream and cherries.
- Use the remaining chocolate cream to frost the top and sides of the cake if you want - I usually don’t do that, because I think the cake looks prettier without the sides being decorated! Refrigerate for at least 4–6 hours, ideally overnight, before serving and slicing.
Notes
- Use real whipping cream (35% fat). Lower-fat cream won’t whip properly once mixed with chocolate.
- Let the chocolate cream chill fully before whipping. If it’s still warm, it won’t thicken. Cold ganache is what gives you that fluffy, spreadable texture.
- Stop whipping as soon as the cream holds soft peaks. Overwhipping turns it grainy fast, especially with this much chocolate.
- Fresh-milled flour absorbs more liquid than store-bought flour. That’s why this batter looks thin and why soaking the cake layers matters.
- Don’t skip the sour cherry juice soak. The cake should look visibly moist. This keeps the crumb soft and prevents the cake from feeling heavy.
- You can use any fruit you like. Raspberry, strawberry, apricot, or peach compote all work well. If using fresh fruit, moisten the layers with simple syrup, diluted jam, fruit juice, or lightly sweetened milk.
- This cake slices best when fully chilled. If it feels soft right after assembling, that’s normal. Give it time in the fridge.
- Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator for 2–3 days. Store covered.
Private Notes
Tried this recipe?
Please leave a rating!Sourdough Discard Version (Optional)
If you’re like me and always have some sourdough discard sitting in the fridge, this cake is actually a great place to use it!
You can add 80–120 g sourdough discard to the batter without changing much else.
Here’s how I do it:
- I simply add the discard together with the liquid ingredients (eggs, sugar, butter, oil, buttermilk).
- I quickly mix it in so it disperses a little, before adding the dry ingredients.
A few small notes so that this'll work every time:
- If your discard is on the thicker side, you might want to reduce the flour a bit (by about 20–30 g) or add a splash more milk.
- If it’s very runny, you can just add it as-is.
- Don’t overthink it. This batter is meant to be a bit thinner anyway, and is very forgiving!
Will adding discard change the cake?
It won’t make the cake taste sour if that's what you're worried about! But it does make it a little softer and more tender (at least in my opinion!), especially after resting overnight (which this cake already benefits from).
Need Help Tweaking This Recipe?
Other Fresh-Milled Sourdough Recipes You'll Love
Inna says
This reminds me of a Russian cake my mom made growing up!
Tina says
Hm maybe it's a Slavic combo? There's a few versions that are quite popular in my area!
Kelly says
OMG! Chocolate and cherry... my mouth is watering! Can't wait to try this!
Tina says
You won't regret it! =D
Penny says
You had me at "chocolate & cherry!" Looking forward to rocking this recipe out!
Tina says
It's a match made in heaven =D
Ash says
Two of my favorites flavors in one, so delicious!!
Tina says
Thank you!