This whole wheat chocolate cake recipe is the perfect solution for anyone who wants to make a cake from scratch without spending days in the kitchen or 
having the end result look like it was decorated by a 4-year-old. Earlier this year my daughter asked me if I could “write” Happy Birthday on top of her homemade cake, and I practically laughed out loud at the thought of what that would look like. So cake-decorating skills or not…absolutely anyone can make this “tie dye” cake turn out beautifully. And don’t be afraid to switch up the colors. I used peaches and raspberries in the pictured version, but if you want it to be more “boyish” blueberries would add some great color as well.
Before we switched to “real food” I used to make birthday cakes out of a box topped with frosting from a tub mixed with food coloring from little squeeze bottles. I’ve always loved to bake, but I never used to make cakes from scratch because I didn’t have a good “go-to” recipe and I also didn’t know any better! Now that we’ve cut all highly processed food from our diets I prefer a cake made from scratch with only a few simple ingredients when it comes time for those special celebrations. No matter how much we say junk food is okay in moderation I almost never want the highly processed, factory-made, artificial version anymore. So as I mentioned in my previous whole-wheat chocolate chip cookie recipe, this cake “breaks the real food rules” a little, but I would much rather you make this for your next celebration instead of relying on Betty Crocker (or worse – your grocery store bakery)! Feel free to check out the ingredient list for those options if you don’t believe me that this is a much better choice. :)
Whole-Wheat Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour, organic pastry or white winter wheat recommended
- 1 cup all purpose flour, (or cake flour) organic recommended, or can sub whole-wheat flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, I recommend Hershey's Special Dark
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ¼ cups sugar, organic recommended
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups water
- 2 eggs, organic recommended
- 2/3 cup coconut oil, or melted butter (1:1)
- 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
- butter, for greasing pans
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Generously grease two 9-inch round cake pans or other sized baking dish.
-
In a large bowl whisk together dry ingredients including flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, sugar and salt.
-
Make a well (hole) in the middle of the dry ingredients and drop in the water, eggs, oil, and vanilla. Mix by hand with whisk until well blended.
-
Distribute batter evenly into the two cake 9-inch pans and bake for 18 – 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes clean. Let cool before adding frosting.
Whipped Cream Frosting and Berry Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream, organic recommended
- 3 tablespoons sugar, organic recommended, to taste
- 1 ½ recipe berry sauce, with water, reduced in half (subbing either frozen or fresh organic fruit for desired topping color for e.g. raspberries = bright red, peach or mango = orange, blueberries = blue, cherries = dark red). See link below.
Instructions
-
In a large bowl, whip cream and sugar together using an electric mixer.
-
Meanwhile prepare berry sauce(s) with desired fruit for topping. Let sauce(s) cool.
-
Turn out one of the cooled cake rounds onto serving platter. Cover the top (that used to be the bottom) with whipped cream frosting. Lay second round cake layer directly on top of first frosted cake layer. Now cover the entire exposed cake with frosting including sides.
-
Put berry sauce into a squeeze bottle or alternatively you can try to drizzle sauce onto cake with a spoon. I used a “ketchup-style” squeeze bottle with the tip cut off to make the opening at the top a little wider.
-
Make colored circles on top of cake using berry sauce (pictured).
-
Using toothpicks start in the center of the cake and drag through the sauce to the edge. Repeat until desired look is achieved.
-
For best results serve within a few hours. Keep leftovers refrigerated.
Recipe Notes
Tools needed: squeeze bottle or spoon, and toothpicks.
We recommend organic ingredients when feasible.
Related Posts: Whole-Wheat Chocolate Cookies
Posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, your cost will be the same but 100 Days of Real Food will automatically receive a small commission. Your support is greatly appreciated and helps us spread our message!
FREE Summer “Real Food” Meal Plan!Other Posts You Might Like
Heather
July 29, 2013 at 12:45 pmSo yummy! I made this into cupcakes for my daughter’s first birthday and they were amazing! (I tried 4 or 5 others in the process and this was definitely the best).
Wendy
August 12, 2013 at 2:48 pmJust mixed this up and popped it in the Oven. My Husbands Birthday is next weekend and he loves chocolate cake with Peanut butter icing. So i am doing a trial run with the cake. It smells amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
Ally
August 18, 2013 at 2:40 pmI made this cake for my husband’s birthday and it was delicious. The recipe made a lot of whipped cream so I think next time I would only use two cups of the cream.
Helen
August 24, 2013 at 12:51 pmNever made a cake before…..well…..not successfully anyway! This was so
Easy and the results were great! Thanks so much
Sue H.
September 1, 2013 at 12:40 pmI made this cake for my Hubby’s birthday and it was a HUGE hit! Thank you.
Dina
October 5, 2013 at 12:11 amHi,
This was a great recipe, really easy to follow, and my kitchen smelled heavenly when the cakes came out of the over. The only problem was when I went to make the frosting – I used two cups (not three) of heavy cream, and three tablespoons of sugar, but what I got after brisk hand whisking was not frosting but a very liquidy material – not really sure what to call it. I “poured” it over the cake, covering all sides and the layer in between and have now put it in the fridge hoping it will “solidify” in the cold.
Can anyone tell me what I did wrong? I used “heavy cream” not “whipping cream” but from looking at other posts, it seems both are the same, so that wasn’t the problem.
It’s a great cake so now I just need to perfect the frosting…Thanks!
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
October 18, 2013 at 11:46 amHi Dina. Try it with an electric mixer. It should set up pretty quick. ~Amy
molli
November 10, 2013 at 3:02 pmgreat….
Levana
November 10, 2013 at 9:15 pmAwesome recipe!!! I also made this for my husband’s birthday dinner!! I substituted the sugar for maple sugar and added agave to the frosting with a touch of vanilla. I also put fresh strawberries in the middle and on the top with sprinkles. This was my first two layer cake and it was easier than I thought!!
cassie
December 14, 2013 at 7:58 pmHi! I am about to make this cake but want to clarify the flours to be used. I was going to just use whole wheatnpadtry flour. Would that work or should I do 1 cup wwpf and 1 cup reg whole wheat flour???? Tia!!! ;-)
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
December 18, 2013 at 9:47 amHello Cassie. We’ve not tried that combo. How did it turn out? ~Amy
Candi
December 19, 2013 at 7:38 pmI want to make a cake for my diabetic brother so he has a dessert to eat this Christmas. Can Coconut Palm sugar be used instead of cane sugar? I know the frosting will come out brown, but that is ok.
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
December 26, 2013 at 3:44 pmHi Candi. We’ve not tried. If you do, let us know your results. ~Amy
Amanda
December 25, 2013 at 2:52 pmThis was the first from scratch cake I made and it was a huge hit! Thank you so much. I didn’t use the whipped frosting, but I doubled this for my son’s first birthday and did cupcakes as well. No one could believe it was my first from scratch cake. Now making cupcakes again for Christmas. Use WW pastry floor and white ww flour with coconut oil and it’s delicious.
Renee
January 6, 2014 at 7:17 pmThe recipe calls for coconut oil. Is it measured in the solid form?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
January 10, 2014 at 5:06 pmHi Renee. You will want to melt it. Here is more information: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/02/07/how-to-cook-with-coconut-oil/. ~Amy
Renee
January 10, 2014 at 8:12 pmThank you Amy :)
Carla
January 6, 2014 at 10:51 pmI would really like a processed sugar free cake recipe for my daughter’s birthday. Would honey or maple syrup work instead of the sugar?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
January 10, 2014 at 4:05 pmHi Carla. If honey or maple syrup worked well in this recipe, it is what Lisa would have used. :) You could experiment, though. ~Amy
Betsy
January 28, 2014 at 12:49 amYUMMMY!!! My husband and 3.5 yr old just made this for my b-day, it is sooo good! We used 1/2 the whip cream frosting recipe and did one raspberry sauce and one blueberry sauce. We both agreed this was one of the best cakes we’ve ever had. Super moist and not too sweet or overpowering. The frosting was perfect too! Thanks for a delicious recipe, I couldn’t have found it on a better day! Happy Birthday to me!
Jen j
January 29, 2014 at 5:23 amI made this cake (with your vanilla icing recipe and topped with Unreal peanut butter cups) for my husband’s birthday and it was a hit! We all (we have two sons ages 2 and 6) agreed that this was the best cake we have ever eaten! My 6 yr old is already asking when we can make it again. I will never buy a box cake mix ever again and I will make this cake as often as I can so others can enjoy it too! Thank you so much for sharing all of these wonderful recipes and tips. This is by far one of my favorite blogs!
Heather
January 29, 2014 at 10:13 amThis recipe looks great…. I want to make my son’s 2nd birthday cake in the shape of a 2. Do you think the texture of this cake would cut well? Also, can I make it ahead of time (minus the frosting) and freeze it?
(oh and you “decorating” has completely inspired me for my 4 year old’s birthday, which is next on my list– change the colors a bit and that looks close enough to a Spiderman cake ;) )
Thanks!
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
February 3, 2014 at 8:23 amHi Heather. Cutting it into a shape is not something we have tried but I don’t see why you couldn’t. I think it will freeze fine, too. ~Amy
Melissa
April 3, 2014 at 3:34 pmDoes the better cream icig work on this cake? The one from ur cupcake recipe? I want to make ahead…
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
April 6, 2014 at 9:29 amHello Melissa. Sure, you could switch out the icing. ~Amy
Liz
April 12, 2014 at 8:09 pmWe tried this today for my husband’s birthday cake. It is a very moist cake, and the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. No need for box mix when this can be your treat. Yum!
Sara Marie
April 15, 2014 at 1:42 pmgreat recipe! the cake was delicious :) thanks!
Kendra
May 13, 2014 at 3:18 pmMade this for my son’s second birthday. It was really good and all the guests loved it! The frosting, as others here seem to think too, made way too much, so next time I’d probably halve it. Instead of decorating with the berry sauce we just had it in a bowl for guests to pour on top. It was so delicious.
Lauren
May 15, 2014 at 2:33 pmCould you make this but eliminate the cocoa to make yellow cake? This recipe doesn’t have as many steps as the yellow cake recipe on this site…..
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
May 16, 2014 at 4:43 pmHi Lauren. That is not something we’ve tried to do with this recipe. If you experiment, let us know. ~Amy
Lauren
May 16, 2014 at 11:09 pmI tried making it without cocoa. The batter was too moist so I added 1/2 cup white flour & then it seemed right. This made 24 cupcakes. They are really moist & light. Without frosting they taste like sweet plain muffins but with frosting they taste more like cup cakes.
Kerry
May 20, 2014 at 1:58 pmI made brownies using coconut oil and it had quite a strong coconut taste. Can this be lessened by liquifying the oil? I don’t like the flavor of coconut.
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
May 22, 2014 at 8:53 amHi Kerry. Liquifying will not effect the oil’s flavor. You might try a different brand or you could use butter. ~Amy
Rana
May 27, 2014 at 5:46 pmCan you use this recipe to make cupcakes? Any changes in baking temperature and/or time?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
May 29, 2014 at 9:38 amHi Rana. This might help: http://www.thekitchn.com/-good-questions-184-138670. ~Amy
Kate Tellschow
May 29, 2014 at 8:23 amHave you ever used this recipe to make cupcakes? Just curious how they turned out. I wouldn’t think much would need to change but hey, what do I know! Appreciate your feedback
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
May 29, 2014 at 12:21 pmHi Kate. You can certainly make cupcakes! This might help: http://www.thekitchn.com/-good-questions-184-138670. Ignore the bright pink icing. I’m sure it was made from beet juice. :)
Aimee
May 29, 2014 at 7:35 pmI have made these into cupcakes in the past and again today for my daughter’s birthday. They turned out great! I didn’t alter the recipe at all. I just kept an eye on them as far as cook time. I think today they took about 15 minutes. I had many compliments. Thank you for the great recipe!
Carly
June 16, 2014 at 11:31 amHi, can this be made into a 9 X 13 size cake? How long would you cook it for?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
July 4, 2014 at 7:51 amHi there. This should help:http://allrecipes.com/howto/cake-pan-size-conversions/. ~Amy
maggie
June 17, 2014 at 12:26 amHi,I am wondering if I could replace the sugar with honey. My diet does not allow me to have sugar. Thanks.
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy)
July 4, 2014 at 7:55 amHi Maggie. We’ve not converted this recipe but this might help: http://peachtreeroadfarmersmarket.com/pdf/recipes/2010/prfm_sugartohoneyconversion.pdf or http://www.cooks.com/recipe/4516i4d5/substituting-honey-for-sugar.html. ~Amy
Lynn
June 18, 2014 at 2:10 amI made this with strong coffee instead of water and 1/4 coco and used a mascarpone frosting, perfect ‘tiramisu’ cake!
Paulette
July 29, 2014 at 12:48 pmThe cake was good! I tried to make the frosting, but as I
was mixing it separated and became clumpy and not good.
Is it because I used cane sugar instead of the refined stuff?
Sasha
July 30, 2014 at 4:20 pmI have a similar recipe that I use quite often but this decorating idea will spice it up for a change.
@Paulette: only mix until the cream is “stiff”. If you mix too long it’ll turn into butter chunks swimming in butter milk.
Audrey*
July 31, 2014 at 2:33 pmYou might want to edit the recipe to say (for the newbies like me that don’t know…) that you have to whip the cream and sugar on HIGH to get anywhere. I tried every speed on my mixer for about 10 minutes, except super, blown-out, all the way, high and all I had was a soupy mess. I finally thought I’d give high a try before I threw it out and it finally started to firm up. (And then it was perfect!) Might seem common place to people who bake, but I had no idea and I saw several comments from others that didn’t either.
Courtenay
September 14, 2014 at 7:11 pmThis has become our go to recipe for birthday cakes. My kids both love it, and several months ago my daughter asked for this cake with strawberries we picked. We put some in the freezer and I defrosted and drained them. I mashed them and put them in the middle, and used the extra strawberry juice to color the frosting (I actually use frosting from the cupcake recipe on this blog, but only half because it’s so sweet for us). The extra strawberry flavor was really delicious and it made my birthday girl very happy! One note for those trying this recipe for the first time, make sure you really grease those cake pans, and then allow them to cool about 30 minutes to get them out easily.
Food online
November 20, 2014 at 7:38 pmThank you for the recipe
http://food-online8.webnode.com/
Elizabeth
November 25, 2014 at 10:25 amIs there really 2 Tablespoons of Vanilla in this cake recipe? Just asking because it seems like a lot. Thank you & I love your book!!!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
November 29, 2014 at 9:40 amHi Elizabeth. Yep, the recipe is correct. :)
penelope
January 2, 2015 at 4:01 pmMy family loves this cake. Can this cake recipe be used to make cupcakes too?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
January 5, 2015 at 11:16 amHi there. It can. Bake at the same temp and regular size cupcakes are usually cooked within 15-20 minutes.
Kat
January 14, 2015 at 10:40 pmThis sounds so good! I want to make it for a small birthday celebration. Could I half recipe and just use one 9″ cake pan? Thanks!!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
January 15, 2015 at 4:17 pmHi Kat. While that is not something we have tried, I think that should work fine. And since there is an even number of eggs, you will not have to worry about splitting an egg. :)
Emily
January 26, 2015 at 4:10 pmMade this this weekend for my son’s 2nd birthday. Loved it! I did use 1 cup white whole wheat and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour. It came out kind of dense so next time I will use all pastry flour. This is my go to recipe for chocolate cake now!
Neal
May 29, 2015 at 8:37 amAny recommendations for a good egg substitute for this recipe? Flax is our go-to usually. Will that work?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
June 15, 2015 at 11:06 amHi Neal. Other readers have used flax in this recipe.
Jenny
June 12, 2015 at 9:34 amCan I use 1 c of white whole wheat instead of 1 c whole wheat flour?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
June 15, 2015 at 10:11 amHi Jenny. Sure. :)
Maria
October 7, 2015 at 10:27 amHi Jenny,
What I do when I don’t want to use white instead of wholemeal flour is add 20% ground oats or 10% ground flax. That way I’m replacing the good I’m losing from the wholemeal with something as good or better.
Oats do change the texture though, and generally make something denser. Flax generally keeps things light.
Cara
July 30, 2015 at 7:44 pmI’m not a baker but want to use this recipe for cup cakes for my daughter’s 2nd birthday next week. Can I frost the cup cakes the day before, will the frosting he up?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
August 4, 2015 at 11:15 amHi Cara. I would wait until the day of to frost them.
Meghan Libert
August 3, 2015 at 10:41 amCan I cut this recipie in half for a smaller cake?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
August 17, 2015 at 9:01 amHi Meghan. We have not tried but some cake recipes might need a bit of adjustment when cut in half. There are numerous threads on various baking/cooking forums. This might help: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/440559.
Anna
September 28, 2015 at 12:43 amGreat recipe, thanks!
Right now I’m on whole wheat, no sugar diet. This is the only recipe for chocolate cake that I was able to find that used any whole wheat flour! Do you have any idea how this would taste fully whole wheat and with a sugar substitute?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
September 30, 2015 at 7:15 amHi Anna. Sorry, we have not tried any substitutes for sugar in this recipe.
Cara
November 17, 2015 at 12:43 pmDo you know if this recipe would need to have any high altitude adjustments?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
November 19, 2015 at 2:07 pmHi Cara. Not sure but this might help: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html.
michelle
November 20, 2015 at 8:04 pmDoes the cake recipe really call for 2 tablespoons of vanilla? Just wondering if it should be teaspoons?? I hope you can answer this question fast…am making it right now! : )
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
November 23, 2015 at 6:11 pmHi. Sorry, we can rarely answer in real time. The 2 T is correct.
sarah oconnell
November 25, 2015 at 8:23 amHow can i make the frosting into chocolate frosting? Just add some cocoa powder?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
November 30, 2015 at 9:16 amHi Sarah. We’ve not tried that. Let us know if you give it a go.
Jaime
February 5, 2016 at 10:46 pmWe absolutely love this cake! I would love to use this recipe for cupcakes – can you give me an idea on baking time? Thanks!
Caryn
May 23, 2016 at 12:28 pmI made cupcakes and I cooked them for 20 minutes.
Michelle
May 16, 2017 at 5:02 pmHow many cupcakes came out of one batch of cake?
Laura
June 19, 2016 at 9:58 pmYup – it’s a keeper!!! It even worked great in our bunny shaped cake pan! Thanks for a great recipe!! :-D
Sarah Dickison
October 12, 2016 at 11:58 pmSo wonderful ! Used brown sugar instead, my 14 year old daughter made the cake, the whipped cream frosting and a cherry berry sauce. All 12 kids and 4 adults loved it for Daddy’s birthday !
teressa
February 2, 2017 at 3:09 amWhat could I use as a sugar substitute? 1.25 cups seems like a lot. I am wanting to make my son’s first birthday cake. Could I use sweet potato or? Any other ideas?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator)
March 13, 2017 at 4:22 pmHi. We’ve not tried adapting this recipe.
Kasie
December 1, 2017 at 2:53 pmI am going to attempt to make it with coconut sugar – which is lower on the glycemic scale – and I am going to drop it to 3/4 cups. I always use half the amount of sugar suggested.
I will let you know how it turns out.
Shibani Chhabria
March 7, 2017 at 5:16 amMade it.. loved it!
Used olive oil and even added 2 heaped tablespoons of ground flaxseed. Kids loved it and no complaints on the flaxseed.
Thank you!
Jacqueline McIlmoyl
March 18, 2017 at 2:20 pmThis cake is delicious. There is no way to tell that it is mostly whole grain! We ate it without the whipped cream on top and it was fantastic. Obviously, the whipped cream would be amazing, but we couldn’t wait that long! :) It was a lovely texture and is nice and moist throughout. We baked it in one 9×11 rectangle pan for 22 minutes.
Judith Judd
February 3, 2018 at 2:26 pmThe oven temperature is wrong on this cake! What should it be??