I’m gonna let you in on my little secret to get a moist chocolate cake recipe using a special, stealth-veggie ingredient…. kale! Chocolate Kale Cake is not your everyday, run of the mill chocolate cake, my friends!

But it sure does taste like it! (Maybe better!)

I know. When I first heard of adding kale to a cake, I also thought that vegetables were what I ate in order to get to dessert… not put in it. (Ok, except for sweet potato pie. Me, oh my if there was ever a vegetable made for the dessert plate it was the sweet potato! They don’t even need to hide.)

But kale grows in abundance in the garden most of the year. It’s so trouble-free and healthful that it was inevitable that I at least tried baking a cake with it. What I discovered was that I was able to feel better about the dessert that I was serving and that no one could even tell that there was kale in it! Chocolate Kale Cake is light, moist, and ever-so-chocolatey but there isn’t a hint of green either in color or flavor! Not only that but I get requests to bake Chocolate Kale Cake for birthdays again and again. And again!

Do you know why this makes me so happy? I’ll tell you why. I used to love to bake cakes for my family. Birthdays were an excuse to really become creative and make little eyes light up. But as we started working so hard to make better food choices, even to the point where we were growing and raising it ourselves, I struggled with feeling guilty on those special days. So I pretty much stopped baking cakes. I’d make desserts I felt better about, but we all missed cake. Who wouldn’t?

This summer I got fed up with the pendulum swinging so far the other way and decided to be more reasonable about cake. I sat down, brainstormed, and created an entire collection of fun farmstead cakes that we could joyfully incorporate into our healthy lifestyle and celebrations that would showcase the hard work that we do every day on the homestead or the money we invest in supporting other farmers.

What I ended up with was Cake Stand.

Yes, my friends, I went and wrote my first cookbook. Because I know you struggle with this too. (And, besides, who doesn’t like a good cake?)

I’m opening up the new chapter in our family’s cookbook and sharing over 30 delicious recipes in the hopes that your family will enjoy these cakes too. Each cake recipe has a lovely full-color photo for those of you who like to eat with your eyes first and also includes basic cake baking tips as well as a troubleshooting guide. I wanted Cake Stand to be accessible and created it with those trying to ditch the powdered box mix and tub of slickery frosting and learn to bake from scratch in mind. I want everyone to know how easy it is to bake a cake from scratch so there’s no reason not to!

I worked hard to create a collection of truly seasonal cakes that incorporate fresh, farmstead fruits, vegetables, and cheeses. I made sure to include all the basic cakes as well as many new and unusual ones. Plus there are numerous ways to make your own combinations and create your very own recipes!

A sampling of some of the recipes included besides this oft-requested Chocolate Kale Cake is:

• Berry Swirl Angel Food Cake with Meringue Frosting
• Strawberry Chamomile Cake
• Milk & Honey Cupcakes
• Chocolate Cherry Black Forest Cake
• Whole Grain Apple Butter Cake

You can learn more about how to get digital and print copies of Cake Stand here. 

I hope you’ll join me in my excitement over this new book! I think it’s a cause for celebration.

And I can think of no finer way to celebrate than with a piece of Chocolate Kale Cake, can you?

Chocolate Kale Cake with Fudge Frosting

Moist Chocolate Kale Cake Recipe with Fudge Frosting

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Print Recipe

I’m gonna let you in on my little secret to get a moist chocolate cake recipe using a special, stealth-veggie ingredient…. kale!  

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 cups kale leaves, chopped
• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, about ⅓ cup
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ¾ cup sour cream
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 ¾ cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Fudge Frosting
• 2 sticks butter, softened
• 3 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
• ½ cup cocoa powder, sifted
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 Tablespoons cream

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease 2- 9” cake pans with soft butter. Dust the pan with cocoa powder.
2. Bring a small saucepan of water to boil. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and place it over the saucepan, making a double boiler.
3. When the chocolate has melted, remove the bowl and place a couple of handfuls of chopped kale leaves in the water and cook it for a minute or two until it softens and is bright green.
4. Scoop the kale from the water and place it in a blender along with a few splashes of water from the pan. Puree the kale, adding a little more water if necessary. Run the puree through a mesh strainer to remove the fibers.
5. Measure out ¾ cup of kale puree and add it to the melted chocolate along with ¼ cup of cocoa powder. Whisk in the sour cream.
6. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar for several minutes until it looks light and airy. Occasionally scrape the sides.
7. Meanwhile, measure out the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and whisk them together really well.
8. Add the eggs into the creamed butter, one at a time, beating them into the mix before adding the next egg. Scape the sides then beat in the vanilla.
9. Alternating, add the flour mixture and the chocolate-kale mixture into the mixing bowl. Begin and end with the flour and scrape the sides between additions. Scrape the sides a final time and beat the batter for a few more seconds before dividing it between the prepared pans.
10. Bake the cakes for 30-35 minutes until it springs back when very lightly touched.
11. After cooling them for about 10 minutes, invert the cakes onto a cooling rack and cool them completely before frosting.
12. Fudge Frosting
13. Sift the powdered sugar and cocoa powder together.
14. Cream the butter and then blend the sugar, salt, and vanilla into it on low speed until it’s all mixed in.
15. On medium speed add enough cream to get the desired consistency and then beat it for about 3 minutes before frosting.

• Author: Reformation Acres

Enjoy!