a delectable chocolate cake with a secret ingredient.
| Servings: | 24 |
| Yield: | 1 – 9×13 inch cake |
Ingredients
- ¾ cup drained and chopped sauerkraut
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- ⅔ cup butter
- 1 ¾ cups packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan. Sift cocoa, flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside. In a separate small bowl, combine buttermilk with sauerkraut and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat in. Add flour mixture alternately with sauerkraut mixture. Beat only until blended.
- Pour batter into 9×13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Cool cake and frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 168 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 27 g |
| Cholesterol | 30 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 3 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 200 mg |
| Sugars | 17 g |
| Fat | 6 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
If you have not tried this cake, please do It is very moist and good. My son would never sauerkraut, but he loved this so much, he came back the next day for more. (He is 51)
This was a very moist cake. The sauerkraut really does not impart a flavor, just the texture of “coconut.” The cake itself is somewhat flat and chalky. If I were to use this idea in the future, I would add the sauerkraut to another cake base (e.g. box mix, cavity maker cake).
I made this for an Oktoberfest get-together with friends… everyone gave it rave reviews, and were surprised to learn there was sauerkraut in the recipe. Unfortunately, I have an allergy to anything chocolate and couldn’t try it. Would definitely make this again.
I’ve made this quite a few times – and my family loves it! (although my brother only until he found out about the sauerkraut – the third time I made it -now he won’t touch it!)
This recipe is a keeper! I don’t remember the last time I had a chocolate cake that was as moist as this one. It appealed to the adults in the house because it was not overly sweet. Took the advice of other reviewers and used a coconut-pecan frosting so no one noticed the sauerkraut in the cake. I knew this was a good recipe when hubby had two slices after dinner and then told me to put two in his lunchbox. Just a note, I made it in two nine inch round cake pans and it makes a good size layer cake, great for any occasion! Great recipe Jane, thanks for sharing.
This was the BEST chocolate cake I have ever made! It baked up beautifully, too. I used 2% milk ilo buttermilk and Smart Balance 50% butter sticks ilo butter. I made it for a coworker’s birthday and they love German Chocolate. I topped it with homemade frosting from another recipe on this site (that I changed a bit) and the result was FANTASTIC! YUM!
this recipe makes wonderful mini bunt cakes. I love the sceret ingredient. My co-workers loved the cake anf fliped when the found out that it was sauerkraut in the cake. I add more sugar to make the cake sweeter. Am going to try to add German Chocolate in place of the regular Cocoa Powder. I had a proble with over baking, make sure to be accurate with the baking time.
My mom used to make this cake in the 1950’s. We loved it then and still do now.
Do not be scared! Live a little and step outside the box; these are fantastic! I followed the recipe w/2 minor alterations: 1. I made as cupcakes (baked for right around 20 min a batch and the recipe made 30 cupcakes for me) and 2. I never have buttermilk so I used the milk (1% at our house) and vinegar substitution. I should probably make it known that I’m NOT a from scratch cake fan; I tend to prefer Duncan Hines box mixes, so I baked these more for the novelty of the sauerkraut w/low expectations…well, they certainly exceeded the low bar I had set! These are great! great flavor…I’m not sure what the sauerkraut does (some bites I felt I could get the barest hint of sauerkraut, but maybe it was all in my head), but these are def worth trying! I frosted w/butter cream (butter cream II from here, actually) but next time I think I’ll try w/either a cinnamon-y or a caramel or a PB or a mint frosting (the possibilities are endless!) thanks to the suggestions of wonderful RE members.
I had to try this because I love sauerkraut and the thought of putting it in a cake just tickled me. I was saddled with the task of making a cake for a going-away party for a co-worker, and thought I would make this as a revenge of sorts. I very roughly chopped the sauerkraut because I was going to put coconut frosting on the cake anyway and figured that if anyone got some stringy bits they would just think it was coconut. Nobody suspected anything. I got nothing but rave reviews. Even when I got a piece of what I knew was sauerkraut and bit into it, all I could taste was chocolate. This cake is so delicious and chocolatey. I recommend it to anyone who wants to try something different!
I made this recipe mostly out of curiosity, because I couldn’t imagine sauerkraut in a cake. But it was very good! I chopped the sauerkraut so that it wasn’t long and stringy. It had the consistency of coconut, which went well with the German Chocolate frosting. Very good, and I would make it again!
This was a really moist, delicious chocolate cake. I served it to colleagues and they all loved it — no one could believe there was sauerkraut lurking in there. I’ll definitely make this one again.
I made this cake yesterday mostly out of curiosity. I followed the recipe, except I used half dark and half lite brown sugar. I used a chocolate frosting and baked it in 2 9″ round cake pans. It was simply delicious! Keep in mind when choosing a frosting, the cake itself is only mildly sweet. We loved the unique texture and flavor of this wonderful cake. I will make it often!
I didn’t care for this recipe. I had trouble getting the sauerkraut to mix well (even though I did chop it first), it tended to clump. The end result wasn’t very chocolaty. I was intrigued by the sauerkraut in the recipe, but I won’t make this again.
Made for my husband for his birthday and he really enjoyed along with my boys. Nobody in my family particularly likes sauerkraut but curiosity got the better part of me and I wanted to see if anyone would notice. (They were very suprised when I told them) Will definetly make again. Thanks Jane
Didn’t care for this one. My kids weren’t fooled and immediately thought it tasted strange and wouldn’t eat it. My hubby liked it, but he is from Wisconsin and LOVES sauerkraut. Maybe it would be less tangy with a lesser amount of sauerkraut?
The thought of putting sauerkraut into a chocolate cake was crazy, but the taste was amazing. This recipe makes a excellent cake and a must try. I topped it off with a coconut frosting and if my wife didn’t tell our guest that it had sauerkraut in it they would have never known.
Hands down one of the best cakes I have ever made! I followed the recipe exactly as stated and the result was spectacular! Thanks for submitting!