Fesh Ground Whole Wheat Sugar-Free Chocolate Cake

We had dinner with some friends last week and I was in charge of dessert.  I decided I was going to make a fresh ground whole wheat sugar-free chocolate cake and if they didn't like it then great, that would just mean more cake for me to eat :)  I came up with this recipe by tweaking and adding and taking away things from an America's Test kitchen chocolate cake recipe and a chocolate cake recipe from 101cookbooks.com and it turned out really good. Ryan said he likes it better than normal cake. My baby loved it- of course, because he loves treats like me, and the friends we had dinner with said they were really surprised at how good it was.  Enjoy!

*This cake will need to be refrigerated since the frosting is made out of cream

Fresh Ground Whole Wheat Sugar-Free Chocolate Cake

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup non-dutched cocoa powder

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups pure maple syrup

4 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature

Directions:

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly coat two 8- or 9- inch round cake pans or one 9 by 13-inch cake pan with vegetable oil then line the bottom(s) with parchment paper by tracing the bottom of the cake pan on a sheet of parchment paper.  Whisk the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl and set aside. 

Beat the butter and maple syrup together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined, 3 to 6 minutes.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.  Beat in the vanilla.

Reduce the speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture.  Beat in half of the milk.  Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture, then the remaining milk, and finally the remaining flour mixture.

Give the batter a final stir using a rubber spatula to make sure it is thoroughly combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and smooth the top.  Bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake(s) comes out with a few crumbs attached, 20 to 25 minutes for the round layers or 25 to 30 for the sheet cake, rotating the pan(s) halfway through baking.

Let the cake(s) cool in the pan(s) on wire racks for 10 minutes.  Run a paring knife around the edge of the cake(s) to loosen, then flip out onto the racks.  Flip the cake(s) upright, discard the parchment paper, and let cool completely before frosting.  

Frosting (recipe from 101cookbooks.com):

2 ounces bittersweet chocolate (chopped)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks

Directions:

To make the frosting melt the chocolate in a double-boiler, or in a bowl placed over a pan of boiling water. In a medium bowl beat the butter until smooth and fluffy. Beat in the maple syrup. Then add the melted chocolate. Stir until silky smooth - any flecks of butter should be melted. Pour the chocolate mixture over the whipped cream and fold the chocolate into the cream. Keep going until the chocolate is well incorporated. Use an offset spatula to frost the completely cooled cake. If the cake is at all warm, the frosting will weep and melt. It still tastes good, but isn't what you're after.