**It is helpful to plan ahead for this recipe as you have to let the starter sit for 2-3 hours before baking**
Prepare the starter:
- Mix the starter, warm milk and flour in a mixing bowl. Cover and allow this mixture to sit for about 2-3 hours. It is ready to use when it starts smelling yeasty and slightly like sour milk.
Mix the cake:
- Cream together the sugar, vanilla, baking soda, salt, butter and cinnamon until well creamed. Scrape the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each addition.
- Stir in the cocoa
- Add this mixture into the sourdough mixture.
- Use a rubber spatula to mix the ingredients together initially.
- Use hand mixer to continue mixing until the sourdough until completely combined. The sourdough will be sticky and stretchy, so it can be difficult to get fully mixed. But if you don't make sure it is mixed, the cakes will not bake evenly. Beat for at least 1 minute on low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Preheat the oven to 350º Fahrenheit. Grease with pans with butter and sprinkle Three 4" round cake pans with flour- This is for small individualized size cakes or toddler smash cakes. Any size cake or muffin pan can be used.
- Spoon the batter evenly between the three cake pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cake tests done (toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean).
- Allow cake to fully cool off then evenly cut off the tops to layer each cake on top of one another
- Apply icing in between each layer & outer layer
- Store in fridge until ready, until 1-2 hours before enjoying!!