Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake is extremely easy and FAST to make! A rich chocolate fudge sauce forms underneath a layer of chocolate cake while baking, by itself!
Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake… What more could I possibly say? With TWO different cocoa powder tests, see the different results for yourself!
HERSHEY’S Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake Recipe
This is the dessert you’ve all been waiting for. Step aside pumpkins and pecans because THIS is your new favourite dessert. Totally non-traditional, and I think 99% of us really don’t care. When my daughter tagged me in a picture of a hot fudge chocolate pudding cake on Instagram, it was love at first sight. With heartbeats skipping and a taking my breath away type situation, I ran to the kitchen to make one — or five.
Cake PLUS Sauce
Do you see this perfect, crisp top? Yeah, I see it too. And did you see the fudgy chocolate sauce on the bottom? Well…take this warning if you will: don’t dip your finger to taste test it because you will end up with chocolate sauce all over your mouth — and none left in the dish to serve for everyone else. The original recipe from Hershey’s was a little rich for our liking, so this recipe has been toned down JUST A LITTLE, and made to be a little less in calories without screwing up the taste or texture.
That way, you can serve with a little ice cream. Like my logic?
How To Make Pudding Cake
It is so easy to make this cake! All you do is mix your batter and pour it into your dish. THEN mix together a sugar/cocoa DRY MIX>sprinkle it over the top>pour it over the dry mixture>bake>try-not-to-eat-the-whole-entire-pan.
In a test bake, I used both:
- dark cocoa powder — almost like a dutch processed cocoa powder shown in the above photographs
- normal unsweetened cocoa powder — like Hershey’s regular unsweetened brand photographed below
We did this to show you the different results between the two cocoa powders.
Taste Test
The darker pudding cake photographed at the top of this post yields a richer and almost bitter-sweet chocolate flavour. Think Lindt 70% dark chocolate. The normal, unsweetened cocoa powder pictured here and below yields a milder, almost milk-chocolate taste. This is the one my family prefers. Personally, I prefer the darker one.
Which one do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below!
WATCH US MAKE Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake RIGHT HERE!
More delicious dessert ideas:
Fudgy Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
3-Ingredient Double Chocolate Mousse (low carb)
Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or plain flour
- ½ cup white granulated sugar
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk
- ¼ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
FUDGE SAUCE:
- ½ cup white granulated sugar
- ½ cup light brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder I like unsweetened cocoa powder. See notes.
- 1-¼ cups boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Lightly grease a 9-inch square baking pan*. Pre-boil water in a kettle while preparing cake.
FOR THE CAKE:
- Combine ½ cup granulated sugar with the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add in the milk, butter and vanilla; whisk until smooth and fairly lump free.
- Pour the batter into prepared baking pan or dish and spread evenly.
FOR THE SAUCE:
- Combine together the remaining ½ cup white sugar, brown sugar and remaining 3 tablespoons cocoa powder. Evenly sprinkle mixture over the batter. Slowly pour the boiling water over the top (DO NOT STIR OR MIX INTO THE BATTER. ALLOW THE WATER TO SIT ON TOP).
- Bake 35 minutes or until the centre is almost set. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
- Serve in dessert dishes with ice cream or whipped cream, and spoon fudge sauce from the bottom of pan over top of each serve of cake.
Notes
*Cocoa powders: A dark cocoa powder will yield in a rich and bitter-sweet chocolate flavoured pudding (pictured in the first photographs above).
A normal unsweetened cocoa powder, such as Hershey’s unsweetened, will yield a milder chocolate flavoured pudding — not bitter in taste and still rich (photographed in the last images above). Please choose carefully, and use a cocoa powder you LOVE the taste of.
Adapted from Hershey’s
Nutrition
Amy Coots says
As an adult who doesn’t like too sweet of a dessert this was perfect for me and my hubby, it was great with vanilla ice cre am! I will say that anyone who prefers a sweeter dessert may want to.increase the sugar in the cake to 3/4 cup sugar.
Ashley Kinsman says
Amazing!
I used a bunt pan for this recipe, so I just reduced the cook time to 25 mins.
Identical recipe to one my grandmother always made, love it.
Jen says
So good and so easy. Will make again and again!
Laura says
I never really review recipes but … wow. This. Was. Amazing. I’m not usually much of a chocolate person either but this was just on another level. Not too sweet, not too rich or bitter (as some chocolate things can be, I find), just absolutely delectable and gooey. I used Fry’s Dutch Process Cocoa Powder and it was fab. I’m saving this recipe forever!! Next time I’ll add walnuts to the cake and I think it’ll be even better.
Sarah says
Absolutely putting this recipe in my arsenal. I can’t wait to make it for everyone I know.
BONNIE FOWLER says
Thanks for sharing. This is the birthday cake I always asked my grandma to make me while growing up.
P. Bailey says
I have made this cake for years, easy to make.
Stacey says
Just wondering if doubling the sauce would affect th outcome of the cake? I want more sauceyness! 😂
Jill M Nicolaus says
This is one of those “magic” recipes that I just wouldn’t mess with. But if you want extra fudge sauce, it’s really easy to make.
Ol’ Stock’s Hot Fudge Sauce
1 oz baking chocolate (unsweetened, usually comes in 4 or 8 oz bar)
1/3 cup water
optional Tbsp butter
1 cup white sugar
Bring the water to a boil and melt the chocolate into it, stirring constantly. Add butter if desired (I don’t). Add sugar and continue to stir. When it comes to a boil again, it’s ready if you like a thinner sauce. If you want sauce that thickens when it hits ice cream, boil 30 seconds before removing from heat.
Rebekah says
I made this a few months ago and LOVED it. Recently, I ended up bringing some oranges home from work, and in trying to find a way to use them I remembered both this recipe and my love of chocolate oranges. I added the zest of one orange to the batter and substituted 1/4 cup of the milk for fresh orange juice, still using 1/2 cup of milk. I then used the remaining juice of that orange in the boiling water for the pudding. I probably could have added more juice to the pudding, but I didn’t wanna mess too much with the chemistry of the recipe (and didn’t feel like cutting into another orange :p oh well). Anyways it’s DELICIOUS! I use Hersey’s special dark cocoa powder since it’s my favorite and that pairs SO well with the orange flavor. I also saw someone else say they used coffee instead of water for the pudding- I’m so excited to keep making and playing around with this recipe. It’s so delightful, delicious, easy, and unexpected if you’ve never had it before. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Holly says
That sounds so delicious!!!!! Thank you for the ideas!!!
Rachel says
Absolutely delicious! Recipe was really easy to follow and worked well with gluten free flour. The whole family loved it!
Rebekah J. says
This very VERY delicious. I think it was a little too much pudding to the amount of cake, but maybe that was just for the size pan I used, and the thickness of cake to the amount of pudding was off. If I make it again in that pan I’ll think I half the pudding- even if it’s very, very yummy, it’s just a little too much. Tonight I just had it with a glass of milk, but I can’t wait to try it with ice cream or whipped cream.
Ashley says
Absolutely love this recipe. This is the best chocolate pudding cake I’ve ever had. It literally finishes in minutes with my family! My go-to recipe, for sure.