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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)
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Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake
Ingredients
CAKE:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour or plain flour
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter melted
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
FUDGE SAUCE:
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder I like unsweetened cocoa powder. See notes.
- 1-1/4 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 1/2 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 1/2 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
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Very good my grandmother made something very similar to this when I was a child. I added chopped walnuts to the cake in her memory.
This was in the old Good Housekeeping Cookbook, and my mother used to make it quite often. It’s my favorite dessert.
I amazed my grandchildren when I poured the hot water over the whole thing before putting it in the oven, but the lived the results!
Thank you for sharing this excellent and easy to put together recipe. Made it today and my husband and I loved it served warm with a big scoop of ice-cream! Made it pretty much exactly as outlined in the recipe but put instant coffee (black) into the boiling water to enhance the rich chocolate flavour (can never get enough of that) lol . The only change I might make next time is to bake it in an 8″ square pan in lieu of a 9″ square pan for a higher cake/sauce ratio. This is a chocolate lovers delight and you won’t be disappointed if you make it.
delicous
OM Gosh! I have been searching for this recipe for months! My mother used to make this when I was a child. (I’m 66!). She called it Brown Betty, but that name yields desserts with fruits! Not the one I’m looking for. I googled all sorts of combos of chocolate cake, and puddings, and pudding cakes, and finally this one showed up. At last! This is it! I never watched her make this, so I don’t know if she did the boiling water thing, but your results are the same as hers. It’s in the oven as I write this and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. It has to be delicious!
Wow! Rich & decadent. My hubby wanted me to make a pudding cake & I randomly came across this one in my search: glad I did! Such a nice flavor & so simple. Definitely not to sweet & cocoa amounts create a dark flavor (almost healthy feeling ;-P)
To my luck, he says it’s just like grandmas except this time he gets to lick the spoon! baha!
Just completed 20 minutes ago and made exactly as written. My wife’s first words were “Decadent”. Extremely easy with all ingredients readily available in our pantry. I used Ghiradelli brand unsweetened cocoa powder. The cake turned out a beautiful fudge flavor and moist rich taste! This one is a keeper for sure!
Chocolate pudding cake was a family favourite when I was growing up. I made this recipe and it was so much like mom used to make. Absolutely amazing and brought back so many wonderful memories of my mom. 🙂 I tried the dark chocolate cocoa and it took this desert to a whole new level!
Thank you so much! Loved it! Is it possible to make it with only brown sugar?
My mother used to make this in the 19402 & 50s. We loved it. My brothers called it “Chocolate Messy”.
There is nothing new to add for this cake, made it and love it, will make again