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Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake
5 from 28 votes

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake

Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake combines a tender cocoa-flavored cake with a rich chocolate fudge sauce. The batter includes cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda, combined with milk, butter, oil, vanilla, and boiling water to create a thin batter that yields a moist, fudgy crumb. The cake is served warm with vanilla ice cream and topped with a luscious dark chocolate fudge sauce for added indulgence.

Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Cooling
20 mins
Servings: 10 - 12
Calories: 421 kcal
Course: Dessert, Cake
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Dry:
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour Note 2, also known as plain flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened), sifted (Note 1)30g
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder (Note 2)
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda sifted if lumpy) (Note 2, aka bi-carb
  • 1 cup caster sugar sub ordinary white sugar, aka superfine sugar
  • 1/4 tsp salt
Wet:
  • 1 egg at room temperature, large
  • 1/2 cup milk , full fat, at room temperature
  • 75g / 5 tbsp butter melted and cooled slightly, unsalted
  • 1 tbsp neutral cooking oil canola, veg or other neutral oil) - keeps cake moist for days, generic cooking oil
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup water boiling
Chocolate fudge sauce:
  • 1 cup heavy cream not low fat, too thin, thickened or pure cream
  • 1 1/4 cups dark chocolate US: semi-sweet chips) - or finely chopped 60 - 70% cocoa chocolate block (Note 3, melts or chips
Serving:
  • vanilla ice cream

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan). Grease a 20cm/8" cake pan with butter then line with paper.
  2. Whisk Dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. Add Wet - Then add all the Wet ingredients EXCEPT the boiling water. Whisk until combined. Then add the boiling water and whisk until smooth. The batter will be pretty thin.
  4. Bake 40 min - Pour into the pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out mostly clean - a faint smear of batter isn't a bad thing, we're making a fudge cake here!
  5. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Invert onto a plate, then onto a cooling rack or plate right side up. Cool for a further 10 minutes - the cake will still be warm for serving.
  6. Serving - Cut slices of the warm cake. Top with a scoop of ice cream. Douse with fudge sauce - just shy of 1/4 cup per slice (10 slices). Eat and swoon!
Chocolate fudge sauce (makes 2 cups):
  1. Heat cream until hot, just before boiling point, using your method of choice - saucepan or microwave.
  2. Stand 5 min - Put chocolate in bowl. Pour over hot cream. Ensure all chocolate is submerged, then cover with a plate. Leave for 5 minutes.
  3. Mix - Using a whisk or rubber spatula, mix vigorously until the cream and chocolate combine into a silky chocolate sauce.
  4. Cool to thicken for 20 minutes. Give it a stir then pour into a jug for serving!

Notes

  • Use Dutch-processed or unsweetened cocoa powder for best chocolate flavor in the cake.
  • Both baking powder and baking soda create a balanced rise and soft crumb; variations can be made but may affect texture.
  • Substitute self-raising flour by omitting baking powder and soda, though resulting cake is less domed but still soft.
  • Choose chocolate specifically made for baking; semi-sweet chocolate chips or finely chopped bars with 60-70% cocoa content work best.
  • Store cake covered in refrigerator for 5-7 days; warm slices before serving to enhance moistness.
  • Fudge sauce keeps for at least a week refrigerated; warm gently before use to restore pourable texture.
  • Both the cake and fudge sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Nutrition Information

Calories 421cal (21%) Carbohydrates 44g (15%) Protein 5g (10%) Fat 26g (40%) Saturated Fat 15g (75%) Polyunsaturated Fat 1g (6%) Monounsaturated Fat 8g (40%) Trans Fat 0.3g (15%) Cholesterol 62mg (21%) Sodium 163mg (7%) Potassium 265mg (6%) Fiber 3g (12%) Sugar 30g (60%) Vitamin A 592IU (12%) Vitamin C 0.1mg (0%) Calcium 68mg (7%) Iron 3mg (17%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 10 - 12

Amount Per Serving

Calories 421

% Daily Value*

Calories 421cal 21%
Carbohydrates 44g 15%
Protein 5g 10%
Fat 26g 40%
Saturated Fat 15g 75%
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g 6%
Monounsaturated Fat 8g 40%
Trans Fat 0.3g 15%
Cholesterol 62mg 21%
Sodium 163mg 7%
Potassium 265mg 6%
Fiber 3g 12%
Sugar 30g 60%
Vitamin A 592IU 12%
Vitamin C 0.1mg 0%
Calcium 68mg 7%
Iron 3mg 17%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.