A very chocolatey, moist Chocolate Fudge Cake that is similar to chocolate mud cake, but not as dense. Made with both melted chocolate and cocoa, AND topped with chocolate ganache, this one is sure to satisfying your chocolate cravings!
Super easy to make, very forgiving, no stand mixer or beater. Just one bowl and a wooden spoon!
Chocolate Fudge Cake
I may be disowned as an Australian for saying this, but I’m not the hugest fan of classic Chocolate Mud Cake. I find it too dense and doughy, and it gets stuck to the roof of my mouth. It’s very……erm…..mud-like.
Duh.
Creative writing isn’t my forte, is it?? Hey – I’m a food blogger. Not a writer! 😂
So this isn’t a classic Chocolate Mud Cake because it has a bit of lift in it, but it is still way fudgier and mud-cake like than 99% of other chocolate cakes, including my own everyday Chocolate Cake. Call it a Chocolate Fudge MUD CAKE if you want!! (Bit too much of a mouthful for me…. 🙂 )
Why I love this fudge cake so much
I know there are a LOT of chocolate cake recipes “out there”. But here’s why I love this Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake so much:
It’s intensely chocolatey – thanks to the use of both melted chocolate AND cocoa powder.
Beautifully moist and fudgy – hence the name!
Terrific flavour. It truly tastes of chocolate which, as odd as it sounds, is actually rarer than you might think.
You just need a wooden spoon. No stand mixer, no electric beater.
It’s virtually foolproof. I’ve cooked it on high for shorter periods of time, and low for longer. I’ve had to dash out of the house before it was fully cooked and left it in the oven (turned off) to finish cooking. And it always works out. Why? Because it’s so fudgey, it is actually hard to overcook so it becomes dry and it is not meant to rise very much so you don’t have to worry about that part either!
The Chocolate Ganache Frosting is crazy easy too. Cream + chocolate, melt, mix, cool. No beating!
Everyone goes mad over this. Chocolate on chocolate. Enough said!
How to make this fudgy moist cake
You would be forgiven for thinking you’re making a brownie when you start making this Chocolate Fudge Cake. Because that is in fact where the roots of this cake recipe is drawn from.
Did you know… The reason you see hot water in chocolate cake recipes is because it makes the cocoa “bloom”, making the cake taste more like chocolate!
↑↑↑ Crackage is normal! It’s kind of like that crinkly top of brownies – because this cake has lift in it from baking powder, it “bursts” through the crinkly top. But don’t worry, the cracks are less prominent once it cools (because it sinks a bit) and it’s completely hidden under Chocolate Ganache!
Difference between chocolate fudge cake and mud cake
I had someone on Instagram asking me what the difference is between Fudge Cake and Mud Cake so I thought I’d explain!! Chocolate mud cake is so dense that it cuts cleanly with perfect edges and virtually no crumbs.
In contrast, fudge cakes have more of a cake-like texture, like what you see in the close up of the slice at the top of this post.
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
I’m of the opinion that if we’re going to make a Fudgy Chocolate Cake, let’s really drive home the decadence and chocolate flavour by frosting it with chocolate ganache.
If you’re new to Chocolate Ganche, you’re going to really love this. Rather than beating icing sugar and butter for ages and ages like we do with Chocolate Buttercream, Chocolate Ganache is made simply with cream and chocolate that’s heated until the chocolate melts.
When hot, it’s a chocolate sauce you want to pour over everything.
When it cools, it has the consistency of peanut butter. Easy to spread and swirl on your cakes or cupcakes, and everything in between.
My everyday Chocolate Cake is beautifully moist and it’s the one I make most often.
But I figure we all need a blow out Chocolate Cake in our repertoire too. And this Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake is my blow-out Chocolate Cake recipe. It is rich. It is chocolatey. It is moist and fudgy. And I absolutely love it.
I hope you consider trying it! – Nagi x
Get your chocolate fix!
Everyday Chocolate Cake – try it decorated with Mirror Glaze!
Chocolate Cream Pie (outrageous!!!)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake
Ingredients
- 125g / 4 oz dark chocolate chips (Note 1)
- 100g / 7 tbsp butter , salted (or unsalted butter + 1/4 tsp salt)
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar , caster / superfine best (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup oil (vegetable, canola)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs , at room temperature
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (Note 3)
- 1 cup flour , plain / all purpose (Note 4)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup boiling hot water
- 1 tbsp coffee granules , optional (Note 5)
Ganache
- 1 cup heavy / thickened cream , 30%+ fat (Note 6)
- 250g / 8 oz dark chocolate chips (Note 1)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 150C/300F (standard) or 130C/265F (fan). Grease a 22 cm / 9″ springform cake pan and line with parchment / baking paper.
- Melt butter and chocolate: Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Microwave 3 x 30 seconds on high, mix in between, until melted. Mix.
- Oil, vanilla & Sugar: Add oil, vanilla and sugar, mix to combine (this brings down batter temp).
- Eggs: Add eggs and mix until combined.
- Dry Ingredients: Sift cocoa, baking powder and flour (and coffee, if using) directly into the bowl. Mix until smooth, batter will be thin. Some small lumps is ok.
- Hot water: Add hot water. Mix until incorporated.
- Bake: Pour into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out moist but clean. Check at 50 minutes. The surface will crack (sometimes badly!) but sill subside when it cools and gets covered with frosting so don’t stress!
- Cool: Remove sides from the cake pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool. Cool completely before carefully handling to remove base (Note 7).
Ganache (Note 8)
- Place chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl. Microwave 3 x 30 seconds, mixing in between, until chocolate melts. DO NOT let cream come to boil.
- Stir chocolate until smooth. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or until thickened to a spreadable consistency like peanut butter.
- Spread over the cake – tops and sides. Use a teaspoon in a swirling motion to achieve the textured surface you see in the photos.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe published May 2016. Recipe slightly updated November 2018 with improved cake texture and a more streamlined process. New photos, new video, new words!
Let them eat cake! 10 classic cake recipes
LIFE OF DOZER
I shooed him outside thinking that brown smear on his head was 💩
Turns out it was ganache 😂 It was driving him crazy trying to figure out a way to get to it! {PS No I never give him chocolate! I have no idea how it got there}
I thought the worst had happened. The cake didn’t rise and I realised that I missed the baking powder. But it was still delicious, very dense, more like fudge. Talk about forgivable!
Beautiful recipe, but I notice that Instruction no. 5 re Dry Ingredients says that the batter will be “thin” at that point. But I found it to be very thick. After adding the water it was thinish.
Amazing! I made a gluten free version and it worked really well. I mostly followed the recipe, except I used gf self-raising flour instead of plain flour, left out baking powder, and added a tsp of xanthan gum to help the gf flour stick. I didn’t have any coffee granules, so I just added a cup of filter coffee instead of the water…even with all my changes it turned out perfectly! So soft and light, yet moist and chocolatey! Whole family loved it!
I made this and doubled the recipe to make a double layer and added cream and strawberries in the middle then topped with chocolate creameux. The cake is so moist and everyone loved it. Definitely my go to.
As usual.. My go to. Plunging into this fab chocolate cake. Your a star
Ps
No chocolate for Dozer. Very bad for dogs A friends dog chomped thru chocolates He found in the house. Vet couldn’t save him. Chocolate a big NONO the vet said….
Wow im generally not much a fan of chocolate cake but this was divine!
Hi nagi. Wondering if this cake can be made 3 days in advance and stored in airtight container? Thanks!
(Sorry if you have this question second time, I’m not sure first time I entered it worked!)
Hi Nagi! Could I use melted butter or melted coconut oil in substitution of the canola in the recipe?
I made it as cupcakes and it turned out to be delicioussss 😋
it was awesome !! FANTASTIC
Basically I give 5 stars to all your recipes, Nagi.
You are (simply) the best! Just as the song says.
This cake, no exception, is five star, decadent, amazing! One slice I’m in heaven.
I also must say I enjoy how you ‘pepper’ humour all over your explanations of the recipes.
I love Dozer…
I’m sure, everyone got it, I’m a massive fan, because what you do, This cake now in particular, is brilliant.
As always perfect !l
A lovley dense chocolate cake. I can’t use cream for ganache… I use 75g granulated sugar….75ml evaporated milk…
110g unsweeted chocolate or chips 20 g butter. Combine milk and sugar..simmer very gently for about 3/4 mins. Take off heat, combine other ingred and cool..possible fridge until thick. Great celebration cake .
Would you recommend making it into a two layer cake?
This cake was really moist as promised but I also found it to be really crumbly. Is there a way I could fix this in the future?
Wow thanks Nagi! from NZ.. mine tasted a bit of canola oil, i realised it had expired when i looked at the bottle by 8 months…probably answering my own question here, but should you taste the oil at all? cheers
Winner winner!
Made this yesterday for a family visit and it was gone in no time, So easy to make and such a crowd pleaser. Thanks Nagi.
Loved this recipe, I have a bad track record baking anything chocolate. Although I’m a pretty good cook, for some reason, be it cake, slice or biscuit, it always turns out bitter. This turned out exactly as the recipe described, fudgey, delicious and had the crunchy top like a brownie, not bitter at all.
My 12 yo son made it with my guidance, he’s recently become obsessed with cooking and this is the third Recipe Tin Eats dish he’s made in the last week. Also made Swedish meatballs & chicken fried rice which was delicious and he now considers himself the best cook in the house! Thank you Nagi x
Wow. Just, wow. Can’t believe this came from my oven and not a flash bakery. Popped it in the fridge and had the most incredible mud cake. Thank you for this dangerous recipe Nagi
Hi Nagi. I’ve been using your recipe – choc fudge cake for the past six years – my son only eats chocolate cake! Our cake though every time disintegrates, you need a spoon to eat it. I refrigerate it it’s better but I wonder what I’m doing wrong? I never want to move away from this recipe I make it every time even though it’s not stable enough.
Hi Nagi, does this cake store well? I want to bake it on a Sunday evening for a birthday on the following Tuesday. Should I bake it on the Sunday then frost it on Monday? Thanks!