Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
I was a few years removed from college when my grandma gifted me with a binder full of recipes that had been typed out on a typewriter and placed into sheet protectors. On the cover was a picture of my great-grandmother, whom I had never had the opportunity to meet, as she passed away four years before I was born. In the binder was a collection of some of the best recipes that she made; family favorites, dishes she was known for, and recipes she was proud to have published in some church cookbooks. It’s a mixture of dinners, desserts, candy and even some bread. This Hot Fudge Pudding Cake is one of the recipes in the binder, and one I have been wanting to make for quite some time. It’s a fabulous old-fashioned recipe and just tastes like home.
This cake is mixed together in one bowl and in less than 10 minutes. The base of the cake is almost brownie-like, but the combination of a brown sugar and cocoa combination and hot water sprinkled on top of the cake before baking it creates a pudding-like sauce on the bottom. When slices are scooped out, they are inverted onto a plate so the sauce pools on top of the cake. It’s fabulous topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
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My grandma included a little introduction about my great-grandma at the front of the binder. These are my favorite paragraphs:
“Grandmother Norris was a wonderful grandmother, mother, and mother-in-law.
To know her was to love her. Grandmother absolutely loved Christmas.
She would spend her last penny on a gift for someone.
December 26th was not too early to start on next Christmas’ gifts.
She baked a lot of cookies and made Plum Pudding.
Every room in the house was decorated for Christmas.Birthdays were for celebrating, sometimes for a whole month…
Greeting cards were to be enjoyed and displayed.”
I think we would have been bosom buddies. I’m glad that my grandma thought to put together some of her favorite recipes; I’m slowly working my way through them and can’t wait to share more with you!
One year ago: Buckeye Peanut Butter Cookies
Two years ago: Triple Chocolate Oreo Chunk Cookies
Three years ago: Pan-Fried Onion Dip and Gingered Carrot Cookies
Four years ago: Potato Salad with Herbed Balsamic Vinaigrette
Six years ago: The Chocolate Chip Cookie
Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) salt
- ½ cup (122 ml) whole milk
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (117 g) chopped walnuts, optional
For the Topping:
- ¾ cup (165 g) light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (21.5 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1½ cups (375 ml) hot water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 or 9-inch square baking dish; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Add to the dry mixture the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and walnuts (if using). Stir with a rubber spatula until combined and spread into an even layer in the prepared pan.
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cocoa powder, and sprinkle over the batter (do not stir!!). Pour the hot water evenly over the cake (do not stir!!).
- Bake for 40 to 45 minutes (40 minutes if using 9-inch pan, 45 minutes if using an 8-inch pan) and serve warm. When serving, invert the cake squares onto the plate; the pudding sauce will be on top.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I remember this was a family recipe in my home as I was growing up! The chocolate-like fudge sauce made me a chocoholic, I loved this dessert, though It’s been decades since I’ve enjoyed it. Now that I have the recipe you know I’ll attempt to make it for my family!