Hot fudge chocolate pudding cake is gooey, fudgy, messy, chocolatey and super yummy! This super easy and fast to make pudding cake bakes into magical two layers, warm moist chocolate cake on top and rich chocolate fudge sauce at the bottom!
Use a 9 inch square baking tray or use 2 quart casserole/baking dish. Your baking dish should be atleast 2 inches high. I used a 2 quart oval casserole dish that was 2 inches high on the sides. Grease baking dish with cooking oil. Keep aside.
Sieve plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add granulated white sugar, mix well.
Pour in whole milk, vanilla, vegetable oil (or canola oil). Using whisk mix batter until wet and dry ingredients comes together.
Optional step (highly recommend you don’t skip) – add mini chocolate chips to the cake mix, stir it together.
Transfer cake batter to prepared dish and keep aside.
For fudge sauce topping – in a small bowl combine cocoa powder, white sugar + light brown sugar (note here you can use just light brown sugar instead of mix), chocolate chips.
Sprinkle the topping (it will be powder like) evenly on top of cake batter mix. DO NOT STIR!
Do not stir the dry topping into the batter.
Ensure water is very very hot. Carefully and slowly pour water on top of the fudge sauce topping. Jo’s Tip: pour very very hot water using back of the large spoon so it spreads evenly without disturbing the topping and cake batter mix.
DO NOT STIR! Do not mix or stir the water into the batter. Let the water sit on top of the sprinkled topping.
Carefully transfer baking dish into pre heated oven and bake at 350° F for 30 -35 minutes or until the center is almost set.
Do not over bake. Else you won’t get the two layered dessert – cake and hot fudge sauce.
The top should be cooked and the pudding sauce should be bubbling gently around the cake.
Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Allowing the cake to rest will help pudding layer a chance to set up a bit.
Serve hot fudge chocolate pudding cake warm with any toppings of your choice. Vanilla ice cream is our favorite topping.
Notes
DO NOT STIR after you pour hot water. Allow hot water to sit on the topping.
Make sure water is very very hot before pouring in on topping.
Use back of the spoon to pour hot water over the topping. This will help spread water evenly without disturbing the topping layer and cake batter layer at the bottom.
Use mini chocolate chips for richer chocolate flavors in the cake.
Allow chocolate pudding cake to rest at least for 10 -15 minutes once it’s baked to ensure the pudding layer has a chance to set a bit.
Dark cocoa powder will result in richer, darker, slightly bitter pudding cake (almost black, but not burnt). Using light cocoa powder will result in milder chocolate flavored cake. Pick cocoa powder as per YOUR taste preference.
It’s best to serve the cake immediately after baking. Left over cake can be stored in refrigerator just for a day. But as the cake sits it's absorb the fudge sauce.
Nutrition values shown are excluding vanilla ice cream or other toppings that you might add.Nutritional Info – Please keep in mind that nutritional information provided is only a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.