Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake - just the recipe when you want a special cake in a hurry. Whizz up this all-in-one cake in a few minutes.
Sometimes the easiest recipe is the best recipe. The only reason this cake takes 20 minutes to make is that you have to melt two lots of chocolate - and that can't be hurried.
How to melt chocolate
What can go wrong?
- Overheating the chocolate causes it to crystallise and then burn. If either happens the chocolate is unusable and you have to start again
- A drop of water in melted chocolate causes it to seize - the water reacts with sugar in the chocolate and it becomes grainy. Be very careful to keep water away from chocolate!
If you're at all unsure, follow one of these methods, but first, break the chocolate into squares and put in a basin (preferably glass):
Microwave method:
- Heat the chocolate in bursts of 30-seconds on HIGH, stirring after each burst so that you can see how the chocolate is doing
- When the chocolate is almost melted you might want to cut down to 10 or 20-second bursts
Saucepan and hot water method:
I've gone back to this as it's easier to control.
- Choose a saucepan where your basin fits over the top and doesn't come more than half-way down inside the pan
- Heat water in the pan to simmering point, i.e. just below boiling
- Put the basin of chocolate in the saucepan and heat gently, being careful that:
- The basin doesn't touch the water
- The water doesn't boil (if you have a glass basin you can see what the water is doing)
- Stir occasionally to see how the chocolate is melting
That's the hardest part of making this cake. The rest of it is an all-in-one, chuck-it-in-and-whizz-it-up recipe (including the melted chocolate).
Don't be daunted by melting chocolate. If you have an initial failure, just take it more slowly the next time. I still occasionally have disasters, usually because I try to rush the process!
Once you've mastered it, there are so many fabulous things you can do with melted chocolate, including Chocolate Mousse.
Helpful Tools
- Kitchencraft Cake Lifter – Moving large cakes around is fraught with possibilities for disaster - cakes slide onto the floor (tick), cakes can break (tick), your fingers mess up the icing (tick). Eventually, I took the hint and bought a cake lifter. End of problems!
If you like this…
…Why don’t you try:
Everyday Chocolate Cake
Coffee Cake
Easter Nest Cake
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Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 150 g self-raising flour
- 25 g cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (5ml)
- 175 g soft light brown sugar
- 175 g butter, at room temperature
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon milk (15ml)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)
- 50 g plain chocolate
For the Fudge Icing:
- 200 g butter, at room temperature
- 200 g icing sugar
- 200 g plain chocolate
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (5ml)
Instructions
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 160°C fan/ gas mark 4/ 350°F
- Line the baking tins with parchment circles and/or lightly grease the tins with butter
- Melt the chocolate for the cake (50g)Either in the microwave on 30-second bursts or over a pan of hot (not boiling) water.For step-by-step instructions see How to Melt Chocolate
For the cake:
- Put all the cake ingredients into the food processor and blitz until smooth(Flour, cocoa, baking powder, sugar, butter, eggs, milk, vanilla extract, melted chocolate)
- Divide the mixture between the tins and level the tops
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly pressed with your finger
- Leave in the tin for 5 minutes then cool on a wire rack. Wait until cooled before icing (or the icing will run).
For the chocolate fudge icing:
- Clean the food processor
- Melt the chocolate for the icing (200g)
- Blitz the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract for 10 seconds
- Scrape down and add the melted chocolate, then blitz again for 10-15 seconds
- Use half the icing to sandwich the two cakes together
- If the tops of your cakes are very uneven, level them off a bit and turn one over to use the bottom as the top of the cake to get a flat surface
- Spread the remaining icing on the top of the cake.
Video
Notes
Everyday Cooks Tips:
Storage:- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week
Susie Collings says
Hi Martin, You can freeze the cake no problem. I haven't tried freezing this icing. I'm pretty sure the surface will be affected, so I'd recommend icing it when you use it. At some point I'll try freezing it 🙂
martin russell says
can this be frozen thanks