Chocolate Fudge Cake
Servings: 16
This chocolate fudge cake has a light, fluffy, moist crumb and a rich, fudgy buttercream icing, making it a chocolate lovers' dream. Great for so many special occasions!
INGREDIENTS LIST
- 240 g cake or plain flour (all-purpose)
- 60 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 150 g light brown sugar
- 200 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda or baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 120 ml neutral-tasting oil (sunflower or vegetable)
- 2 medium eggs (50g each)
- 240 ml milk (or plant-based milk)
- 240 ml hot water or coffee
- 2 tsp white vinegar
Chocolate fudge buttercream - see my detailed recipe here
- 200 g dark chocolate (minimum 50% cocoa solids) (chopped)
- 300 g butter (room temperature)
- 400 g icing sugar
- 8 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (65g)
- 60 ml milk (or cream)
Chocolate drip
- 50 g dark chocolate (minimum 50% cocoa solids) (chopped)
- 25 g butter
Honeycomb / cinder toffee - see my detailed recipe here
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170°C fan / 375°F / Gas 5. Line three 20cm (8inch) springform or sandwich pans with baking/greaseproof paper.
- Cake sponges: In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, sugars, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt.
- Whisk in the oil and the eggs, followed by the milk and then the hot water (or coffee). Continue whisking until everything is well combined and smooth. The batter will be thin but that's normal.
- Baking: Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared pans. Bake for 24-26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Remove the cakes from the oven and allow time to cool for 10 minutes before inverting them onto wire racks to cool fully.
- Buttercream: You can find a detail post about this buttercream here. Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over a pan of gently simmering water to create a double boiler. Do not let the bowl touch the water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is fully melted.In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the butter until creamy (approx. 2 minutes). Add the melted chocolate, then beat again and finally add the icing sugar, cocoa and milk. Continue mixing until the buttercream is nice and smooth.Set aside 1/4 of the cream to pipe star shapes around the top edge of the cake later.
- Honeycomb: If you would like to add this you can follow my simple recipe which can be found here!
- Assembly: Once the cakes have cooled, place one on to your cake stand or serving plate. Using an offset spatula, evenly cover the top with buttercream. Place another cake on top and repeat with another layer of buttercream. Finally, place the last cake on top and spread the remaining buttercream over the top and sides to create a smooth coat. I used a bench scraper to finish the sides, to get them nice and straight.Place the cake in the fridge for about 15-20 mins at this stage to chill slightly, meanwhile make the chocolate drip.
- Chocolate drip: Melt the chocolate and butter together in a saucepan, then allow to cool slightly before use.
- Remove the cake from the fridge and drizzle the chocolate drip slowly around the top edge of the cake, allowing a little to drip down over the sides.
- Place the remaining buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and decorate with small dollops around the top. Refrigerate the cake for at least 30-60 minutes before slicing. This helps the cake hold its shape when cutting.
- Optional: I topped mine with honeycomb shards and pulsed the honeycomb crumbs into a powder which I sprinkled around the bottom edge. Serve at room temperature with a clean sharp hot knife.
