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This Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake is made with a layer of moist chocolate cake and a layer of fudge which sinks to the bottom as the cake rises, creating a delicious molten lava pudding. The cake is very simple to make and takes only 45 minutes including the baking time! Similar to a molten lava cake, it is always a crowd pleaser, especially during the colder months.
The chocolate cake recipe is inspired by my delectable, and very popular, Easy Chocolate Cake. That cake is incredible on its own, but the hot fudge pudding just takes it to the next level.
Pssst – do you want to make this cake even easier? Try my Microwave Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake which comes together in just 15 minutes with no eggs, and has the same decadent fudge sauce in it!
INGREDIENTS REQUIRED
This Hot Fudgy Chocolate Pudding Cake is made using simple ingredients you should already have in your pantry (all quantities are given in the recipe card at the bottom of this post):
Chocolate Cake:
- All purpose flour
- Granulated sugar – can be substituted with caster sugar
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Large eggs
- Vegetable oil – or use any other neutral tasting oil
- Buttermilk – if you don’t have buttermilk, you can easily make it yourself with milk and vinegar or lemon juice
- Boiling water – this helps bloom the cocoa powder
- Cocoa powder – I recommend Dutch processed, but you can also use natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- Instant coffee
Hot Fudge Pudding:
- Granulated sugar
- Light brown sugar
- Cocoa powder – Dutch processed or natural
- Boiling water
HOW TO MAKE HOT FUDGE CHOCOLATE PUDDING CAKE
Let’s go over the simple method to make this cake – it should not take you longer than 15 minutes of work!
1. Prepare the cake batter
Before getting started, pre-heat your oven to 350F (conventional) and brush a 7×11″ baking dish (I used ceramic) with a little butter.
In a clean bowl, combine all the dry ingredients except the cocoa powder, making sure to sift the flour. Use a whisk to mix them together.
To the dry ingredients, add the eggs, oil and buttermilk, and gently whisk until combined. If you see any lumps forming, use the whisk to break them down, but avoid overmixing the batter.
In a separate bowl, pour boiling water over the cocoa powder and instant coffee, and whisk until you see a shiny, smooth chocolatey mixture. This step will ‘bloom’ the cocoa powder, bringing out its lovely chocolate aroma and flavor.
Pour the bloomed cocoa mix into the rest of the batter, and gently fold until combined.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.
2. Add the Hot Fudge Pudding ingredients
This part is so simple, and feels like it should be wrong but it isn’t! First, mix together the two types of sugar and cocoa powder in a bowl, making sure to break down any lumps.
Then, sprinkle over the mixture on top of the cake batter inside the baking pan, trying your best to spread it out evenly.
Then, carefully pour over the boiling water in the same baking pan. Be careful not to splash the water – you can use the back of a spoon to help pour more slowly and evenly, and try to get the water spread evenly too.
3. Bake the cake
Bake the cake for ~30 minutes. In the oven, a few magical things will happen:
- The hot water will dissolve the sugars and cocoa, and cook down to form a fudgy sauce
- The cake will bake and rise
- The fudgy sauce will sink to the bottom
You want to stop baking the cake when it feels firm to touch on the top, but a toothpick inserted should have fudge on it! With this cake, I find it is better to lean towards underbaking than overbaking, as we want it to be like molten lava.
4. Serve!
That’s it! Now it is time to enjoy your hard work. Serve the cake while it is still hot. Just like molten lava cake, this cake is great with some vanilla ice cream on top.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A 7×11″ baking dish has 77 square inches of area. Any other pan with a similar area will work, e.g., 9×9″. You can also do a larger dish (e.g., 9×13) but the cake will not be as tall and you will need to reduce the baking time.
Yes, you can reduce the sugar if you don’t like your dessert to be too sweet. I would suggest reducing the sugar in the cake batter itself to 1 cup (instead of 1 1/4), and you can reduce the sugar in the fudge sauce by 2-4 tablespoons.
You do not need a substitute for buttermilk – simply combine milk with vinegar or lemon juice to make it instantly.
You can store this cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days, and warm up in the microwave before eating.
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Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour (195g)
- 1 1/4 cup granulated sugar (275g) – can be reduced to 1 cup if you don’t want the cake to be too sweet
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil (100g)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk (120g) – use 1/2 cup milk + 1/2 tbsp vinegar to make your own
- 1/4 cup boiling water (60g)
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder (33g)
- 1 tsp instant coffee
Hot Fudge Pudding:
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar (110g)
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar (100g)
- 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups boiling water (360g)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350F (conventional) and prepare a 7×11 or 9×9″ baking dish with some butter (I recommend ceramic so you can serve the cake in the same dish)
- Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl, getting rid of any lumps
- Add the eggs, oil and buttermilk, and use a hand whisk to combine the ingredients
- In a separate bowl, pour the boiling water on top of the cocoa powder and instant coffee, and whisk until smooth and shiny
- Add the cocoa powder mixture to the remaining cake batter and gently fold until combined
- Pour the batter in the prepared baking dish
- For the fudge sauce, mix the sugars and cocoa powder and get rid of any lumps. Sprinkle over the cake batter inside the baking dish
- Gently pour over the boiling water on top of the cake batter, being careful and spreading it evenly
- Place the cake in the oven and bake for ~30-35 min depending on the size of your pan. You want the cake to look firm and cooked on the top, but it should be fudgy and gooey on the bottom – it is better to underbake than overbake it
- Serve the cake while still hot with some vanilla ice cream, and enjoy!
Video Tutorial
RELATED RECIPES
Are you a chocolate person? You’re going to LOVE these recipes, too:
- My easy, foolproof and insanely decadent easy classic chocolate cake
- Easy Chocolate Tiramisu which is made with only 7 ingredients!
- Rich, decadent and ultra fudgy Matilda Chocolate Cake for the serious chocoholics
- Easy Chocolate Mousse Cake with a light genoise sponge and 2 ingredient chocolate mousse
Comments
Robin Gzehoviak
Hi!
This cake looks amazing, but I am definitely not a coffee fan. Can I just leave it out?
Sharmaine
Delicious! I think I needed a bigger pan as it started to burn at the 25 minute mark.
Nimisha Shroff
Can we substitute egg with something else?
Alyse
BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE EVER! Didn’t have instant coffee so used brewed coffee for the ¼ cup boiling water & â…“ cup cocoa powder. Then, used rest of the coffee to to pour on top. Had to add a little water to make it the full 1 ½ cup boiling water. I’ve done this twice & it’s worked great both times!
Zoha
YAYAYAYAY!!!
Avneet
Hi Zoha! I’m about to attempt this tomorrow for a few friends and wanted to know if I could make the batter in advance and let it sit for a few hours but not put it in the oven to bake until we start eating (that way it will be ready and hot by the time we’re done dinner)?
Zoha
Hi Avneet! I never recommend making cake batter in advance as the cakes don’t rise properly then. Instead, you can bake it and then reheat in the microwave.
Ayah
re heat it for how long ?
Zoha
Depends on how much you’re warming up and your microwave’s strength!
ahila
amazing
Zoha
Thank you so much Ahila!
Khadija Tul Kubra Asangani
Hi Zoha! This recipe was a total hit!! Absolutely loved it <3
Zoha
AWWW THANK YOU!!!
Jazz
Hie Zoha. I am planning to make this recipe for our potluck, just wanted to know instead of granulated sugar of i ise castor sugar would the quantity change? Also if i make this prior and reheat, how much time shall i keep it in the microwave for it to become gooey?
Zoha
Granulated and castor sugar will be the exact same. It depends on your microwave. Start with 20s and see from there 🙂
Brindha Gajendran
you mean 20s only to reheat the whole cake ?
Zoha
Yes! 20 seconds is usually enough to warm it up and bring back that gorgeous gooey pudding texture. It may vary for your microwave though, you can always heat more if needed! 😊
Shabana
Hi Zoha, I tried this recipe and it turned out so good. This recipe is now my Family Favourite. I make it often.
Thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe with us.
Zoha
Thank you so much, Shabana!
Marium
This turned out so goooood! Mannnn 10/10 thanks for all your amazing recipes! 😘
Zoha
Aww thank YOU!!!
Anjum nadeem
Love this recipe!
Zoha
Thank you!
Aisha
This looks absolutely delicious! I’m such a fan!
My question: can I bake this cake two hours ahead of time? Planning on serving it for lunch but would like to make it that morning. Would that work? Can I reheat in oven just before serving then?
Thanks for your reply!
Zoha
Aww thank you! Yes, you can make it ahead of time and microwave
Sania
one of the best and easiest fudge cake recipe. it has become my kids favourite! jzk for sharing everything in such an easy way!
Zoha
Thank you Sania!!!
Fatima Amjad Satti
Hello Zoha!
I tried the recipe today and oh my GOD, was it delicious! The best thing about your recipes is that they are so easy, quick and no special ingredients, just the ones that we all have at home. This, in particular, was HEAVENLY! Thankyou for sharing these amazing recipes and hoping to make gulab jamun soon with your recipe <3.
Zoha
I am so happy you liked this recipe, Fatima! Means a lot to me
Fatima Amjad Satti
Hello Zoha!
I tried the recipe today and oh my GOD, was it delicious! The best thing about your recipes is that they are so easy, quick and no special ingredients, just the ones that we all have at home. This, in particular, was HEAVENLY! Thankyou for sharing these amazing recipes and hoping to make hula Kanin soon with your recipe <3.
Rohma Arif
JM
I did this last night! My sibs loved it! My only concern is the reheating, we tried reheating on microwave and it was not as moist and fudgy as the first time it was removed from oven. Any tips on reheating? Thank you!
jawaria tariq
what can we replace the light brown sugar with?
Zoha Malik
You may use more white sugar, but I strongly recommend following the recipe as written 🙂
Zoha
Hi JM! Glad you enjoyed the cake. Yes, over time the amount of moisture in any cake decreases. I usually microwave individual servings for just 12-15s
Charms
I’m allergic to eggs. Is there a substitute for eggs in this recipe?
Zoha
You can use flax seed eggs instead (they’re simple to make, you can google them!) 🙂
Tazeen R A R
This dessert is a magic.
Zoha
That means so much to me 🙂
Huma Faruqi
Made it for the first time last week and probably have made it at least 7 times already. So good, quick and easy! Everyone in my family loved it. Waiting for it to bake is so hard
Zoha
Haha that’s incredible! Thank you Huma!!