Moist chocolate cake on the top with a layer of warm gooey chocolate pudding hidden underneath. Best when served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Chef's notes
This may not be the fanciest cake in the world, but it sure is fun to make - especially with kids because it's kind of like a science project that goes terribly right!
Steps
1
Mixing the Dry Ingredients
Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp Dutched cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
To start, preheat the oven to 350°F (or 175°C). Coat a 9" -inch square or rectangular pan with non-stick spray.
Next, sift together the dry ingredients. Mix well and set aside.
2
Gathering the Wet Ingredients
Ingredients
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk (whole or skim)
1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt the butter and then add it to the dry ingredients, along with the milk and vanilla. Mix just until fully combined. Spread an even layer over the bottom of the pan.
3
Mixing the Topping
Ingredients
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup Dutched cocoa powder
Mix together the topping ingredients.
4
Assembling the Pudding Cake
Evenly distribute the topping over the cake batter.
5
Adding the Water
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm water
Now here comes the fun part!
Carefully pour the warm water over the entire cake and topping mixture.
This may look and feel wrong but don't worry! The bottom cake will magically rise up through the water.
6
Baking the Pudding Cake
Place the cake into the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top cake layer is cooked through.
If you like a more doughy cake, 30 minutes should be just fine. If you like the cake to be just a tiny bit crunchy, let it cook for about 35 minutes.
7
Resting and Serving the Cake
Once the cake is done, let it rest for at least 10 minutes so the pudding can set a bit.
Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.
The First 3 Are On Us
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This was totally awesome to make and even better to eat. My dad told me I had to let it cool but I think I could have eaten it right out of the oven.
It was yummerific!
I made this with my 4 year old grandson who can not eat any dairy products. Even using rice milk and and olive oil based margarine , it turned out really well and am sure it would be better yet using butter. He especially liked sifting the ingredients so we did that several times:).
This is definitely one of our favourite desserts. I'd never tried to make it myself before, but ths recipe was nice and easy and tasted fantastic! Tastes great with a dollop of whipped cream too!
From all the Rouxbe recipe i tried and there are quite a few this was the least favorite.
I must add i didnt like it and unless the it was acompanied by a good icecream it could have ruined one of the greates meal made entirely from rouxbe recipes.
so a friend and i tried this dessert tonight and despite our excitement it didnt turn out as well as we had hoped...the pudding ended up really soupy. we are positive we didnt use more water then the recipe called for but we DID use just regualar hersheys cocoa powder from the grovery store. is there any chance this could have had an effect on the dish since it calls for dutched cocoa powder? what is the difference and where would i find dutched cocoa powder?
any help is greatly appreciated since this dessert sounds delicious! thanks and this website is AMAZING; you guys are great!
If your can of cocoa powder is labeled "Natural Hershey's Cocoa Powder", then this is not a "Dutched" product, which would affect the pudding. More often than not, most cocoa powders are Dutched (you just likely picked up one that did not go through the Dutching process). Look at the ingredients on the package - most often it will contain an alkaline substance (potassium carbonate). For more info, you can refer to the drill-down on What is Dutching?"
There is a lesson in the Cooking School on the Basics of Quality Chocolate, which explains the differences between Dutched and Natural cocoa powders and gives plenty of detail about chocolate. Try it again with Dutched! Hope this helps!
I wouldn't make this ahead. The baking powder could lose some of its power. What you can do is prepare all of your ingredients ahead of time and it will take only a few minutes to put together. Cheers!
It was interesting...I liked the idea...but I found it was not a dessert that we would be anxious to eat again. It was not as good as the numerous recipes I have made from the website:)
I was happy to find this recipe was eggless as I'm allergic to eggs and most cake recipes have eggs. It is wonderful that you have some recipes here that are also gluten free - even tho I'm fine with gluten, many are not!
We found that it worked well, tasted great, but wow, it's SWEET!!
Is there any way to decrease the sugar and still keep the texture of the cake? I guess we've cut back on sugar in all of our recipes and so this one tasted very sweet (to us).
We topped it with homemade whipped cream with very little sweetener.
I would like a little guidance on how to proceed and still keep the texture of the cake and the pudding similar. Thanks!
Glad that you liked the recipe Becky. As for decreasing the sweetness, you could try decreasing the amount of sugar in the topping and then if that's still too sweet you could try slightly decreasing the amount of sugar in the cake part. It's best to decrease things in stages at first, to see what works. You may also want to serve it with natural, unsweetened whip cream next time. Hope that helps.
Again, glad you liked the "cake". We will eventually be adding more and more recipes that are gluten-free and/or dairy-free, and/or egg-free in the future. Cheers!
I had a family dinner where I was asked to bring/make a dessert, so since I had this recipe printed for some time and wanted to try it, I decided to make it a group affair. It went really well, we all thought the cake looked good once the topping had been put on... and then came the water.
First we were nervous that so much water was being added, after assembly no less, and we watched in terror as it became a soupy mess. In the end some of us should have had facial tan lines watching it in the oven, but it turned out to be such a pleasant surprise.
This is by far the easiest cake I have ever made and by far one of the most delicious chocolate cakes. And it was perfect since my sister is allergic to eggs! Thanks for such a great recipe!
This site has so many great recipes that it's hard to prioritize. I made this one after getting my shipment of Valrhona Chocolate Cocoa Powder.
Please post your experiences with different chocolate brands. Any recommendations?
I watched the Rouxbe chocolate video and got very interested in trying high quality chocolate in cooking.
I still don't know if the chocolate made the difference but the cake turned out delicious. I did cut back on some of the sugar. Probably it would have tasted better with the original amount of sugar. But since I served it with ice cream, it was perfectly delicious.
I made this today and put them in a remakin instead. I followed exactly same measurement and it made 6 ramekins. When the part i wanted to pour the 1 and half cup water i left with 1/4 because the ramekin is not that high i supposed and baked it for half and hour at 175'C. The topping is very hard and burnt and the bottom cake is pretty much dry and flaky. Can you tell me is it because its not enough water? Thank you.
It sounds like there was not enough water and they may have otherwise overcooked. Next time, try checking the pudding earlier in the cooking process to see how it's setting. ~Ken
Hi Leslie, In pudding cakes, pouring water over the top of the cake, seems odd to most people unfamiliar with this genre of recipe, but it works. I do not think that adding the milk would make the pudding part any thicker. Try baking the cake a bit longer until you see pockets of thicked bubbling, thickened pudding before you remove the cake from the oven. Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes to allow the pudding to further thicken. Fran
Liz S •I made this with my 4 year old grandson who can not eat any dairy products. Even using rice milk and and olive oil based margarine , it turned out really well and am sure it would be better yet using butter. He especially liked sifting the ingredients so we did that several times:).
Patricia S •This is definitely one of our favourite desserts. I'd never tried to make it myself before, but ths recipe was nice and easy and tasted fantastic! Tastes great with a dollop of whipped cream too!
Dean O •From all the Rouxbe recipe i tried and there are quite a few this was the least favorite. I must add i didnt like it and unless the it was acompanied by a good icecream it could have ruined one of the greates meal made entirely from rouxbe recipes.
Jessica D •so a friend and i tried this dessert tonight and despite our excitement it didnt turn out as well as we had hoped...the pudding ended up really soupy. we are positive we didnt use more water then the recipe called for but we DID use just regualar hersheys cocoa powder from the grovery store. is there any chance this could have had an effect on the dish since it calls for dutched cocoa powder? what is the difference and where would i find dutched cocoa powder? any help is greatly appreciated since this dessert sounds delicious! thanks and this website is AMAZING; you guys are great!
Dawn T •If your can of cocoa powder is labeled "Natural Hershey's Cocoa Powder", then this is not a "Dutched" product, which would affect the pudding. More often than not, most cocoa powders are Dutched (you just likely picked up one that did not go through the Dutching process). Look at the ingredients on the package - most often it will contain an alkaline substance (potassium carbonate). For more info, you can refer to the drill-down on What is Dutching?" There is a lesson in the Cooking School on the Basics of Quality Chocolate, which explains the differences between Dutched and Natural cocoa powders and gives plenty of detail about chocolate. Try it again with Dutched! Hope this helps!
Terry F •Any reason why this dessert couldn't be made in advance but adding the water just before it goes into the oven?
Kimberley S • Rouxbe Staff •I wouldn't make this ahead. The baking powder could lose some of its power. What you can do is prepare all of your ingredients ahead of time and it will take only a few minutes to put together. Cheers!
Elizabeth S •Hello, For the topping is that a 1/4 cup of Dutched cocoa powder called for? Thanks, Liz
Becky R •I was happy to find this recipe was eggless as I'm allergic to eggs and most cake recipes have eggs. It is wonderful that you have some recipes here that are also gluten free - even tho I'm fine with gluten, many are not! We found that it worked well, tasted great, but wow, it's SWEET!! Is there any way to decrease the sugar and still keep the texture of the cake? I guess we've cut back on sugar in all of our recipes and so this one tasted very sweet (to us). We topped it with homemade whipped cream with very little sweetener. I would like a little guidance on how to proceed and still keep the texture of the cake and the pudding similar. Thanks!
Shawn L •I had a family dinner where I was asked to bring/make a dessert, so since I had this recipe printed for some time and wanted to try it, I decided to make it a group affair. It went really well, we all thought the cake looked good once the topping had been put on... and then came the water. First we were nervous that so much water was being added, after assembly no less, and we watched in terror as it became a soupy mess. In the end some of us should have had facial tan lines watching it in the oven, but it turned out to be such a pleasant surprise. This is by far the easiest cake I have ever made and by far one of the most delicious chocolate cakes. And it was perfect since my sister is allergic to eggs! Thanks for such a great recipe!
Lili I •This site has so many great recipes that it's hard to prioritize. I made this one after getting my shipment of Valrhona Chocolate Cocoa Powder. Please post your experiences with different chocolate brands. Any recommendations? I watched the Rouxbe chocolate video and got very interested in trying high quality chocolate in cooking. I still don't know if the chocolate made the difference but the cake turned out delicious. I did cut back on some of the sugar. Probably it would have tasted better with the original amount of sugar. But since I served it with ice cream, it was perfectly delicious.
Coco H •I made this today and put them in a remakin instead. I followed exactly same measurement and it made 6 ramekins. When the part i wanted to pour the 1 and half cup water i left with 1/4 because the ramekin is not that high i supposed and baked it for half and hour at 175'C. The topping is very hard and burnt and the bottom cake is pretty much dry and flaky. Can you tell me is it because its not enough water? Thank you.
Ken R • Rouxbe Staff •It sounds like there was not enough water and they may have otherwise overcooked. Next time, try checking the pudding earlier in the cooking process to see how it's setting. ~Ken
Leslie H •Can you use 1/2 milk and 1/2 water instead of all water to make the pudding thicker in this recipe?
Fran C • Rouxbe Staff •Hi Leslie, In pudding cakes, pouring water over the top of the cake, seems odd to most people unfamiliar with this genre of recipe, but it works. I do not think that adding the milk would make the pudding part any thicker. Try baking the cake a bit longer until you see pockets of thicked bubbling, thickened pudding before you remove the cake from the oven. Allow the cake to cool for at least 10 minutes to allow the pudding to further thicken. Fran