Chocolate Fudge Cake

Chocolate Fudge Cake is a classic for a reason. This baked from scratch layer cake is moist and delicious double chocolate awesomeness.

I know baking from scratch can feel intimidating for some. If you're the kind of kitchen witch who just likes to throw things into a soup cauldron and see what happens, baking can definitely feel overwhelming and even restrictive. It's true that you can't be as free wheeling with something like a cake. It's much more like alchemy than improv. Ingredients have to be added in the right order at the right proportions or the experiment will blow up in your face.

But if you're patient and precise, you can find plenty of room for self-expression in baking, especially with cake. Personally, I don't have the patience or dexterity for elaborately decorated cakes. I just want to eat the cake and skip right to the pleasure. But if your pleasure comes through artistic expression, then cake can be a beautiful medium. And while you can't just throw ingredients in willy nilly, there is a lot of nuance of flavor, as well as endless filling and topping combinations you can bring to your baking. You just have to be willing to work within some limitations.

What makes this Chocolate Fudge Cake so awesome?

This Chocolate Fudge cake is classic chocolate on chocolate action. With two layers of thick, moist, fudgy cake and a thick spread of silky chocolate frosting, it will have your friends and family swooning. This cake could easily feed 12 people, so it's perfect for a party or celebration.

Humans of all ages will adore this cake and want to come back for more. It's a spell for happiness and sensual pleasure, so whether you're getting together with friends or want to impress your lover, this cake will weave a spell for sure. Decorate it as elaborately or simply as you like. This is where you can really get creative.

Magical Properties of Cake

While chocolate and the other ingredients certainly bring their own unique energy to this recipe, cake itself has a beautiful magical presence. For centuries, special cakes have been baked and given as offerings to specific deities. Whether it's the shape of the cake or the ingredients included, they were made to honor gods and goddesses throughout history.

A cake is often part of a celebration as well. The very presence of a cake, especially one that's bigger or more elaborately decorated than an afternoon snack, can make a gathering feel special. The cake is a symbol of community and growth. We make wishes on the candles of a birthday cake, but the spell really only happens when the cake is present. So no matter what ingredints are in your cake to enhance your spell, you've already got the vibration of joy and togetherness.

For more info on the magical properties of the ingredients in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this cake. The full details are in the recipe card below.

• Flour - all-purpose or plain
• Sugars - You'll need both white and brown sugar. I keep caster sugar, aka super fine sugar, in my house, but granulated sugar is also fine for white sugar. For the brown sugar, you can use dark or light, but the dark brown sugar is more intensely flavored. The difference is subtle.
• Cocoa powder
• Leaveners - You'll need both baking powder and baking soda, aka bicarbonate of soda.
• Salt
• Eggs
• Sour cream
• Vanilla
• Butter - you'll need melted butter for the cake and softened butter for the frosting, both unsalted
• Vegetable oil - any neutral flavored oil will do
• Water
• Dark chocolate - Not unsweetened baking chocolate but definitely dark chocolate. Milk chocolate would be too sweet once combined with the powdered sugar
• Powdered sugar - aka icing sugar or confectioner's sugar

I use my stand mixer for this recipe, but a hand-held electric mixer will work fine. You'll also need round cake pans. 8 inch or 20 cm pans will work best. Plus you'll need a food scale for measuring your ingredients more accurately. And the usual implements like measuring spoons and spatulas.

Tips for making Chocolate Fudge Cake

Any frosted cake needs to be made in stages. The cake should be completely cooled or even chilled before you frost it, so plan ahead.

The method of this cake is a bit unusual as it's made with melted butter. You'll combine the fats first, then stir in all the dry ingrdients, then all the wet ingredients, including the eggs. Just make sure that your mixture is completely incorporated before dividing it between your pans and baking until fluffy.

I like to bake the cakes the night before then make the frosting and decorate the cake the next day. The frosting is made with melted chocolate, but you want to make sure it's relatively cool before adding it to the butter or the butter will just melt. Frost your cake in your favorite way. I always go rustic because I'm terrible at decorating, but people seem to like it.

I hope you throw a party and make this Chocolate Fudge Cake. And you can definitely let the cake be the reason for the party. It's gonna be awesome.

Looking for more awesome layer cake recipes? Try this Cookie Butter Cake or a classic Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting.

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Adapted from Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson