Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

If you follow us over on Instagram, then you probably know that we just came home from a family vacation at Hershey Park in Hershey, Pennsylvania!  This was our second year visiting the park, and we decided that on this trip we would sign up for the Create Your Own Candy Bar at Hershey’s Chocolate World, located just outside the amusement park.

Each of us had the chance to make a custom chocolate bar – choosing the type of chocolate we wanted as the base, additional ingredients to include such as chocolate or butterscotch ships, pretzel bits and more; we designed our own label for our candy bars; and we got to watch it being made right before our eyes!  Here are a few photos from our fun production tour:

So all of that wonderful chocolate had us craving a sweet treat when we got home – and we decided to make this fantastic Hot Fudge Pudding Cake from the Hershey’s Kitchen website.

This Hot Fudge Pudding Cake is outrageously good – and it couldn’t be any easier to make!  A simple batter (made from Hershey’s cocoa of course) is first spooned into the bottom of a lightly greased pan or baking dish.  Then a dry cocoa mixture is sprinkled on top of the batter.  Finally – right before baking – hot water gets poured over the top of the dry cocoa mixture.  But don’t stir it in – that process creates this fantastic, almost-crunchy topping on this Hot Fudge Pudding Cake as it bakes!

Then – once the Hot Fudge Pudding Cake comes out of the oven, just use a spoon to serve.  You’ll end up with a super moist cake with a warm and fudgy pudding center – plus a sweet crunchy topping!  Served with some vanilla ice cream – this is one amazingly good dessert that any chocolate lover will enjoy!

Disclaimer: I was not compensated by Hershey’s for this post.  We are simply sharing our vacation story with you today as well as the inspiration behind our recipe.

Additional note: We’ve received a few reader comments below complaining that the cake was very runny and not fudgy.  We’ve retested the recipe ourselves and can confirm that it is written correctly. But feel free to bake the cake for a few minutes longer if necessary (ovens may vary), and also make sure that you allow the cake to sit for 15 minutes before serving to give the sauce time to set up.

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

★★★★★ 5 from 12 reviews

• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 50 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings

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Description

Recipe adapted from Hershey’s Kitchens

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Ingredients

• 1¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup Hershey’s Cocoa, divided
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup milk
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 1¼ cups hot water
• Vanilla ice cream, if desired for serving

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a pot of water on the stove to very hot (just under a simmer).
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine ¾ cup of the granulated sugar, flour, ¼ cup of the cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, melted butter and vanilla and mix until smooth.
3. Pour the batter into an lightly greased 2-quart ceramic dish (as shown in our photos) or a 9-inch square baking pan (if it’s a non-stick pan, you don’t have to grease it) and spread evenly.
4. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ½ cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, remaining ¼ cup cocoa and mix well. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter in your dish or pan. Pour the hot water over the top – but do not stir!
5. Bake 35-40 minutes if using a glass dish (or 30-35 minutes if using a metal pan) – or until the center is almost set. Remove your dish from the oven and allow it to stand for 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes, spoon the cake into individual serving bowls – making sure to spoon the fudgy sauce from the bottom of the pan over the top of the cake. Add a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired and serve immediately.

You may also like:

Mexican Hot Fudge Pudding Cake

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake Pie

Craving Even More Hot Fudge? Check out these recipes from my fellow bloggers:

Slow Cooker Hot Fudge Turtle Brownies – Mom on Timeout

Homemade Hot Fudge Sauce – Brown Eyed Baker

Hot Fudge Filled Chocolate Lava Cookies – Tidy Mom

Nutella Hot Fudge – Country Cleaver