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Hot Fudge Pudding Cake is a delicious, vintage recipe that everyone absolutely loves! A fudge sauce forms under a rich chocolate cake as it bakes in the oven.
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.
You may enjoy these other Chocolate Dessert recipes:
- Mexican Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
- Double Chocolate Pudding
- No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake Pie
- Chocolate Ranger Cookies
- Homemade Magic Shell
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
Recipe adapted from Hershey’s Kitchens
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened Hershey’s Cocoa powder, divided
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 1/4 cups hot water
- Vanilla ice cream, if desired for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a pot of water on the stove to very hot (just under a simmer).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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.
- 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.
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First time making this. I doubled the recipe. Oh, so good and gooey!!! Will definitely make again!
Thanks Elaine!
Could you substitute espresso for the hot water? I think that would be amazing.
Sure Lauren! That would be delicious!
Excellent- serve right out of oven with vanilla ice cream!!!
Thank you!
This cake looks delicious. Will try it this upcoming week with friends and let you know how it goes!! Sandy
Hope you love it Sandra!
This is the best version of this recipe I have made. Delicious every time. Sometimes I add some espresso powder.
Great idea Mary Jo!
I make this very same pudding cake, but at the end, I mix the topping ingredients with the hot water and pour it over the batter..! End result is the same, but I think a little bit better incorporated. It’s one of our favorites. Thanks for posting.
Thanks for the suggestion. With our method, we’re trying to create a topping with sauce underneath – but yours sounds good too!
I made this today and it was so easy and delicious. I was worried after reading some of the comments so I only used 1 cup hot water (added instant coffee to it) and baked it for 35 minutes. It was perfect. Thanks for the recipe.
Glad you liked it!
Hot Fudge Pudding Cake is delicious. It was very easy to assemble did all by hand. It was very cool to see pudding in the cake and the whole family enjoyed it with vanilla ice cream. Used ungreased dark metal pan 9×9 in 350 degree oven for 35 minutes. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you enjoyed the recipe Norma!
1. I just subscribed to your excellent website 2 days ago and have been enjoying Cooking 101. The pics are drool-worthy.
2. A comment that you made, down below, said that a poster might want to watch the video. I’ve looked for it everywhere and can’t find it. Could you please tell us where it is?
3. Do you ever shop Trader Joe’s? No, I’m not an employee nor do I own stock in the company (it’s a privately held company and so stock isn’t available. Whaaaaaaaa.) I will explain why I ask, in a later reply.
4. I look forward to trying this recipe. Thank you for posting it.
Hi Coco – We’re glad you found us and we hope you love this recipe! The video is right below the recipe, above the nutritional information. We only occasionally shop at Trader Joe’s because the closest store is a bit of a drive away from our house and we tend to shop closer to home.
I made this recipe and it turned out perfectly! Was every bit as good as we thought if not better. I’ll have to double it because it went fast.
Thank Jeffrey – glad you enjoyed the pudding cake!