A very chocolatey, moist Chocolate Fudge Cake that is similar to chocolate mud cake, but not as dense. Made with both melted chocolate and cocoa, AND topped with chocolate ganache, this one is sure to satisfying your chocolate cravings!
Super easy to make, very forgiving, no stand mixer or beater. Just one bowl and a wooden spoon!
Chocolate Fudge Cake
I may be disowned as an Australian for saying this, but I’m not the hugest fan of classic Chocolate Mud Cake. I find it too dense and doughy, and it gets stuck to the roof of my mouth. It’s very……erm…..mud-like.
Duh.
Creative writing isn’t my forte, is it?? Hey – I’m a food blogger. Not a writer! 😂
So this isn’t a classic Chocolate Mud Cake because it has a bit of lift in it, but it is still way fudgier and mud-cake like than 99% of other chocolate cakes, including my own everyday Chocolate Cake. Call it a Chocolate Fudge MUD CAKE if you want!! (Bit too much of a mouthful for me…. 🙂 )
Why I love this fudge cake so much
I know there are a LOT of chocolate cake recipes “out there”. But here’s why I love this Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake so much:
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It’s intensely chocolatey – thanks to the use of both melted chocolate AND cocoa powder.
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Beautifully moist and fudgy – hence the name!
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Terrific flavour. It truly tastes of chocolate which, as odd as it sounds, is actually rarer than you might think.
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You just need a wooden spoon. No stand mixer, no electric beater.
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It’s virtually foolproof. I’ve cooked it on high for shorter periods of time, and low for longer. I’ve had to dash out of the house before it was fully cooked and left it in the oven (turned off) to finish cooking. And it always works out. Why? Because it’s so fudgey, it is actually hard to overcook so it becomes dry and it is not meant to rise very much so you don’t have to worry about that part either!
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The Chocolate Ganache Frosting is crazy easy too. Cream + chocolate, melt, mix, cool. No beating!
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Everyone goes mad over this. Chocolate on chocolate. Enough said!
How to make this fudgy moist cake
You would be forgiven for thinking you’re making a brownie when you start making this Chocolate Fudge Cake. Because that is in fact where the roots of this cake recipe is drawn from.
Did you know… The reason you see hot water in chocolate cake recipes is because it makes the cocoa “bloom”, making the cake taste more like chocolate!
↑↑↑ Crackage is normal! It’s kind of like that crinkly top of brownies – because this cake has lift in it from baking powder, it “bursts” through the crinkly top. But don’t worry, the cracks are less prominent once it cools (because it sinks a bit) and it’s completely hidden under Chocolate Ganache!
Difference between chocolate fudge cake and mud cake
I had someone on Instagram asking me what the difference is between Fudge Cake and Mud Cake so I thought I’d explain!! Chocolate mud cake is so dense that it cuts cleanly with perfect edges and virtually no crumbs.
In contrast, fudge cakes have more of a cake-like texture, like what you see in the close up of the slice at the top of this post.
Chocolate Ganache Frosting
I’m of the opinion that if we’re going to make a Fudgy Chocolate Cake, let’s really drive home the decadence and chocolate flavour by frosting it with chocolate ganache.
If you’re new to Chocolate Ganche, you’re going to really love this. Rather than beating icing sugar and butter for ages and ages like we do with Chocolate Buttercream, Chocolate Ganache is made simply with cream and chocolate that’s heated until the chocolate melts.
When hot, it’s a chocolate sauce you want to pour over everything.
When it cools, it has the consistency of peanut butter. Easy to spread and swirl on your cakes or cupcakes, and everything in between.
My everyday Chocolate Cake is beautifully moist and it’s the one I make most often.
But I figure we all need a blow out Chocolate Cake in our repertoire too. And this Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake is my blow-out Chocolate Cake recipe. It is rich. It is chocolatey. It is moist and fudgy. And I absolutely love it.
I hope you consider trying it! – Nagi x
Get your chocolate fix!
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Everyday Chocolate Cake – try it decorated with Mirror Glaze!
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Chocolate Cream Pie (outrageous!!!)
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
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Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake
Ingredients
- 125g / 4 oz dark chocolate chips (Note 1)
- 100g / 7 tbsp butter , salted (or unsalted butter + 1/4 tsp salt)
- 1 1/4 cups white sugar , caster / superfine best (Note 2)
- 1/4 cup oil (vegetable, canola)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs , at room temperature
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (Note 3)
- 1 cup flour , plain / all purpose (Note 4)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 cup boiling hot water
- 1 tbsp coffee granules , optional (Note 5)
Ganache
- 1 cup heavy / thickened cream , 30%+ fat (Note 6)
- 250g / 8 oz dark chocolate chips (Note 1)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 150C/300F (standard) or 130C/265F (fan). Grease a 22 cm / 9" springform cake pan and line with parchment / baking paper.
- Melt butter and chocolate: Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Microwave 3 x 30 seconds on high, mix in between, until melted. Mix.
- Oil, vanilla & Sugar: Add oil, vanilla and sugar, mix to combine (this brings down batter temp).
- Eggs: Add eggs and mix until combined.
- Dry Ingredients: Sift cocoa, baking powder and flour (and coffee, if using) directly into the bowl. Mix until smooth, batter will be thin. Some small lumps is ok.
- Hot water: Add hot water. Mix until incorporated.
- Bake: Pour into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out moist but clean. Check at 50 minutes. The surface will crack (sometimes badly!) but sill subside when it cools and gets covered with frosting so don't stress!
- Cool: Remove sides from the cake pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool. Cool completely before carefully handling to remove base (Note 7).
Ganache (Note 8)
- Place chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl. Microwave 3 x 30 seconds, mixing in between, until chocolate melts. DO NOT let cream come to boil.
- Stir chocolate until smooth. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours or until thickened to a spreadable consistency like peanut butter.
- Spread over the cake - tops and sides. Use a teaspoon in a swirling motion to achieve the textured surface you see in the photos.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe published May 2016. Recipe slightly updated November 2018 with improved cake texture and a more streamlined process. New photos, new video, new words!
Let them eat cake! 10 classic cake recipes
LIFE OF DOZER
I shooed him outside thinking that brown smear on his head was 💩
Turns out it was ganache 😂 It was driving him crazy trying to figure out a way to get to it! {PS No I never give him chocolate! I have no idea how it got there}
I made this cake for a dinner with friends and everyone raved about. Quick & easy to make & perfectly chocolatey. I was a bit concerned I’d undercooked it but it was pretty much perfect. It did come out a bit flat. I might try it in a slightly smaller tin next time to give it a bit more height.
Can you freeze this cake once iced please.
I make and remake this awesome cake. We love it, Thanks, Nagi, for all the great recipes and detail.
NAGI NB: next time you stay in a hotel grab some coffee sachets to add the coffee granules.
I loved this cake.
Amazing flavour and texture.
This is the best cake I have made in forever and I bake quite a lot. Was slightly concerned when it came out of the oven as it was cracked and seemed a bit hard on top, so definitely needs icing to hide that. But it was delicious and so easy to make.
amazing. my new go to choc cake recipe
I am not great at baking but after baking this cake I think I am a fabulous baker haha
Delicious 😋 quick and easy.
Another favourite 😍
Thank you Nagi 😊 💓
Okay so I have made it twice, first time I used baking powder that was passed it’s used by date and the cake turned iut flat and dense similar to a flourless choclate cake. It was still delish. 2nd time was great but i think you only need half or a little over half of the ganache as it was too sweet and overpiwering when i used most of the ganache on the 2nd cake.
Sorry if i missed it but how do we store the cake if we want to make it in advance and how long can we store it for. Living in Melbourne 23.02.2023. Thank you in advance
I’d like to know this too! Can it be made ahead of time?
Hello! Sounds a fab recipe and I know it’s going to be a hit! Just a quickie question – can the cake be frozen (without ganache of course….) has anyone tried to freeze it? thanks in advance xx
I would say yes, it would freeze quite well.
I made this a two layer cake last year and it was the absolute best chocolate cake I have ever tried, let alone made…. I tried it again this year and realized that I had forgotten vegetable oil and wax paper. I used extra virgin olive oil in place of the vegetable oil and I greased the springform pan and lightly coated with flour, tapping off the excess. It came out phenomenal once again. Definitely a hit! (I also use one cup of coffee instead of the water.)
Natalie, did you bake two for the layers or split the mix across two tins?
Cooking time? Thanks!
Wanting to make a chocolate cake with peppermint frosting for christmas…. not a novice baker. Does anyone have any ideas with how adding peppermint extract would be to the ganache? Or would this cake work if I frosted it with a peppermint buttercream frosting? (I’m allergic to anything delicious like this, so can’t tell how that would be!!) <3
This is too late for Christmas unfortunately – but its easy to do. You flavour the cream first. I hesitate to add any flavourings or extracts to ganache because of the risk of splitting – so just add them to the cream first and stir well to incorporate. Personally, I make my ganache differently anyway – I heat the cream to just below boiling point and then pour over the chocolate in a pyrex jug, then I whack a plate over the top and let it sit for a few minutes before slowly stirring to bring it all together. So adding an extract to the cream with my method isn’t a problem at all. If you are doing it Nagi’s way, I would think adding the extract at the end, once the ganache has been stirred and has come together, would be fine.
Can I use a loaf pan instead of a springform pan?
We have a winner! We’ve made a gluten free variation of this recipe 5 times and it’s delicious. We’ve tried Cup-4–Cup and Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour. Both turned out well, but the Cup-4-Cup had better rise. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe, it’s our new go to!
I thought the worst had happened. The cake didn’t rise and I realised that I missed the baking powder. But it was still delicious, very dense, more like fudge. Talk about forgivable!
Beautiful recipe, but I notice that Instruction no. 5 re Dry Ingredients says that the batter will be “thin” at that point. But I found it to be very thick. After adding the water it was thinish.
Amazing! I made a gluten free version and it worked really well. I mostly followed the recipe, except I used gf self-raising flour instead of plain flour, left out baking powder, and added a tsp of xanthan gum to help the gf flour stick. I didn’t have any coffee granules, so I just added a cup of filter coffee instead of the water…even with all my changes it turned out perfectly! So soft and light, yet moist and chocolatey! Whole family loved it!
I made this and doubled the recipe to make a double layer and added cream and strawberries in the middle then topped with chocolate creameux. The cake is so moist and everyone loved it. Definitely my go to.
As usual.. My go to. Plunging into this fab chocolate cake. Your a star
Ps
No chocolate for Dozer. Very bad for dogs A friends dog chomped thru chocolates He found in the house. Vet couldn’t save him. Chocolate a big NONO the vet said….
Wow im generally not much a fan of chocolate cake but this was divine!