Fudge Chocolate Cake

This is a family recipe. It’s one of those ones I copied out of my Mom’s recipe book when I moved out of home. It’s also got one of those great family stories behind it.

When I was a teenager, I made this cake recipe multiple times and flopped it every time. It still always tasted delicious, but it wouldn’t hold together – it was more like pudding. My Mom couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. After every failed attempt, she would run through my procedure. “Did you leave it beside the open window?”, “Did you cook it for long enough?”, “Did you overcook it?”. Finally, in one final exasperated attempt, she ran through the list of ingredients with me. When she got to this ingredient:

1 cup sour milk (1 tsp vinegar)

I said, “No we didn’t have sour milk, so I just added the 1 tsp vinegar.” Ah-ha! Lightbulb moment! So for the reader’s sake, I have clarified this one ingredient in my version of the recipe below. I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did.

Maria: What is it?
Harriet Miller: Its a bundt.
Maria: A bun?
Harriet:A bundT.
Maria: A bondt?
Harriet: BUNDT BUUNDT!!
Maria: I know, its a cake-y!….(to friend) There’s a hole in this cake.

Print Recipe

Fudge Chocolate Cake

Course: Dessert

Keyword: bundt, cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, cupcake, dessert

Servings: 16

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter melted
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup sour milk If you do not have sour milk, add 1 tsp vinegar to 1 cup milk
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup hot coffee if you do not have coffee, you can use hot water
• 1/4 tsp chocolate extract optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a bundt cake pan (or other cake pan of your choosing) and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix ingredients in order given. Pour batter into prepared pan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto plate or platter to cool completely.
• Top with icing and/or sprinkles of your choice!

Notes

For cupcakes, bake at 350°F for 20 mins. (Yield: 24 cupcakes)
For a 9-inch layer cake, bake at 350°F for 35 mins.