Hot Fudge Pudding Cake {9X13-inch Pan}
This recipe for hot fudge pudding cake is so fun and easy to make! In the oven, the layers of pudding and cake magically separate. Warm, ooey, gooey, and delicious!
Hot fudge pudding cake is definitely in the running for favorite dessert of all time. It checks all the boxes: ultra-chocolatey, warm and gooey, perfect with ice cream.
How to Make Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
Hot fudge pudding cake starts with a pretty typical chocolate cake batter.
It is mixed together by hand (no electric mixer needed, although you could use one if you wanted to). Once the chocolate chips are stirred in, the batter will be pretty stiff. Totally ok; totally normal!
Up to this point, everything is looking like your every day chocolate cake baking session. But this is the point at which things change from “every day chocolate cake” to “other-worldly, incredible hot fudge pudding cake.”
Hold on to your whisks. It’s about to get fun and a little crazy.
How does the pudding layer form in hot fudge pudding cake?
There are a couple important steps in achieving the perfect pudding layer underneath tender chocolate cake.
- Spread the cake batter evenly in a 9X13-inch baking pan
- Cover the top of the cake batter with a dry mixture of cocoa powder + sugar
- Pour boiling water carefully over the entire top of the cake
- IMMEDIATELY place in the oven to bake
During baking, the water + sugar/cocoa mixture sinks below the leavened cake batter to form the pudding layer on the bottom.
Hot fudge pudding cake bakes for slightly less time than a traditional chocolate cake in order for the pudding and cake layers to form and set up perfectly.
So while I say this all the time, I really mean it now: DON’T OVER BAKE THIS CAKE. Other wise you’ll be left with a pretty delicious and ultra-soft chocolate cake…but very little to no pudding layer. And that would be a travesty.
You’ll know the cake is done when the top is puffy and crackly and the pudding layer is bubbling and hot.
A slight wiggle of the pan will generate a slight jiggle to the center of the cake. Embrace the jiggle. You want to see a little jiggle!
Let the cake cool for a few minutes before digging in to allow the cake and pudding to set up just a bit.
I mean, look at that pudding layer. GLORIOUS.
Ice Cream’s Perfect Cake
Hot fudge pudding cake is ice cream’s perfect companion.
And while I’ve been known to sneak nibbles of leftover hot fudge pudding cake (don’t even ask how there are leftovers) from the fridge by the chilled spoonful, nothing beats enjoying the cake warm with a scoop or two of your favorite ice cream.
This cake has been a staple for nearly two decades. My son made it for himself weekly during a long six-week jaw surgery recovery. 💙 And it is an oft-requested Sunday dessert at our house.
I took my old beloved favorite recipe and made it even better for a 9X13-inch pan, because let’s be honest, a small pan of this amazing cake hasn’t been cutting it with our crew for years.
Hot fudge pudding cake new and improved! Don’t go another day without making it.
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Hot Fudge Pudding Cake {9X13-inch Pan}
Ingredients
Topping:
- ¾ cup (159 g) granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (29 g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
Cake:
- 2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (212 g) sugar
- ½ cup (43 g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- 1 cup (242 g) milk, preferably not skim
- ½ cup (114 g) butter, melted
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups (436 g) boiling water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- For the topping, whisk the sugar and cocoa powder together until well-combined. Set aside.
- For the cake, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
- To the dry ingredients, add the milk, butter, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk together until just combined.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine evenly; the batter will be fairly stiff.
- Spread the cake batter evenly in the prepared pan. Sprinkle sugar/cocoa topping evenly over the top of the cake batter.
- Carefully pour the boiling water over the top. Do not stir.
- Immediately bake the cake until the top is puffy and slightly cracked, sauce is bubbling and a toothpick inserted into cakey area comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 22-25 minutes. Over baking may result in a very thin or nonexistent pudding layer, so keep an eye on the baking time.
- Cool the cake for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
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Recipe Source: from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe (adapted from this 8X8-inch version)
Hi, Mel! Am I wrong in thinking that 2 cups of flour should be 284g according to your usual weights? I looked at a few other recipes to see if my thinking was off, so I went with that weight and it turned out great. Just wanted to double check. 🙂
This was super easy, perfectly fudgy and decadent — plus, it’s especially delicious served a la mode! 😛
Good catch, Arlene! Yes, it should be 284 grams. I’ll edit the recipe!
This was a fantastic hit! Thank you for posting a double recipe because this is something you want to share
Made this for Father’s Day!
We LOVE chocolate at our house and one of my adult sons said he wants this for his birthday cake! We sprinkled walnuts on top and think vanilla ice cream is a must!
Thanks for another AMAZING recipe!
Yay, Cam, thank you! Glad it was a hit!
So happy to make this for Father’s Day dessert! Yum!
Great Father’s Day dessert, Wendi!
I only have Dutch process cocoa — has anyone made it using that? Will it still work?
Yes, will work just fine – the taste is a bit darker and richer, but it should work!
Have you made this using milk chocolate chips?
I haven’t, sorry! I’m sure you could – the taste and flavor will be different but it’s worth a try.
Is it really half the chocolate chips from the other version. It’s a double recipe but your amount of chocolate chips stays the same?
Hi Cristy, this recipe calls for 1 cup chocolate chips (the 8X8-inch version calls for 1/2 cup chocolate chips)
I know my problem. I used the gram amounts in this recipe and you do say 1 cup here but I read only the gram measurements as I was measuring everything by weight. The gram amount you have listed here is 85 g which is the weight of a half cup like the other recipe. Just FYI. Still 5 stars delicious even if I did use half the chocolate chips!
Ah, you’re right – sorry about that, Cristy! I just fixed the gram amounts to reflect the 1 cup chocolate chips.
How is your son doing after jaw surgery? This recipe sounds amazing. I am have a great time cooking from your cookbook. I keep it across the kitchen so it doesn’t get messy. Take care. Thanks for all that you do for us.
Hi Connie! So happy you are enjoying the cookbook! Made my day to read that. My son is doing very well! He’s starting to attend summer wrestling practices again, which makes me VERY nervous, but the surgeon assures us he is healed and ready to go! Thanks for asking.
I’ll definitely be making this soon! We call it brownie pudding and it was a favorite in my house as a kid. Have you tried Amy Bakes Bread’s sourdough discard version? So good.
No, but that sounds intriguing!
I need to half this; it’s only 2 of us. Will it still turn out?
Hi Barbara, try this version! https://www.melskitchencafe.com/hot-fudge-pudding-cake/ (it makes an 8X8-inch pan)
What is the difference between the brownie pudding and this one? The crackly top on brownie pudding? More cake in this? Taste-wise, which would you spring for? I’ll be trying this for sure but just wondered. This looks much easier, but we sure do love your brownie pudding! 🙂
Good question! This recipe’s pudding layer is slightly less rich and fudgy – it is a bit thinner with a more decided pudding consistency, whereas the brownie pudding is overall much richer and fudgier (not cakey at all). Both of them have their place, but for me, this hot fudge pudding cake edges out just a little as a favorite.
I don’t have the patience for a slow cooker cake, but I like the idea of a peanut butter addition. Have you tried this one with PB? If not, any suggestions on how much to add, what should be cut back, etc. to make it work in this version?
Hmmm, using the slow cooker version as a baseline, I think adding 1/2 to 3/4 peanut butter to the batter is probably the best place to start. Either that or melting the peanut butter a bit and swirling it into the cake batter before adding the topping and boiling water?
What about just subbing peanut butter chips for the chocolate ones? I will definitely be trying this soon!
Yay! We LOVE this cake!! I’m so glad you adapted the recipe for me!! Haha I always make it as a 9×13 and had to remember each time what to do., This cake really is dreamy and feels so special!
That’s what prompted me to finally get a recipe posted for it since I was always adapting it that way anyway and doing the mental math each time, haha.
Is there any way I could make this gluten free? It looks amazing.
Thank you
Yes, I’m asking the same question. Will using gluten free flour be at tasty?
Looking for gluten free here too! Sounds amazing…
I haven’t tried this gluten-free, but I think it stands a really good chance of working by subbing in a cup-for-cup flour blend for the all-purpose flour.
I made it gluten free using Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour (same measurement) It was delicious! I think the flour is a little denser than regular flour so it seemed the pudding pooled more at the top than sinking to the bottom but it was a huge hit for the celiac and not typically gluten free crowd alike!
So excited this worked out gluten-free, Gail! Thanks for the comment!
I’ve making this since 12 years old. I found this recipe in my mom’s Betty Crocker cookbook. I put chopped pecans ( fresh from Georgia) in the batter. Several servings always warms my heart! Like that your recipe is for a 9×13 pan.
Sha, I wonder if our moms had the same Betty Crocker cookbook, because that’s the recipe we always used too! I’ve changed it since to make it more chocolatey. Always a favorite of mine.
Love that!