CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE
 NIGELLA
Photograph by Francesca Yorke
INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CAKE:
400g plain flour
250g golden caster sugar
100g light muscovado sugar
50g best quality cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
142ml/small tub sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
175g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
125ml corn oil
300ml chilled water
FOR THE FUDGE ICING:
175g dark chocolate, minimum 70% cocoa solids
250g unsalted butter, softened
275g icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Serving Size : Serves 10. Or 1 with a broken heart.
METHOD

1.Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
2.Butter and line the bottom of two 20cm sandwich tins.
3.In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking powder, bicarb and salt. In another bowl or wide-necked measuring jug whisk together the eggs, sour cream and vanilla until blended. Using a freestanding or handheld electric mixer, beat together the melted butter and corn oil until just blended (you’ll need another large bowl for this if using the hand whisk; the freestanding mixer comes with its own bowl), then beat in the water. Add the dry ingredients all at once and mix together on a slow speed. Add the egg mixture, and mix again until everything is blended and then pour into the prepared tins. And actually, you could easily do this manually; I just like my toys and find the KitchenAid a comforting presence in itself.
4.Bake the cakes for 50–55 minutes, or until a cake-tester comes out clean. Cool the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for 15 minutes, and then turn the cakes out onto the rack to cool completely.
5.To make the icing, melt the chocolate in the microwave – 2–3 minutes on medium should do it – or in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water, and let cool slightly.
6.In another bowl beat the butter until it’s soft and creamy (again, I use the KitchenAid here) and then add the sieved icing sugar and beat again until everything’s light and fluffy. I know sieving is a pain, the one job in the kitchen I really hate, but you have to do it or the icing will be unsoothingly lumpy. Then gently add the vanilla and chocolate and mix together until everything is glossy and smooth.
7.Sandwich the middle of the cake with about a quarter of the icing, and then ice the top and sides too, spreading and smoothing with a rubber spatula.



REVIEWS

I adore this cake, it's a chocoholics dream come true! Pure perfection.

Nickki

I adore this cake, it's a chocoholics dream come true! Pure perfection.

Nickki

Hi I'm twinkle from Pondicherry in South India its just a dot on the map, but thanks to Discovery Travel & Living we get to see Nigella's show and we just love her and her recipes. I made this cake for a Christmas Party at my place yesterday and it was a super-duper Hit!! Everyone just loved it:) My sis even had dreams about it!! Thanks Nigella for such a super recipe.. I just love the part when you add the chilled water to the butter oil mix it becomes such a glorious creamy texture!!

tinx

What a great cake. My husbands hates normally cakes, but he got absolutely addicted to that one.

FoodVenus

See the forums page, but I doubled up on this and made a 3 tier cake and extra fairy cakes for a large birthday party and it was a triumph! Especially the little cakes everyone loved them.

janealice

I made this one a few months ago but to be honest I found the cake itself too bland and the icing too buttery and heavy. Not the best chocolate fudge cake for me personally.

zba1983

Everyone I have made this cake for adores it!! It's my eldests fave closely followed by Malteser cake.

MummyMcC

For me this has got to be the perfect cake to bake for those occasions when your in need of a little comfort. and to show off your baking skills, a sure winner!

Katybun

Hi Nigella, this recipe has saved my bacon on a few occasions. So far, every time I've baked this, I've gotten rave reviews. Just wanted to thank you for having it online and I don't have to get my friend to ship my book over to me. Thanks!!! Have a great spring!

PuspaS

This is the cake I bake to feed my hungry workmates - often the word spreads fast and it disappears quite quickly, so there are usually some disappointed people who have missed out. I used to think layer cakes were hard projects until I tried this and it is sooooo yummy. Thanks Nigella!

PopcornM

Greetings from Finland! We baked this cake yesterday with my 5-year-old little brother for our Mom's birthday party. Everybody adored it, especially my brother who said that he would like to eat the whole cake just by himself! Many thanks to Nigella for having this great web-site with all the wonderful recipes!

Yana

I made this cake for my husband's birthday for him to take to work for his co-workers and he said there were lots of compliments. This is one of the best chocolate cake recipes I've made.

miss emmalou

Hi Nigella ! I'm Sarah from Syria. I really liked this recipe and I'm going to try to make it for my mom in the Mothers Day .. I'll try it and tell you :D thx !!

SOMY

Hello Nigella This was the best thing I did for my friend! She turned 21 and we had a bake off and this chocolate cake came out on top. Extremely delicious! Thank you. Regards Kanye from South Africa

Starlady

Hello there, I just had to leave a comment about this truly amazing chocolate cake. It had everyone talking and I am definitely keeping this for the "special" recipe box!! Thanks Nigella, this one's great!!

Tesso

This is the best chocolae cake recipe ever. I'm a cook in a nursing home and the clients are very happy when I make this. My cookbook is at work so I've just logged on to make it at home. Thanks Nigella for being such an inspiration and so joyously watchable!!

Tamois

I lost count of how many times I made this cake!! My family just loves it My mom would always crave it Thanks Nigella :)

ayoosh

Hi Nigella, love your recipe's.......they are the best :-)

varu

I made this cake for my sister as an "I'm Sorry!" present!

GeorgeBritton

This is the best chocolate cake i've ever made. Normally the best i eat is the ones of the bakeries, now i can do the best chocolate cake at home, and thanks to you Nigella

SE000014

This is one of the best chocolate cake recipes ever. I am frequently asked to make this for friends' birthdays and special occasions. It is also a cake which improves with time and tastes better after 2 or 3 days. The cake also tastes great when using just normal caster sugar instead of golden caster sugar.

cremebrulee

This cake is beyond delicious, its been a hit each time i made it, superb recipe.

sanjo

Fantastic recipe, deep and dark and moist. BUT beware with your cake tin size - they need to be pretty deep as well as the size stated, my mixture overflowed and made a terrible mess in the oven.

ronnie14lan

I became a member just so I could review this cake that I have been making for years! It is fantastic, huge, easy, turns out perfectly, and amazingly rich. I have given the recipe to friends and fam, and they stuff it up by using cheap supermarket cocoa, wrong shortening, and by baking until too dry. If you do it correctly, people will not believe you that there is no actual chocolate in it! The texture is improved by beating the final mixture a little bit more than the recipe implies. I now substitute choc ganache for the buttery icing and it has much wider-spread appeal, and then sandwich with seived apricot jam for a sachertorte, or raspberry jam and chantilly cream to make it a dessert cake.

adaminoz

I made this cake for my daughter's birthday and then again for Father's Day. YUMMY! The second time I made it, I iced it, then enrobed the entire thing in chocolate ganache. Either way - it's amazing! :) Thanks, Nigella, for this, and all of your other, te

castle4mom
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