This Hot Fudge Pudding Cake is amazing. Rich, gooey, chocolaty, and scrumptious. Delicious served warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream!

Since ❤️Valentine’s Day❤️ is just a couple days away, I wanted to bring this Hot Fudge Pudding Cake bake into the spotlight. This is the perfect dessert for a Valentine’s Day dinner you might be making for your spouse and/or kids. I posted this recipe about six years ago so it’s been buried deep in my archives, has been in much need of updated photos and also a new name.

Why a new name you might ask?

Because my friend called me this past Christmas Eve frantic because she couldn’t find this recipe. She said it had become their tradition to make it on Christmas Eve and serve it with peppermint ice cream (YUM!!). She was searching for “pudding cake,” “molten cake”, etc. and was having no luck. I tried to find it for her and couldn’t find it either. I knew it had a different name, meaning one you wouldn’t normally be searching for if you were wanting this warm, gooey, chocolatey cake.

I finally found it on my site and sent her the link. It was called “chocolate cobbler”. Why I didn’t rename it when I posted it all those years ago is beyond me. Maybe because I was a fairly new food blogger at the time and wasn’t smart/creative enough to change the name to something more recognizable and/or fitting to the recipe.Anyway, it’s been found, renamed and has new photos so let’s talk about how amazing this Hot Fudge Pudding Cake is. A rich chocolate fudge sauce forms underneath a layer of chocolate cake while baking, by itself! It’s pretty phenomenal and when it’s topped off with ice cream, it’s even that much better.

How to make Hot Fudge Pudding Cake:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine combine 3/4 cup of the sugar, flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa, baking powder and salt. Stir in milk, butter and vanilla and mix until smooth. Pour into an ungreased 8×8-inch baking dish.
Stir together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar and remaining 4 tablespoons cocoa. Sprinkle cocoa mixture evenly over batter. Pour the hot tap water over top. DO NOT STIR!
Bake until center of the cake is almost set, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes.

Love, love, love this stuff.

A FEW TIPS FOR MAKING HOT FUDGE PUDDING CAKE:

I prefer unsweetened cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s) in this recipe rather than a Dutch processed cocoa powder. The unsweetened cocoa gives a richer taste, while the Dutch processed cocoa gives more of a bittersweet taste. You be the judge and choose what taste you prefer.
This recipe can easily be doubled and made in a 9 x 13 baking dish if you are making this for a crowd.
This pudding cake is best served hot or warm. To serve leftovers rewarm the cake in the microwave.
If you want more chocolate, add in a handful (or two) of chocolate chips into the batter before baking. You could also use white chocolate chips or peanut butter for a different flavor combination.
Serving this ice cream is a must. Vanilla, peppermint, mint chocolate chip, cookies & cream, dulce de leche, etc. Seriously so good!