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A moist chocolate fudge cake sponge, topped & filled with THE BEST chocolate frosting you will ever make!

So let me introduce to you the only chocolate fudge cake recipe that you are ever going to need. I realise saying that this contains the BEST chocolate frosting ever is quite a statement, but I honestly think it is – its so delicious! I also realised after my Facebook requests post that I hadn’t actually posted my go-to chocolate cake recipe!

This recipe is what I’d make a bruce cake out of to make a Matilda cake, it’s the cake I would use when I am craving chocolate, it’s the recipe I would use if you want something epic and indulgent – it is epic. 

A classic bake

When I posted my recipe for my Victoria sponge – celebration cake I knew you all loved the classics, so I hope this suits well too! However, this cake is so much more indulgent. You can easily make a chocolate version of my Victoria sponge, but this is definitely more dense, and more chocolatey. It’s basically heaven in a bite.

This is the sort of cake that you want to have a slice, and then shove it all in your face. Yes its gooey, and has many more ingredients then you think it probably should have, but it is WORTH IT. Honestly, worth it. It also does seem a little faffy, but again.. its worth it!

Layering it up with the best frosting on the planet, and you will want to devour every single crumb. Because of how it bakes however, it can often take a long time in the oven, and even sometimes less. It’s all down to the mixing!

The cake mix

This recipe will sound like a lot of ingredients, but it’s worth it. Melt the chocolate and butter, and then mix everything into one big bowl… you don’t need a mixer for this bit. 

  • Chocolate – when making this, you want to use dark chocolate in the mixture for best results. I always use 70%+
  • Butter – unsalted butter, or baking spread, will work for the sponges 
  • Coffee – this is mentioned below, but trust me… 
  • Flour – I use plain flour, as your raising agents come elsewhere so you don’t need self raising flour. It’ll make the sponge too delicate 
  • Cocoa – I like my cake super chocolatey, so I add this in as well as the chocolate 
  • Raising agents – baking powder, and bicarbonate of soda for this beauty of a cake 
  • Sugar – a mixture of brown sugar and caster sugar is wonderful – all of one, or all of the other works perfectly though 
  • Eggs – I use medium eggs in my baking, but 3 large would work instead of 4 medium 
  • Buttermilk – this is an important ingredient – you can make your own though with 1tsp of lemon juice mixed into 75ml milk 

Coffee

Chocolate cake is one of those classics that you don’t want to mess with, but sometimes they can be terrible, or not chocolatey enough, or just not moist enough. I have seen over the past few months that people use coffee or instant coffee in a chocolate cake of forms to make the cake more moist and chocolatey – so I tried this!

I personally cannot taste the coffee, and neither could my family – however, If you don’t like coffee, or never buy it then no worries – you can use just water, but the depth of flavour might not be the same!! Please please PLEASE trust in using the coffee though – I really am sure that you will love it! It just makes it basically the best sponge ever!!!

The BEST EVER frosting

The magical ingredient in the chocolate frosting is the evaporated milk – I discovered this after trawling through the internet for hours on end and found a couple of mentions that it might be better – and holy smokes it was.

  • Butter – for this frosting, you MUST use a block butter. You do not want to use any form of spread 
  • Sugar – icing sugar, as always
  • Cocoa – a nice rich cocoa powder is best, I use a 100% cocoa powder 
  • Vanilla – a little bit of vanilla, as always again 
  • Evaporated milk – this is so important. Condensed milk is not a substitute, if you can’t get evaporated milk, add double cream whipped in really well, but it’s still not quite the same 

Tips & tricks 

I do NOT use an electric mixer for this cake recipe, because it will most likely over do it. I just do each bit by hand, and then fold it all together to get a thick fudge cake that bakes to perfection. However, a mixer is good for the frosting side of things! 

It is very soft, so it can be difficult if you want to spread the cake in buttercream, so I find its easier just to make layers. If you do want to cover it, you’ll need to refrigerate the cake for 30 minutes to firm it slightly first, and it’ll be easier

Chocolate Fudge Cake with the BEST Chocolate Frosting Ever!

A moist chocolate fudge cake sponge, topped & filled with THE BEST chocolate frosting you will ever make!
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Category: Cake
Type: Chocolate
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Cooling Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours 10 minutes
Servings: 14 Slices
Author: Jane's Patisserie

Ingredients

Cake Ingredients

  • 225 g dark chocolate
  • 225 g unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
  • 125 ml boiling water
  • 175 g plain flour
  • 25 g cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 200 g white/golden caster sugar
  • 200 g light brown sugar
  • 4 medium eggs
  • 75 ml buttermilk

Chocolate Frosting

  • 250 g unsalted butter (not stork)
  • 500 g icing sugar
  • 50 g cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 100-125 ml evaporated milk

Decorations

  • Sprinkles
  • Anything!

Instructions

For the Cake!

  • Preheat the oven to 160ºc/140ºc fan and grease & line two 8″/20cm cake tins – leave to the side.
  • In a heatproof bowl, microwave the dark chocolate & butter until melted
  • Pour the coffee granules into the boiling water and mix – add the coffee to the chocolate/butter mix and stir well until smooth!
  • In a separate large bowl add the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarb, sugars and mix well so the ingredients are all mixed with each other well
  • Mix the eggs with the buttermilk – and then add all the ingredients together and stir
  • Pour the mixture into the two tins and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes (can take a little longer in some ovens)
  • Once baked leave to cool in the tin and remove afterwards

For the Frosting!

  • With an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until its very smooth and supple (couple of minutes)
  • Gradually add the icing sugar & cocoa powder alternatively with the evaporated milk until all is incorporated and add the vanilla essence – beat for a couple of minutes so its extra smooth & creamy.
  • The more evaporated milk you add the more runny it’ll be, and I have found about 100ml-125ml is perfect for me! If it's a little hotter weather however, you may find you need less!

For the Decoration!

  • Decorate your cake how you like and ENJOY! I spread half my buttercream on the first cake, add the second sponge and repeat!
  • And then I sprinkle on all sorts of sprinkles!

Notes

ENJOY!

Find my other Cake Recipes on my Recipes Page!

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J x

© Jane’s Patisserie. All images & content are copyright protected. Do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words and credit me, or link back to this post for the recipe.

607 Comments

  1. Laura on May 10, 2020 at 1:54 pm

    Hi Jane, love your recipes, I’ve never had one fail me yet! Really want to give this one a go but I’m struggling to get hold of caster sugar at the minute never mind golden caster sugar! I have plenty of granulated and light brown sugar but scared to sub the granulated in and change the texture too much. Would it be better to just use all brown sugar?
    Thanks in advance 😊

    • Jane's Patisserie on May 11, 2020 at 9:11 am

      You can use a mix, or just all light brown for sure – light brown would be my choice!!



  2. Tori on April 26, 2020 at 11:14 pm

    I dashed out today and purchased 2 x 20cm sandwich tins for this recipe. Just been reading your helpful tips and can see you use the slightly more expensive tins, will the sandwich tin make a difference or am I better using a deeper tin? Thanks, can’t wait to make this cake!!

    • Jane's Patisserie on April 27, 2020 at 9:26 am

      I do naturally use deeper tins – it depends on your sandwich tins as even they can vary in height! It should be okay, as this cake rises but not massively?!



  3. Gemma on April 19, 2020 at 5:35 pm

    Hi Jane! If I wanted to make 3 layers would I make a mix and half? Thanks x

    • Jane's Patisserie on April 19, 2020 at 6:49 pm

      Yes, and then split between three tins! x



  4. Jane Hall on April 4, 2020 at 6:05 pm

    Hi Jane, I’m really wanting to make your chocolate fudge cake recipe fir my hubbys 40th birthday in the next few weeks but wanting to make it in my 6inch x 3inch deep tin, what would the quantities be for this size please? Thank you xx

  5. Chris on February 11, 2020 at 10:13 pm

    Hi jane, how are you? I’m sure this is another wonderful recipe! I’ve just finished baking it! I’m just wondering is it stable enough as a 4 layer cake? I’ve just baked 4 8” layers, and it just seems so delicate, so I’m not sure lol? 2 of my layers also sank, while the other 2 were fine, although all came from the same mixture, I just doubled your quantities above.

    • Jane's Patisserie on February 12, 2020 at 1:53 am

      Hey! So with this kind of recipe, it’s harder to just double because of the rising agents – also, did all the cakes go in at the same time or was the mixture left on the side? or on different levels of an oven? All of these things can cause a cake to sink.
      And as mentioned, it is a very delicate sponge – to decorate it is easier to chill for a bit so it’s firmer!



    • Christopher Flanagan on February 12, 2020 at 11:41 pm

      Hi jane! They were all out in at the same time, 2 in the middle and 2 at the bottom. But to be honest looking at them today, the sinking in the middle isn’t that bad, it’s completely usable lol I must have imagined it looked worse yesterday! I will refrigerate before stacking then!! I just worry when it comes back to room temp, will it go soft again?



    • Jane's Patisserie on February 13, 2020 at 1:09 am

      Ahh okay that’s good! And I’m sure it will be fine! If in doubt, once stacked just leave it in a cool place (or the fridge if you don’t mind it drying out a small amount) but I’m sure it’ll be fine!



  6. Tracy Dawson on January 26, 2020 at 1:54 pm

    5 stars
    Hi jane. Can I use condensed milk rather than evaporatrd milk for the buttercream? Just noticed that that is what I’ve bought. Thanks.

    • Jane's Patisserie on January 26, 2020 at 2:19 pm

      No – they are completely different!



  7. Julia on November 24, 2019 at 9:07 pm

    5 stars
    Hey Jane, just made this and it’s Fab! One of the cakes sunk just a little and took about 50 mins to cook but thinking my oven temp may be off! Just wondered, when I make chocolate mousse I use bournville chocolate which works great so I used it for this but I’m thinking it maybe wasn’t quite dark enough? I’m making again in a couple of days should I switch to a baking dark chocolate around 70%?! Thanks!!

    • Jane's Patisserie on November 25, 2019 at 8:59 am

      Hiya! Yes I would only ever use something 70% or higher for baking, I don’t generally use Bournville! x



  8. Mussarrat on October 26, 2019 at 7:32 pm

    5 stars
    Another great recipe, I followed the recipe exactly but the sponges were so crumbly. Baked the sponges the day before decorating and serving. Any attempt to cut a slice resulted in a crumbly heap of chocolatey goodness. Tastes lovely, used cacao powder instead of regular cocoa powder. Any idea what could have caused a crumbly sponge? Thanks

    • Jane's Patisserie on October 27, 2019 at 12:19 pm

      As mentioned in the post, they are a delicate sponge. It could be that they were slightly dried out/overbaked though, but the sponge is designed to be soft and delicious!



  9. Jasmine Hussain on October 15, 2019 at 11:01 pm

    Hi jane this recipe looks amazing, i just have a question, if i want to cover the cake entirely in buttercream do i need to double the amounts? thanks

    • Jane's Patisserie on October 16, 2019 at 8:00 am

      I would say probably add on another half at least, maybe double. However, as mentioned, it isn’t a firm frosting so it doesn’t hold up the best on the sides!



  10. sophie on October 6, 2019 at 11:54 am

    hi jane,
    im thinking if making this cake tomorrow and i just wondered if i can use normal caster sugar rather than golden caster sugar? would this make a difference?
    many thanks!

  11. Natalie smith on July 26, 2019 at 8:55 pm

    Hi there, if I wanted to make this into cupcake how should I spilt the recipe? Should I just spilt all the ingredients by half?

    • Jane's Patisserie on July 26, 2019 at 9:03 pm

      Have a look at my Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes recipe x



  12. Donna Youngson on July 21, 2019 at 11:43 am

    Would baking belts be okay to use with this recipe please?

    • Jane's Patisserie on July 21, 2019 at 1:51 pm

      I don’t personally see the point in baking belts – it doesn’t need them!



    • Sam on July 13, 2020 at 8:47 pm

      5 stars
      Hi Jane,
      I have made so many of your recipes and absolutely love them all. Im so happy I have finally found someone with amazing recipes which are simple to follow with perfect results each time. I’ve been on a mission for over a year to find the perfect chocolate sponge that is actually chocolatey, I personally find just using cocoa power isnt enough (Im definitely a chocoholic) this recipe was absolutely amazing, I just found my sponge a little too moist if I wanted to use it as a typical “cake”, absolutely perfect for a fudge cake though. I’m wondering would you just add more flour, to firm it up a little, so it was more like a chocolate victoria sponge type cake? I hope this makes sense! Lol. Thanks so much! 🙂



    • Jane's Patisserie on July 14, 2020 at 5:32 pm

      Hey! So I have never tried to make it more firm, as this really is a fudge cake recipe compared to a regular cake – it’s certainly worth a try though!! xx



  13. KKAH on June 20, 2019 at 2:42 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Jane, another top recipe. My cake was a little on the bitter side though. Is it because i used high percentage chocolate (70%)? Would this work with Milk chocolate instead of dark? 🤔

    • Jane's Patisserie on June 20, 2019 at 7:18 pm

      It’s meant to be fudgey and rich, and I use 85% – I would not recommend using anything under 70%, as milk chocolate is too thin and the cake won’t bake the same!



    • Jade on November 1, 2020 at 1:47 pm

      Hi Jane,

      I love all of your bakes so followed this recipes today. As it was baking in the oven for about 35 mins I checked on it and it had cracked on the top so I took it out as didn’t want it to completely crack but now it’s cooling the cake is sinking! This has never happened to me before. Should I have left it for longer even though it was cracking in the oven? Any ideas what I might have done in order for it to crack? Xx



    • Jane's Patisserie on November 1, 2020 at 7:29 pm

      The cake sinking means it’s under baked, and taking the cake out too soon will have caused that! How did you mix the sponge mixture? Sometimes cracking can happen for over mixing!



  14. Catherine Hurley on May 24, 2019 at 5:55 pm

    Can i ask how long the buttercreme can be in fridge. Have some leftover. Made this cake todsy for my dad’s birthday Tomor. Looks very yummy.

    • Jane's Patisserie on May 24, 2019 at 8:39 pm

      The fridge I would guess easily a week, but you can also freeze it for longer!



  15. Kate on May 24, 2019 at 12:45 pm

    Hi Jane. This recipe looks great so I’m attempting it for my nephew’s birthday party! I know you say plain flour but I wondered if self raising would work? Ive got stacks of SR and no plain! Many thanks, Kate

    • Jane's Patisserie on May 24, 2019 at 8:42 pm

      It will make the cake very delicate, and it is better with plain flour in all honesty – but the self raising won’t kill it. Leave out the baking powder if you use the SRF!



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