Chocolate Fudge Cake with the BEST Chocolate Frosting ever!
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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
- This cake will last for 3-4+ days at room temp
- You can freeze this cake for 3+ months
- I use this cocoa powder
- I use this dark chocolate
- I use these cake tins for this bake


Chocolate Fudge Cake with the BEST Chocolate Frosting Ever!
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
- This cake will last for 3-4+ days at room temp
- You can freeze this cake for 3+ months
- I use this cocoa powder
- I use this dark chocolate
- I use these cake tins for this bake
ENJOY!
Find my other Cake Recipes on my Recipes Page!
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J x
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Hi, I’m looking to make this cake this evening for a friends birthday. I have multiple 8” since cake tins but I’m looking to 3 layers to the cake, I know your recipe states for two tons. Could I split the mixture in 3 tins or would they be too thin? Or would I be better to make more mixture, and if I did need to make more mixture I wouldn’t be sure on how many more eggs I would need and baking powered etc? Could you help? Thanks!! 🙂
Hey! Yes you can bake this into three tins, the timing is just reduced and you’ll want to be careful not the break the sponges when you handle them because they will be a bit thinner! I’ve made this into three tins in the past and it’s work, but they are quite thin! Or, you can odd on another half to the recipe to make a decent third sponge! x
Hi Jane, love your recipes- we are currently trying to work out how to use this recipe for a drip cake? Our first two sponges didn’t come out great and seem very flimsy which I’m concerned about but what would you suggest for buttercream/ frosting please for inside then also for the outside before we create the drip with ganache? Any tips would be fabulous please!
Hey – so the sponge is delicate, so it can’t be handle massively – but it may also be slightly under baked. As mentioned on the post you can refrigerate the sponges to make them easier to handle which would work! And for the frosting have a look at my other drip cake recipes x
Hey! Do you think I could double the recipe and bake in my 8×4 inch tins for a longer time so i can cut them in half and make it 4 layers? I’d like to try and reduce cooking time if possible instead of doing two batches seperately? Thank you. X
Hiya – do you still mean 8×8″ tins, but 4″ depth? Or a rectangle? If you mean still an 8″ round it should be okay, but you will have to keep an eye on the bake as the cake can sink quite badly if it’s underdone when you take it out (more than a normal cake can!), but otherwise it should be okay! x
Wanted to make this in advance for our Golden Wedding celebration with family – in garden during lockdown. Weather forecast not good and worried this would go to waste!! From recipe I got 15 large cupcakes, in oven for approx 30min. Skewer clean and no bubbling sounds although looked moist in centre! Allowed to cool completely and carefully froze in batches of 3 so all upright and separate. Removed the morning of the celebration and made up the frosting. Kept to amount in recipe but really only used 2/3 of frosting. Added chocolate and golden sprinkles. Grandchildren said it was the best ever chocolate cake they have tasted!! Thank you! Will make again! Consistency is a cross between a brownie and fudge cake!
Hi Jane, i am looking for a flavourful, moist chocolate cake recipe for a drip cake would this be ok? I see you have used plain flour, i normally use self raising in cakes to try and make them light and fluffy. Does the plain flour make a difference to this or should i sub for self raising and leave out the bicarb? Thank you in advance. Xx
I would follow the recipe as it is due to the other ingredients in regards to the flour as the sponge is quite delicate as it is and self-raising could make it fall apart – and if you chill the sponges before decorating they’ll be fine for a drip cake! (the frosting won’t be though) x
Hi, should the skewer come out clean when the sponge is ready?
Yes! Also, the cake shouldn’t make any bubbling/crackling sounds (if you carefully put your ear to the cake and it’s quite it’s finished baking!) x
Hi,
Would this recipe work using 3 large eggs instead of 4 medium?
Thank you x
Yes! xx
Hi Jane, I love your recipes. I baked this today and was amazing, gone down a treat ! Just wondering if I would be able to use a cooking chocolate for this in the future … I was thinking something like the dr oetker 72% extra dark? Also would I be able to bake the sponge the day before decorating And if so how should I store the sponge?! X
Hey! Yes, you can use cooking chocolate – I often do! And you can store them at room temp but you can also do the fridge if wrapped correctly as they are delicate sponges! X
Hey,
I don’t have an electric whisk at the moment. What you recommend to use for the frosting instead? Thanks 😊
I would just use your hand and a spoon/spatula – just add things in more gradually and beat like crazy!
Hey,
I want to make a drip cake bust based on this recipe. If I cover the whole cake in this frosting will I still be able to create a drip or is the frosting abit more wet?
Thanks
Hey! I wouldn’t recommend this frosting for a drip cake I’m afraid, it’s far too soft!
Okay thanks! Would I still be able to use this cake recipe though? X
Hey! Yes you can! It’s best to refrigerate the sponges for a while before decorating so that they are firmer! x
Is it possible to not use dark chocolate and just use cocoa powder or will that effect the cake too much?
That would effect the bake – the dark chocolate is a key ingredient!
Hi Jane! I’m really struggling to find baking powder at the moment. I have self raising flour, plain flour, bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar. What would you recommend? Thanks!
Hey! I would use 3/4tsp of bicarb! x
Hi Jane,
I’m planning on using this recipe for my daughters birthday cake, do you think the buttercream would be sturdy enough for me to cover my cake in fondant?
Thanks,
Tricia x
Hey! So this buttercream is really quite soft – personally I would maybe fill the cakes with it, but cover them in a regular buttercream without the evaporated milk so it’s firm enough! x
An extremely delicious cake, really loved the taste. However I disaster occurred and the cake needed to be put in the bin.
Essentially what happened is that 1 cake sank, the other didn’t – I needed to bake them separate as my oven can’t fit two at the same time.
And to top it off, both cakes literally fell part when removing the baking paper and when assembling them, although i tasted it, it was delicious, it’s just a shame it went like it did.
I know I did something wrong, maybe the cakes were too high in the oven, maybe a should have left them cool a little more.
Hey! So with this sort of sponge, the cake sitting for a while may not have been good for the mix (obviously that’s only if that was the second one to be baked) but also maybe the mix wasn’t quite even so it needed a little more baking?! – and ohh no!! The only thing to do really is to let them cool fully in the tin and refrigerate them for a bit so they’re firmer to decorate! xx
Aww thank you 😊 I be attempting it again soon – I can be rather impatient – lesson definitely learnt and be allowing a lot more time for them to cool fully. Thanks again xx
Hi Jane,
Looking to bake this creation tomorrow but a smaller “lockdown” cake size of 6″. Will this batch size be ok for 3 x 6″ tins please?
Many thanks 💖
Hey! Yes that should be good for 3×6″ xx
Thank You Jane, it was perfect….got a few cupcakes out of it too! 🥰
I’ve been asked for this cake again but wanted to use a 8″×12″ rectangular tin. Would this batch be OK for that?
Many thanks 💖
Hey! yes it should be – I increased the amounts in my chocolate fudge traybake cake for a 9×11″ so this should be good for that tin! X