The Best Chocolate Mudcake (Pam's Chocolate Mudcake)

6.5.13

chocolate mud cake with chocolate ganache
Let me introduce you to my new favourite chocolate cake. It has a very rich flavour, is extremely moist - almost like a chocolate fudge cake and also dense enough to carve. Not to mention that it is extremely easy to make. Mudcakes are ideal for beginners as slight errors in measurements or over-mixing will not affect the results. They also have a long shelf life and they taste even better with age. The only trouble you would have is having to wait so long to eat it! 

I made mine with dark chocolate ganache and found it a little too rich, but super delicious nonetheless. Next time round, I'll definitely try it with a raspberry or salted caramel filling to balance the taste a little.

the best chocolate mud cake


The Best Chocolate Mudcake (Pam's Chocolate Mudcake)

Yields: 1 6-inch cake, about 4 inches high
INGREDIENTS
For the Chocolate Mudcake:
250g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate (i used a mixture of Valrhona Jivara 40% and Araguani 72%)
1 tablespoon instant coffee
330ml cups warm water
225g self-raising flour
180g caster sugar
31g cocoa powder
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Ganache:
150g heavy cream
300g dark chocolate couvertures

Print this recipe
METHOD
For the Chocolate Mudcake:
Preheat oven to 150°C. Grease and line base and sides of 2 cake pans with parchment paper.

Combine chopped butter, chopped chocolate, coffee and water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool for 15 minutes, then transfer mixture to bowl of mixer.

Add caster sugar to the mixture and beat well until dissolved. Add sifted flour, cocoa powder, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla extract.

Pour mixture into prepared pans. If possible, use a digital kitchen scale and weigh pans for even layers. Bake for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until a tester inserted in the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely in the pans.

For the Chocolate Ganache:
Heat the heavy cream over medium heat just until small bubbles begin to form. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk gently until fully melted and combined.

Let cool until it is of spreadable consistency.

ASSEMBLY
Slice the cake layers in half horizontally, using a cake leveler or a large serrated knife and place flat side down on your cake board, pedestal, or plate.

Using a small offset palette knife, spread ganache evenly on the top. Repeat this with remaining cake layers, until you come to the final layer, which you will place with the flat side up.

Place cake on a turntable, and using a offset palette knife, cover the cake in a thin layer of ganache to seal in crumbs. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (or more). *This does not need to be perfect, as that will come with the top "coat" of ganache.

Repeat the previous step and for best results, use bench scraper held at 90° against the side of the cake, slowly turning the turntable and keeping your hand steady--let the turntable do the work. Clean up edges with your small offset palette knife. Chill the cake.

NOTES
If baking the recipe in one pan, be sure to bring your parchment paper 5cm above the side of pan.

The chocolate looks plain on its own so I toasted some hazelnuts for decoration, no hazelnuts were added into the batter.

(Bake & Bait // Recipe from Pam, CakeCentral)

21 comments

  1. This is beautiful! What a pretty cake, and a pretty blog!

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    1. Thank you Rebecca! I enjoy reading your blog as well, can't wait to try that meatball recipe!

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  2. oh my goodness! Gorgeous cake! and dude, your frosting job is perfection. love this!

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    1. Thank you Alice, your blog is amazing!

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  3. This is such a stunning looking cake! It sounds totally divine too!

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    1. Thank you Rosie! Let me know if you try this recipe, it's really delicious!

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  4. This cake looks delicious I am going to be making it very soon the only thing I intend to change is that I will be making a praline ganache

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  5. ive just made this cake, its baking as i type!- the mixture seemed rather runny though i hope thats right!

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    1. Not to worry! The mixture is very runny but it will bake perfectly fine! I hope the cake turned out well for you!

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  6. Hi ! the recipe is for 1 6inch pan portion? I'm searching chocolate mud cake recipe through out the internet and google brings me here! Hope to try on this delicious looking cake as i really like choc mud cake a lot !!

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    1. Hi XF, the recipe is for one 6 inch cake, you can make it in 1 or 2 layers, the entire cake will measure about 4 inches. This is my favourite chocolate cake, so insanely rich and decadent, I hope you love it as much as I do!

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  7. Can you cook this in one 6" pan? If so, is the cooking time different?

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    1. Hi there! Sorry for the late reply, I've been having trouble receiving notifications recently. I wouldn't advise baking this in just one 6" pan, it will form a dome at the top and crack apart. If you only have one 6" pan, you can try baking it at once, but you'll have to trim off the dome.

      The cooking time should still be around 60 - 90 minutes, keep your eye on the cake and test it at 60 minutes. It's not easy to overbake this cake, so don't worry.

      Let me know if you've tried it!

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  8. i gave this recipe a go however I am undercooking it. any advice. i follow the recipe

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    1. You might have been filling your pans too high. This recipe tends to work better when you bake it in several baking pans - you get even layers with no crack and they bake faster. If you prefer to bake the entire recipe in one pan, just increase the baking time until a tester comes out with crumbs. Hope this helps!

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  9. What is the shelf life on this cake roughly without refrigeration?

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    1. Depends on your climate, I would leave it out for 3 days at most.

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  10. Hi,
    this recipe sounds just what I'm looking for and I'm just wondering would this be suited to making Mud Muffins, in your normal sized muffin pans, and if so would you change the recipe and cooking times in any way?
    Thanks
    Neil

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    1. Hi Neil, you can certainly make mud muffins with this recipe, in fact it sounds like a fantastic idea! I would bake them for about 15 - 20 minutes at the same temperature until a tester comes out with a few crumbs. There's a chance you might get cracked domes though, just a heads up. Let me know how they turn out!

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  11. Hi!
    beautiful cake! I am looking for a chocolate mud cake that is dense enough for cake carving, would this be suitable?
    if so a few questions. Is it suitable for covering in fondant, and would it last a couple of days covered in fondant if not refrigerated?
    And lastly, can I omit the coffee?

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    1. Hello! This cake is very dense and definitely suitable for carving. As for it lasting without refrigeration, that would depend greatly on your climate and temperature. The coffee just brings out the chocolate flavour more, you can omit it without any issues. Hope this helps!

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