This super simple recipe for Hot Fudge Pudding Cake gives you both hot fudge and a brownie — just add a scoop of your favorite vegan ice cream for a quick and easy sundae.
This recipe comes from my grandmother’s infamous church cookbook. It perhaps isn’t so much “pudding cake” as as it is cake swimming in a warm pool of hot, fudgy goodness. Though I was at first taken aback by how wacky the recipe is — just pour hot water on top and bake? are you kidding? — I knew I had to try it because it might be the only accidentally vegan recipe in the entire cookbook. Whether we’re talking casseroles or vegetable side dishes, other recipes in this particular cookbook contain, on average, 5-7 animal products each. The contributors to this book evidently believe a dish isn’t complete if it doesn’t include mayonnaise, buttermilk, sour cream, and heavy cream. As such, I like to think this sugar-laden dessert is like health food to Midwesterners.
Okay, so maybe not. The end result is a thin layer of chocolate cake with a brownie-like crust on top and drenched in warm chocolate sauce. It’s very sweet and sticky, and would probably hold up just fine if you reduced the brown sugar and increased the cocoa powder. For a fun twist, you could fold in chopped walnuts or stir in a teaspoon of vanilla or hazelnut extract.
- 1 c flour
- ¾ c sugar
- 2 Tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 Tbsp vegan butter, melted
- ½ c vegan milk
- 1 c brown sugar
- ¼ c cocoa powder
- 1¾ c hot water
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Put some water on to boil.
- Sift together flour, sugar, 2 Tbsp cocoa powder and baking powder.
- Stir in vegan milk and butter and spread mixture as well as you can into an ungreased 8×8″ pan. It’ll be thick, so don’t worry about making it perfect.
- In a separate bowl, stir together brown sugar and ¼ c cocoa powder.
- Sprinkle mixture (it’ll seem like a lot!) over batter.
- Pour hot water over batter.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Serve immediately, cut into squares with some of the sauce spooned on top, plus a dollop of vegan vanilla ice cream or fresh slices of banana.
6 comments
britt says:
Oct 18, 2012
This looks so good, I’ll have to try it once I get more flour.
Sal says:
Oct 18, 2012
I make a similar one to this quite often (the recipe is in one of Sarah Kramer’s books but I forget which). It’s sooo good. Mine never comes out as pretty as yours though – it’s usually a volcanic mess! hahaha, tastes good though.
Dawn (Vegan Fazool) says:
Oct 18, 2012
I’ve been tempted a number of times over the past years to make this genre of ‘pudding cake.’ You reminded me, yet again, that I want to try it!
Looks great.
Julia says:
Nov 11, 2012
I just made this (with canola oil instead of vegan butter) and DANG. It’s so good.
Ruth Anne says:
Nov 16, 2012
I have one of these in the oven right now. It’s so easy my 8 year old did most of it and was thrilled there was no dairy milk so she could have some. She licked the bowl and was thrilled when I poured hot water over the mixture…she yelled how cool that was…lol. I will let you know how it turns out:)
olivia says:
Apr 11, 2013
Just died a little inside. NOM!