Chocolate Mud Cake

This decadent chocolate mud cake is incredibly moist and fudgy with a thick layer of chocolate ganache on top. It's beautiful in its simplicity but is surprisingly simple to make. Made with dark chocolate - it's the perfect cake for true chocolate lovers!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Australian

Keyword Chocolate Mud Cake, Dense Chocolate Mud Cake

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 1 30

Cooling 4

Total Time 6 10

Servings pieces

Calories 733kcal

Author Fiona Dowling

Equipment

20 cm loose-bottom cake pan with 10 cm sides (see recipe notes for pan alternatives)

Ingredients

Chocolate Mud Cake

¾ cup unsalted butter (170 grams)
7 ounces dark chocolate (200 grams) finely chopped
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder or 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1 cup hot water (240 ml)
2 cups all-purpose flour (250 grams) AKA plain flour
⅓ cup cocoa powder (30 grams)
1 ¾ cup granulated sugar (350 grams) AKA caster sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream (240 ml) from the tub (I used 18% MF)

Chocolate Ganache

8 ounces dark chocolate (226 grams) I used 50%
¾ cup whipping cream (180 ml)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Chocolate Mud Cake

Preheat the oven to 150C fan forced (300F convection bake) or 160C (325F) in a conventional oven.
Using a 20 cm (8 inch) loose-bottom cake pan with 10 cm (4 inch) sides, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Then line the sides with a strip of baking paper.
Add the butter, chocolate, water and instant coffee powder to a large saucepan over low heat. Melt everything together and gently stir until smooth and melted.
Remove from the heat and pour the mixture into a very large bowl. Let cool slightly.
In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Once the chocolate mixture is no longer very hot (it can still be slightly warm), whisk in the eggs. Then stir in the sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Whisk the mixture until smooth. You can use an electric mixer if you prefer.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 75 - 90 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with a few damp crumbs. If you gently press the top of the cake with your finger, it shouldn't move. Or if you gently nudge the pan, the cake shouldn't wobble.
Cool the cake in the pan for at least 30 minutes, then turn the cake out and continue cooling on a wire rack.

Chocolate Ganache & Decorating

Once the cake is fully cooled, optionally, use a serrated knife to gently saw off the rounded top.
Chop the chocolate into very fine pieces and place in a heat-proof bowl.
Heat the cream until almost boiling.
Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 3-5 minutes. Then whisk until smooth. If the chocolate hasn't quite melted, microwave on medium power (about 500 watts) for 30 seconds.
Optionally, pour the ganache over the the cake and let it drip over the sides. Or let the ganache cool for about 30 minutes, then spread it over the top of the cake.

Notes

This recipe can also be baked in a 23 cm (9 inch) pan with 6 cm (2.5 inch) sides. The bake time will be 60-75 minutes at the same temperature.
I used 70% dark chocolate for the cake and 50% dark chocolate for the ganache. I do not recommend using anything stronger than 70% for the cake, or it can be too bitter. Using 50% dark chocolate in the cake will result in a slightly sweeter cake.
Store cake covered in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Nutrition information is an estimate only and based on 1 slice with ganache, assuming that the cake is sliced into 10 equal pieces. Each piece will be very rich - so you could probably get 12 pieces from this recipe.

Nutrition