PAM'S CHOCOLATE MUDCAKE

Good ‘ol Aussie mudcake – this recipe has been used for years – WELL over 15! It is a moist, dense cake that has great shelf life and is PERFECT for carving. Torted and ganached under fondant … mmmm mmmm

INGREDIENTS

20cm round – Double quantity does 24cm round 2-1/2 inch deep

250g unsalted butter
200g dark chocolate
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1-1/3 cups warm water
1-1/2 cups self raising flour
1 cup caster sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

DIRECTIONS

1. Grease and line base and sides of cake pan with one thickness of baking paper, bringing paper 5cm above side of pan.
2. Combine chopped butter, chopped chocolate, coffee, and water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Cool 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl of mixer.
3. Add caster sugar to mixture and beat well until dissolved. Add sifted flour and cocoa, lightly beaten eggs and vanilla.
4. Pour mixture into prepared pan.
5. Bake at 150′C for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Test with skewer. Cool cake in pan.

CROSS CONTINTENT NOTES …. rest of the world uses Metric! LOL
here’s your converter http://www.cathyskitchen.energyaustralia.com.au/articles/weights_and_measures_conversion
In Australia we use DRY cup measures as well as LIQUID cup measures – see end of converter for the DRY equivalents.
Caster sugar is a fine grained normal white sugar, Cocoa = cocoa powder (Dutch is best), Self-Raising flour = 1 cup all purpose flour + 2teaspoons of baking powder (Will add to this as the questions come flying in)

Comments (40)

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Thank you for the recipe, I have been wanting to try this, but was looking for conversion charts for baking. You have put it in one neat package!

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Forgot to add - caster sugar in the US is usually called superfine sugar! I made my own for an angel food cake by putting regular sugar in the food processer. - mainly because I was out of superfine and did not want to go to the store!

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I am sat here eating some cake made with this recipe. I just had to come and thank you for popping it on here. I didn't realise that I had never had proper mud cake until now! It is sooo delicious and soooo chocolaty :D One thing I did change add, was using 350ml of water instead, and then adding the juice and rind of 1 large orange, which I added just before adding the mix to the tin. Thanks once again xxx

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To add a little more ... this recipe works nice for cupcakes as well. I split the mixture into 2 muffin sized cupcake tins (made 12 cupcakes) and baked for 45 mins. They dipped a little in the middle, but that was great for adding a chocolate buttercream :D

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Im trying to find the Dutch cocoa powder. Is any difference between the unsweeted cocoa, the dark cocoa or the dutch? I'm sorry but I really don't know.

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for those who have all purpose flour and don't want to buy an extra bag to have the self rising... "Self-rising flour can be created by combining 1½ teaspoons of baking powder with a ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of all-purpose flour. This substitute equals one cup of self-rising flour."

I haven't tried this yet but I thought the info might be good to have.

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beautiful recipe! although im not quite sure id use it for carving, mine came out very crumbly and had a bit of trouble torting it... my top layer cracked..=( but apart from that its gorgeous...

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250g butter = 1 cup 200g dark chocolate = 7 oz

Yummy cake...Made a carved SUperbowl stadium cake...now going to try cupcakes!

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fantastic cake recipe unfailing please could you advise shelf life time my daughters wedding is this saturday 3rd april how soon can i make the cake thanks

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Does anyone know if I could add Bailey's Irish Cream to the recipe, or substitute it for the coffee? I've seen several blogs about Bailey's choc. mud cake, but I can't seem to find a recipe for it. Thanks, Katie

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I can't wait to try this recipe. I think adding some baileys is a good idea - I think it would be a good substitute for coffee, even Frangelico or something like that - at the end of the day, they're all liquids and as long as you add the same amount of any type, I can't see why it wouldn't work out.

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is it really good for carving? i'll be making a topsy turvy for the first time, my chocolate cake was so crumbly so im searching for a great chocolate cake the would never fail when it comes to carving.. this recipe sounds so yummy... any advice bakers.. much appreciated..=)

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I have had trouble with cakes crumbling in the past, I read a tip on cc to actually wrap cake well in plastic wrap and put in the freezer. When removed frozen it is sooo easy to carve, you don't get cake crumbling and it thaws out just as moist. remember to wrap Very well with cling wrap. (about 3-4 times. Regards leanne

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DO NOT try and carve this cake frozen - youwill slice your arm off.

It is a great cake for carving - BUT you need to let cake cool completely in the tin (the high level of chocolate in this cake means when it is warm it is still "liquid chocolate" - it needs to set and firm up. Whenever I have had people had issues with carving this cake or crumbling it has always been traced back to .... handling too soon, cutting a warm cake OR ..... using a crappy knife!!! you need to use a knife with large scalloped serrations - like a long bladed bread knife. And when you are separating 1inch layers, use a board to slip in between to help lift and carry that layer.

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Pam can you tell me please.. I baked this cake this afternoon and plan to fondant it tonight, how long wil it keep for do you think? I am very new to all of this so am just playing at this stage... thanks in advance Julia

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OMG! I have never had mud cake before, I'm not even a chocolate cake "liker". But...my next cake is for a dark chocolate lover so I decided to give it a try. It baked like a dream (high altitude), the slight dome went down as it was cooling and it won't even need leveling now. I tasted the batter and it was so, so good! Wonderful!!!!! I'll be using this under all of my fondant cakes that are requested in chocolate. Thanks Pam!!

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Made this cake for the first time this week & it was absolutely delicious! Baked it on Monday & served it Saturday & it was fresh as can be. Made a few cupcakes to see how it tasted - they lasted less than 24 hours! Thank you, so glad you posted this recipe. Any chance you have a caramel and white mudcake recipe of the same delicious calibre? :)

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10/10...AMAZING! Fellow Aussie looking for an AWESOME mud cake recipe... I look no more! I needed to make a 30.5cm (12 inch) cake so I TRIPLED the recipe, I thought it would take a lot longer to cook, so I only set oven to 140'C, but it still only took just over 1 and a half hours to bake. I did cool completely in tin, but thought if I tipped it upside down onto a wire rack, it would cool flat... it worked, but for some reason I lost about 1.5cm from one side during the cooling process... at least it was only one side and was still straight!

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Applegum - would you mind sharing the ganach recipe you used? I'm so afraid to try ganache. Does ganache always have to be semi sweet chocolate? Thanks so much.

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Unbelievablly great chocolate cake. I used Baileys instead of instant coffee and it came out great. I doubled the recipe to make 24 cupcakes. So rich we enjoyed with or without icing.

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Can this cake be adapted to make it a Caramel Mud Cake? I have been looking all over for a recipe for one that can for sure be carved successfully! If someone knows of another one, sharing it with me would be greatly appreciated. :)

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Thank you for sharing this recipe! I made this recently and have been getting rave reviews on how good it is. I can see why some people find it "crumbly", as it did not have the cake texture I am used to, but it still held together well for me. I found it easier to torte and stack!

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Back again...Found this back in January and it is my go-to, never fails, absolutely GLORIOUS, moist mud cake!!! mmmmmm!!!!! Have no idea why people find it crumbly at all... I have never had one turn out any less then super moist, rich and oh-so-perfect!!!!

I always use a choc ganache with a ratio of 400gms dark chocolate to 250gms unsalted butter... Have no idea what that is in ounces, But 250gm butter is about 1 cup.

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I made this cake tonight for the first time, and it was absolutely delicious!!!! I followed the directions exactly, and it came out perfect. I used the Wilton Soccer ball pan, and baked at 300 degrees Fahrenheit, for one hour and 15 minutes. Flawless, and delicious! I strongly recommend using Ghiradelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips, if you can find them (I am in the U.S., and they are made in San Fransisco). Makes for a super rich, super yummy cake!!!! I also converted measurements for others' convenience: 250g butter = 2 1/4 sticks, and 200g dark chocolate = 7.5 oz. Thank ApplegumKitchen for sharing this wonderful recipe. It's definitely my new "go-to" :-)

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I am a newbie, so please excuse the numb question. I promise to learn quickly and not ask the same questions over and over. So, I am doing my first carved cake (talk about in over my head). I have to make enough cake to fill (2) 8" pans, (3) 10'' pans and (2) Wilton Half Soccer Ball pans. Would I make 8x the recipe above to fill all these pans? Also, the search function on Cake Central has been returning an error message to me for about a week now so I can not search for a vanilla mud cake recipe. Do you have a recipe for that? Thank you so much for sharing your recipe Applegum. It is very generous for you to do so, as well as answer all the questions I am sure you are bombarded with. I really appreciate it. 

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Just wondering if anybody has made this in a 4 inch deep pan? If so how did it go and do you have any tips for me please? I am looking at doing in them in 58 and 11 inch round cake's please. Also do you think this cake would be too heavy to stack all three tiers if using deep pans and this recipe for each tier? Thanks

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I bake 4+ inches now - most of my cakes are minimum of 5 inches with ganache filling.
You will need to asjust a few things when cooking deep, larger cakes

I have done a blog post on this issue that you might find helpful   - not sure if links will work from here - but will give it a go


95% of Australian celebration cakes are mud cake - ganache filled - fondant covered - they stack well and are very sturdy cakes.
They WILL be heavy though - so best do those arm muscle exercises

https://www.learncakedecoratingonline.com/bake-big-cakes/


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Hi Pam, thanks for replying. I have the cakes in the oven now, just waiting for them to finish baking. I made the strips from your post and have the tents on, so hopefully they work out OK. so nervous!!


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Is the butter/chocolate/water mixture supposed to be liquid when cooled? I waited the 15 minutes but it is still runny. Not sure how to "beat" the sugar into a liquid. Seems like it should be a soft butter texture. ??

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Wonderful cake, I have 2 in the oven now and the smell is driving me crazy! How will I have the willpower to wait 3 days before munching on one of them is beyond me.

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i just tried baking this yesterday, it did take a long time to cool down so i leave it on the counter overnight and just stored it in the freezer this morning.

i cut just a wee bit to try and OMG, the cake is so chocolatey and moist, a must for chocolate lover! however, i did taste a hint of coffee, but maybe it's because my coffee is too strong, i will adjust the amount next time.

the link for conversion that you posted is not available anymore, so just in case anyone is looking for the weight conversion, i used the following:

1 cup flour = 128 gr (i use the AP flour + baking powder)

1 cup sugar = 200 gr

1 cup cocoa powder = 96 gr

i also mixed everything right into the saucepan that i used to melt the chocolate, i didn't use mixer at all, it didn't take much effort and time to get that smooth batter.

following Pam's suggestion in other threads, i collared the side of the pan a little bit higher and covered the top with aluminum foil for the entire baking process, no crack at all. though i forgot to use baking strips and ended up with a little dome; something to remember next time.

thank you so much for the recipe Pam :)