Chocolate Pudding Cake
Why I Love This Recipe
This cake, which makes its own pudding as it bakes, is one I love to make for company. It's best warm, right out of the oven. Growing up, I remember my mom making one for my dad for his birthday every year. It seemed like magic! Later, I found a recipe in a "retro desserts" cookbook.
Bake it and it magically makes its own sauce -- separating into layers of cake and puding. Bake in a greased 9x9 inch square or 10 inch round pan. A casserole dish would also work, especially since you should serve them right away.
Ingredients You'll Need
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 c. granulated sugar
Optional (I opt not): 3/4 c. chopped walnuts, pecans, or hazlenuts
3/4 c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 T unsalted butter, melted
1 c. lightly packed brown sugar
1 3/4 c. hot water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Directions
Put your oven rack in the middle and preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 2-quart baking dish.
Into a large bowl, sift the flour, 1/4 cup of the cocoa, the baking poder, salt, and granulated sugar. Stir in the nuts if you're using them, along with the milk, vanilla, and melted butter. Spread this batter in the prepared pan.
In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar and remaining 1/4 c. of cocoa. Sprinkle this on top of the batter. In another small bowl, mix the hot water and vanilla and pour that over the cocoa.
Bake the whole thing for 30 minutes, until the top layer is set and just starts to pull from the sides of the dish. The "toothpick test" will not work! Serve warm, straight away!
