Gooey Chocolate Decadence

Chocolate Pudding Cake

This is one of my favorite chocolate dessert recipes.  It is so simple, at it is great with so many different accompaniments (whipped creams, ice creams, fruit).  My favorite application is definitely with a big dollop of hazelnut whipped cream.  I made this dessert for the first time when we were going to our friends' house for dinner.  It was the perfect end to an awesome meal and everyone loved it.  There were no leftovers for me to take home which I (and my skinny jeans) appreciate.  If you love chocolate or even like it just a little bit, try this recipe, serve it warm with a creative topping and your friends will be begging for you to make this dessert again...trust me.

 My only tip for this recipe is to follow the directions.  It will sound weird, it will look weird, but it will turn out perfectly.  I promise.  Enjoy!

Chocolate Pudding Cake 
with Hazelnut Whipped Cream
Cake recipe adapted from Gooey Chocolate Pudding Cake


Ingredients:

Cake
3/4 C sugar
1 C all-purpose unbleached flour
1/4 C cocoa powder
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 C low fat buttermilk
1/3 C unsalted butter, melted
2 t vanilla extract

Topping
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C light brown sugar
1/4 C cocoa powder
1 C hot water

Hazelnut Whipped Cream
1 C heavy whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar
1-2 T Hazelnut-flavored syrup (I used Torani Sugar-Free Hazelnut)

Directions:


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Place a glass bowl in the freezer.

Whisk together dry cake ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix together buttermilk, butter and vanilla.  Pour wet into dry ingredients and stir until the mixture is smooth.  Pour into a baking dish (I use a 9" square or similar sized round glass baking dish).

Now, for the topping, whisk together sugars and cocoa.  Sprinkle mixture over cake batter.  Now, pour the hot water over the top.  Do not stir at all at this point.  This is where it looks weird and it looks like the cake is ruined, but you just have to resist the urge to stir the water into the batter.  The water on the top is what allows the cake to have that ooey, gooey, hot fudge-like pudding center!  Place in preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the center is just set.

Meanwhile, make the whipped cream.  Take the glass bowl out of the freezer.  Pour cold cream into bowl and beat on a medium-high to high speed with an electric mixer until it starts to thicken.  Add sugar gradually.  Add syrup to taste and continue beating until the cream is light, fluffy and holds peaks.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Remove cake from the oven and let it cool for about 20 min before serving with the hazelnut whipped cream on top.