The perfect Chocolate Fudge Cake covered in a creamy real chocolate buttercream. Two layers of buttery chocolate cake that sticks to your fork, paired with the ultimate chocolate frosting – heaven!
Get ready to swoon 💕
Today, we’re talking all things chocolate. More specifically, Chocolate Fudge Cake with creamy real chocolate frosting. I’ve been eating this Chocolate Fudge Cake ALL week so I know firsthand just how butter-licious it really is.
Two layers of beautifully soft and moist chocolate cake with a thick layer of chocolate buttercream. Who’s with me?!
On Monday, I shared with you my favourite chocolate frosting. I pull it out on every special occasion because it’s THAT good. You can use it on almost any cake or cupcake, but paired with my favourite Chocolate Fudge Cake? H-E-A-V-E-N.
This is one of those cakes where you’re not quite sure what’s better – the cake or the frosting. And while the frosting literally melts-in-your-mouth, I’d say this chocolate cake gives it a real run for its money.
Just like my favourite Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake, this cake uses sour cream for its enviable texture. That paired with butter, cocoa powder and all the good things that every chocolate cake needs, means you end up with one special dessert.
It’s actually three days away from my birthday, so I’ve decided to give this cake to myself – Happy birthday to meeeee! Maybe that’s how I can justify eating three slices. But who I am kidding? Stick this cake in front of my face ANY day of the year, and I’m head over heels.
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So if you have a birthday or dinner party or ANY kind of celebration at all coming up soon, please make this Chocolate Fudge Cake. If your guests are chocoholics like me, they will go mad for this fudgy temptation.
Just two layers of perfect chocolate cake covered in perfect chocolate buttercream. No fancy decorations (although you know I love that) or candy or fancy frosting. Just a good old-fashioned chocolate cake that’ll make you swoon – promise!
TIPS FOR MAKING CHOCOLATE FUDGE CAKE
- I have made chocolate cakes with both oil and butter. Both work just fine but I do think butter gives this cake a beautiful, rich flavour.
- The recipe begins by creaming the butter and sugar together, so you will need an electric mixer. Just make sure your butter is at room temperature and not too cold.
- Sour cream takes this cake over the top. Use full fat sour cream – we’re not on diets when it comes to chocolate cake.
- When you add the dry ingredients, use a wooden spoon or spatula so you don’t over mix the cake batter. This will ensure your cake is soft and tender.
- The hot water is important – don’t skip it! Your batter will still be quite thick – this is ok.
- The cakes will be ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely before stacking and frosting.
HOW TO MAKE PERFECT BUTTERCREAM
- I recently shared my recipe for the Best Chocolate Frosting. That’s what I used for this Chocolate Fudge Cake.
- It’s perfect because it’s thick, creamy and so tasty that you don’t need to decorate the cake with anything else – this frosting is everything 💕
- I’ve written a whole stack of tips for making perfect buttercream HERE.
Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.
Let’s Bake
Chocolate Fudge Cake
A beautiful Chocolate Fudge Cake covered in chocolate buttercream.
Ingredients
Chocolate fudge cake
- 230 gram (1 cup or 2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 200 grams (1 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 135 grams (3/4 cup) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 280 grams (2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 60 grams (3/4 cup) cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 120 ml (1/2 cup) hot water
- 240 ml (1 cup) sour cream, room temperature
Chocolate fudge frosting
Instructions
- Grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans with baking or parchment paper. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced.
- In a large mixing bowl, add butter and sugars and beat with an electric mixer until pale and creamy.
- Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, and continue to beat until mixture is combined and creamy. Boil the kettle and pour out 1/2 cup water and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, sift plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt and lightly whisk.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet, along with the hot water and gently fold with a spatula. Finally, add the sour cream and fold until the mixture is completely combined and smooth. It will be quite thick – this is fine.
- Divide chocolate batter into prepared cake pans and bake for approximately 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool for about 10 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make a batch of real chocolate buttercream and cover the middle, top and sides of the chocolate cakes.
Deanne says
Can I bake this in a 9×13 pan? Or would this be too much batter? I need to make a cake for grandson’s b-day. It’s a theme cake. Also, it’s very very hot here and worried about the frosting melting. Any tips? Thank you!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Deanne, yes you can! I make a very similar Sheet Cake using a 9×13 inch pan. Just keep the frosting refrigerated for as long as possible – but it should be ok!
Isabel says
Hi,
Im planning on making this cake for my grandmas 70th in a few weeks but my grandma loves dark chocolate so i was wondering, compared to the percentage of a chocolate bar how dark would it be. Also if its quite a sweet chocolate how would i be able to make it darker with it still being nice for younger children with a sweet tooth. Also all of your recipes are amazing so im sure it will be great if i cant make it darker. Thank you xx
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Isabel, I’m excited you are going to try this one. I recommend keeping the cake as is, as the sugar will give it the perfect taste and texture. But to ensure it’s not too sweet, I would use a nice dark chocolate for the frosting. I usually use 70% cocoa, but you could even do 80% if you like. And you could use less frosting to cut down the sweetness – and freeze any leftovers for another time. I hope that answers your question?
Ashleigh says
My kids and I love this cake. We have it every year for our Birthdays 😊. I was wanting to try it as cupcakes this year. If I half the recipe how many cupcakes would it make and how long would I need go bake them for?
Thank you
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Ashleigh! If you halved it, it would likely make around 14-16 cupcakes. I usually bake my cupcakes for 16-18 minutes or until they spring back lightly to the touch. I hope that helps!
Celia says
Made this for my Father in law’s birthday today and it was beautiful! The kids all wanted second helpings 🙂 Thanks for this lovely recipe
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so happy to hear that Celia! Thank you for the lovely feedback.
Brawny says
Hi Jess, I can’t wait to try this recipe, it looks absolutely heavenly! I was just wondering what your thoughts are on espresso powder. Do you think it would clash with the sour cream in any way? I’m new to baking, and I don’t yet know what ingredients work well together, and which don’t.
Thanks so much!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Brawny, yes you could definitely add some espresso powder. The easiest way would be to add it to the hot water and give it a stir to dissolve it and then continue with the recipe as written.
Reggie says
Absolutely delicious. I only used a quarter of the frosting just for the top frosting. I make sour cream cake and had the frosting left over and I used it for the filling for the fudge cake. They were a great hit fo my 12th birthday party yesterday. Thank you
Jessica Holmes says
Aw so glad to hear that Reggie!
lori says
i wanted to love this cake so much but i have no clue where i went wrong. ingredients were fresh, didn’t over mix, checked oven temp, took the cake out at the earliest time set. so i’m guessing i should have checked it sooner than the minimal baking time. it was dry. oh well. not a fan of using parchment paper for cakes so if i try to make this again, hopefully greasing and flouring will suffice.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lori, I’m sorry the cake turned out dry for you. Did you make any changes to the ingredients? The sour cream should ensure the cake has a soft and tender texture. Did you use a scale to measure your ingredients? Adding too much flour and/or cocoa – which is very easy to do when using cups – will result in a dry cake. And then, as you mentioned, overtaking will also make any cake dry. Perhaps get hold of an oven thermometer to double check your oven isn’t running hot.
lori says
hi jessie, i appreciate your reply. no, i use the standard measuring cups, not a scale. i will have to check the oven temp again. the cake itself looked phenomenal, just tasted dry. again, i appreciate your reply!!!
Jessica Holmes says
I think you’ll find the cups will be the issue. It’s so easy to add a little too much flour or cocoa and that will definitely make the cake dry. If you have a scale, I do encourage you to try again and see the difference it makes. Thanks again for trying one of my recipes.
Sam says
This may be too late by time you have seen this. However I had a quick question. So I can get the two layers, can I use a 7.5 inch pan? Otherwise I only have a bigger one – 12/13 inch I think, poss nine. I would have to check.
Thanks x
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Sam, you can use two 7.5 inch pans, the layers will be slightly thicker so may taken a few minutes to bake. I hope you enjoy it!
Shaan says
Hi, what’s the difference in relation to the texture of the cake itself between this cake and your chocolate mud cake? My husband’s birthday is coming up and I want to make him the richest chocolate fudge cake with some added decorations on top 🙂
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Shaan, great question! This cake is lovely and buttery but it is a soft sponge (more like a regular cake), whereas the Chocolate Mud Cake has real chocolate in it so offers a denser, more rich texture. You can’t go wrong either way! 😉
Shaan says
Thanks so much!! I went with the chocolate mud cake, doubled up on the recipe as well as using your chocolate frosting recipe and added chocolate ganache. I cannot even describe how well it came out. Thank you again.
Jessica Holmes says
Sounds incredible Shaan! So pleased it worked out.
Susie says
I want to make this cake for my coeliac grandkids. Can I substitute free from flour instead of the 280 grams of all purpose flour? Recipe sounds great!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Susie, I haven’t tried this recipe with gluten free flour so I can’t say. It could be worth trying though, or give my Gluten Free Chocolate Cake recipe a go. It’s really good too.
Isis says
Ya lo hice y me supo delicioso. Muchas gracias por compartir. Y me gustaría saber si podría quedar bien con la mitad de azúcar.
Jessica Holmes says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I don’t recommend reducing the sugar as it will affect the final result. Sugar not only adds sweetness but moisture too, so it will affect the overall texture.
Nondini says
The cake was wonderful and will always be my go to chocolate cake from now on … I made a few changes as didn’t have the ingredients immediately available .. used yoghurt instead of sour cream and jagerry powder instead of brown sugar .. gave the cake a richness and probably reduced the sweetness a bit which was spot on for my family.
Jessica Holmes says
Love hearing that Nondini. Thank you for the feedback!
Nondini says
After I started on the cake realised couldn’t find my second 8 inch pan so I baked it in. 9.5 inch square spring form took about 50 mins at 180 … Smells wonderful waiting for it to cool
Jessica Holmes says
I hope you enjoy it!
Solyana Habte says
Hi,
I made this cake and mistakenly forgot to add the brown sugar I only added the white. Will the cake still come out okay? Thank you.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, unfortunately that will change the result quite a bit. How did it go?
Solyana says
Hi, thank you for your reply. The cake was a bit dry.
Jessica Holmes says
Yes that makes sense since sugar adds moisture.
Loida says
Hi Jessica,
If I spread this in 3 6-inch pans, how long will I have to bake it? Thanks!
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Loida, the cakes will take around the same amount of time, but they may cook just slight faster so I’d check them at the 30 minute mark. Hope you enjoy it!