I recall the title of the recipe to be something like "Impossible Cake" or "Pudding Cake," however Betty Crocker calls it "Hot Fudge Sundae Cake."
The intriguing aspect of it is that you make a cake batter then put a topping on it, pour on hot water, and bake it. In the process, the cake forms on top and the topping forms a sauce or pudding underneath. Who figured this out???
It is also interesting in that it has no eggs, which my friends who are allergic to eggs appreciate. They don't get cake often because of eggs. Finally, you mix the whole thing in the pan, cutting down on the amount of dishes to wash afterwards. This is excellent.
So let's run with Betty, using her recipe on page 258 of her 1984 printing of Betty Crocker's Cookbook.
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| ISBN 0-307-09800-1 Sunfaded from years of ownership. |
Hot Fudge Sundae Cake
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 3/4 cup hottest tap water
Ice cream
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| No ice cream. : ( |
Bake 40 minutes. While warm, spoon into dessert dishes and top with ice cream. Spoon sauce from pan onto each serving. 9 servings.
My Notes
I chose to use pecans for the optional nuts.
I was out of brown sugar, but did you know you can make it? I started with granulated sugar and mixed in enough molasses to make it resemble brown sugar. Using the wire attachment on my mixer did a good job of distributing the molasses. I didn't measure, but I would guess about 1 1/2 cups of sugar to about 1/3 cup molasses did it. There were some lumps that I pressed out and others I ignored. I noticed that the leftovers were even more like brown sugar after they had set overnight.
I didn't have a 9x9 pan but I used a rectangular pan that was close in volume to the square pan.
Use a fork to mix the dry ingredients together so you can reach the corners of the pan well.
Once the batter was made, I spread the chopped nuts over it and somewhat mixed them in with a fork.
Sprinkle the brown sugar and cocoa evenly over the entire surface of the batter.
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| Dry ingredients mixed and spread in pan. |
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| Now they are wet and spread in pan. |
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| Nuts on top and "mixed" in. |
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| Water added. |
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| Done! |
The Verdict
Notice the directions say to serve it warm, not hot. I learned earlier in life that when it is hot, the sauce is too runny and difficult to serve. When the cake is warm, the sauce is thicker. But also, when the leftovers are cold, the sauce is a definite pudding in texture.
It tasted exactly how I recalled it -- good! Chocolaty in a "from cocoa" point of view, sweet but not bad, and the sauce is a nice touch. I didn't have ice cream, but that didn't matter. I would have chosen vanilla to complement the "hot fudge" aspect and chocolate flavor.
The cake is definitely cake. This was the first time I had nuts with it, which I liked. So the texture was crunchy from the nuts, chewy from the cake, and creamy from the sauce. You really can't go wrong with this.
My guest taster thought it was rich. I don't think it was rich as compared to a cheesecake.
Success!
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| Cake above, pudding below. Amazing! |
Betty Crocker suggests modifications: use butterscotch chips or miniature marshmallows or raisins for the nuts. Or a mixture of peanut butter and peanuts for the nuts.
I would suggest (without having tried it) to use coffee instead of water and to include cinnamon or other sweet spices to enhance the flavors.
There is, on the next page, a similar recipe called "Lemon Pudding Cake" (can be modified to lime), if you are not interested in chocolate. It does call for eggs, though.
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