Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake

Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake… What more could I possibly say? With TWO different cocoa powder tests, see the different results for yourself!

HERSHEY’S Hot Fudge Chocolate Pudding Cake Recipe

This is the dessert you’ve all been waiting for. Step aside pumpkins and pecans because THIS is your new favourite dessert. Totally non-traditional, and I think 99% of us really don’t care. When my daughter tagged me in a picture of a hot fudge chocolate pudding cake on Instagram, it was love at first sight. With heartbeats skipping and a taking my breath away type situation, I ran to the kitchen to make one — or five.

Cake PLUS Sauce

Do you see this perfect, crisp top? Yeah, I see it too. And did you see the fudgy chocolate sauce on the bottom? Well…take this warning if you will: don’t dip your finger to taste test it because you will end up with chocolate sauce all over your mouth — and none left in the dish to serve for everyone else. The original recipe from Hershey’s was a little rich for our liking, so this recipe has been toned down JUST A LITTLE, and made to be a little less in calories without screwing up the taste or texture. That way, you can serve with a little ice cream. Like my logic?

How To Make Pudding Cake

It is so easy to make this cake! All you do is mix your batter and pour it into your dish. THEN mix together a sugar/cocoa DRY MIX>sprinkle it over the top>pour it over the dry mixture>bake>try-not-to-eat-the-whole-entire-pan. In a test bake, I used both:

dark cocoa powder — almost like a dutch processed cocoa powder shown in the above photographs normal unsweetened cocoa powder — like Hershey’s regular unsweetened brand photographed below

We did this to show you the different results between the two cocoa powders.

Taste Test

The darker pudding cake photographed at the top of this post yields a richer and almost bitter-sweet chocolate flavour. Think Lindt 70% dark chocolate. The normal, unsweetened cocoa powder pictured here and below yields a milder, almost milk-chocolate taste. This is the one my family prefers. Personally, I prefer the darker one. Which one do you prefer? Let me know in the comments below!