Full disclosure: the original title of this indulgent treat was Triple Fudge Cake. Descriptive? Yes, but not nearly as descriptive as it should be.
This full of chocolatey-goodness cake is a gift from the way-back time machine. What makes this dessert so phenomenal?
- It’s insanely easy to create (insanely easy, you don’t even have to crack an egg)
- It’s incredibly moist & fudgy
- It’s sweet & satisfying without being overly rich
- It makes your mouth water just looking at it
- One word: chocolate
- One more word: walnuts
- It’s self-frosted
- Did I mention it was insanely easy to make?
Enough talk. Judge for yourself. I’ll provide the recipe, you tell me if you don’t agree—this is exactly the kind of dessert that makes you feel guilty for even THINKING about buying or serving a store-bought cake.
Last thought: I urge all you from-scratch bakers not to be put off by this cake’s fabulous simplicity; otherwise, you are missing the point.
Easy Fudgy Chocolate Pudding Cake
(recipe from the Betty Crocker’s Cake and Frosting Mix Cookbook, circa 1960’s)
- 1 package (about 4 ounces) chocolate pudding and pie filling (Cook ‘n Serve, not Instant)
- 1 package Betty Crocker Devils Food Cake Mix
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts ( I suggest Walnuts)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for baking.
Assembly
In a medium-large saucepan, cook chocolate pudding mix as directed on the package. Blend cake mix (dry mix only) thoroughly into hot pudding by hand or with an electric mixer, 1 to 2 minutes. Pour into a greased and floured 13×9x2 baking dish. Sprinkle top of batter with chocolate morsels and nuts. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Serve warm or cold, with whipped cream if desired.
Note: It’s a bit unorthodox to test this cake’s doneness using a toothpick, as the cake will remain somewhat moist when done. I suggest baking for 35 minutes, then removing from oven and allowing to cool thoroughly before cutting.
Variations: The original Betty Crocker recipe suggests experimenting with other chocolate cake mix flavors for variety. That said, the Devils Food Cake Mix this recipe calls for produces fabulous results.
Enjoy!
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Hey, I love a good doctored up cake mix recipe once in a while! It’s sort of surprising how good they are sometimes. Self frosting? Sounds great!
self-frosted, you say? i’m intrigued!
Oh – this is what I need right this very minute. Look at that chocolate! MMMMMMM!
Simple! Fudgy! Anything self-frosted can’t be bad. That sort of chocolate gets consumed in one sitting, that’s for sure.
How Sandre Lee of you, hee hee. Looks good.
I’ve had chocolate on my mind all day today–you’re not helping, lol! These sound very tasty
chocolate from three separate sources? i’ll take it, and i’ll eat it, and i’ll love it. the picture alone is reason enough to make it!
RecipeGirl – I was surprised by this recipe myself. I put off making it for days, thinking, “Anything that fast, from that much prepared foods can’t be delicious.” I was wrong. This cake, no matter what it’s prepared from (prepackaged and all), is fabulous!
Michelle – Self-frosted it is, and it’s lick-the-frosting good. Thanks for dropping by!
Kristen – Is there anything a little dose of chocolate can’t fix?
Marilyn – It’s a little rich to consume in one sitting. How about one day?
Pietra – I’ll take that as a compliment, and thank you for yours on how good this cake looks!
Mike – Easy AND tasty…that’s the best part! Chocolate on the mind all day, huh? Maybe I AM becoming psychic (referring to my Plum Chocolate Cheesecake post, that is).
Grace – Yes. Chocolate from 3 separate sources! Now, perhaps I’ll add a touch of instant coffee granules to the batter next time and kick it up a notch further. What do you think?!
Hi! Love your website. I tried this recipe and am thinking I must have done something wrong…the batter turned into a big spongey blob and didn’t so much pour into my pan as “plop”. ( : They taste pretty good, tho a bit spongey. any tips on what might have gone wrong? Thank you!! I used cook and serve pudding, Pillsbury cake mix, etc.
Lisa – Hi, thanks for your comment.
I’m not sure what could have gone wrong with your cake. Did you use the small package of Jello Cook & Serve pudding (and you cooked it according to directions)? I used a Betty Crocker cake mix, but I wouldn’t think your use of a Pillsbury mix would make any difference. There are so few ingredients used in this fudge cake, it’s hard to say.
Rest assured, the batter of this cake is supposed to be thick, dense, and somewhat fudgy, and more plop than pour. This recipe won’t produce ANYTHING resembling a traditional cake batter because of the use of cooked pudding in the cake mix.
The finished cake does turn out somewhat spongy and fudgy as well (again, because of the pudding & cake mix combo), as compared to a traditional cake mix that is more moist and crumbly.
So in reality, this “cake” is nothing like a traditional cake. It’s naturally thick, dense, fudgy, and moist…almost like a cross between a thick, fudgy brownie and a cake.
Because the ingredients are so few, other than baking your cake for long enough, I doubt you did anything wrong. As I mentioned in this post, it’s hard to judge when this cake is done, as the toothpick method generally fails (because the cake is dense and fudgy, it will appear moist.) As long as you baked it for 35 minutes (erring longer on time versus shorter), I think you did just fine.
The more I think about it, perhaps it is the fact that this batter is nothing like traditional cake batter that’s throwing you off. Think thick, dense, fugdy brownie batter, as that’s a closer description than traditional cake batter. The end product should look like the results in my photo.
I don’t know if that helps at all, but I hope it clears up the batter mystery at least. If you have any other questions or comments, feel free to leave me a note.
Thanks again for taking the time to write!
Thanks so much for your thoughts, Sandie. I think you are absolutely right, the texture kind of threw me off, but not to worry; my nine year old proclaimed them “great!” and asked for them again soon. ( :
I looked at the original recipe on the Betty Crocker website and saw that they used an instant chocolate pudding. Out of curiosity, why did you choose a cook n serve pudding? Do you think it makes a difference in the cake? Your picture looks way more delicious than the one on the Betty website. http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes.aspx/chocolate-pudding-cake
Angelynn – In this post, note that I cited the 1960’s Betty Crocker Cake and Frosting Mix Cookbook as the original source of this recipe, not the current Betty Crocker website. It’s possible the folks over at Betty Crocker have just adapted this recipe over the years to suit their more popular products (assuming they sell more instant pudding than Cook ‘n’ Serve). That said, I can’t think of a reason why you couldn’t substitute instant pudding when making this cake, especially since Betty Crocker (as the original source of this recipe) indicates such. Both should work well, the only difference being personal preferences on taste and texture, although I’ve not made this cake using instant pudding so I can’t really speak from experience. If Betty Crocker sources suggest either or, I’m sure both varieties would work. Thanks for your question!
Hi Sandie ~ I’m thinking about turning your recipe into cupcakes for my birthday on Sunday. Any adjustments you think I should make? TX OODLES 4 POSTING THIS RECIPE!!! It’s like you were reading my mind… I kept thinking I wanted moist chocolate cake with choc. chips & walnuts, and then I found you!! I’m thinking about using royal icing w/instant coffee flavoring for the writing on the cupcake tops. All the best, pk, San Francisco, CA
PK – Hi there. Happy early birthday! I’m glad you are considering this recipe, but I encourage you to experiment with it once (prior to turning it into cupcakes) so there’s no disappointments—not that I don’t think they’ll turn out for you, it’s just that I’ve not tried it in cupcake form myself.
As the post says, this recipe produces a moist, fudgy cake that’s not like a traditional cake at all. While I typically cut the cake into bite-size squares and serve them as snacks, it would make me more comfortable if you did a trial run-through when baking them as cupcakes—just to make sure they hold form and are what you’re expecting. That said, if they bake up well in cupcake form, I’m quite sure you’ll love them.
P.S. About writing on the cupcake tops—since the top of this cake (or cupcakes) is bumpy due to the nuts & chocolate chips, how do you plan to write on them with icing? Might be hard to read…
Keep me updated and let me know how the cupcake experiment turns out!
Hi Sandie ~ Just following up on my cupcake question.
I ended up cutting them into squares like yours, and then placed each piece in a cupcake wrapper (aka “baking cup”). It turned out really cute, like they were little candies, and I avoided any sticking problems that may have resulted baking them in the wrappers as cupcakes.
I skipped the icing too, and just added a little instant coffee to the cake mix itself ~~~ yum, along with some extra chocolate chips and chopped walnuts! THEN, I topped it with MORE chocolate chips and chopped almonds. All my friends loved them!
The result was almost like a candy bar topping on this moist yummy chocolate cake! It was really good!
I have to stay I think they were even better a day later, and having been refrigerated! They seemed even denser, and the chocolate topping firmer.
All in all, I had a very good result for taking them to a parade, with no dishes or forks to toss out or to bring back home. Everything was recyclable, and, most importantly, delicious!
Thanks v-v much for your advice and for a great and super E-Z recipe!
All the best,
pk, SF~CA