Chocolate fudge cake
Serves: 12
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Kris Kirkham
Chocolate fudge cake
Next time you need a celebration cake, make this your go-to bake. Six layers of moist, buttermilk-rich, chocolate cake sandwiched together with an intensely decadent chocolate frosting. Resistance is futile
Serves: 12
Prep time: 40 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
896Kcal
Fat
43gr
Saturates
19gr
Carbs
113gr
Sugars
92gr
Fibre
4gr
Protein
10gr
Salt
1.6gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
For the cake layers
- 300g golden caster sugar
- 150g light brown sugar
- 300g plain flour, sifted
- 100g fine dark cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- 5 medium eggs
- 250ml buttermilk
- 200ml vegetable oil, plus extra to grease
- 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
For the frosting
- 200g dark chocolate (about 72% cocoa solids)
- 500g icing sugar
- 50g fine dark cocoa powder
- 300g soft salted butter
- ½ tsp sea salt flakes
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 6 tbsp hazelnut or almond liqueur (or use milk if you prefer)
- chocolate shavings to decorate (see ‘Kitchen tip’), optional
Step by step
- Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160C, gas 4. Grease and line three 18cm diameter cake tins. Mix all the dry ingredients for the cake together. Beat the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla bean paste together in a jug or bowl. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients. Beat well until you have a smooth batter then divide between the prepared cake tins. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until a cake skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
- For the frosting, break the chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the base of the bowl. Heat until the chocolate has melted, then remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
- Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa powder to remove any lumps. Beat the butter in a large bowl until creamy then add half of the icing sugar and cocoa powder mixture. Beat until combined, then add the rest of the mixture and continue to beat. Slowly mix in the cooled chocolate along with the salt, vanilla and liqueur or milk until smooth.
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Level the top of the cakes if necessary and slice each in half horizontally. Place one cake layer on a stand or plate and cover with a layer of frosting. Stack the cakes with frosting between each layer and then cover the top and sides with the remaining frosting, swirling with a palette knife. Decorate with chocolate shavings, if using. Leftovers keep for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container.Kitchen tipTo make chocolate shavings, melt 50g chopped chocolate with 1 tsp butter. Spread thinly over an upturned baking tray; chill until firm but not rock hard. Drag a large kitchen knife or a cheese slicer across the chocolate to form curls, pressing down slightly as you go. If the chocolate cracks rather than curls, let it soften for a bit longer at room temperature. Chill the curls until needed.
