Dad Cake - aka Chocolate Pudding Cake
A nostalgic, easy to make, self-saucing chocolate cake for Father’s Day (or anytime you need something warm and gooey)
I’m sharing today’s recipe in honor of Father’s Day, and my dad John, aka JB, aka J-Beezy, in particular. He used to talk about a cake his mom made for him growing up in Montreal. He said it was a chocolate cake that she poured boiling water on top of before putting it in the oven, and he LOVED it.
My dad has always loved chocolate and is not to be trusted with any chocolate left around the house or in the pantry. He WILL find it. Here are some of my fav pics I have of him on my phone. He’s quite the character as you can see. When he met my mom, he told her he was the Marlboro Man. You decide:
I finally found a recipe that sounded right when I was a teenager (pre-internet, mind you! this was the early 90’s), and started making it for him then on his birthday and Father’s Day. I called it Dad Cake. Very original I know.
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It’s a very simple chocolate cake batter with standard ingredients. You could probably whip it up right now. I LOVE those kinds of recipes. The magic is in the boiling water you add: when poured over the batter before baking, it combines with cocoa powder and brown sugar to form a rich, gooey sauce that somehow sinks under the cake as it bakes, like built-in hot fudge that you spoon over the cake as you serve it.
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I like to serve this warm from the oven (let it cool at least ten minutes) with vanilla ice cream. The contrast is dreamy. But I also love sneaking forkfuls of it cold from the fridge, late at night. The texture changes, but the gooey bottom stays delicious. In fact, it’s kind of fantastic like that.
I like a good dark cocoa like Valrhona, but you can go old-school with Hershey’s or something similar for a sweeter, but still very chocolatey flavor. Dark brown sugar gives you a deeper, richer sauce, but light brown works great too
Don’t overbake it. You want it bubbling like a volcano when it comes out of the oven—this ensures it’s gooey and saucy on the bottom.
And happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!
Dad Cake - Chocolate Pudding Cake
Serves 8
Ingredients
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1⅓ cups (310 g) granulated sugar
1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
½ cup milk
2 oz. unsweetened bakers chocolate, melted*
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ cup (100 g) dark brown sugar
3 rounded Tbsp (45 g) cocoa powder
1½ cups boiling water
* If you can’t find unsweetened bakers chocolate, use a super dark chocolate-something in the 80–90% range
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9x9-inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until just combined.
Add the milk and stir gently.
Fold in the melted chocolate and vanilla extract until smooth.
Spread the batter evenly in your prepared pan.
In the same bowl (no need to clean it), whisk together the brown sugar, cocoa powder, and boiling water until the sugar dissolves.
Carefully pour this chocolate mixture over the batter in the pan. Don’t stir.
Bake for about 50-60 minutes, until the top looks firm but is still bubbling in pockets.
Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Spoon the bottom sauce over the top and serve with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream
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