If you’re looking for the best ever chocolate mud cake then look no further because you will not find a rich chocolate mud cake recipe better than this one.
It’s the most moist chocolate cake, decadently rich, delicious, not too sweet and easy to make.
You pick up your cake fork and raise it to touch the top of the glossy icing.
As you press gently you meet no resistance from the thick layer of chocolate fudge icing goodness.
You can smell the richness and can’t wait to get it to your mouth.
As you reach the cake layer you press a little harder and the cake crumbles and squishes a little onto the fork.
You raise it to your mouth and get another whiff of intoxicating chocolate.
In case you’re looking for the best ever chocolate mud cake in a gluten-free version, here you go – best ever flourless chocolate cake.
It hits your lips and then the icing coats your teeth and lips like lipstick.
As soon as the flavour hits your tongue you want more of the tender crumb and smooth as silk icing. You’re in chocolate mud cake cake heaven.
Ok back you come. I so wish that there was a way you could smell this cake through the computer because I guarantee you’d be diving into your screen to get a taste.
This is my go-to mudcake recipe! I have used it for years and ALWAYS get rave reviews. I make it with either a white chocolate or dark chocolate ganache. It’s yummmmmmmm!Kate (mud cake recipe lover)
Yesterday, a friend emailed me asking for the best chocolate cake recipe.
‘I know you have a lot on the blog, but which would you say is best?’
Her question couldn’t have come at a better time because this is quite possibly the best ever chocolate mud cake.
I know there are a lot of different recipes out there but this one really is the perfect chocolate mud cake.
It's our go-to for any special occasions.
It’s the best that I’ve made that’s for sure.
I know it’s a big call but I can confidently say that (edit: and if you read the comments you’ll see others agree!).
Ingredients
To make the perfect cake you will need:
- Butter - good quality butter that comes in a foil-wrapped block
- Dark chocolate - the best quality you can get. If dark chocolate is a little too rich you can substitute ¼ of it with milk chocolate.
- Strong coffee - you can use instant espresso powder mixed with boiling water. Don't be put off if you don't like coffee. You can't taste it in the final cake but it adds a lovely depth to it.
- Caster sugar - also called superfine sugar
- Plain flour - or you can use spelt flour
- Baking powder
- Cocoa powder - adds extra chocolate flavor
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract - we like to use homemade vanilla extract
Of course that is just my opinion, feel free to make it just to prove me wrong (or back me up), any excuse to bake it will do.
Like a little mint with your chocolate? Then you might enjoy our choc-peppermint mud cake.
The recipe is quite similar to one I was given by my mum’s friend. It’s a secret recipe that I’m not allowed to blog, but this one, well this one I’m allowed to share and share it I will.
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C fan-forced and grease and line a 25cm springform cake tin with parchment paper. Alternatively, line 2 x 20cm round cake pan to make a double layer cake.
- In a small saucepan, melt butter, chocolate and hot coffee over low heat, stirring, until the chocolate has dissolved.
- Add the sugar to the pot and stir it in until it has dissolved too.
- Pour the wet chocolate mixture into a heat-proof bowl.
- Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder over the top of the wet ingredients and whisk them into the liquid then whisk in the eggs then the vanilla.
- Once everything is combined, pour the cake batter into the tin.
- Bake the cake for 1 hour or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin on a wire rack.
- Ice the cooled cake with chocolate fudge icing.
The cake is even better the next day.
I often make the cake at least a day in advance and ice on the day of serving.
The rich chocolate icing
I do love ganache but sometimes it can be a bit rich even to me.
I don’t know why.
Maybe it’s made with super duper rich chocolate?
My most favourite chocolate icing is chocolate fudge icing made with real chocolate.
It has no cream but a lot of butter, chocolate and brown sugar instead of icing sugar and it is just so light and fluffy and sweet and chocolatey and smooth and … do you get the picture?
You could also use a chocolate buttercream.
I posted this photo on Facebook the day I made the cake with the caption ‘I may have eaten a great deal of this icing as I iced the cake. Like if you’d have done the same.’
I got a few likes that day.
Sadly I wasn’t lying.
I really did eat quite a lot of icing and since then I’ve made it many many times and every time I end up eating copious amounts of icing from the dish.
The first time there was a bit left over and it would have been a shame to let it go to waste right?
The first time I made the best ever chocolate mud cake I served it for Valentine's Day dessert with some little raspberry hearts in cream (because I forgot to whip the cream and I was too lazy to do it after dinner - bad wife!).
Isn't that cake to icing ratio wonderful?
FAQs
Absolutely not, it's a good thing. The key to a fudgy chocolate cake is a nice runny chocolatey cake batter.
I’m not a fan of coffee and I have to say you can’t taste it at all. It just adds a nice richness to the cake. I will say though, make sure you’re using a good-quality vanilla extract rather than a vanilla essence.
Yes indeed you could make it in two loaf tins. I’d strongly advise lining them as well as greasing them.
I have used this recipe to bake cupcakes and other shapes in smaller sizes. You’ll just need to start checking on them a lot sooner so you don’t burn them.
I have made it up to 3 days in advance but I usually ice it at the earliest the day before serving. You can also make the cake up to 3 months in advance and freeze it.
To freeze wrap in plastic wrap then in aluminium foil. Make sure it is fully thawed to room temperature before icing.
Mississippi mud cake is essentially a mudcake that you top with marshmallows while it is still warm from the oven and then ice with chocolate icing. You could definitely use this classic mud cake recipe to make it.
If I still haven’t convinced you, the year I discovered it I made my own Birthday cake instead of asking for my most favourite cake in the world from Jocelyn’s Provisions.
Actually – funny story about that.
I made my cake and we went out to dinner with some family.
When we arrived we delivered the cake to the kitchen (in a cake box because I was a bit fancy).
It was one of those restaurants with an open kitchen and where I was seated, I could see straight into the kitchen.
We ate a delicious dinner and were having a great time and then I saw them preparing my cake.
I saw the guy take the cake out of the box then… promptly drop it upside down on the bench.
I thought it was pretty hilarious. But it got funnier.
They didn’t say anything to us. Not a word.
They redecorated it and served it to us like we wouldn’t notice (it looked completely different!).
We may have mentioned it when they added a cakeage charge to the bill.
Needless to say they took that charge off!
What about you? Do you make your own Birthday cake?
You might also like our red velvet cake with buttercream icing.
Recipe
Recipe
The best ever chocolate mud cake
Ingredients
- CAKE
- 250 g 2 sticks butter
- 200 g 7oz dark chocolate
- 375 ml 1½ cups strong coffee (ie 375ml water with coffee dissolved - about 1 tablespoon if you use instant coffee granules)
- 450 g 16oz caster sugar
- 175 g 6oz plain flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 free-range eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ICING
- 125 ml ½ cup water
- 30 g 1oz dark brown sugar
- 175 g 6oz unsalted butter, cubed
- 300 g 10oz good-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped
Instructions
Cake
- Pre-heat the oven to 180C fan-forced and grease and line a 25cm springform tin.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter, chocolate and coffee over low heat, stirring, until the chocolate has dissolved.
- Add the sugar to the pot and stir it in until it has dissolved too.
- Pour the mixture into a heat-proof bowl.
- Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder over the top and whisk them into the liquid then whisk in the eggs then the vanilla.
- Once everything is combined, pour the batter into the tin.
- Bake the cake for 1 hour or until a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin.
Icing
- Put the water, 30g dark sugar and 175g butter in a pan over a low heat to melt.
- When the mixture begins to bubble, take the pan off the heat and add the chopped chocolate, swirling the pan so all the chocolate is heated.
- Leave it for a minute or two and then whisk until the icing turns smooth and glossy.
- Leave it for 1-3 hours and whisk every 20-30 minutes until it is thick.
- When the cake has cooled spread it with the fudge icing.
lisa c says
Hi.... just have this cake in the oven for over an hour and it has not yet started to cook through.... i have just calculated if i did anything wrong with the ingredients. Please notethat 1.5 cups are NOT really 375 ml...themeasurements on the cups are not equal to the metric amounts as shown on them.... please amend the recipe to say cups or mls and not both as it is very very misleading...i put 375ml of water ina measuring jug with my coffee instead of using cups and it did NOT measure 1 1/2 cups!!!
I jhope thiscake will somehow cook through as it is my first ever try in covering a cake with fondant and i want it to look good
Claire says
Hi Lisa. I'm sorry it's not working out for you. That's no good at all. 1 cup is equal to 250ml of liquid though so that measurement is correct. Could there be any other issue? Is the oven working correctly? I hope it works out for you!
alesha says
Hi, I need to make a layered birthday cake for my son and was discovered your delicious recipe for this chocolate mud cake. do you think this recipe would work if I baked it in two layers using half the batter for each layer, then put the frosting in your recipe in between and then used one of the rolling icing type products to encase the cake as need to do as a batman theme cake? Not sure if the icing in the middle would hold another layer on top and the outside icing, or if it would squish out (if only suitable for top of cake). Please can you kindly let me know? Thank you!! Can't wait to make this!
Claire says
Hi Alesha. It definitely works for a double layer but as you said, the icing would probably squish out of the middle. I would probably make a chocolate buttercream for the middle and maybe stick a couple of skewers through the two layers just to make sure they hold. Enjoy!
vanessa says
CAN THIS BE DONE FOR CUPCAKES? IF SO WOULD THE PROCEDURE CHANGE TO ENSURE THE TEXTURE IS THE SAME? :))))
Claire says
Hi Vanessa. It sure can. I am actually making some tomorrow. Just fill them about 1/2 - 2/3 of the way.
Jacqui Jago says
Hi, this looks amazing but I am wanting an orange chocolate mudcake. What do you think would happen if I replaced the coffee with orange juice and orange zest please?
Claire says
Hi Jacqui. I'd probably do 1 cup water with 1tbsp coffee dissolved in it and 1/2 cup orange juice and then add the zest too. Sounds like a great addition.
Rita Lihn says
Maybe I would omit the coffee and just replace it with fresh squeezed oranges and orange zest. Usually coffee and orange to not go together well, at least not to my taste. rgds. Rita
Claire says
Yes you could do that Rita no problem.
Kath Ludford says
I have yet to bake this because I only found the receipe today, but the comments have more than convinced me!! Getting further down the comments with people putting jams and fruits in layers between the cake and then the cake and icing, it begins to sound a lot like a Sacher Torte cake. So perhaps you should call it Claire's, Sacher mississippi mud torte!!! :-)
Claire says
Ooh I like the sound of that Kath! Let me know how it turns out!
Linnéa says
This muc cake is absolutely AMAZING and made a huge success on New Year's eve. Thanks a lot for the recipe! /Greetings from a snowy Stockholm
Claire says
Yay! What a great way to start the year Linnea.
Rachelle says
I'm currently making this, it's in the oven, but! It's been an hour and 15 and it's still runny :(
Claire says
Oh no Rachelle that doesn't sound good! How did it turn out?
Ash says
Thanks Claire. Made your mudcake on the weekend. Holy moly, does it deliver!! Everything you've said about not it being too sweet, even better after two days, moist and heaven-smelling was true :) This is officially my top-ranking mudcake recipe! And so easy!!
I highly recommend best eaten at room temperature when smidgy and gooey. Oh goodness, how yum.
A tip for other readers: if using a nespresso machine, I used one expresso pod diluted in 375ml of water.
Wanted to pick your brain Claire....if you happen to be a coffee lover and actually DO want some stronger coffee flavour, can you add in more coffee to concentrate the 375ml of water without upsetting the overall balance? Would you need to compensate for bitterness by adding more caster sugar?
Claire says
Hi Ash. So glad you like it and thanks for your lovely comments! Good tip on the Nespresso. Yes I would say you can just concentrate the coffee more. If you want the coffee flavour then I don't think you'd have to offset it with more sugar. Hope it works out!
Ash says
Hi Claire,
Thank you for the recipe, mouthwatering photos and all your informative replies.
Did you use salted or unsalted butter for the cake? Trying it this weekend
Claire says
Hi Ash. You're very welcome! I am a bit lazy with butter and always use salted. If you use unsalted, just add 1/2 a teaspoon of salt with the flour.
A. Theriault says
I am currently making a two-tiered wedding cake, and this recipe looks practically perfect! I love that it can be made ahead, frozen, and guaranteed to be moist on the big day! A couple questions: What size springform is this recipe designed for (it just says small)? Can I stack layers of it with the icing described here, and will it hold under fondant? There looks to be an overly large ratio of sugar in this recipe- is it very sweet? Appreciate your answers very much, thank you in advance!
Claire says
Hi! Ooh yes I think this would make a wonderful wedding cake. You could use this icing very thinly under the fondant. I know it could be a lot of waste (or very fun day) but I would try it out first (maybe a smaller version).
The tin it makes is about 22cm (9 inch) but I have made it in so many different tins.
Yep there is A LOT of sugar in this but it's not all that sweet. Seriously rich but not too sweet - I think the coffee helps with that.
I hope that helps. If you're happy to share I would love to see a photo of the cake when you make it. You can share it on my FB page. Goodluck!
Hugh says
I mad this cake yesterday. The cake part was no problem - rose nicely and cooked through perfectly.
The icing was another matter! i added the chocolate to the melted butter mixture and beat it vigorously - result, the whole lot split. I had in the end to pour off the fat which had separated out, and rescued it by adding some cornflour and water, plus a lot more dark sugar. It worked out ok luckily, but I'd like to know what went wrong.
That said, my improvised icing worked and the cake tasted very good next day :-)
Claire says
Hi Hugh. Oh dear. I haven't had that happen but I'm glad the improvised icing worked out ok. Sounds like the chocolate might have over-heated but I'm not sure sorry!
Shannon says
I wanted to make a choc orange mudcake so I was as looking for a mudcake recipe I could modify. Yours looked like the end result I wanted so I decided to give it a go. Can I just say - Oh Em Gee. This recipe is amazing! Thanks Claire x
Claire says
You are very welcome Shannon! So glad you like it! x
Patricia says
Hello,
I want to make this cake for a birthday party, only I need the icing to be white so I can colour it. Can I use all the ingredients besides the chocolate in the icing or will it not turn out right?
Thank you
Claire says
Hi Patricia. No it wouldn't set without the chocolate. I would use a buttercream icing which you can colour. I have made it with buttercream before and it's delicious!
Jesvin says
I made this for my son's birthday and it was divine! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe. Going to be making this often!
Claire says
You're welcome Jesvin. Glad it was a hit!
Dawn says
Hi Claire,
Don't normally post but just have a couple of things to say/ask. Firstly I LOVED this cake, this is exactly the type of heavenly choc mudcake I've been looking for/dreaming about for a while, thank you, you're a godsend. The question is, do you think this could be used as a wedding cake, and if not do you know of any recipes to recommend for that purpose? Thanks again
Claire says
Thanks so much Dawn! You could definitely use it for a wedding. It's great because you can make the cake in advance and even freeze it if you like. If you want to do the same icing I am not sure how it freezes but you could try it out. Freeze it separately in a zip-lock bag and then defrost and beat it with a mixer and see how it comes back. I can't see why it wouldn't work but as I said, I haven't tried it but have frozen the cake many times and it's just as good. It lasts quite a while unfrozen too so you could make it up to 3 days in advance and it would be perfect.
Dawn says
Hi Claire
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I now realise I need a recipe just like yours for an 8 inch pan though :( Still struggling to find something of similar quality, as I'm not very good at recipe conversion :) Wish me luck! Thanks again for all your help
Claire says
Hi Dawn. I think if you just halve the recipe it would be perfect for 8inch. You're very welcome!