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.
Emma says
Hi Claire!
This recipe looks absolutely delicious, I plan on making it for a friend's birthday. Any suggestions on how to modify it to become a chocolate hazelnut mudcake? (We have a serious Nutella addiction!)
Kind regards,
Emma
Claire says
Hi Emma. Ooh that sounds good. There are a few things I can think of - one would be to add some hazelnut extract. If you can't get that then I would replace a little of the chocolate with Nutella. Good luck!
Emma says
Well, I made it for her and it was a raging success! I added 1tsp of hazelnut extract and lessened the amount of coffee used and it was perfect! I had to leave before she had it, but took a slice with me. She had had a few drinks and apparently got a bit possessive of the cake- one poor boy wasn't allowed some because she "didn't know him well enough" (he was a friend's boyfriend). So I think you could say that she enjoyed it!
Claire says
Oh Emma that is so funny! I'm surprised she didn't run away with the cake and a fork. Yum to the hazelnut!
Resley says
Hi Claire, death by chocolate this cake is, the force is strong with this one!!
I use bakels gluten free flour and Whittaker's 70% cocoa 'Dark Ghana' chocolate for the cake, and 62% cocoa for the icing ( a bit sweeter with a heady bitterness quotient, great balance with the brown sugar) also, coffee is great but my most recent bake of this cake I replaced the coffee with fresh squeezed orange juice and 1/3 less caster sugar for balance, tastes even more unbelievable with a citrus twist to the palate.
Easily the best ever chocolate mud cake, and a delish source of budda if your that way inclined in which case I call it a Mrs Hippie mud cake ;)
Resley - NZ
Claire says
OOoh I will have to give it a go with the orange juice next time what a great idea Resley!
Raniyah says
I made this cake exactly as per the recipe and I loved it! I wasn't a big fan of the icing and still think ganache would have been better but still, this chocolate cake is so amazing and moist, I will make this each and every time I need a chocolate cake
Claire says
I'm so glad you like it Raniyah. Oh yes icing is definitely a personal preference and ganache makes this super decadent.
Cecilia says
Hi Claire,
Thanks for sharing the recipe. I always love chocolate mud cake, which I always cannot resist having more. I saw your recipe and all these good comments and decided to made it for my friends' birthday. I made the cake the first time. When it came out from the oven, it was seriously oily and the baking tin was covered with oil. It taste very good with the chocolate taste, but far too oily than what I can handle. I left it in room temperature overnight, hoping it would taste better as someone said that here, and those comments are right. It was amazing the next day, no longer super oily and very chocolate taste. Then, I was super excited and brought it to my friend's birthday, then I put it into the fridge while waiting for the party. It sat in the fridge for half a day, and I brought it out an hour before the party to make it returns to room temperature. Then, the texture was awful like a jello, no chocolate taste at all, I hate it and felt sorry that all my friends have to eat it. Shouldn't I put it into the fridge? Would you estimate what went wrong? Thanks for your time and help in advance.
Cecilia
Claire says
Hi Cecilia. Oh no that's no good that it didn't turn out right. The only thing I can think of is that the chocolate might have burnt in the initial stages when you were melting it with the butter, water and sugar. Was the mixture nice and smooth and glossy?
Amanda says
Hi Claire!
I made this cake for my friend's birthday last week... IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! Everyone absolutely loved it. So dense, moist and rich. I am still dreaming about it a week later. Thank you for sharing and for making the birthday girl's day!
Claire says
You're very welcome Amanda! I'm glad it was such a success.
Ashleigh says
OH
MY
GOD
Thank you thank you thank you for this Claire!!! Such an incredible cake.
Have to admit, I was a bit concerned while I was making it because the whole kitchen was smelling like coffee and I know my family hates it... But I shouldn't have worried. The chocolaty goodness just overwhelms everything else.
Wonderful recipe, thank you so much for sharing :)
Claire says
You are very welcome! I thought the same thing the first time I made it cause I'm not a coffee fan either but ever since that first bite I'm hooked!
Rov says
hi Clair,
I baked this cake last night and I am yet to ice it. I baked on the 22cm pan, made double the qty and baked in 2 x 22cm pans to sandwich it. it took me a good 1 hr 20 mins to bake, is that normal?after one hour I was checking every 5-10 minutes and still the skewer wasn't coming out clean. This is the first time I made a mud cake, is it normal to have a crusty, cracked look on the top? and this should be ok to cut it off when I am icing it? argh so many questions. Thanks Clair. I must confess, I licked the bowl too, the batter was amazing :) cant wait to eat it.
Thanks Clair,
Roveena
Claire says
Hi Roveena,
Oh unfortunately that can happen depending on ovens and tins. I usually just ice it (I love the crunchy bit) but yep you can slice it off before you ice it. Don't throw it out though. As someone else said - it's a bit like brownie. Yum! I can never resist licking the bowl either.
Kylie says
Love how following this recipe it does just what it says it will do ie whisk until icing turns smooth and glossy. Oooo did it ever! :) I even managed a finished product with the thick piled icing on top, just like your pic.
Only problem I noticed is at 180 fan bake the top had big cracks through it at 1 hr yet still needed another 10,15 mins to cook through. My husband cut the top off and we iced this part also.... cake AND brownie in one, crunchy part was nearly the best bit! :) :) mmm decadent!!!
Claire says
Oh yes Kylie I find that it can happen in certain ovens and depends on the tin too unfortunately. But I'm like you. I love the crunchy bit! I'm impressed you got all the icing on the cake. I usually eat half of it. oops.
Cindy says
Hi I have another question. If I ice the cake tonight, do I just leave it sitting out overnight or put it in the fridge?
Claire says
No problem Cindy! It's personal preference. I don't like it cold so I leave it in an airtight container on the bench.
Cindy says
How long in advance can this be prepared ? Sorry if it has already been asked.
Claire says
Hi Cindy. No problem at all. If it is to be kept fresh I would say two days is fine but what I do is make it ahead and freeze the cake then defrost it the night before and ice on the day.
Rachel says
I've just made this for my sons birthday. I doubled the quantity and baked at 175 fan forced for 1 hour (in a 34cm x 25cm pan). It turned out beautifully - with a crispy top!!
I intend to leave it to cool overnight - wrap it in cling film and foil and freeze for a week.
I will ganache the top and cover in fondant (he wants an iPad cake).
Thank you so much for this great recipe - it's a keeper xxx
Claire says
You're very welcome Rachel! It's such a great recipe and perfect for making ahead like you have. I hope it turns out. iPad sounds so cool! I'd love to see a photo if you're happy to share?
Sarah says
Hi Claire do you know if I could make that cake a day in advance? I made a white chocolate mudcake before which you had to make a week before, but I don't wanna mess up your beautiful recipe
Claire says
Hi Sarah. Sorry for the late reply. You most certainly can make it a day in advance in fact I would recommend it!
Sarah says
Ok I just found out today I'm in charge of my bf's Dads birthday cake on Monday and also that he loves rich chocolate cakes. Googled a few different ones and this one seems to be the winner!
Claire says
I hope he likes it Sarah!
Rita Lihn says
The basic recipe of the cake is splendid, but the icing seemed to be too heavy for our (European) taste. So I decided for the icing to melt 200g of dark chocolate, add about one tsp fresh vanilla from the mill and two small but hot chilies. I covered the cake with this choc-topping using a baking brush and added chocolate-covered espresso-beans for decoration. The chili taste should not be dominant, but leave a little burning sensation to the mouth. The guests liked it very much, much to my regret, there was nothing left. rgds rita
Claire says
Oh wow that sounds delicious!
Wendy says
Best cake ever!!! I made this for my daughters second birthday this new years & it was a hit (left out the coffee) Made double the icing & double the cake & layered it haha chocoholics!! Im making it again in a few weeks for my sons first birthday soooo good. Thanks for the recipe :)
Claire says
You're very welcome Wendy! I can't make it unless it is a special occasion and I have lots of people to share it with or I will eat it all!
Sehr says
Hi! Hope you dont mind me asking - if you skipped the coffee did you still add the water? I want to make this for my son's second birthday and then cover it with fondant. Hope it turns out good!
Claire says
Hi Sehr. Yes if you're going to leave the coffee out just add the same amount of water. If you're worried about taste, I hate coffee and love this cake. You can't taste it. But if you want to avoid the caffeine it is fine to leave it out. Happy Birthday to your son! He's the same age as my older son!