Chocolate Pudding Cake

This homey, old fashioned Chocolate Pudding Cake has two delicious layers, a moist chocolate cake and a thick chocolate pudding sauce. It is everyday fare, rich and satisfying, and perfect when served warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. You may know this dessert as a Hot Chocolate Fudge Cake, a Chocolate Brownie Pudding Cake, a Chocolate Upside Down Cake, or maybe as a Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding Cake.


Ingredients
For Pudding Sauce:
1 1/2 cups (360 ml) boiling water
2 teaspoon instant coffee (powder or granules)
1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar
1/3 cup (70 grams) light brown sugar
1/3 cup (30 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder (regular or Dutch-processed)
For Cake:
3/4 cup (95 grams) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (25 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 large egg
4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/3 cup (65 grams) granulated white sugar
1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (50 grams) chopped walnuts or pecans


Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Butter, or spray 20 cm square baking dish.
Pudding Sauce: Stir the instant coffee into the boiling water. (Can use freshly brewed hot coffee.) In a separate bowl, stir together the white sugar, brown sugar, and cocoa powder.

Cake: In a bowl, sift the flour with the cocoa powder, salt, and baking powder.
In another large bowl, whisk the egg with the melted butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla extract.
Stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture until combined. Stir in the chopped walnuts.

Spread the batter evenly onto the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle the sugar/cocoa mixture evenly over the cake batter.

Gently pour the coffee mixture over the cocoa mixture. 

Bake for about 25 minutes or until the cake is puffed and just beginning to pull away from the sides of the pan. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature, either plain or with vanilla or coffee flavored ice cream. Leftovers can be covered and stored in the refrigerator. Reheat in microwave.