Thank you all for your lovely words and kind wishes to JT for his recent birthday in June. It was fairly low key because it landed on a Tuesday, but we still went out for a very nice dinner (review to come). The Monday before JTs birthday, he’d made plans with a friend to go out for dinner, which left me with some private time in the kitchen and I knew exactly what I wanted to do: Bake a cake as a surprise for his birthday! But I only had a small window of opportunity to bake, cool and ice it.
JT had walked up to a local place to meet this friend, so he was gone by the time I got home. Good, but I was home a little later than expected having to finish off a few things at work and ride my bike the 8 km home. As soon as I got in, I was immediately racing around in record time to bake this cake. But first I had to find a recipe! Without much time (I was expecting JT back around 8-9) I found this recipe which was called fastest fudge cake (just what I needed) and I was able to easily half the recipe so that I can bake it in a small spring form pan. Just as I was cleaning up and waiting for the cake and ganache to cool, I get a text from JT at 7:30 that he’s one his way home. That means I’ve got 10 minutes tops. Even with this easy recipe, I just barely squeaked by, dumping the barely cooled ganache onto the barely cooled cake and hiding it in the living room credenza! It was a very nice surprise.
Fast and Easy Fudge Cake
Makes one 13 cm or 5″ cake plus a muffin-sized cake
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tbsp unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch processed)
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- pinch table salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and warm
- 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- pinch of cayenne
- 1/4 cup orange liquor
- 1/2 cup Ganache
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease the bottom of an 13 cm spring form cake pan and line it with parchment.
- In a small bowl sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cayenne and salt.
- In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add the egg and vanilla and stir until well blended.
- Add the flour mixture all at once and stir just until all the flour is moistened. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes for a 13 cm (5″) spring form pan. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 10 min. Run a thin knife around the edge and invert the cake (peel off the parchment). Pour the orange liquor over the cake and allow to saturate. Allow to cool completely (or mostly as in my case!).
- Once cool, set the rack over a baking sheet or foil. Pour the warm ganache over the cake and use an icing spatula to spread it over the top of the cake and down the sides. Let set for about an hour before serving.
Ganache Ingredients:
- 4 oz of dark semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup of 18% cream
Ganache Directions:
- Warm the cream just before boiling point. Pour the hot cream over the finely chopped chocolate and stir until it’s all melted.
- Allow to thicken (or not) and pour over cooled (or not) cake (place cake on a piece of parchment). Even out. Allow to cool in a cool dark place (like a credenza!).
- Serve with a sprig of mint over a small puddle of orange liquor.
Notes:
- The batter was a bit too much for the pan, it did bubble over a bit, so I was glad I put a cookie sheet under the spring form.
- The cake has a rich, chewy texture with a nice crunchy crust (like brownies).
- The ganache would have been better if it had been allowed to thicken a bit more, but it was still super tasty.
- Recipe updated (May 2016) to reflect correct pan size. To make a slightly larger cake (22 cm or 8″), double the recipe.
- The original recipe in the link makes 600 mL of batter (using only 1/4 cup hot water), the perfect size for an 22 cm or 8″ spring form pan (updated December 2016).
A beautiful chocolate cake – with ganache – and it doesn’t take hours to make! I love it! Thank you for sharing. Best wishes for a happy new year – Shanna
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Thank you Shanna and welcome to my blog. Happy new year to you too.
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I don’t know how I missed this post, Eva, not to mention JT’s birthday. Just my luck to discover my oversight now, 3 days after you guys have left. And it’s a chocolate recipe!!! How could this happen? Well, I’ve already pinned it and will definitely give this a try when I’ve company with whom to share it. And please wish JT a belated happy birthday, along with my apologies.
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Hi John, what a lovely time we had, thank you. Such a pleasure to meet you too. I will pass along your kind wishes, thank you.
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Oh my gosh, this cake looks so chocolatey! Yum!
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Hi Amber thank you, the cake was quite fudgy.
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oh give me! Seriously Eva- give it to me! LOL! It looks delicious and spot on in moistness and richness!
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Thanks Jessica!
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What a beautiful cake Eva and hats off to you for finishing it when time was so tight!
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Thank you so much Sawsan, it was a bit challenging but it worked out in the end!
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nuff said, this is literrary a dessert porn…..
well done!
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Thanks so much Dedy.
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Oh yeah baby! 😀 This is my kinda cake! I’d skip the orange liqueur though… not a fan of booze mixed in with food but it looks and sounds fabulous Eva.
Great treat for JT – bet he was very pleased!
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I totally understand Charles, I bet a little cherry jam would also be a great base. JT was rather surprised that I had the time to whip it up.
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I would make the full recipe and save some in the freezer for later indulgence. I have picture in my head of you dashing around in your high heels getting the cake baked, cooled and iced and laughed out loud at the thought.
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Yes, I should have thought of that! Although I have been know to be cooking in heels, this particular night I was in my bicycling gear (sans helmet) because I didn’t even have time to shower. But today I may just do that ;-). Have a great day Norma.
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Just tonight my mom was showing me a ganache recipe that she likes and we sampled some of her chocolate cake with ganache.. so I would love to try yours now, Eva! It looks so pretty and I bet your husband was so pleased with your surprise!
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Thanks Barbara, a ganache is such a rich and special treat, it really took the cake over the top! JT loved it!
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What a fun surprise for a birthday! I hope you have had a fabulous time celebrating. While you know I’m not a chocolate eater…I do appreciate a fast cake! 🙂
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Thanks Kristy.
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It does look beautifully moist and appealing.. and Fast! wow.. what was he doing coming home so early. I must say the idea of walking to visit and friend and cycling home sounds pretty appealing too!! c
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Thanks Celi, that’s one of the benefits to living in the city that we need not use the car for everything!
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what a way to celebrate a birthday with such a great cake! I’ve saved it to my favourites, I’m sure there will be a call soon for a super fast yummy cake – thank you in advance Eva!
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Thanks Claire, it really was quite tasty.
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Happy belated Bday this is a gorgeous cake and I am so craving chocolate. Wishing you a super weekend. BAM
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Thank you so much Bam. I will pass along your good wishes.
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I see I dropped in for the perfect post ;-). I lovely surprise indeed — it must have been the perfect capper on JT’s special day. A quick yet delicious and moist looking chocolate ganache and so clever too to half the recipe. Just the sound of chocolate ‘fudge’ has my toes curling at 6:26 am :). I love how good you and JT are to each other Eva (so thoughtful) and I believe there is another big birthday lurking just around the corner… xo.
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Hi Kelly, thank you for your lovely words. Yes, that birthday is just around the corner…
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Eva, the title alone makes my hungry for chocolate, but your photo is just too much! I am such a chocolate fan cake, I know I would devour yours in one day (alone!). I’m sure your husband never guessed it was such a quick cake. It looks very elaborate.
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Thank you Sissi, he never suspected a thing! I was able to hide all the evidence!
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Ooh this sounds like a great recipe to have up your sleeve in case of emergency! Well done making this for him! 😀
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Thank you kindly Lorraine, I’m definitely going to make it again, reminded me of a rich chocolate brownie.
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That’s a beautiful looking cake and I bet you were pedaling like mad to get home in time to start that cake. What an achievement to get it done in such a short space of time. It looks really good too – like you spent hours slaving away in the kitchen! xx
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Thanks Charlie, there is a huge hill on my way home that puts me in my place every time I ride on it, but other than that, my legs pedaled like mad!
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I’m with Maureen, this sounds divine! We’re not eating too much cake these days either, but you might just be able to twist my arm. Love your blogs, Eva.
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Hi Lizzy, thank you. We don’t eat much cake either, but for birthdays they are a special treat; we would have loved to share a piece with you.
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JT would have absolutely loved this gorgeous cake, it sounds super fudgy and indulgent 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
P.S I will not be commenting for 4 weeks due to exams – see you afterwards 🙂
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Thank you CCU, good luck with exams. Study hard!
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Well your cake looks beautiful…fast or no, I’ll bet JT was thrilled and a Happy Belated Birthday to him (I can’t remember if I wished it before with all I’ve had going on here.) I’ve actually added orange liqueur to my cakes and to my ganache, but never puddled it…sounds great and how bad could it be? Love orange and chocolate. I bow to your ability to pull such a lovely thing together so fast, Eva!
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Thank you kindly Betsy, it was quite a luscious cake and it always seems like such a treat to have ganache, it just took it that much over the top! I’ll pass your kind wishes onto JT, thank you.
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Did you thicken the orange liqueur somehow as it’s creamier looking than I’m used to seeing with Cointreau or Grand Marnier (still my favourite orange liqueur). I like a rich cake that’s fast and simple to make but still makes quite an impact in flavour and appearance.
I’m not familiar with the differences between dutch processed and unprocessed cocoa powder. I just use the stuff in the orangey coloured canister that you get in the regular grocery stores.
OK, I did a quick check and it’s Fry’s which I learned is the uprocessed cocoa powder and has baking soda added to it.
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Hi Maria, I think it has something to do with the powder keeping separated instead of clumping up, but I’m not 100% sure. This cake sure has impact of flavour and I too love the pairing of orange and chocolate together. The orange liqueur is straight out of the bottle, but it’s a bit old so it may have thickened up over time!
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Chocolate and orange or chocolate and cherry … all great combos. I think the liqueur just looked like it was thicker due to the reflection of light on the white plate
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Beautiful cake indeed! Looks so tempting.
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Thank you so much Minnie.
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This is exactly the kind of cake that my husband would want … and I’d happily join him! In my opinion, everything is better with ganache. 🙂
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Too true, Judy, ganache makes the world a much happier place for sure!
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A marvelous cake Eva. I would love an extra large slice! And yes, please, with mint leaves.
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Hi Angie, thanks so much, I’d love to share an extra large slice with you.
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What a lovely cake! I don’t eat a lot of cake but I’d make extra room for this one.
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Thanks Maureen, we don’t eat much cake either, that’s why it was important to find a recipe that could be halved. It did work out well, next time I’ll use less batter in the large cake and make a little cup cake on the side!
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