How to make a chocolate mud cake

How to Make Chocolate Mud Cake

Time flies.

I can’t believe how time has sped by. Seems one minute I was so excited about the cake show at the NEC which came and went in a flash, quickly followed by Christmas and all the rushing around that goes with it. I haven’t had time yet to reflect on all the things we saw at the show. I’m just beginning to rummage around in carrier bags looking for all the stuff collected.

There were so many interesting new products and ideas, that to try and remember them all would need my brain to be the size of a mega super computer. A few favourite exhibitors have stuck clearly in my head, one of whom I’d like to share with you all today. I’d also like to share a really lovely long shelf life choccy mud cake recipe donated by PBSS member David Forsey (aka headrabbit), and mine and hubby’s experimental recipe for non dairy ganache made with water instead of cream (oh and chocolate of course!). So here goes, bear with me there’s loads to read.

At the NEC cake show I came across Sugar and Crumbs, a brand new and exciting baking ingredients company, offering a range of flavoured icings, cocoa powder, sugar paste and all things baking at very competitive prices. I was really interested in the icings because sometimes it’s just time saving to grab something out of the cupboard and make a yummy filling. With hubby’s birthday foremost in my mind (he being my constant long suffering guineapig) I wanted to try some of the products to team up with headrabbit’s mud cake recipe and our new water ganache recipe.

The Recipe.

First off the recipe for the long shelf life chocolate mud cake, ‘headrabbit’ says:

Quantities are for 8” round cake. Baking time 1 hr 40 minutes at 160c (140 fan oven).

The Method.

1. Throw chocolate, coffee, butter and water into a pan and gently melt over low heat. Leave to cool for a few minutes.

2. Whisk eggs, oil and buttermilk using hand mixer until combined, then add in the chocolate mixture.

3. Sift flours, cocoa powder, baking powder in a large bowl, add sugar and mix in the chocolate mixture, to make a smooth batter. You can use the electric mixer for a couple minutes on low setting.

4. Pour mixture into lined tin and bake in preheated oven for above time. Cover top of cake with baking parchment half way through and test toward the end of cooking time.

Additional notes

This is an unusually moist ( but delicious ) cake. So when testing with skewer in the normal way it will be cleanish, but a little sticky when done. I also found when lining the tin with double parchment inner and double brown paper collar outside reduces doming and cracking.

That is the recipe and this is my bake (except that I used Sugar and Crumbs chocolate orange cocoa powder instead regular cocoa powder and I did not lag the outside of the tin, but double lined the inside with parchment). I’ve baked this cake before and the results are always the same. The cake must always be chilled well before torting because it is so moist.

Next, the buttercream filling.

This I couldn’t wait to try. I just made up butter cream in the usual way and added the extremely intense flavoured Sugar and Crumbs chocolate orange cocoa powder. The wonderful aroma of the orange wafted through the house and the butter cream itself tasted irresistible ( this admission from a buttercream hater!).

Once cooled and torted I brushed each layer with Cointreau and filled with the orange buttercream. The experimental water ganache ( see recipe) was used to cover the cake then dressed with simple homemade candied orange slices and peel. Wow the smell of this cake is just all too tempting!!

Finally the ganache….

The inspiration behind this is a number of enquiries made by members for dairy free ganache, so here we have tried, and I think, succeeded in producing a ganache which has no cream and is a perfectly palatable and suitable product for decorating and filling cakes. We played around with different combinations of chocolate and water.Then,after consulting a local chocolatier this is the recipe we came up with, enough to comfortably cover thickly an 8” round cake.

In a pan throw in the chocolate, hot water and glucose liquid, gently melt on low heat. When melted cool to body temperature so the ganache is still runny. Pour over the cake and with palette knife work it to spread over the top and sides the cake.

Let the ganache set, decorate and add finishing touches. In the photograph of the finished cake are orange crunch granules and chocolate blossoms made by Sugar and Crumbs. The orange granules can be added to cake and cupcake recipes for an extra crunchy bite.

So guys, it’s time to ENJOY!

My thanks to headrabbit for his fab recipe and a special thanks to Joy Stevenson from Sugar and Crumbs for supplying me with her lovely products to sample.

The Ultimate Chocolate Mud Cake

Share This Recipe

This chocolate mud cake will cure any and all chocolate cravings. This cake is sinfully dense, rich and fudgy topped with a silky smooth chocolate ganache.

It’s also quite possibly the tallest single layer cake you’ll ever make!

You can mix up the cake batter in just one bowl (no electric mixer required)!

The secret to a dense and fudgy cake is to bake it low and slow. This cake is baked at 150 C (300 F) for about 1 hr and 30 minutes.

Ingredients in Mud Cake

How to Make Chocolate Mud Cake

1. Chop chocolate and butter and place in a large heat-proof bowl.

2. Melt together the butter and chocolate in the microwave (or over a bain-marie). Make sure to melt slowly in bursts (I do 1 minute on high, then 30 seconds, then further 10 seconds until melted) and stir well in between.

3. Stir in sugars and instant coffee granules.

4. The batter may be grainy after stirring in the sugar. That is okay!

5. Stir in the eggs until well combined. Keeping the eggs at room temperature will help prevent the batter from splitting or curdling.

6. Stir in the milk and vanilla. The batter may split at this point due to the cold temperature of the milk. To help prevent splitting, you should keep stirring as you add the milk in and/or use room-temperature milk if possible. NOTE that a split batter doesn’t really matter – it will still bake perfectly fine!

7. Sift over the dry ingredients. Sifting will ensure you have a smooth, well-formed batter. If you like, you can sift the ingredients into a different bowl then add them to the batter afterward.

8. Stir well and there you go… easy as cake! Your batter is now ready to bake. Don’t worry about the occasional lump or slightly grainy texture.

9. The cake will rise up quite a lot, so ensure your baking paper rises well above the top of the tin (I recommend at least 6 cm / 2 inches).

10. The cake is cooked on a low and slow temperature. Depending on the strength of your oven, the cooking time may vary +/- 15 minutes so always check the cake with a skewer in the centre. The cake is ready when the skewer comes out of the centre of the cake mostly clean or with just a few moist crumbs clinging.

11. Use a large serrated bread knife or cake levelling tool to even out the top of the cake. Due to the dense nature of mud cakes, they are prone to sinking slightly in the middle.

12. The cake should be reasonably flat on top.

For the Ganache

1. For the ganache: pour hot cream over the chopped chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir well until the mixture is properly combined.

2. Put the cooled cake on a wire rack over a baking tray to catch any excess ganache. Pour the ganache over the levelled cake and spread evenly with the back of a spoon. Refrigerate until the ganache is firm and matte and enjoy!

Top Tips & FAQs

What is mud cake?

Why is it called ‘mud cake’?

Why did my batter separate and go lumpy?

Can I turn this mud cake into a two-layer cake?

Storage

How long does mud cake last?

You can keep the mud-cake unrefrigerated in an air-tight container for up to 7 days. However, It will stay freshest in the refrigerator and may keep for an extra few days.

I personally think the mud cake tastes better on the second day after baking.

Can I freeze a cooked mud cake?

Yes! Mud cake freezes very well. Wrap the whole cake (or portions) tightly in clingwrap and place in a freezer or zip-loc bag. Keep frozen for up to 6 months. Thaw for 6 hours or overnight at room temperature before eating.

This cake keeps very well un-refrigerated in an airtight container. I personally think it tastes even fudgier on the second day!

Have you made this recipe?

If you have made this recipe, I would love to hear from you! Leave a review below or share your photo on Instagram and tag me @bakingenvy

The Ultimate Chocolate Mud Cake Guide

The Ultimate Chocolate Mud Cake Guide provides you with all the answers to unanswered questions about this much-celebrated cake. Often referred to as the choco mud cake here in Australia this comprehensive guide offers information about how to bake this delicious cake, the importance of ingredients, and baking tips to make sure you deliver the perfect Chocolate Mud Cake.

What is a Mud Cake?

A cake that is rich, moist, and creamy there’s nothing like a chocolate mud cake. It’s loved by young and old. And of course, the best are made with great dark chocolate. This cake is a dense almost fudgy chocolate cake that looks and tastes like pure chocolate.

What is mud cake made of?

The best recipes are made with real chocolate, butter, fresh eggs, sugar, self-raising flour, and a little baking powder. Cocoa powder is often used in the cake recipe. The quality of dark chocolate is always essential to creating the best chocolate cake recipe that will impress friends and family.

Chocolate mud cake makes slicing easy

For this reason, they make great celebration cakes including wedding cakes and birthday cakes. The easy slice structure also augurs for great and easy slicing of large Drip Cakes. The knife glides through and comes out clean allowing for a tidy and well-presented slice.

Large celebration cakes are often cake towers and generally need to be cut to cater to a number of people at a function. The slicing of a tall celebration Drip Cake would be a formidable task if it were not for the ease of slicing a Mud. Even with deliciously gooey chocolate ganache dripping down the side, the mud cake will slice easily and neatly into small slices so that everyone gets a delicious share!

Chocolate Mud Wedding Cakes

Why is it called Mud Cake?

The Mud Cake appears to have evolved in the 1970s in the USA. History seems to suggest that the mud cake originated in the Southern States of the USA near the Mississippi River. It is suggested the name Mud Cake was given to this delicious cake would you believe because it resembled the mud along the banks of the said river?

Earlier precursors to Chocolate Mud Cake are the Brownie and also fudge. The Mud Cake almost seems like a combination of Brownie, fudge and Chocolate Cake.

Is Mud Cake used as a birthday Cake?

Mud cakes are the best birthday cake. Over history, cakes were made to celebrate special occasions. It is thought that cakes were reserved for special occasions as they used special and often expensive ingredients. Cakes really became more every day with the Industrial revolution as ingredients became more affordable to a greater section of the community.

Chocolate Mud Cakes have become a mainstay for birthday cakes. They are special using wonderful ingredients and are cut easily. Their firm structure makes them a cake decorators favourite as they can be carved and cut to shapes.

What does a Chocolate Mud Cake taste like?

It’s a rich, moist intensely chocolate flavoured cake. Its’ denseness and distinct chocolate flavour can make it seem more like a dessert than a cake. Many describe this treat as a pure chocolate sensation. Certainly the dense structure does concentrate the chocolate flavour. Prime choice for the chocoholic.

What is the difference between Chocolate Cake and Mud Cake?

A Chocolate Mud Cake recipe creates a strong, densely structured cake that cuts very easily and does not crumb. The dense texture seems to concentrate the chocolate flavour and so makes for a more intense chocolate experience.

What is the difference between chocolate cake and chocolate fudge cake?

The difference between these two cakes is really in the texture and resultant crumb of the cake. A chocolate cake will form crumbs as you cut due to the open, light texture. A fudge cake is dense and thick in texture and forms no crumb as you cut the cake. A chocolate fudge cake is often used more as a dessert because of its richer denser texture and flavour.

What makes Chocolate Mud Cake moist and soft?

Recipes can vary though there are several common themes around ensuring that yours is moist and soft. Here are a few tips that apply to baking cake in general:

What role do the ingredients play in Chocolate Mud Cake?

The ingredients play significant role in the final cake. The ingredients and the way they interact with each other produce cakes of varying texture and taste. Here’s a look at each of the ingredients:

Butter

Butter is fat usually included to help improve the overall flavour of the cake. It plays an important role also in cake texture and moistness. While butter is the usual fat source, cooking oil and margarine can also be used. At Dello Mano we feel very strongly about using butter though recipes and kitchens do vary.

Sugar

Sugar plays a vital role in making the cake soft and moist. Its ability to hold water molecules is an important reason for its inclusion in a cake. When substituting with other sweetening agents it is important to understand that their ability to hold the water is substandard to sugar and so any changes in sugar content will require recipe work for success. Sugar also plays a big part in colour and texture development in the cake.

Eggs

Egg yolks act as an emulsifier. Fat and water do not want to come together so it is the emulsifying action of the egg yolk that can bring the two together. Additionally, the protein found in the egg plays a critical role in forming the structure of the cake. The same egg proteins when cooking help turns the cake to a nice golden cooked cake colour.

Flour

Flour protein mixes with water to form gluten as the cake cooks, the gluten stretches to hold in the leavening gases as the cake rises. Cake flour is a flour specifically used for cakes. It has a lower protein content than plain flour and so makes for a softer cake.

Liquids

The various liquids in a cake play a critical role in cake development. They hydrate starch and raising agents such as baking powder. By hydrating the leavening agents they undergo chemical changes that allow for cake development. Liquids too release steam as they cook further developing the texture of the cake

Don’t forget too that it is not only the ingredients but the order in which they are added or how they are added will also impact the texture of the cake. The oven, the temperature and the time will also impact the cake texture.

How long does a Mud Cake last?

It depends on weather and storage conditions though kept carefully it can last weeks. This makes it a great birthday cake or other celebration cake as you can cater wide and still enjoy the cake for days after the event.

How does an Australian Mud cake differ?

It is pretty much the same as an American version with the biggest difference being that the early original U.S. versions of this cake were loaded with marshmallows on top. This isn’t something that has taken on in Australia where we tend to drizzle with chocolate ganache or frost with chocolate buttercream icing.

How to store Chocolate Mud Cake

When baking at home, the best place is to store it at room temperature in a dry, cool place protected from the elements. In a commercial Cakery like Dello Mano, we store all of our chocolate cakes refrigerated. At Dello Mano, we recommend our clients keep their cakes refrigerated however it is always best to bring the chocolate cake out of the fridge and allow it to settle at room temperature before enjoying the cake.

How to know when a Mud Cake is cooked

It’s cooked when few cracks have formed on the surface of the cake. When a skewer is inserted it will come out clean. The time and temperature for cooking are important though it will very much depend on your oven, batch size and recipe.

Chocolate Mud Cake recipe tips

The Mud benefits from keeping in mind a couple of baking tips:

How to make Chocolate Mud Cake at home

There are many recipes from which to choose but here is a great base recipe as a start to your experimentation. You can play around with different chocolate types and strengths. Please note though that you can’t just substitute milk chocolate or white chocolate in a cake recipe. Both of these ingredients are tempting to substitute but direct substitution will impact your final cake. Try this recipe at home:

Ingredients

4 eggs lightly beaten

210g Dark Good Quality Chocolate

240g Fresh Butter

30g Belgian Cocoa Powder ( can be substitued for other Cocoa)

1 tsp Vanilla ( our preference is Pure Vanilla Bean Paste)

250g Caster Sugar

260g Self Raising flour

150 ml Sour Cream

Method:

Chocolate Ganache Recipe:

Method:

For a lovely chocolate ganache to drizzle on top of this cake we use a

300g dark good quality chocolate

125 mL fresh pure cream

Where can I buy Chocolate Mud Cake?

The best are made by hand by skilled cake bakers and decorators. Of course, choosing a handmade cake crafted by a professional is an investment. So often the event is important whether it be a birthday cake or office party, the cake is often the highlight and often the most important memory of an event. You can buy Chocolate Mud Cake everywhere from a supermarket through to a premium cake baker like Dello Mano. We offer cake delivery Brisbane, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Buy cake online for cake delivery or cake click and collect from New Farm Store or our Boutique at the Wintergarden in the Brisbane CBD ( just off the Queen St. Mall.)

How is Dello Mano Chocolate Mud Cake made?

Handmade with our own recipe, at Dello Manowe use quality Belgian dark chocolate chopped, eggs lightly beaten, real butter, and Belgian Cocoa Powder to create a truly sensational experience. Made in small batches, each cake is baked in its own cake tin using our recipe. After baking, our Pastry Chefs test the bake the traditional way by applying a skewer inserted into the centre of each cake. If the skewer comes out clean then the cake is considered baked and set aside to cool completely. As the cake cools the kitchen is filled with a heady, delicious aroma of chocolate.

Our Dello Mano Chocolate Mud Cake can be decorated depending on orders as a Chocolate Milkshake Cake, Chocolate Teacake or a Birthday Cake such as a Celebration Drip Cake.

About Dello Mano Cakes:

Dello Mano handmade cakes are made in small batches by professional cake bakers and decorators. We use small batches, traditional methods, and quality ingredients like real eggs, real butter, and real Belgian Chocolate. We are generous with our ingredients and use amounts that really deliver taste and not only so we can say we use them. A common occurrence in the food industry with many of these special quality ingredients is to make claims of inclusion of special ingredients like Belgian Dark Chocolate though use very little in the actual recipe. At Dello Mano the ingredients and generous use of ingredients like dark chocolate, real eggs and butter are what make our produce different.

Dello Mano chocolate cakes include those aforementioned including the Chocolate Milkshake, the Chocolate Tea Cake, and for a larger birthday cake the Chocolate Celebration. Dello Mano offers Mud Cake delivery in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, and the Sunshine Coast.

About the Author and Dello Mano:

Deb Peralta is the co-owner of Dello Mano. The Dello Mano business was established with Bien Peralta in 2006. It is an award-winning small family business with a big dream to nurture and protect the ever-diminishing marketplace of handmade beautiful food. Deb is Food Scientist who later became qualified in Business/Marketing and also has a keen interest and qualification in Creative Therapy. Believing that creativity is central to happiness, Dello Mano focuses on the creative magic of handmade food. Our passion is to share the tangible and intangible beauty of humanity and art in handmade food.

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Eggless Easy Chocolate Mud Cake Recipe

February 12, 2021

All-Purpose, Chocolate, Coffee, Desserts, Eggless, Quick Recipes, Sweet, Under 45 minutes, Vegetarian

Today’s recipe is Mississippi’s famous Chocolate Mud Cake. This cake is an absolute delight for chocolate lovers. Personally, I love this cake because of its texture. The texture of this famous Chocolate mud cake is exactly like its name.

The most important ingredient in this recipe is Chocolate. So the quality of the chocolate really matters here. I prefer my bakes with moderate sweetness and that is why I have used 55% chocolate. You can choose chocolate as per your taste but make sure you are using baking/cooking chocolate only.

Without wasting much time, let’s get started!

Quick Notes

PS: Use conversion table to switch recipe between grams and cups

How to make a Chocolate Mud Cake

In a saucepan, take 180 ml water and 100 gm sugar. Start cooking it and keep stirring. When the sugar starts dissolving, add 110 gm butter. When the butter starts melting, add the coffee solution. Stir it.

Add 100 gm chopped chocolate and start whisking. The chocolate will start melting because of the heat. Continue to cook this solution on medium flame only else the chocolate can burn. Once the chocolate melts completely, add cocoa powder and whisk it. Now switch off the flame and let this mixture come to room temperature.

Now in a mixing bowl, take 125 gm all-purpose flour and ½ tsp baking soda. Start adding the prepared solution to the dry ingredients and continue to whisk. Make sure there should be no lumps or dry flour left.

Add 5-6 drops of Colombian coffee flavor and mix it into the batter. The batter is going to be runny so do not worry about that. Do not feel tempted to add extra flour.

Now pour the prepared batter into a 6 inches greased and lined tin. I prefer using parchment paper to line the tins as it makes unmoulding really easy. Tap the tin on the counter and now bake it in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, take the tin out from the oven. Do not immediately unmould the cake. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes and then unmould else the cake can break.

And you are done with your best ever chocolate mud cake.

Slice the cake after 10 minutes of resting else it will stick to the knife while cutting. This cake tastes best when served warm.

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Chocolate Mud Cake Full Video Recipe

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Chocolate Mud Cake Recipe

A moist and rich chocolate mud cake aerated with baking powder and soda bicarbonate. A very dark and dense mud cake which contains a lot of chocolate and cocoa powder with a touch of coffee powder. Years ago wedding cakes were mainly produced from rich fruit cakes, but as we need to follow customers requests today we understand popular dark chocolate mud cake mostly replaces this tradition. It’s a perfect choice for many reasons.

It’s a very easy and strait forward mixing method which makes it possible for very large batches without worrying about loosing aeration. As the finished product keeps its firm condition for a long time in room temperature, this allows wedding cakes to be served at late hours of the evening and also allows perfect clean portioning. Simply the best crowd pleaser when combined with our chocolate ganache recipe.

Ingredients

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