Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Upside-Down Chocolate Pudding Cake

I grew up on all sorts of variations of this yummy and easy dessert, and each one has been delicious... In May I went to the Times Colonist book fare in Victoria, and I nabbed quite a few old-school cookbooks.

One of these was a 1972 Betty Crocker cookbook, and in the middle of the pudding section I came across yet another variation of the pudding cake I love, titled "Hot Fudge Pudding Cake". This version had less cocoa than I was used to and it asked for shortening instead of butter... oh, the good old days of shortening-only baking and cooking. I can't remember the last time I saw something on a modern food blog or cookbook from the last ten years that called for shortening and didn't add a blurb to justify it or offer a substitution... After poking around online, I found an updated Betty Crocker version of the recipe that is almost identical to the one I have written down in my recipe binder. Of course. My secret family recipe is actually Betty Crocker. That's always a fun realization.

This upside-down pudding cake is glorious because as it bakes, it becomes 2 layers of chocolaty  goodness: pudding and cake. And it's extremely easy to prepare. And extremely easy to devour in one sitting.



Ingredients:

Cake
  • 1 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 tablespoon melted butter
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla
Pudding
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 1/3 cup boiling water
Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. In a bowl mix all of the dry cake ingredients, then add the butter, vanilla, and milk. Mix until combined and spread into a 8x8 or 9x9 pan. 
  2. In a separate bowl, mix the first two pudding ingredients. Sprinkle the sugar mix over the batter in the pan, then pour the boiling water on top. Bake immediately for 40-50 minutes, until cake is set and not jiggly. Serve hot. 
Enjoy! 

PS - You can serve this pudding cake with ice cream or, my favorite, a few spoonfuls of dulce de leche!

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