Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe (with Hot Frosting) + Video
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Chocolate Fudge Cake is extra gooey and decadent, and totally easy to make. It’s ready in just 30 minutes for a last-minute dessert or late-night craving. Top with a fudgy homemade icing and try not to keep it all to yourself! It’s a chocolate lovers dream! Enjoy the flavors of this classic chocolate cake recipe, topped with homemade frosting! Happy baking!
Get ready to be obsessed with all the chocolate flavor of this cake. It’s perfect for any chocolate lover, and a great way to bake a moist chocolate cake right at home.
This is not only the best chocolate cake recipe in terms of flavor, but I love that it uses simple ingredients as well.
The whole recipe creates the ultimate chocolate fudge cake that does the perfect job of curbing chocolate cravings.
You could easily make this for a special occasion or create this fudgy chocolate cake for a fun weekend treat.
I love to pair this rich chocolate cake with a hot cup of coffee and have a slice for breakfast – because I’m an adult, and that’s part of the perks!
Life’s too short to eat chocolate desserts only at night, am I right?
Table of Contents
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Fluffy, fudgy, and oh-so-gooey, you’ll want to make this fudge cake again and again!
It’s so easy to throw together, even the kids can help. Plus, it makes a full sheet pan so there’s plenty for guests or leftovers.
The only thing that you’ll have to worry about is not eating it all in one day. It’s the love/hate of home bakers, right?
We make treats like this chocolate layer cake, and then we have to limit ourselves from gobbling them up!
Serve slices on their own or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. For a fancy touch, add a swirl of whipped cream and some sprinkles!
Recipe Video
If you love chocolate cake as much as I do, I have a few more recipes you’ll need to try soon.
Chocolate Peanut Butter Poke Cake starts with a fluffy cake and ends with decadent peanut butter whipped cream.
Or, my go-to simple chocolate cake that’s made with just one bowl!
If you love copycat recipes, you will want to try this Cracker Barrel Coca Cola Cake. Your whole family will want seconds!
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Flour – All-purpose is the best choice, and most people already have some in their pantry! This fudge cake recipe would also work with a gluten-free 1-to-1 substitute.
- Milk and Vinegar – When combined, these ingredients make an easy buttermilk substitute.
You could replace both of these ingredients in the cake batter with 1/2 cup of buttermilk if you have some on hand. - Sweetened Cocoa Powder – I prefer Ghirardelli sweet ground cocoa, but Nestle or Hershey’s Special Dark are great substitutes.
- Baking Soda and Powder – You’ll need both leavening agents in this chocolate fudge cake recipe to get enough lift in the oven.
How to Make Chocolate Fudge Icing
Combine butter, milk, and cocoa in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately remove from heat so the milk doesn’t scald.
Note: You could swap the milk for half and half or heavy cream for an even richer topping.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl and add the powdered sugar, salt, and vanilla. Then, beat with a mixer until well combined.
Let the icing cool for a few minutes, then spread it evenly over your chocolate fudge cake!
Fudge Cake Recipe Notes
- Prevent sticking. Use the butter and flour method to coat your baking pan. You can also mix some cocoa powder in with the flour if you’d like!
- Use room temperature ingredients. A must with baking, this ensures your batter comes together easily and remains lump free.
- Add extra flavor. Spread a layer of creamy peanut butter over the fudge cake before adding the chocolate fudge icing. Or, mix your favorite chopped nuts into the frosting!
- Let the icing cool. This gives it a chance to thicken up naturally, making it easier to spread over the cake’s surface without soaking in.
If you make the frosting ahead of time, just store it in an airtight container in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
You can then sit it at room temperature for a short time to make it more spreadable with a rubber spatula.
You can also line your cake pan with parchment paper if you’re worried about it sticking.
I do this sometimes when I’m baking layer cakes because I want them to lay flat on another without any bumps.
Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe FAQ
Chocolate cake will typically be light and fluffy, whereas chocolate fudge cake is denser and a bit more moist.
The texture and flavor are somewhere between a piece of cake and a fudgy brownie.
Not at all. This dessert is plenty sweet and fudgy without it, so feel free to skip it.
If you still want some sort of topping, a light dusting of powdered sugar would be pretty!
I like the flavor of the chocolate fudge frosting but have fun using whatever you want. A simple chocolate sauce on top of the cake would be yummy as well!
You can also skip making it altogether and just buy the best chocolate frosting brand that you like at the store. Just be sure that you let the cake cool before adding frosting of it will all melt down into the center of the cake. This creates moist crumbs and bites, but the frosting will melt in and right off if the cake or cake layers are too hot!
This fudge cake recipe uses sweetened cocoa. If you cannot find sweetened cocoa, unsweetened is fine — the chocolatey flavor just won’t be quite as rich.
Semi-sweet chips will also add the best flavor to your chocolate cake, and they melt more evenly than dark.
If you want a triple chocolate cake, you can always replace half of the semi-sweet chips with milk or dark chocolate chips!
You bet. This cake is simple to make. I do recommend that you follow the recipe card the first time that you make it, but then you can have fun and change the original recipe and try new things.
A lot of people will add hot coffee or instant coffee into the cake for a burst of caffeine and flavor. You could also use mini chocolate chips, sprinkles, and more! However you want to create it, it will make the best chocolate fudge cake for you and your house!
Storing Leftover Fudge Cake
Because both the cake and the chocolate fudge icing contain dairy, leftovers will need to be kept in an airtight container and kept in the refrigerator.
Wrap the entire pan tightly with plastic wrap and enjoy within 2 days — but, I don’t find that our leftovers last anywhere near as long as that!
You can also freeze chocolate fudge cake for up to 3 months.
- Slice it up, then freeze the pieces in a single layer on a baking sheet.
- Once solid (after about an hour), wrap each piece in two layers of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil.
- Stack in a freezer-safe storage container.
Transfer a piece to the refrigerator to thaw overnight when you have a craving!
You can also warm slices of fudge cake in the microwave for a few seconds. It will be extra gooey this way!
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Other Easy Cake Recipes
Easy Chocolate Fudge Cake Recipe (with Hot Frosting) + Video
Ingredients
For the cake
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 cups flour, plus 1 tablespoon divided
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoon baking soda, divided
- 1/2 pound unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sweetened cocoa powder, I used Ghirardelli ground chocolate
- 1 cup water
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 tablespoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
For icing
- 1/4 cup sweetened cocoa powder, I used Ghirardelli ground chocolate
- 1/4 pound unsalted butter
- 6 tablespoons milk
- 1 pound powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9×12 cake pan by buttering and flouring. Set aside.
- In a small cup add 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 tablespoon vinegar. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl combine 2 cups flour, sugar, 1 teaspoon baking soda, salt and baking powder, stir with a whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan combine butter, cocoa and water. Bring to a boil, then add to flour mixture. Beat well.
- Add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to milk mixture. Set aside. In a small bowl combine chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon of flour. Set aside.
- Add eggs to flour butter mixture. Then add milk mixture and vanilla. Beat well to combine. Add chocolate chips to mixture and fold in.
- Pour into prepared cake pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean.
- 5 minutes before cake is done, prepare icing.
For icing
- Bring cocoa, butter and milk to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar, salt and vanilla, beat well with mixer. Spread over hot cake. Serve!
Video
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published April 2013, updated and republished June 2025
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Welcome!
We’re Donna and Chad, the dream team behind The Slow Roasted Italian. Our focus is on taking complicated OUT of the kitchen. Life is busy enough, making meals should be fast and easy, to help make your life as simple as possible. Read More >>
We call this cake Texas Sheet Cake.DELICIOUS!
to make it right now…im using normal coco. and no ising….too sweet, will still be good????
If you are still using the sugar in the batter recipe, it will be fine. Where I live we have only normal cocoa powder (unsweetened). And I often skip the icing for any cakes that I bake. My hubs prefers it that way. Hope this helps!
reply again
do you really need that much icing sugar? all sounds good, but I made an almond icing to drizzle on Cranberry Almond cake and it was sooooo sweet but drizzling it on cake gave it just the right touch
After 20 minutes, my 9 x 13 cake is not done!!
I cooked mine for 35 minutes. It was still soup at 20 minutes. I used unsweetened cocoa powder and added 3 tbs sugar and it turned out great.
Our family makes this and a jelly roll pan works best
Saved as a favorite, I really like your blog!
does this chocolate cake recipe appear in your book, The Simple Kitchen?
Cooked up great!! I'm not good at icing, but tjis spread okay, m
Would this cake work as rounds for a layer cake? If it would, would this icing also work for icing a layer cake if I let it cool a bit so it wasn’t runny before icing the cake? My husband wants a layer cake for his birthday!
Hello Dear Donna,
This cake sounds wonderful! Is the flour it calls for a plain flour or self rising flour??? I just made your delicious Outrageous Cherry Dr Pepper Chocolate Cake and it was the hit of the church dinner! Girl they licked the cake pan! I was amazed at how delicious that thing was! I can’t wait to try this! Please let me know about the flour. Thank you!
This cake was so soft, and rich. I’ll be making my own cakes for my birthdays now.
Looks good but when does the salt go in?
This recipe from Donna and Chad at The Slow Roasted Italian is absolutely fantastic! The Chocolate Fudge Cake turned out so delicious, and it was a breeze to make. 5 stars!
Hi Fernanda!
We’re so glad that you enjoyed our recipe!
TSRI Team Member,
Devlyn