A question I get from a lot of people is where I get ideas for all the recipes I share. Well, truth is I follow about 100 food blogs that pop up in my Google Reader whenever they publish a new post. So when Annie of Annie’s Eats posts a recipe titled, “Tunnel of Fudge Cake”, I just head straight into the kitchen to recreate it. Okay, so it doesn’t normally go like that – but with such an enticing name, this cake just had to be made. (Her mouth-watering pictures didn’t hurt either!) I love using a reader to keep up to date with all of my favorite food blogs and during busy weeks like this one it may be difficult to read them all, but I at least glance at the recipe and photos if I can every day. This post stopped me in my tracks and I immediately added it to my “must-bake” list, and I hope I can inspire you to do the same!
Although bundt cakes might not be quite as glamorous as layer cakes, they are undoubtedly easier to make and in my opinion, more “homey – and I don’t mean that in a bad way at all. They are understated, simple, but still beautiful in their own way. Especially when there is a tunnel of fudge inside and a heavenly chocolate ganache oozing over all the pretty crevices. I actually made this for Christmas dinner because I was looking for something that wouldn’t stress me out while dealing with everything else during the holidays. I skipped the holiday sprinkles, but you could definitely dress it up with some colored jimmies or sanding sugar to decorate it for any occasion. I liked the minimalism of the chocolate on chocolate and am glad I kept it simple for once!
I haven’t even talked about the taste of the cake yet – it’s divine! Moist, full of deep chocolate flavor, with that tunnel of slightly under-baked cake that resembles fudgey brownie nestled inside. This cake is a chocoholic’s dream, especially if you use good chocolate! I stock up at Whole Foods whenever Valrhona goes on sale, and I’m so glad to have it on hand when I’m making chocolate desserts like this. When there’s only one main flavor going on in a cake, you want to make sure it’s good quality since it’s the star of the show. Since there’s so much chocolate, this cake can be quite rich, so cut your slices relatively small and make sure to serve everyone a glass of milk, with a cute stripey straw of course :)
Fudge Tunnel Cake
Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats
Ingredients:
for the pan:
1 tbsp Dutch processed cocoa powder
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
for the cake:
1/2 cup boiling water
2 oz bittersweet chocolate, chipped
2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tsp salt
5 large eggs, at room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
20 tbsp (2-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
for the ganache:
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 light corn syrup
8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the cocoa powder and melted butter, and use a brush to evenly coat the inside of a 12-cup bundt pan.
In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over the chopped chocolate and whisk together until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, and salt. In yet another small bowl, lightly beat together the eggs and vanilla.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. With the mixer turned down to low, add the egg mixture and beat well. Add the chocolate mixer and mix until incorporated. Slowly add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the edges of the cake begin to pull away from the pan.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least an hour before inverting it onto a cake platter. Then, allow the cake to cool another 2 hours.
For the glaze, combine the cream, corn syrup, and chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently until completely smooth, then add the vanilla. Set the mixture aside for about 30 minutes to allow it to thicken. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cake and allow it to fall down the sides. Let the ganache set for at least 10 minutes before slicing.
And just one more shot of that sexy chocolate just because, mmmmmm…
Oh my. This looks amazing! I love bundt cakes, and this one looks to die for!
The recipe looks fabulous, but it’s your photography that makes this post! Thank you for your wonderful attention to detail ! I read every post, but I don’t comment as much as I should.
Have a wonderful day.
SHERRI
I have the hardest time making bundt cakes that aren’t dry. This one looks really moist, though. Maybe I’ll have to jump back on the bundt bandwagon.
Oh my, this looks delicious, but I have a question…where did you get that lovely cake stand? It is gorgeous!
Wow! That tunnel of fudge is calling my name!
Is it wrong that this makes me want to lick my computer screen?? This looks absolutely amazing!!
Oh my goodness look at that fudgy centre! Wow! I like the homeyness of bundt tins too. They look much more inviting.
I need to make this! I just got a bundt cake pan for Christmas, and have been wondering what to make first – this has to be it!
Omg. I love your sexy chocolate shots! And that cake plate! Where did you get that?!
Erica — January 25th, 2013 @ 2:44 am
Thanks so much, it’s definitely bordering on food porn :) I actually got the cake plate off of a deal on Rue La La a few years ago, and I have no idea what the brand is, I’m sorry!
Wow this looks delicious! I love the look of the fudgey filling!
Thanks for the recipe, that cake looks so good!
NOM
This looks delicious! Wish I could reach out and taste the fudge frosting!
I adore bundt cakes. They take off all of that pressure of getting the frosting just right. The way the frosting just drips down the crevices…mmm… I’ve never made a tunnel of fudge cake but I’m going to have to change that! I also love the unique cake plate. I’ve just recently started collecting cake plates and you have so many fun ones!
Yum!!! This looks perfect and the pictures are superb! So I’m assuming that it’s kind of like a molten lava cake in theory(??)
Erica — January 29th, 2013 @ 5:28 pm
Yup, very much like molten lava cake, just a little less lava-y :)
This chocolate cake looks too darn good. My cakes never have the chance to cool down for 2 hours, because my two boys can’t wait to have a piece. These pictures are fantastic. What a wonderful post.
This is just like me – or, YOU´re just like me! ;) I also have a ton of foodblogs I follow, amongst them Annie´s Eats, and like you, I fell in love with her pictures of this cake! But, I forgot to make it (all those blogs, you know!), so thanks for the reminder! Looks amazing! I love the simple look!
Hi! This cake looks awesomely yummy! I’m going to make it for my friend’s birthday soon! Just wanted to ask: how do you measure whether a bundt pan is 12 cup? I have one but I’m not sure how big it is. Also, can I make this cake in a 6 cup pan by just halving the recipe? Thank you so much!
Erica — February 12th, 2013 @ 2:29 am
One way to test your bundt pan is to measure out 12 cups of water with measuring cups and seeing if it fills up the pan. That’s how I did it for mine at least! And although I haven’t halved the recipe, if you have a 6 cup pan I’m sure that would work. You may need to decrease the baking time though
Just want to let you know that I made this bundt cake and it is AH-mazing! That fudgey middle just keeps you coming back for more, I can’t believe how crazy I went for this. And my co-workers as well! Thanks so much for the wonderful recipe, I included the link to my post if you want to check it out!
http://lifessimplemeasures.blogspot.com/2013/02/lucky-leaf-winner-and-tunnel-of-fudge.html
Hi Erica, thank you for this awesome recipe!
If i want to halve this recipe, would it be better with 2 eggs or 3 eggs? or do i need precisely 2.5 eggs? (not sure how to divide the egg though haha).
Thank you for your help!
Erica — March 26th, 2013 @ 8:01 pm
To divide an egg I usually crack one in a small bowl, and use a tablespoon to roughly measure about how much one egg is. Then I just try to take half that much and add it to the mixture. I wouldn’t want to steer you in the wrong direction here saying 2 vs. 3 because I did 2.5 and it turned out great! Good luck and enjoy :)
Don’t think you can get better than this! Fudge cake! Thanks for the recipe, hopefully I can get mine to look as good as yours :)
can you explain the middle to me? is it just fudgy on its own you dont add anything?
Erica — June 5th, 2013 @ 12:40 pm
Yes, that’s part of the magic of this cake :) It’s fudgy just on its own
This cake is almost exactly the sort of thing I’m on a quest for! One small question – can oil be subbed for the butter, and if so can it be done in a 1:1 ratio?
Erica — December 29th, 2013 @ 5:16 pm
I’m not sure, I think the butter might change the consistency of the cake so I can’t say for sure. But the recipe is amazing as is!
I found this today and made it. I didn’t have all the ingredients for the ganache icing but I improvised. OMGosh this cake is fantabuluous! It is very ooey gooey delish. I’m a chocoholic so for me it was not to rich. Just perfect. Thanks for having this here for us. :)
This looks SO good like get up out of the position I’ve been sitting in for hours kinda thing! I am deffinately making this later !
I made this cake today. It turned out well but not as fudgie as the pic. I will decrease the baking time next time to 35-38 min. I was a bit disappointed. Maybe my oven baking temp. is off a bit. It is a new model but I need to get a digital thermometer. It does taste wonderful and warming it a bit and adding ice cream helped.
How fudgy is fudgy? I’m very confused about this part of the delectable recipe. Should it coat a toothpick when you stick it in or should the toothpick come out clean.
Your recipe is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!!!!
Love & Chocolate,
Teags
Erica — September 15th, 2014 @ 12:01 pm
The toothpick will probably come out with a bite of melted chocolate since the inside of the cake is “molten”. It’s a great recipe – I hope you love it!!
I have a question on the recipe for the ganache. How much of the light corn syrup do you use. It just says 1/4 light corn syrup. Does that mean a cup? I just put mine in the oven so I hope to hear from you soon!
Erica — October 22nd, 2014 @ 1:34 pm
Yes – 1/4 a cup , sorry about that!! Hope it still came out well :)
Oh my gosh, this is a cake from my past! Our mother made this for all our birthday cakes because it was the number one favorite in our house. Originally it was made with chocolate frosting mix that came in a box but Pilsbury quit making that! My mom included pecans-and we are it with vanilla ice cream, all time favorite! Thanks for this recipe, can’t wait to make it! Tunnel of fudge cake, blast from the past!
Can I use regular cocoa powder instead of dutch processed?
Erica — March 2nd, 2016 @ 12:16 pm
Yes, should be fine!
my grandmother always made a tunnel of fudge cake but she died and I never got the recipe and this looks like hers did
Hi! Wonderful looking cake and I can taste it already! My only problem is that I don’t have a bundt pan (yet). Would it be possible to use a normal square pan or it just won’t be the same? Thanks!!
Erica — April 23rd, 2018 @ 8:42 am
Hmm I’m not sure how that would work out! I’m sure it’s possible but not sure you’d have the same “fudge tunnel” effect because the cake wouldn’t be as deep. Let me know if you try it!
Hi, I have been trying to find a Tunnel of Fudge cake for years!…ever since Pillsbury discontinued the magic ingredient to produce the fudge center. In the meantime I have tried numerous recipes without success! I have read all the comments and still not sure this is a guarantee fudge center. I noticed you do not include nuts which were necessary in the original recipe. What must I absolutely need to do, and include in the ingredients, to successfully create a gooey fudgey center? Really appreciate you creating this recipe and hoping I’ve finally found the winner! Thank you for your help.
I have had tunnel fudge cake since my childhood and my mom made them from the box. I haven’t made one in years and found this wonderful picture. I bake bundt cakes once a month but for some reason I did not get the fudge center. I am not sure if it had something to do with the kind of butter chocolate i used. The cake is good and moist but i am disappointed about not getting that center right. I guess i will have to try another recipe.
Could you add 2 cups walnuts to your version of the recipe like the original recipe without losing any of the fudge center?
Finally found this recipe that doesn’t need walnuts for the middle fudge! I’m thrilled and will be making it for Easter 😎