This Chocolate Fudge Cake recipe might need the sub-title “for chocolate lovers only”. This cake is rich, dense, sweet and oh so chocolaty!!
One glance at the recipe and you’ll see the first clue… yes, the recipe does call for one full can of Hershey’s syrup! =)
But before we get to the recipe, this cake has a story…
When I was 11 years old my mom paid $2 at a homeschool conference for the name and address of a pen-pal for me… another 11 year old girl. I lived (and still live) in California and my new pen-pal, Sala, lived in North Carolina. I wrote the first letter. On the front of the envelope I drew a bear, along with the words “Let’s be friends”. A short while later I received my first letter from Sala, and on the front of the envelope she drew two bears and the text, “I’d like to be friends”.
From those first letters in 1989 we continue to write back and forth, often several times a week. Our letters were sent in envelopes that were mini works of art… covered with drawings and stickers! I’m surprised the post office could find the addresses around all of the color!
My mom also began communicating with Sala’s mom from time to time, and for my 13th birthday it was planned that my mom and I would fly to North Carolina and stay with Sala and her family for 2 weeks. It was my first flight, and I was so excited to meet my friend!!
My 13th birthday was going to be celebrated in North Carolina, and Sala’s mom, Affie, asked what kind of cake I would like. My answer was (and will always be) “chocolate”. The morning of my 13th birthday I was presented with this delicious Chocolate Fudge Cake, a cake that would from then on be called “North Carolina Chocolate Cake” in our house!
As the years passed, hundreds of more letters were exchanged between Sala and I. Six years after my visit to North Carolina, Sala flew out to California to be a part of my wedding. Another several years (and more letters) passed and I flew across the country to attend her wedding. We are now both mother’s to two sweet girls. In fact it didn’t occur to me until just this moment, but my oldest daughter is nearly 11… the same age I was when Sala and I first became friends!
We still live on opposite sides of the country, and we don’t write letters as often as we did as children, but Sala and her family will always hold a very special place in my heart.
This rich and delicious cake is the recipe we turn to when only CHOCOLATE will do! The texture is more dense than a traditional cake… it’s somewhere between a cake, brownie and fudge.
Share this cake with the chocolate lovers in your life!
How to Make Chocolate Fudge Cake
Chocolate Fudge Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups Hershey's chocolate syrup 1 16oz can
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt omit if using salted butter
- 1 cup flour
Frosting
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup butter 1 stick
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large saucepan heat the butter and sugar until melted and well combined.
- Remove pan from heat and add vanilla and chocolate syrup.
- Add eggs and beat well (with a spoon or whisk).
- Add salt and flour and stir until fully combined.
- Pour batter into a greased 9"x13" pan.
- Bake in a preheated 350*F oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs, but no wet batter.
- As the cake cools a bit, make the frosting.
- In a saucepan, heat the butter, sugar and milk until it comes to a boil (stirring as needed).
- Remove pan from heat and add chocolate chips. Do not stir for a minute or so and the chocolate chips will melt on their own. After a minute or two, stir to fully combine all ingredients.
- Pour icing over the (still warm) cake, using an offset spatula to spread as needed.
- Allow cake and icing to cool fully before cutting.
Uhhhh..this is really..and I mean..really good.
the cakes are really goooooooooooooooooooooooooooood! 😀
Accidentally used the 16fl oz. so 2 cups instead of just 1 1/2. It’s baking now – wonder how it will turn out?! I wonder if I should start over 🙁
Just wanted to double check – do you use the entire 16 oz can of syrup? Because the recipe says 1 1/2 cups which is 12 oz? Thanks!
Yes, both are correct, use a full 16oz can, which is about 1 1/2 cups. The 16oz. listed on the can is a measurement of weight, not volume. The volume is about 1 1/2 cups. Happy baking!
In our house, this cake is “Chuckie’s Cake” :). It’s named after the little boy who shared a room in the hospital with my oldest daughter when she had to have cleft palate repair surgery at six months. Chuckie had many problems, and his only family there with him was his very sweet grandmother, who never left his side. She shared this recipe with me, and I have shared it with many others as Chuckie Cake 🙂 It also became a favorite cake with many of my distant relatives as well, all of whom still call it Chuckie Cake, too ( my daughter is now 28 :). Thanks for bringing back those memories! So sweet!
Awe, isn’t that the special thing about recipes… sharing them with family and friends and creating memories!
very
sweet story, I’m 73, do you think that’s too old to have a pen pal?
I would imagine any brand chocolate syrup would work
what can I use in place of Hershey’s chocolate syrup? im from south Africa and I haven’t seen it here
Make your own.
Ingredients
2 c water
2 c pure cane sugar
½ tsp salt
1 c cocoa powder
2 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Place water, sugar and salt in sauce pan.
Be sure to continue to stir so the sugar dissolves.
Heat up and bring to a boil for a minute.
Remove from heat.
Let cool for 15 minutes before adding in cocoa.
Stir well and then add the vanilla mixing again.
Pour into a 1 pint mason jar and refrigerate for up to two months.
I loved the story and will be trying the cake very soon
It looks georgous, I want to bake it today for my family!!
Regards!!