WP. I am not much of a cake person but this was described as a deep dark cocoa forward fudge cake with a chocolate glaze, so I thought it would be interesting to try. The instructions are rather lengthy but in reading through them there's not actually that much to it, it's a pretty normal cake recipe. I do like the fact that all the ingredients are listed with weights, since I use my kitchen scale to measure ingredients whenever weights are available.
This cake was also described as reminiscent of a "classic tunnel of fudge cake". In doing research, the original "tunnel of fudge cake" was a recipe that won 2nd place in the 1966 Pillsbury Bake-off. It used a Pillsbury fudge icing mix as a filling to create a fudgy center. When Pillsbury discontinued the mix they received a lot of grief so they released a recipe for making the cake from scratch. Interestingly, that recipe does not use a filling; instead the cake is sort of "underbaked"; instead of using a toothpick test the cake is baked for a specific amount of time resulting in a center that is still runny and fudgy. The instructions for this recipe do say to use the toothpick test, but I imagine that could be changed. The NYT recipe I found says to bake at 350deg for 40 minutes (and, of course, do NOT do the toothpick test).
Ingredients
For the Cake
1 cup (95 grams) Dutch-process cocoa powder
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 cup (240 milliliters) boiling water
1 cup (240 milliliters) whole or reduced-fat milk
2 1/2 cups (310 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (220 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (120 milliliters) neutral oil, such as canola
8 tablespoons (1 stick/113 grams) unsalted butter, softened but cool to the touch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs, at room temperature
For the Optional Glaze
3 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 tablespoons honey
Pinch fine salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons whole or reduced-fat milk, plus more as needed
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
1. Make the cake: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Coat a large (10- to 15-cup/2.3- to 3.5-liter) Bundt pan with baking spray, or grease thoroughly with a thin layer of vegetable oil. Pay extra attention to the center tube, where sticking is especially likely.
2. In a medium bowl or 4-cup (1-liter) glass liquid measuring cup, whisk together the cocoa and espresso powders until combined. Pour in the boiling water, whisking again until thoroughly combined. The mixture will thicken and turn glossy, almost like pudding. Let cool slightly, then whisk in the milk until incorporated.
3. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or using a large bowl and a handheld mixer, beat the brown and granulated sugars, oil and butter on medium speed until lightened in color, creamy and fluffy, about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl and attachment as needed. Still on medium, beat in the vanilla extract, then the eggs, one at a time, waiting until the first is incorporated before adding the second. Scrape down the bowl again. On low speed, gradually add half the cocoa powder mixture. The batter may look separated or curdled, but not to worry. After the liquid has been thoroughly mixed in, stop the mixer, add half the flour mixture and mix again on low until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Repeat with the remaining cocoa mixture and then the remaining flour mixture.
5. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once more. Turn the mixer back on to medium and beat for about 30 seconds. Remove the bowl from the mixer, and do one last scrape-and-stir with a flexible spatula to make sure there are no dry pockets or slicks of unincorporated butter on the sides or bottom of the bowl. The finished batter will be thick and glossy, almost like a soft pudding or mousse.
6. Scrape the batter into the prepared Bundt pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon or offset spatula. Gently tap the pan a few times on the counter to pop any air pockets in the batter. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a cake tester (or wooden skewer) inserted into the center comes out clean. When pressed lightly with your finger, the cake should spring back a bit, but it may still feel very soft. That’s okay; it will firm up as it cools.
7. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let rest for 10 minutes. Use a small, flexible spatula or a round-edged knife to loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and then invert onto the rack. Let the cake cool completely.
8. Make the optional glaze: In a small, microwave-safe bowl, combine the cocoa powder, honey and salt. No need to stir, as it will come together smoothly once you add the remaining ingredients.
9. In a 2-cup (480-milliliter) glass liquid measuring cup, combine the butter and milk. Microwave on HIGH until the butter has melted, 30 seconds to 1 minute. The milk may foam, so keep an eye on it, pausing the microwave and stirring as needed. Pour the butter mixture into the cocoa powder mixture and whisk until glossy, smooth and well-combined. Whisk in the vanilla. It’s possible that after whisking, the glaze will cool and thicken enough to not be pourable. If so, just pop it back into the microwave for 10 to 20 seconds on HIGH, or until it’s glossy and thin enough to drizzle over the cake. You can heat it more or less depending on how much you want it to drip down the cake — warmer and it will go all the way down, slightly less hot and it will go slower and not as far. If it still seems on the thick side, thin with additional milk, as needed.
10. Drizzle the glaze around the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. If desired, use a spoon or offset spatula to push more of it over and down. Let the glaze set for about 30 minutes before cutting and serving, or storing.
VARIATIONS: This recipe can also be made as a loaf cake. For two loaves, use the ingredient amounts as written, but you can also halve them to make one loaf. We preferred the height of an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan, but a 9-by-5-inch pan will work, as well. Grease the loaf pan(s) with a thin layer of oil, then line with a piece of parchment paper cut to form a sling along the long sides of the pan. Proceed with the recipe as written (if you do two loaves, each pan will need about 720 grams of batter), baking for about 50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before lifting the cake out of the pan using the parchment sling. Glaze, if desired, as above.