Fudge Cake

This is a very old recipe, and I had to do a bit of interpretation with the recipe. I'm not sure I would describe it as fudge, thought it is quite dense and moist. If anything, it reminds me of the fad for "pudding cakes" in the 60's and 70's. I thought the frosting was a waste of good butter, though the boys both really liked it. Overall, I wasn't wowed enough to have more than a small forkful of this cake. The boys however, were perfectly willing to eat my share.

From the Wenham Teahouse Cookbook


You Will need:

1 2/3 cups AP flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs (I used large)
1 cup sour milk (I soured mine with lemon juice, but you could use vinegar)
2 ounces unbswetened chocolate

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup regular milk
1 cup granulated sugar
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup water
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Sift flour, baking soda, and salt together. Cream 1 cup of the brown sugar with shortening until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time until well combined. Add flour and sour milk alternately, mixing well after each addition. Combine two ounces chocolate, remaining cup of brown sugar, and milk in saucepan. Cook until chocolate is melted, stirring frequently. Stir into creamed mixture. Bake 30 minutes or until cake tests done and pulls slightly away from sides of pan. Cool completely before frosting. Keep cake in pan (I learned that too late-it does not unmould easily).

Combine sugar, chocolate, water and cornstarch in a saucepan. Cook until chocolate is melted (I did this over medium heat) stirring frequently. The recipe says you can beat in the vanilla and butter at this point, but don't. Cook it a few minutes longer until it begins to thicken. Remove it from the heat, then beat in the butter and extract. I also let it cool slightly before spreading it on the cake. That said, the butter still separated a bit, though no one complained about globules of butter shimmering atop the frosting. I think the boys consider that some sort of bonus. Still, I wasn't delighted with the effect, and I would probably ditch the frosting in favour of a simple butter/sugar/ chocolate glaze. Do as you like.