Dark Fudge Bundt Cake

"This moist, tall cake is perfect when you want a deep, dark chocolate cake that is free of fuss and doesn't require icing or glaze, just a dusting of confectioners' sugar. This is a pass-this-recipe-down-and-around keeper." - Marcy Goldman

And that pretty much says it all. We were going to a friend's for dinner. I was having a baby in five days and frankly wanted something simple. Ed likes cake with no frosting so I was looking for something good enough to stand alone, and for which I had all the ingredients. This one looked like just the ticket - Bundts are the best!
You'll notice in the ingredient list - 1 3/4 cups warm coffee or flat cola. By fluke we happened to have a lone can of Coke hanging out in the back of our fridge (one can equals exactly 1 3/4 cups), which was easy to make flat - just open and leave out for awhile. However, if you stock neither coffee nor cola in your kitchen, I would guess instant hot chocolate - the kind made with water - would stand in nicely. Just make sure it's warm and not hot. And one additional thing that made this cake so easy - no need to let the butter sit out to room temperature. Since it must be melted, you can start it from any temperature, even straight from the freezer if necessary. However, if it occurs to you, set the eggs out. It's always best to bake with room temp eggs if possible.

Like Marcy said (it's one thing for the author to claim recipe virtues; quite another for a critical home baker), this cake is tall (fills the Bundt to the very top!), moist (yum!) and plenty chocolatey. I love the extra little surprise touch of melted chocolate that ends up along the bottom.Dark Fudge Bundt Cake
Cake:
1 3/4 cups white sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 3/4 cups warm coffee or flat cola

Finishing Touches
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Confectioners' sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350. Generously grease/spray a 12-cup Bundt pan or a 9- or 10-inch fluted tube pan with shortening/spray and place pan on a parchment lined baking sheet.

2. In a mixer bowl, combine white sugar, brown sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla; beat 1 minute until smooth. Add flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir briefly and then drizzle in coffee/cola, stirring at the same time to make a smooth batter.

3. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake 60 to 72 minutes or until top springs back when pressed with fingertips. (Bundt cakes often take longer to bake than tube pan cakes do, but my Bundt was done in 60 minutes.)

4. To finish cake, sprinkle chocolte chips on top (yes, it's really the bottom) of cake as soon as it comes out of the oven and allow to sit on cake to melt. Use a butter knife to swirl melted chocolate. As cake comes to room temperature, give it a gentle shake to loosen it from bottom of pan - but do not remove it from pan. Place cake in fridge to firm up chocolate. Once chocolate is well-set, place a plate on top of pan and invert cake onto plate. When chocolate is cooled and set, dust with confectioners' sugar.

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