Father's Day Baking: Entenmann's Chocolate Fudge Cake

On Saturday, I spotted the Entenmann's Home Baking book for $9.99. I looked to see if they had my hubby's favorite - the Chocolate Fudge Cake...and they did, so I bought it. Came to $6.99 plus tax. Yeah.

Sunday afternoon, I put out all the ingredients and got ready to bake the cake. I brought the butter to room temp, ground some pumpkin seeds instead of almonds (in my new Ninja) and put all the ingredients out in order.

I made the cake itself in my Kitchenaid Mixer with the paddle attachment. Worked really well. I ground the pumpkin seeds in the single serve cup of the Ninja (worked like a charm) and I baked the cake in a 9x13 pan instead of the cake pans like the recipe called for (the actual cake at the supermarket is a rectangle so I was trying to copy that.) I baked it for 25 minutes at 350 instead of 30-35 minutes like the recipe called for. I let it cool for awhile at room temp and then I refrigerated it.

Meanwhile I made the frosting as the recipe called for. Then when the cake was cool, I took the cooled frosting out and it was not thick. Uh oh. Did I do anything wrong? I didn't think so. I think they did not give you the authentic recipe.

Anyway, here is the recipe I followed. The frosting eventually did thicken on the cake and it came out great. Now you can make your own Chocolate Fudge Cake without having to buy it at the supermarket.

Batter:

3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs, beaten

3 tbsp dark corn syrup (I used light)

3 tbsp ground almonds (I used pumpkin seeds)

1 cup self-rising flour*

pinch salt

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

Frosting:

1.25 cups semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, diced

5 tbsp evaporated milk (do not use fat free)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line a 9x13 inch baking pan** with parchment paper.

For batter:

Place butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, stir in the corn syrup and the ground almonds. Sift the flour, salt and cocoa into a separate bowl and then fold into the cake batter. Add a little water, if necessary, to get the right consistency.

Spoon the cake batter into the prepped pan and bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

For frosting: Place chocolate, brown sugar, butter, evaporated milk and vanilla in a heavy-bottom pan. Heat gently, stirring continuously, until melted. Pour into a bowl and let cool. Cover and let chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

When the cake has cooled, frost the cake. Spread it over the top and sides, if you can. Swirl it to give a wavy appearance (just like the packaged kind.)

Risa's notes:

* original calls for self-rising flour, which I had, but mine was a bit old. I used it anyway. The effect was that the cake wasn't as springy, it was a bit harder when it baked. Make sure to use fresh self-rising flour.

**I used a 9x13 inch pan because the original supermarket cake is in a rectangular shape, not a circle like the recipe calls for. If using 2 round cake pans, bake for 30-35 minutes.

Yield: 8-10 servings

Source: Entenmann's Home Baking cookbook

Posted by RisaG 6/18/12