Hot Fudge Pudding Cake Remix - Updating an Old Favorite

I love it when I get specific requests for a certain dish or dessert. Our dear family friend Matt, asked specifically for the "hot fudge cake" for his birthday party. I was very happy to oblige!

But first, I digress. The first time I made Hot Fudge Pudding Cake was back in 1973. Dear hubby and I were newlyweds and I was 18 years old, just a mere child! We had invited my dear hubby's parents over for dinner for the first time, and I wanted to make a good impression. I poured over my few cookbooks and recipe cards, trying to find the perfect recipes. I wanted them to know that I knew how to cook and would be take good care of their youngest child! Well, you know there is a reason that meal stands out in my mind after almost 38 years. It is a memory that I will never forget!

It was a fiasco, from beginning to the end, and I'm not kidding!!! First, I served a little appetizer drink my parents had fixed for company many times, homemade grape juice with 7-Up. None of us drank any alcohol at all, and because of the fizz, my dear hubby's dad thought we were serving some alcoholic beverage. That was how we started the meal and it only grew worse with time as the night progressed.

I had decided to make Pineapple Meatballs over Rice, a meal I had successfully fixed many times for my family, before I got married. It should have turned out. Only problem, I added waaayyyyyy to much salt and the rice was inedible, so we sat around the table while I cooked a new batch in a pan on the  stove (I don't know if rice cookers were invented back then, but I didn't have one.) Because I was so horrified that I had added to salt, on the new batch, I didn't add any! And, I was wanting it to be done quickly, very quickly, so I kept taking the lid off to stir it, checking to see if it was ready. If you have ever made rice, you know that is not a good idea. Some of the rice was under cooked and some over cooked, but, we crunched and mushed our way through it anyway, adding salt as needed. All the while, everyone is assuring me that everything was fine and the food was wonderful. That was my second humiliation of the night.

My third mistake; trying out a new, never been made recipes on my brand new in-laws. Make sure you choose a recipe that you could make in your sleep! I didn't do that. I found the recipe for the pudding cake and mixed the cake part up and had it sitting on the counter, ready for the hot water and the oven. I was feeling very confident that this would be the best dessert ever and everyone would love it! After dinner, I baked it and was so happy that I would be serving a "fresh from the oven" dessert! I served everyone and I'm sure that I was the last one to taste it. I took a bite and I spit the bite out on my spoon! It was bitter and horrible tasting. How embarrassing is that. Twice in one night, new in-laws, bad impression!

I don't remember what happened after that. That is where my memories of that evening ended! I'm guessing that we didn't have any dessert. Later, I realized that I hadn't mixed any sugar with the cocoa for the hot fudge part. That was a night I will never forget, but my mom-in-law says that she doesn't remember anything about a bad meal at our house, and it's not because she is forgetful, because she isn't. She's just a very lovely woman!

I have made may successful Hot Fudge Pudding Cakes since that time and this one turned out as "the best" one to date. If you aren't sure what a pudding cake is, it bakes with cake on the top and a hot fudge sauce on the bottom. I have also made Lemon Pudding Cake with lemon cake on top and creamy lemon sauce on the bottom many times and it turns out fabulous too!

After googling Hot Fudge Pudding Cake, all I saw were the exact same recipes, without any variations at all! I couldn't believe that no one had made any new changes to that old time dessert. I decided it was time that I did a re-mix on this old standard recipe. The first change I made was doubling the cocoa in the cake, and using my deepest, darkest cocoa powder. The next change, I used brown sugar in place of white sugar, The next change, I doubled the vanilla and used Watkins Vanilla Nut Extract. The next change, I doubled the quantity on the "hot fudge" so that there would be plenty for everyone. The last change, I added a layer of Caramel Bits. I shot a few pictures.

The cake batter is on the very bottom, the brown sugar next, the caramel bits on top

Boiling water poured over the top, ready for oven

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Thank goodness there weren't any leftovers!

In looking at the pictures, I can see that I didn't add any cocoa to the brown sugar on the top, which I had intended to do. Believe me, it wasn't necessary. This had lots of chocolaty hot fudge flavor. I will probably add it next time. I am giving you the original recipe and my remix recipe.

Enjoy!