This recipe comes from an Amish cook in Iowa named Emma Yoder. And unless you are counting calories, you really can't go wrong with a hot fudge cake. In many ways, this is an Amish version of a "molten lava cake."
Make sure you leave the cake in the oven long enough to firm up because if your fudge comes leaking out you'll have a mess. But a tasty mess!
🍫 The Amish and Decadent Desserts
The Amish have their sweet teeth (sweet tooth?) like everyone else. Chocolate is a favorite, but sweet desserts that can be scratched out of cinnamon, honey, maple syrup, and peanut butter are also popular. Chocolate, though, is the gold standard among the Amish in terms of what makes a super dessert. Favorite uses for chocolate:
- Chocolate cake
- Chocolate chip cookies
- Chocolate puddings
- Chocolate sauces
This hot water cake combines a lot of the above (sauce and cake), to make this delicious, gooey chocolate confection which almost anyone would love. But a dessert like this isn't a "weeknight type dessert", it is a special occasion weekend type treat.
📋 Step-By-Step Hot Water Cake
So, what does the hot water do for the cake? Well, there are hot water cakes, ice water cakes, medium water cakes, but in this case, the hot water serves several purposes:
- Improved Texture: Hot water helps dissolve sugar and cocoa, creating a smoother batter. It also helps to activate the leavening agents (such as baking powder or baking soda), resulting in a lighter and more tender texture. And this cake has a super texture!
- Enhanced Flavor: Hot water can intensify the flavor of ingredients like cocoa powder, coffee, or chocolate, bringing out their rich, deep flavors. Again, ditto, the flavor definitely comes out in this!
- Moisture: The addition of hot water helps to keep the cake moist by providing extra liquid. This is especially beneficial for cakes with dense ingredients like chocolate, ensuring they don't become dry during baking.
- Even Baking: Hot water promotes even distribution of ingredients throughout the batter, ensuring that the cake bakes evenly and avoids any pockets of dry ingredients.
When making this cake, use high quality cocoa.
Use a high quality cocoa when preparing this cake. I mean, if you have to use Hershey's or a knock-off, go ahead, but if you can use Ghiradelli's, it'll be all the better.
The trickiest part of this recipe is drizzling the boiling water over the layers. First of all, by the time you get the water off the heat and ready to drizzle, it's not boiling any longer. And that is okay. But using a spoon is awkward. You could try a ladle or a glass measuring cup.
Store leftover hot water cake in an air-tight container and put in the refrigerator for up to a few days.
🎂 More Popular Amish Cake Recipes
Cake For Company
🖨️ Full Recipe
Amish Hot Water Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
- ½ cup milk, at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa
- 1 ½ cups boiling water
- Whipped cream or ice cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Stir together flour, next 3 ingredients, and ¾ cup granulated sugar in a large bowl; stir in milk, oil, and vanilla.
- Spread batter in a lightly greased 8-inch square pan.
- Combine brown sugar, cocoa, and remaining ½ cup granulated sugar in a small bowl; sprinkle over batter in pan.
- Using a spoon, gently drizzle 1 ½ cups boiling water over batter, being careful not to disturb layers. (Do not stir.)
- Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a cake layer forms on top and layer springs back when touched. Let cool on a wire rack 25 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.
Christine McMahon-Chase
I love it when dishes are 'accidentally' vegan. Thrilled to see this yummy cake! Thank you 🙂
Kevin
It is a yummy cake, Christine, enjoy!:)
Fee
This is Mississippi mud cake also what kind of instructions in a recipe randomly say add next 3 ingredients. If you gonna be lazy why bother?
Kevin Williams
Thanks, Ruth!