If you looking for a rich, dense, and easy chocolate mud cake? This is it! Three layers of dense chocolate cake layered with wonderful caramel buttercream that's finger-licking good. Perfect for any birthday, celebration, or just went you are in a chocolate mood. A treat on its own with or without frosting.
I always thought the chocolate mud cake was an Australian origin recipe because that's where I first ate the best chocolate mud cake. For a very long time, I use to call it the Australian chocolate mud cake. Plus, almost all my Australian friends will insist that Australians make the best chocolate mud cake.
But, apparently, the mud cake first made its appearance in the 1970s and in American and was a combination of the chocolate fudge and chocolate brownie. What's also interesting is that the American chocolate mud cake back then contained marshmallows!! I do like marshmallows but not sure I like them in my mud cake.
Well, whether you call it Australian chocolate mud cake or American chocolate mud cake. There is no denying that its absolute chocolate heaven
Table of Content
About this cake
If you know anyone that loves chocolate, chocolate, and more chocolate? You MUST make this for them. You will score some really big bonus points with them.
It's delicious on its own. If I make it for our home it never gets frosted. NEVER!! You can eat it just as is, without any frosting or decorate it as I have here for a celebration cake.
My absolute favorite frosting with this cake is Ganache and I shared that combination with you when I shared the chocolate ganache cake.
But if too much chocolate is not what you want then try my Velvet Chocolate Buttercream instead. Today, I have frosted this with my caramel buttercream.
Ingredients and substitutes
- Chocolate - This is the star of the cake here. The chocolate you use will determine the ultimate experience you get from this cake.
Technically you can use any chocolate but the better the quality of chocolate the better the taste!! Always use good quality chocolate that you can eat on its own. You can use any percentage you want really. If you use dark the cake will have a more strong chocolate taste. Similarly, if you use semi-sweet or milk so will the flavor the cake. Personally; I like to use at least 60% chocolate for my cakes. Often I indulge in 70% and love it. - Brown Sugar - I prefer dark brown as compared to light brown for this recipe. The molasses in the dark brown intensifies the flavor so much more. But you certainly can use any brown sugar you have on hand.
- White sugar - this adds sweetness and texture to the cake, giving it a bit of stability. Mud cakes, though dense can fall apart very easily.
- Buttermilk - often you get water in a mud cake, I prefer to use buttermilk. It softens the crumb a tad and gives a wonderful softness to the crumb. Buttermilk can be easily made at home in as little as five minutes - you can find it here - Homemade buttermilk in 5 minutes.
Step by step instructions
Mud cake
- Grease and line an 8-inch round baking pan/pans.
- Preheat oven at 160 C / 320 F.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt.
- Melt butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.
- Add the sugars and stir until almost melted.
- Next, add the vanilla followed by the eggs, one at a time.
- Then, add the buttermilk - and combine well.
- Lastly, add the flour and mix until you have a smooth batter. A whisk works well for this.
- Pour the batter into your baking pan.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool and decorate with your favorite frosting.
Caramel buttercream
- Place the butter and salt in the mixer bowl.
- Using the paddle attachment – mix the butter until light and creamy.
- Add caramel sauce – combine well.
- Then, powdered sugar – combine well.
- Once all the ingredients have been added – whip for three minutes until the caramel buttercream is light and fluffy,
- Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.
- While still hot - pour chocolate over the caramel buttercream.
- Wait for two minutes so the chocolate will set.
- Then mix vigorously so the chocolate will shatter into tiny pieces.
- This leaves tiny pieces of chocolate in the caramel buttercream.
Decorate
- Prepare simple syrup - cool completely before using.
- Once cooled, cut the dome off the cake,
- Split the cake layer into three horizontally so you have three layers.
- Brush each layer with the cooled, simple syrup.
- Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand.
- Top with a big dollop of caramel frosting - spread evenly.
- Then, top the second cake layer on top followed by more frosting.
- Continue until you have used all three later.
- Place the cake in the fridge if necessary, so the layers hold together.
- Spread the remaining frosting around and top of the cake.
- Create a rustic buttercream look by simply swirling the spatula around the side of the cake.
- Or, use an icing comb to create a pattern on the buttercream as I have done in the video.
More chocolate cake recipes
- Chocolate Fudge Cake
- Classic chocolate cake
- Chocolate chiffon cake
- Devil's food chocolate cake
- See all chocolate cake recipes or all layer cake recipes
Frequently asked questions
Oh, they are very different. Chocolate cake is usually a light and airy sponge while a chocolate mud cake would be dense, moist almost fudgy.
In a cake, you would cream ingredients to add as much air as possible while in mud cakes you usually melt the butter, chocolate and aim at keeping it dense.
If properly stored, this mud cake will last for 2 to 3 days at room temperature. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 or 6 days.
Yes. Freeze it on a tray for a few hours then wrap well in cling/plastic wrap, followed by parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Thaw wrapped in the fridge for 24 hours so the condensation will stay on the papers, not the cake.
If you don't want to make a layer cake like this,
You can make this into a sheet cake - a 'Chocolate Mud Sheet Cake'.
You can also pour the batter into a well-greased and dusted bundt pan for a 'Chocolate Mud Bundt Cake'.
This recipe can also be baked into 24 beautiful Mud cupcakes
There are so many other choices for frosting. Such as:
Swiss or Italian Meringue Buttercream
French or German Buttercream Frosting
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
I have over 30 plus frosting recipes on this blog. And I highly recommend checking them out.
Troubleshooting
- My chocolate cake is very dense not light and fluffy?
That is correct this cake is dense, moist and very chocolatey. If you want a light and fluffy cake please use my simple moist chocolate cake recipe instead. - My caramel buttercream is very soft and won't hold peaks
You need to whip the buttercream for a good few minutes so the cream in the caramel sauce whips up and builds volume. Additionally, make sure you are using a thick caramel sauce. - The top of my mud cake is very hard
This mud cake will have a crust on the top when baked. However, if you bake too long that top can become hard and the cake will be dry. Use the time given below as a guide but make sure to check often.
You may also like
Tried my recipe? Don't forget to rate ★★★ ★★ it and leave a comment to let me know how it was.
You can also find a collection of my tutorials and recipes on Pinterest.
Follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more.
Printable Recipe
BEST Chocolate Mud Cake Recipe
Print Pin Rate Share by Email Share on FB Save GrowDescription
Video
Ingredients
For the cake
- 7 oz (200 g) Chocolate
- 8 oz (226 g) Unsalted butter (1 cup, 2 sticks)
- 2 cups (250 g) All-purpose flour
- ½ cup (45 g) Cocoa Powder
- 1 cup (220 g) Brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) White sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 ½ tsp Baking powder
- ½ tsp Baking soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1 cup (240 ml) Buttermilk
For the caramel buttercream with chocolate flakes
- 8 oz (226 g) Butter unsalted
- 2 cups (240 g) Powdered sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) Caramel sauce
- ½ tsp Salt
- 4 oz (113 g) Melted chocolate
Extra
- ½ cup (120 ml) Simple Syrup
Instructions
For the cake
- Grease and line and 8-inch round baking pan/pans
- Preheat oven at 160 C / 320 F
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt.
- Melt butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl.
- Add the sugars and stir until almost melted
- Next, add the vanilla followed by the eggs one at a time.
- Then add the buttermilk - combine well.
- Lastly, add the flour and mix until you have a smooth batter. A whisk works well for this.
- Pour the batter into your baking pan.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Cool and decorate with your favorite frosting.
Caramel Buttercream with chocolate flakes
- Mix the caramel into the velvet American buttercream until well combined.
- Pour the melted still warm chocolate over the buttercream and leave it alone.
- After 10 minutes stir it vigorously. (read note above)
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
julie
Hi Veena,
Thank you so much for sharing all your recipes and tips and tricks of the trade. I've recently made this cake for my work collegues and these were the comments received
" Wow, this is the cake you want to sit and eat after you've spit up with your boyfried, you could sit and eat the whole thing"
" This is the sort of chocolate fix I look for when I'm pre menstrual but can never find it anywhere, until this cake"
" Best cake i've ever had"
I've also made your caramel apple cake with your american caramel buttercream. This also received amazing comments fro my work collegues.
I'm now all excited about trying out more of your recipes, but i'm specifically looking for those that would be sturdy enough for a 5 tier wedding cake. Are all your butter based recipes sturdy enough for a tiered wedding cake?
I've also read that you like to make your cakes at least 4 inches high, poss 6, do you bake in 2inch high cakes tins?
Sorry, one just more question...... i'm planning on making the bottom tier a 14inch vanilla cake, and have looked at your serving chart for wedding cakes and it says this will serve approx. 78 people, but when I type 56 in the "adjust Servings" setting on the recipe card it doesnt seem right. Please can you help.
One last thing, your expertize is invaluable and if i lived in Isreal i would be more than happy to pay for you to teach me what you know. You are amazing, an inspiration and selfless. Thankyou xx
Veena Azmanov
Hey Julie.
Thank you so much for your lovely comments and compliments. Made my day.
Yes, all my butter-based cakes work great for tiered cake unless stated in the recipe.
Some recipes do bake tall, some will have to be doubled. Most recipes have the details.
What do you mean when you say it does not seem right? The recipe calculator will calculate the recipe per the servings.
However, you wont' be making one recipe in a large pan and I'm sure you don't have an oven to bake all of them at once.
So I highly recommend breaking those 76 servings into different pans or even different recipes for more variations.
Keeping batter out too long while the others are baking is not such a good idea.
I hope this helps. Thanks for your kind words.
If you do come to Israel it would be my pleasure to teach you
XXX
Veer
Please can you tell me any substitute for the brown sugar? Can i replace it with white instead? Also, is that possible to use this cake as a base for my barbie cake? will this get messed and fall apart or can it hold? My barbie upper part will be around 18cm x 2cm
Veena Azmanov
Veer, you can use white sugar but it will have a different texture to the cake. Do you have molasses, you can add the white sugar and 2 tbsp of molasses. Yes, this will work in a barbie cake. Mud cakes are quite good but dense as well so will hold well.
Veer
Thank you very much for the reply!! Your reply gives us a boost to browse your site more and more and to be the regular reader. Thanks a ton!
Veena Azmanov
You are very welcome Veer. Have a great day
Stephanie
In the video, something dark is added to the flour before you start melting the chocolate and butter together. Is this cocoa or something? It’s not in the recipe. Can’t wait to try this one.
Veena Azmanov
Yes, Stephanie, It's the cocoa powder. Sorry, I must have missed it in the new recipe card.. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Just corrected.
Denise
This cake looks fantastic! I especially love that caramel butter cream. I am so hungry for sweets right now so you are driving my crazy with your photos. Also love lazy versions for people like me that are not as great of a baker as you!
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Denise. You will enjoy this very much. It's so super easy too.
Jolina
Just look at those perfectly even layers! I also love how chocolatey this is. I'm partial to lemony things myself but hard to say no to chocolate cake 🙂 Especially this one!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, Jolina. You will love this one.