Chocolate Mocha Mud Cake
Submitted by nika
Chocolate mocha mud cake: a dense, fudgy Australian-style cake baked low and slow, then finished with a glossy chocolate-butter icing. Instant coffee deepens the chocolate without tasting like coffee.
YIELD
12 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
150 minREADY
190 minA mud cake is not just any chocolate cake. The Australian baking tradition gives it a long, slow stint in a cool oven, which produces a dense, fudgy crumb closer to a slab of brownie than a layer cake. Dark cooking chocolate, butter, and superfine sugar are melted together first to build the batter’s rich, almost glossy base.
Coffee is the quiet ingredient. A tablespoon of instant coffee dissolved in the hot water sharpens the chocolate without leaving a coffee flavor in its place. You read it as “more chocolate” rather than mocha, which is exactly the point.
The slow bake matters. Cooked low and slow, the cake develops a tighter, fudgier crumb instead of rising tall and airy. It does mean a long wait, but the texture is the payoff. A simple two-ingredient icing of melted chocolate and butter, poured over the cooled cake, sets soft and shiny.
Pro Tips
- Use a quality dark chocolate with at least 50 percent cocoa; the cake leans on it for body and flavor.
- Sift the dry ingredients in three batches as the recipe directs; mud cakes are prone to lumps.
- Line the tin completely, sides and base, so the long bake does not stick.
- Wait until the cake is fully cold before pouring on the icing or it will run right off.
Variations
- Stir a tablespoon of espresso powder into the icing for a stronger mocha edge.
- Add a teaspoon of orange zest to the batter for a chocolate-orange mud cake.
- Scatter raspberries or toasted hazelnuts over the iced cake for textural contrast against the dense crumb.
Ingredients
Directions
Melt butter in double boiler, stir in combined coffee and hot water, then chocolate and sugar.
Stir until smooth.
Sift dry ingredients into 3 lots.
Place melted ingredients into electric mixer bowl and gradually beat in dry sifted ingredients individually.
Add eggs and vanilla and beat well.
Greased and base line a 25 cm cake tin and pour in mixture.
Bake in slow oven (150 deg, C) for approx 2½ hours.
Stand for 5 minutes before turning out of tin.
Icing: Melt chocolate and butter in double boiler and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Pour over cold cake and smooth out.
Note: The cake can also be made into mini cakes. Just need to reduce baking time accordingly.
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