Frangelico Chocolate Mud Cake

A rich, fudgy mud cake that’s amazing decorated, carved, or just on its own, and keeps weeks.

Original Recipe: https://web.archive.org/web/20190228182813/https://www.bestrecipes.com.au/recipe/chocolate-mud-cake-L1217.html

Ingredients

• 250g unsalted butter, chopped
• 200g good quality eating milk chocolate, chopped (I get mine in delicious 1kg blocks from the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie; use half dark chocolate if you would like it even richer)
• 450g caster sugar
• 250mL water
• 125mL Frangelico hazelnut liqueur
• 1tsp instant coffee, or half a shot espresso (doesn’t make it taste like coffee, just oomphs up the chocolate flavour)
• 115g plain flour
• 115g self raising flour
• 30g cocoa (replace half with flour if you would like it less rich)
• 3 eggs

Method

1. In a large saucepan (don’t go too small – I use a soup pot!), add the first 6 ingredients (butter, chocolate, water, Frangelico, sugar, coffee).
2. Melt together over a low heat until sugar is dissolved and butter and chocolate are melted. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.
3. Sift plain flour, self raising flour and cocoa into a large mixing bowl.
4. Add the cooled liquid and beat gently.
5. Add the eggs and mix gently.
6. Pour mixture into a greased cake tin and bake at 150°C for 1¾ hours or more – aim for 90°-95°C internal temperature.
7. Allow to cool in the tin thoroughly before removing and decorating.

Decorating Ideas

I always pair this with ganache, usually with Frangelico in it too. Coat the outside for a Woollies style mudcake. Layer with ganache to go one further. It takes a mirror glaze or pretty much any icing you might like reasonably well too, if you want something more impressive looking. It carves really well when frozen for shaped cakes, and is dense enough to hold any shape that doesn’t have any sort of cantilevering.

Notes

• One quantity is good for a 15-20cm round tin
• Divide a 1.5 quantity across two tins for a basic 2-layer party cake – more cakes, more fun!
• Avoid baking more than one quantity per tin – it’s pretty dense so it will be hard to get to cook well
• This cake to some extent just sets in the middle, rather than fully developing crumb (it’s not raw – 90°C is plenty high enough to pasteurise the eggs so it’s entirely safe)
• This stuff is RICH – you won’t need much… but it keeps so well you may as well go all out ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
• The lowish baking temperature means I wouldn’t guarantee the alcohol cooks off, but the amount per slice would be minute
• Don’t skip the cooling after it’s done – the cake needs the time to set up properly, and will almost certainly sag if you don’t let it
• Keep in the freezer to aid decorating, but be sure to let it sit in the fridge up to a few days to develop its flavour, and allow to come to room temperature over a few hours before serving
• Hard to say for sure how long it will last, but I’ve left a container of this cake on the bench, unrefrigerated, for 6 weeks and it was still amazing
• Microwave in the days following for a delicious rich warm pudding with custard, cream, ice cream, etc

Updates

I’m working on some improvements to this recipe, which I will post here if they go well.