King Arthur Flour's Fudge Pudding Cake

This is possibly the easiest chocolate dessert you'll ever make. That doesn't mean that it's the best dessert or the chocolatiest, because it's not. But it does win the crown of easiest, and when your dinner preparation takes twice as long as you thought it would and you realize that baking dessert was the simplest part of your night and you get to impress such charming guests as these with your baking skills, then ease is what you're going for.

The recipe comes from The King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book, where those selfless elves at King Arthur Flour aim to make whole-wheat baking a lot more accessible (and tasty) than it's been in the past. It's an admirable attempt, for sure, but I think what I'm realizing is that I like whole grains in my breakfast foods, but not necessarily in my after-dinner desserts.

You're supposed to want to be wholesome in the morning, after rising and shining. But after dinner, at night, richness and flavor and mouthfeel take precedence over good nutrition. No?

The pudding cake is one of those miracles of science wherein liquid and solid batters essentially swap places in the oven, creating a cakey top and a pudding-y bottom when you spoon out the cake. We served ours with heavy cream, for pouring, and creme fraiche, for dolloping, and because I tried this cake both ways (I can be such a glutton), I can tell you that the tang of the creme fraiche coaxes out all kind of chocolate-y flavors from the cake and elevates this ho-hum dessert into something a little more special (the heavy cream just sort of moistens it all without adding any real character).

But you can't really escape the fact that you're eating a whole-wheat dessert - the flour is too assertive. After our bison steak dinner the other night, the pudding cake was a nice enough end, but the leftovers sat untouched in the fridge for three days before I took pity on them and threw them out. I think that's the real judgement here.

Fudge Pudding Cake
Yields 12 to 16 servings

1¼ cups whole wheat flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
¾ cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
¾ cup, packed, light or dark brown sugar
1½ cups hot brewed coffee or hot water
Vanilla or coffee ice cream for serving 

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, granulated sugar, ½ cup cocoa, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat egg into milk and add vanilla, espresso powder and melted butter. Add to dry ingredients. Mix to blend. Spread in a 9-inch square baking pan or a glass or ceramic baking dish.

2. Whisk remaining cocoa with brown sugar and spread over batter. Slowly pour hot coffee or water on top. Do not mix.

3. Place pan in oven and bake 35 to 40 minutes, until batter appears set and sauce is bubbling. Remove to a rack and let rest 15 minutes. To serve, scoop portions into goblets or onto plates and top each with ice cream.

Comments

[Janet]

I agree. Does it really matter if a dessert that's mostly sugar and butter contains whole wheat flour? Did you really get 12 - 16 servings? Seems like a lot for the size pan. Epicurious has a wonderful"brownie pudding cake" recipe online that I've made.

[AnnieKNodes]

I loved that Pink In Perfection segment! Your kitchen is great, at least for NYC apartment standards.

I think I'll echo your and Janet's sentiments about whole wheat flour deserts. Muffins? Sure. Pancakes? Maybe. Deserts? Eh. No thanks.

[Ari (Baking and Books)]

Cake and pudding in one bowl? Sounds like a winner to me, yum!!

[erin in SoCal]

Have you tried any of the pastry recipes from this book yet?

I'd love to hear what you think of them since various folks have been praising them. If they produce a nice tasting, flaky result, I would be tempted into buying the book.

[shuna fish lydon]

I was wooed by this recipe as well.

WW flour always gets the back seat, no? Nice to see it as a first ingredient in a sweet thing. And chocolate no less!

[Maggi]

I wonder... did you use the King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour? I have made quite a few "dessert" type things with that whole wheat flour and was surpried that it actually tasted pretty good.

Incidentally, I was just given this book (tome is more like it) and I am eager to try quite a few of the recipes...

[Tanna]

I was just looking at this book in the bookstore. I have two of their others and have had excellent results. I'm wondering if the recipe would have been better with the white whole wheat as Maggi suggested. I'm a real lover of whole wheat and am always trying to sneek a little in whereever I can.

[deb]

This looks delightful, though I completely agree that I have far more patience for whole-grained earnestness in the morning. Have you worked at all with whole wheat pastry flour? I hear it's got all of the goodness with none of the grit, and hope to mess around with it soon.

[Lia]

There's this one oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe from Eating Well that uses whole wheat flour (and tahnini in place of some of the butter) that is seriously so good! But I agree that sometimes whole wheat is not the way to go with dessert.

This still looks delicious though!

[hungry girl]

Another not-so-great recipe...I actually love that you tell these stories...so much of what I do in my kitchen is trial-and-error...and for some reason, I find it fascinating reading!

[Luisa]

Janet - the pan would have definitely served 12 people, modestly.

Annie - thank you!

Ari - it's a lovely type of dessert, but I think I like it a bit more chocolate-y.

Erin - this is the only recipe I tried because it was excerpted in an NYTimes review of the book.

Shuna - I do like the IDEA of whole wheat desserts...

Maggi - I had some leftover King Arthur Whole Wheat flour from a bread-baking day a few months ago, so I used that. The white whole wheat certainly sounds like a good substitution, though it wasn't called for in the recipe.

Tanna - you should definitely try it with the lighter whole wheat, might be great!

Deb - no, I haven't, though I have mixed whole wheat flour and regular pastry/cake flour with stupendously tender results.

Lia - tahini? In cookies? I think I'd have to try them to be convinced! :)

Hungry Girl - well, I'm so glad to hear that! Thank you.