The History of the Hot Fudge Cake
You could say that hot fudge cake is a celebrity among desserts, given that it's rich and famous. A moist chocolate cake that makes its own fudge sauce as it bakes, hot fudge cake has been a dessert favorite for decades. Easy to prepare and available in many variations, hot fudge cake combines the light texture of a chocolate cake with a smooth, rich fudge sauce. Does this Spark an idea?
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History
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According to fudge cake.org, the first hot fudge cake recipe was created by Emelyn Battersby Hartridge when she was a student at Vassar College in New York in the early 1920s. She learned from an acquaintance that a new confection--fudge--was becoming increasingly popular in Baltimore, Maryland. She began working on a recipe that would blend fudge with cake. When Hartridge presented her new fudge cake at the Vassar Senior Auction she sold 40 pounds of the dessert.
A Cake By Any Other Name
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Hot fudge cake is known by several other names, including hot fudge sundae cake, baked fudge pudding, hot fudge pudding, chocolate cobbler, chocolate fudge upside-down cake, brownie pudding cake and chocolate pudding cake. Regardless of what they're called, most hot fudge cakes are created from the same basic recipe, although cake variations can be found in different parts of the United States. Hot fudge cakes in the Northeast tend to feature a creamy cake texture with a light taste of chocolate, while Southern cakes offer a rich chocolate taste and a brownie-like density.
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Recipe
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The basic recipe for hot fudge cake includes white sugar, flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, milk, butter, vanilla, brown sugar and hot water. You can cook hot fudge cake in an oven or in a crock pot. During the baking process, the batter separates into a cake layer and a hot fudge layer. Best served warm right out of the oven, hot fudge cake can be enjoyed as is or topped with ice cream or whipped cream.
Variations
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A must-have for chocoholics, hot fudge cake can be made in a variety of ways to suit many different tastes. Some of today's specialized cake types include gluten-free, vegan and sugar-free versions. Other popular variations such as spiced hot fudge coconut pudding cake, hazelnut chocolate hot fudge cake and peanut butter hot fudge cake call for special flavorings and ingredients to be added to the basic recipe.
A Tasty Icon
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Considered a favorite of children and a delicious indulgence for adults, hot fudge cake has become a food icon. Cultural references to this dessert have been made in cartoons ranging from the '60s children's favorite "Rocky and Bullwinkle" to the more recent "King of the Hill." Hot fudge cake is also a hot topic in recipe books. Hot fudge cake is a classic dessert, relished not only for its sweet taste but also for the warm memories it evokes.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Image by Flickr.com, courtesy of Procsilas Moscas
