This is the Queen of all cakes with its velvety smooth, rich chocolate topping and fudgy centre, it really is a showstopper. It’s seen in every good café, but learn to do this well at home and when guests drop over for a cup of tea simply ask “would you like a piece of homemade mud cake?” Then serve it to your guest with a dollop of whipped cream and watch as their eyes light up and their jaws drop when you place it down.

This little beauty is quite versatile and can be used as a birthday cake, engagement cake or wedding cake. I also use it as a base when I make a chocolate mousse cake. 

You don't need any fancy benchtop mixers for this recipe, as you can mix up the cake batter in just one bowl as long as it's heat-proof. The chef's secret to a dense and fudgy cake is to bake it low and slow. This cake is baked at 150°C for about 1 hr and 30 minutes. This cake keeps very well refrigerated for easily a week in an airtight container. It usually gets snaffled up way before the, though!

Did you know? This cake was originally called the Mississippi mud cake because it has its origins in the American deep south. Its name is derived because it is baked to resemble the mud along the banks of the Mississippi River.

This was the first cake I ever made at home as an apprentice chef. I got the recipe from work but made an error when scaling it down from a batch of 40 cakes, and instead of 2 eggs, I used 20! It was more of a sweet omelette than a cake. My siblings and I still ate it, though. 

Chef Dylan tip:  Use castor sugar as this finer form of sugar will dissolve more rapidly into the cake batter and give you a fudgier cake with a tight crumb. Baking powder is not baking soda. Check that your baking powder is not out of date, or else your cake has a greater chance of collapsing.

Cake batters can split because the cold ingredients cause the butter to separate from the chocolate. If you add your eggs and milk cold from the fridge all at one time, it will cool the butter down and cause it to separate from the chocolate. To fix this, use room temperature eggs and milk, stir the batter as you add in each egg, and slowly stream in the milk while stirring. This is really just a chef thing, as the cake will still turn out perfectly fine even if the batter has separated at one stage during the making process. However, it does slightly affect the overall texture of the cake once baked.

This is a really easy recipe, and a fun one to do with little people as anyone who had a parent that baked when they were a child will remember how good it was to get to lick all the batter off the wooden spoon. I certainly did. 

 Get some scales and have a go at this. You will be delighted at how good it tastes.

Serves 8/10
 Cook time 1 hr and 30 mins 
 Prep time 15 mins

Ingredients 
- 250 g unsalted butter, roughly chopped
- 200 g dark chocolate block, roughly chopped
- 240 g caster sugar
- 220 g brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1 tsp (3 g) instant coffee granules, optional
- 375 ml milk
- 3 large eggs approx. 55 g
- 1 tbsp vanilla essence
- 225 g plain flour
- 50 g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
- For the Chocolate Ganache
- 50 mL thickened cream
- 50 mL milk
- 200 g dark chocolate block, finely chopped

Method
For the Mud Cake
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C  
2. Grease and line a 20 cm round cake tin. The cake rises very high when baking, so make sure that the baking paper rises at least 6 cm above the top of the tin.
3. Put chopped butter and chocolate in a large heat-proof bowl—microwave for 1 minute on high power. Stir well. Microwave for another 30 seconds. Stir until the chocolate is completely smooth and melted. Microwave in further 10 second bursts, if needed, to completely melt the chocolate.
4. In the same bowl, now add sugars and instant coffee granules. Stir well. 
5. Add milk, eggs and vanilla. 
6. Stir until Well, combined.
7. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Stir until the batter is well combined.
8. Pour into the prepared tin. Bake for 1 hr 20 mins to 1 hr 30 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out with only a few moist crumbs clinging to it. Avoid opening the oven door during cooking or have the kids running around as the vibration can make the cake sink in the middle.
9. Allow to cool for 20 minutes in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Ganache
1. Stir together milk and cream in a small heat-proof jug. Microwave for 1 minute on high power or until it just begins to bubble (but is not boiling over).
2. Place the finely chopped chocolate in a separate small bowl. Pour the hot cream and milk mix over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir together until smooth and well combined. If the chocolate doesn't melt completely pour back into jug and microwave the ganache in 10-sec bursts until smooth and creamy
3. Get the restaurant look by using a large, serrated bread knife to level out the top of the cake, so it is completely flat.
4. Pour the ganache over the top of the cooled cake, using the back of a spoon to spread it evenly over the sides of the cake. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until the ganache is firm and matte.
5. Slice up and enjoy! I find that this cake tastes even more fudgy and rich on the second day.