Hot Fudge Cake (Best Ever!)

Please, please make this now.

You had the day off. And, therefore, no excuse.


Mmm...

Now, if that picture is all you're after, then by all means, drink it in. If you want to know how to make that happen in your kitchen, then read on as I walk you through the process.

Let's see...


I believe that in the last post, I left off right here. For these king-sized chocolate cupcakes, I used the Double Chocolate Layer Cake recipe that Hilary of Let Her Bake Cake posted this week. She got the recipe from Epicurious, but since I followed her version of the recipe, I'll link her. If you haven't visited Let Her Bake Cake, you should hop over there. Her header alone earns my vote!

Back to the cake...


Once the cupcake cooled completely, I peeled the liners halfway down the cupcake and cut off the top. To give you an idea of scale, the bottom halves of these king-sized cupcakes are each about the size of a regular cupcake.


The cupcake halved, I dropped it back into the pan and spread a half-scoop of softened vanilla ice cream right on top of the cake.


When I replaced the cupcake tops, the whole deal stood a bit taller than the tin, but I don't see that as a bad thing. I covered the cupcakes in plastic wrap and then foil and left a little message for anyone who might come nosing around the freezer...


and put those suckers in for the big chill. The ice cream in the middle was set up and ready to eat in a few hours, but since I had to wait to photograph these cuties in natural light, I left mine in the freezer overnight.

Due to an unplanned Memorial Day Festivus, I ran out of time to make my own hot fudge sauce, so I topped these cupcakes with chocolate syrup and whipped cream.


I snuck this one outside to photograph it, and it seems I drew some attention in the process.


The cupcake lasted about 20 seconds. Even my cake-hating brother loved it and requested another.

I suppose you now want to know what I thought of the whole shabang. And, you know what?, I wish I could spell it. I wish there were one word for this euphoria.

Hilary was not kidding when she pointed out that this cake is not only her favorite but the favorite of the interweb in general and Epicurious in specific. The cake is rich, fudgy, and completely melt-in-your-mouth fantastic. Adding a half-inch layer of vanilla ice cream to the cake provided the perfect complement of cool, creamy goodness in the midst of all that chocolate. The whipped cream topping echoes the ice cream in a lighter tone and the chocolate syrup drives it all home.



I'm entering this Hot Fudge Cake Cupcake in Cupcake Project and Scoopalicious's Ice Cream Cupcake Round Up, but that won't help you too much. So I'll repeat my earlier plea: Make this now. It's the perfect Memorial Day snackum.