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SERIOUSLY SIMPLE: Revisiting the Tunnel of Fudge

By Diane Rossen Worthington, Tribune Media Services on

I have made my share of chocolate cakes but this updated version of the original Tunnel of Fudge Cake outshines most of them. Did you know that the Tunnel of Fudge cake put Bundt pans on the baking map? According to numerous accounts, in 1966, Ella Rita Helfrich submitted her recipe for a chocolate cake with a gooey, fudgy center to the Pillsbury Bake-Off contest. She came in second (though her cake remains much better known than that year's winner).

As Christie Matheson recounts in her new book "Cake Simple" (Chronicle Books, $20) the original recipe "called for lots of sugar, no actual chocolate, and Pillsbury's since-discontinued Double-Dutch Fudge Buttercream frosting mix. It was tasty, for sure, but overly sweet. While you do need a substantial amount of sugar to make the chemistry work right, it doesn't need to be quite so cloying."

This version is deeply chocolaty, made with bittersweet chocolate and spiked with cacao nibs, then topped with a rich, dark chocolate ganache with a touch of fleur de sel. (You can find cacao nibs in specialty stores, online or at your grocery store.) And, yes, it still has the magical tunnel of gooey fudge running through the center. I can't think of anything better to Valentine's Day than a big slice of this cake with your sweetheart. Enjoy.

Tunnel of Fudge Redux

Reprinted with permission from "Cake Simple" by Christie Matheson (Chronicle Books, 2011)

Serves 12 to 14.

 

1 1/4 cups (287 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus melted butter for greasing the pan

3/4 cup (75 g) cocoa powder, plus more for dusting the pan

3 ounces (85 g) bittersweet chocolate

1/2 cup boiling water

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