Tunnel of Fudge Cake (from Cook's Country)

By zircon50

We wanted to resurrect the classic childhood favorite Tunnel of Fudge Cake without the benefit of a prepackaged cake mix. To do this, we sweetened the cake by using Dutch-processed cocoa instead of more-acidic natural cocoa powder. Adding melted chocolate to the batter made our Tunnel of Fudge Cake more moist and contributed big chocolate punch. Slightly underbaking the cake in our recipe was the first step toward achieving the ideal consistency for the tunnel. Replacing some of the granulated sugar with brown sugar, and cutting back on the flour and butter, provided the perfect environment for the fudgy interior to form. We also found that the only way to judge when our Tunnel of Fudge cake was done was to remove the cake from the oven when the sides just began to pull away from the pan and the surface of the cake sprang back when pressed gently with a finger.

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting pan
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 2 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups pecans or walnuts, chopped fine
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
• FOR THE GLAZE:
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 1/2 c. heavy cream
• 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp. water

Preparation

Step 1

TO PREPARE THE CAKE:
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter a 12-cup Bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder, tapping out excess. Place bittersweet chocolate in a small heatproof bowl. Add boiling water, whisk until smooth, cool to room temperature and reserve.

In a large bowl, whisk together cocoa, flour, walnuts (or pecans), powdered sugar and salt and reserve.

In a large measuring cup, whisk together eggs and vanilla extract and reserve.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat granulated sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low, add egg mixture and mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add chocolate mixture and mix until just combined, about 30 seconds. Add flour mixture and mix until just combined.

Scrape batter into prepared pan, smooth batter with a rubber spatula and bake until edges are beginning to pull away from pan, about 45 minutes; do not overbake (do not use a cake tester, toothpick or skewer to test the cake).

Remove to a wire rack and cool, upright, for 1 1/2 hours. Invert cake onto serving plate and cool completely, at least 2 hours.

TO PREPARE THE GLAZE:
Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan over high heat, combine cream, granulated sugar and water and bring to a boil. Pour liquid over chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds. Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, gently stir chocolate and cream together in small circles, starting at center of bowl and working your way out in increasingly larger concentric circles.

Leave glaze at room temperature until it thickens just enough to pour in a ribbon, about 20 minutes. Drizzle glaze over cake and let sit for at least 10 minutes before serving. Cover tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days.