Thirty-minute fudge cake

You can tell a recipe is good when your co-workers leave nary a crumb. This take on Texas Fudge Cake has the added bonus of being a quick and simple recipe to produce.

Although this has a different title, it's pretty much a Texas Fudge Cake.

It has all the same elements: boil the liquid ingredients together, whisk in the eggs and buttermilk, stir in the dry ingredients, bake and pour the frosting over it while cake is warm. Even the frosting is made the same way: boil the liquids together and whisk in the vanilla and powdered sugar. The only thing with the frosting is mine came up thicker and set up a lot faster than I was expecting so it set more like a thin layer of fudge than staying the creaminess of a typical frosting. And that isn't a complaint.

Just like with most Texas Fudge Cakes I've made, I loved the taste and texture of this cake as well as the ease of putting it together. The only drawback was the frosting was just a little too sweet for me but you can cut back on the powdered sugar to remedy that.

My co-workers seemed to have liked it, too. As I alluded to in the post for the Banana Crumb Cake, this is the recipe that, to date, has the distinction of disappearing the fastest out of our communal kitchen. I set it out when I arrived at the office (I'm usually one of the first people to arrive in the morning), took a couple of conference calls in my office then when I ventured out to the kitchen just over an hour later, even the plate I brought the cake in was gone.

Normally someone takes the last piece and leaves the empty plate there (drives me crazy when they do that) but this time around, even the plate was disposed of and there was no evidence I had brought anything in that day. Literally not even a stray crumb adorning the table. If I gauged the success of a recipe by how quickly it's been consumed, this one tops the list. For anyone who didn't make it into the kitchen before 9:30 that morning, sorry, you missed out.

Thirty-minute fudge cake
From The Playing House

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

1 cup water

5 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon vanilla

Fudge frosting

1 stick butter

4 tablespoons milk

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 16-ounce box powdered sugar, sifted if lumpy

1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9- by 13-inch pan with aluminum foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. Mix flour and sugar in a large bowl; set aside.

3. In a medium saucepan, combine butter, water, and cocoa over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil and pour over the flour-sugar mixture. Mix well.

4. Whisk in the eggs, buttermilk, baking soda, and vanilla. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

5. Frosting: In a medium saucepan, combine butter, milk and cocoa; bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and add powdered sugar, stirring well with a whisk or wooden spoon until the sugar melts and the mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla then pour over hot cake. Let cool until set before slicing and serving.