Marie DeSpenza of San Diego wants a modern version of a Tunnel of Fudge Cake, the famous bundt from the 1966 Pillsbury Bake-Off. The original cake got its gooey center from a Pillsbury chocolate frosting mix that is no longer sold.
Anne Byrn, author of “The Cake Doctor” cookbook series, tackled this problem in one of her books. At the suggestion of Pillsbury, she uses a pudding mix in lieu of the long-lost frosting mix.
Quick Tunnel of Fudge Cake
16 servings
FILLING
1 1/2 cups milk
1 (3.4-ounce) package chocolate fudge pudding and pie filling (not instant)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon butter
CAKE
1 (18.25-ounce) package devil's food cake mix with pudding
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups finely chopped walnuts
Your favorite chocolate icing or confectioners' sugar
Place the milk in a medium-size saucepan and whisk in the pudding mix. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the chocolate chips and butter. Stir until the pudding is smooth and thickened, and the chocolate has melted. Set the pan aside.
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a 12-cup bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside.
Place the cake mix, oil, sour cream, water, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well combined. Fold in the walnuts, making sure they are well distributed throughout the batter.
Reserve 2 cups of the batter. Pour the remaining batter into the prepared pan. Spoon the pudding filling in a ring on top of the batter, making sure it does not touch the sides of the pan. Spoon the reserved batter over the filling, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.
Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and is just starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack to cool completely, 20 minutes more.
Place the cake on a serving platter and frost it with your favorite icing or dust with confectioners' sugar. Let the cake rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
(From “Chocolate From the Cake Mix Doctor” by Anne Byrn, Workman)
