tunnel of fudge cake.

A tunnel of fudge cake, to me, is like an underbaked chocolate bundt cake. The outsides, the parts of the cake in direct contact with the pan, bakes faster and sets up quicker than the middle, and you pull it out from the oven at just the right time to maintain the textural difference. When the cake cools, the semi-baked middle firms up into a dense ring of chocolate in the cake, hence the tunnel of fudge.

Unfortunately, my cake had a molten middle rather than a fudgy middle. Needless to say, I pulled my cake out too early so I was taking the underbaked concept a little too far. This happened because my oven's time display was spoilt- only half a number is visible and the digits in the tens place cannot be seen at all. I forgot to keep time manually of how long the cake has been baking, so I had to use visual cues to determine the doneness of the cake.

When I checked on it, it was pulling away from the edges of the pan slightly and the top crust was set. The centre parts were still squidgy but I figured that they would continue to bake a little more to the perfect doneness while the cake cooled. Well, I figured wrongly, and I got a minor shock when I sliced the cake only to see chocolate ooze out like black blood. Sorry, perhaps not the most tasteful description but it's all in the name of Halloween, yeah?

I contemplated baking the already cut slices of cake again so that the middles wouldn't be so liquidy but I was afraid that the extra baking would dry out the outer parts of the cake. In the end, I decided to just go for it and thank goodness not only did the outsides not dry out, the center baked up to a more acceptable consistency. Plus, I could eat the cake while all warm and crusty, since it was already sliced.

I wished I had pulled off the cake right from the start. I loved the flavour, the texture, the idea of this cake. The only thing missing was aesthetic appeal. I need to get that dang oven fixed before it causes (indirectly) more mishaps!

Tunnel of Fudge Cake
adapted from Annie's Eats

Instead of using the following method to prepare the pan, I just used a baking spray. Also, I omitted the glaze that is included in the original recipe so if you're interested in it, click on the link.
To prepare the pan:
1 tbsp dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

For the cake:
1/2 cup boiling water
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted to remove any lumps
2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp salt
5 large eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Whisk the cocoa powder and melted butter together in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to evenly coat the inside of a 12 cup bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, pour the boiling water over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for a minute, then whisk until smooth. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, icing sugar and salt in another bowl. Combine the eggs and vanilla in a liquid measuring cup and beat lightly.

Cream the sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in the egg mixture gradually while beating, until just combined. Add the chocolate mixture and mix until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45 minutes or until the edges of the cake begin to pull away from the pan. Cool the cake in its pan for 1 1/2 hours before unmolding, and let it cool completely, about 2 more hours.