I cannot for the life of me figure out how this recipe works, but somehow it always does. I don’t know how layering cake batter, chocolate chips, a brown sugar/cocoa powder mixture, and boiling water somehow miraculously turns into a delicious chocolate cake on top with a thick layer of pudding on the bottom. But I’m certainly happy it does!! This is one of my favorite comfort desserts and never fails to cheer me up.

This time I topped it with homemade vanilla ice cream. Our new Kitchen-aid ice cream maker came with lots of recipes for very delicious sounding ice cream. But they all seem to involve cooking a very complicated recipe and then chilling it overnight. I wanted fresh ice cream a lot quicker than that, so I found a recipe for New York Vanilla, which apparently means there are no eggs. The ice cream was ready in a flash and turned out perfect! (Especially with the addition of homemade vanilla made by my dear friend Sara. Keep a look out for her upcoming guest blog spot that will convince you to never buy store-bought vanilla again!)

The recipes are under the cut.

Double-Chocolate Pudding Cake

Ingredients

1 cup flour

2/3 cup sugar

4 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup (4 tbsp.) butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups boiling water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350* F.
2. Generously grease a 9×9 inch pan with butter.
3. Sift together the flour, sugar, 2 tbsp. of the cocoa powder, the baking powder, and the salt in a large bowl.
4. Combine the remaining 2 tbsp. of cocoa powder and the brown sugar in a medium bowl. Use fingers to break up any sugar clumps. Set aside.
5. Make a well in the flour mixture. Add the egg, milk, melted butter, and vanilla extract.
6. Wisk until blended, then briskly stir to make a uniform batter.
7. Scrape the batter evenly into the buttered pan.
8. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the batter.
9. Spread the brown sugar mixture evenly over the top.
10. Slowly pour the boiling water over the batter.
11. Place the pan on the center rack and bake for 30 minutes.
12. When it’s done, the cake will be baked through, but there will be a thick layer of pudding at the bottom. Because it is difficult to check with a toothpick, you should rely on time.
13. Let cool for about 10 minutes.
14. Serve topped with whipped cream or ice cream.

Simple vanilla ice cream

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

Directions

1. Mix ingredients.
2. Start ice cream maker.
3. Pour ingredients in.
4. Mix for 25 minutes on “stir.”