You'll love this light, tender yellow cake that makes its own frosting as it bakes! The cake is buttery with a dense, fudge-like topping.
It's quick and easy, too!
Paging through one of my vintage cookbooks (circa 1950) I spied this recipe and knew that it was a good one.
How could it not be?
A yellow cake topped with a thick fudge that was ready in less than an hour? I knew I was going to try it.
I've always been a fan of a classic yellow cake with fudge frosting and if it can be made super easy?
I am in with both feet!
I've updated the recipe a bit from the original.
I also chopped pecans between the topping and the cake.
Next time I do it I am going to add the pecans to the cake pan first and then pour the chocolate over them so that is how I am writing the recipe.
By adding the chocolate first the pecans were not visible when the cake was turned out and I had to add more of them to the top afterwards.
You probably have all of the stuff for this in your pantry. This would make a great sweet treat to tuck into a school lunch or as an after-school snack.
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📞 The last word
I had a friend whose family was much different than mine. First of all I was an only child and she had four sisters.
My mom was a clean freak but her mom didn't mind stacks of books, projects, and stuff all over the house. Most of all my friend could bake whenever she wanted to without even asking!
This is the kind of cake one of those kinds of moms would have prominently displayed in her recipe box.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Upside Down Cake
Print SaveIngredients
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate
- 1 ⅓ cups (1 can ) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 ½ cups cake flour
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ⅓ cup butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup milk
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Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Spray a 9 inch, high sided cake pan with cooking spray.
- Cover the bottom with a parchment circle and spray again.
- Sprinkle parchment with the chopped pecans.
- Set aside.
- Pour the sweetened condensed milk in a microwave safe bowl.
- Add the chocolate.
- Microwave for 30 seconds, stir, and then microwave a few more seconds until the chocolate is melted.
- Stir the mixture to make it smooth and carefully pour over the pecans in the cake pan.
- Set aside.
- Add the butter and sugar to the bowl of a mixer.
- Beat until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs, one at a time.
- Add the vanilla -- beat thoroughly.
- Mix the flour with the salt and baking powder.
- Add the flour and milk alternately to the butter mixture beginning and ending with the flour.
- Spoon the batter over the top of the chocolate.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick pushed in the center comes out clean.
- Do not overbake.
- When cake is done remove from the oven and let stand for around 5 minutes.
- Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan.
- Place a cake plate over the cake pan and then invert to remove the cake.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.✍🏻 A note from Marye...
I know y'all don't always like the stories bloggers tell so when I have one I try to put it at the very bottom so you can read or skip as you like.
Oh my gosh, y'all. The first time I made a cake was a disaster. I was about 10 and had stayed home sick from school. My mom had some errands to run so she reminded me not to answer the doors and headed out. I walked around the empty house sort of aimlessly for awhile and then I decided I was going to make a cake. Apparently I wasn't all that sick but I don't remember the details.
Anyway, I got my mom's 1940 edition of Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and turned to the cakes chapter. I decided to make the hot milk sponge cake. I don't remember the details of that either other than my mom coming home to a smoky kitchen covered in cake batter. I wasn't allowed in the kitchen again for years. I am pretty sure she never quite got over the horror of that day. I do know that she kept cake mixes in the house from that point on.
Now, had I come across this recipe the story probably would have ended much differently.
Linda
Miss Mary
The recipe instructions say 'add vanilla and pecan whiskey' but I don't see pecan whiskey in the recipe or the article??
Marye
It was an ingredient I removed because so many people couldn't find it. I took it out of the instructions. Thanks!
Carol B
I'm going to try this and if I like it - I have ideas! lol.
I'm thinking a spoon of espresso powder in the cake. Or maybe sprinkle in a box of dry strawberry or cherry jell-o?
I take a white cake mix, sprinkle in a box of strawberry/banana jello and a box of orange jelll-o and it tastes like a fruit punch cake, so I'm just thinking........
Jacque
My grandmother used to make a yellow butter cake with the chocolate fudge frosting on the bottom, gooey almost like a pudding - you flipped it over when you served a piece, like an upside down cake. I've been searching for the recipe. Every one says it's probably a poke cake, but I don't remember her poking holes and pouring pudding on it. I hope this is close to what she made!
Marye
I don't think this is it but I hope it is! I'll keep my eyes open for a recipe like you describe Jacque.