Homemade Fudge Cake and Chocolate Sauce

(from Meredith Myers)

Moving to a new home in Lexington, Kentucky when I was in second grade, I discovered I was blessed with an across-the-street neighbor named Meredith. She was a year younger than I was and had not one, but two older brothers. Life was grand.

Not only was her Mother a great cook, her Grandmother was too. They called her Grandmother, “Mom”. Seems confusing now, but I never thought a thing about it growing up.

Mom and Meredith’s Mom (Oh, we’re having fun now!) made fudge cake and chocolate sauce on a regular basis. Depending on how many children were in the house, they would draw a line in the mixing bowl, giving us each rubber spatulas, and we could lick up our “section”. I quickly learned to pray Meredith’s brothers would be away for a scouting or sports event. That meant more batter to lick. (Selfish little second grader…)

Meredith and I no longer live across the street from each other. Meredith, a/k/a Madge (just to throw you one more name) lives in Nashville. We try to meet up here in Louisville or there in Nashville as often as we can.

Meredith is an angel to share these heavenly recipes. Aptly described as both her Mother and Grandmother are with the Lord. She gives tips for us cooks along the way:

Ingredients:
Mom’s Fudge Cake:
2 sticks BUTTER (The recipe is so old it says “oleo”.)
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
4 squares bitter (unsweetened baking) chocolate (4 ounces total)
1 1/3 cup flour
Dash of salt
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
(optional: chopped pecans or chocolate chips for the top)

Mom’s Chocolate Sauce:
1 square unsweetened baking/bitter chocolate (1 ounce)
1 scoop sugar (Meredith uses 1 cup.)
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup milk
12-15 large marshmallows
Dash of salt
1-2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:
Fudge Cake:

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

  • Grease 2 7” x 11” pans (Meredith says they called them fudge cake pans; you can also use an 11 x 13 size) She actually lines them with wax paper like her Grandmother did.

  • Melt BUTTER and chocolate on stove over low heat; stir until smooth; remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

  • In a bowl, lightly fork beat the 4 eggs. Add 2 cups sugar, 3 teaspoons vanilla, 1 1/3 cup flour and dash of salt and stir until blended.

  • Add the chocolate/BUTTER mixture to the egg/sugar/flour mixture. (Meredith says, “Mom always stirred some of the egg/sugar/flour mixture into the pan with the melted chocolate /BUTTER first—to cool the chocolate so you don’t scramble the eggs!”)

  • Pour batter into the pans; top with chocolate chips and/or chopped pecans to cover the top if desired.

  • Bake for about 25 minutes, until set. (They are too fudgy for the toothpick test.)

  • Allow to cool 10-15 minutes in the pans; If you lined the pans with wax paper, turn them out onto a cutting board, peel the paper off, then cut into squares.

  • Sprinkle tops with sifted powdered sugar.

  • Freezes well.

Chocolate Sauce:

  • Place first 3 ingredients in saucepan over low heat; allow to come to a boil and stir for about 5 minutes.

  • Add ½ cup milk slowly and let mixture return to a boil.

  • Add 12-15 marshmallows; stirring until melted.

  • Remove from heat and stir in dash of salt and 1-2 teaspoons of the vanilla extract.

  • Serve warm. Great on fudge cake or ice cream.

  • Refrigerate leftovers. It will firm up when cold, but reheats in the microwave or on stovetop.