Split Chocolate Fudge Cake

Our answer

Nigella's Chocolate Fudge Cake (from NIGELLA BITES) is a rich chocolate cake with a fudgy chocolate buttercream icing. The cake batter itself is very liquid, which helps to give a moist and tender cake. However we suspect from the description that the cakes may not quite have been baked fully, which would cause them to break up when they are removed from the pans. Make sure also that you grease the tins well and line the bases with baking parchment (parchment paper).

A cake tester should come out clean, but the cakes should also be shrinking away slightly from the sides of the tin and the tops should be firm to the touch. If the cakes have domed centres then the oven temperature could be a little too high. As all ovens vary you may find that you need to lower the temperature very slightly and bake the cakes for slightly longer. Also if the cakes are put on a baking sheet in the oven then this can affect the way the cakes bake, as the hot air doesn't circulate as well around the cake pans. As the cake batter is very liquid, fixed bottom cake tins are better than loose-bottomed sandwich tins and if you are worried about drips then put a baking sheet on the shelf below the tins, rather than sitting the tins themselves on a baking sheet.