This RED VELVET Pudding Cake is so easy with only 10 minutes prep -- it has a chocolate cake base and it makes its own hot fudge sauce in the oven as it bakes and I highly recommend slathering it with a scoop of ice cream!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9" pie plate (it will be very full, so if you have something slightly bigger feel free to use that instead).
In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, buttermilk, oil and food coloring if desired until smooth. Spread into prepared pan -- it will be thick! Set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar and ¼ cup cocoa powder. Sprinkle over cake batter in pan -- DO NOT STIR. Top with hot water -- DO NOT STIR.
Place pie plate on an old baking sheet (in case it bubbles over) and bake for 35 minutes until top is dry and puffed -- the sauce underneath will be runny (see notes). Let sit 10-15 minutes to thicken before serving warm with ice cream.
Notes
*When I make this, I use 1¾ cup hot water. With this amount, the sauce is very runny when it comes out of the oven, but if you let it sit 10-15 minutes, it will be thick and glorious. This makes a lot of people nervous and they think it's a fail. It's not. If you think this will make you nervous, use only 1½ cups water and it will be much thicker to start.