I love when I see something tasty yet simple that has me hopping into the kitchen for a little baking therapy. A couple of days ago, I saw this recipe for a Maryland fudge cake at Food52 that immediately tempted me. I was lured by the simple, uncomplicated process and, frankly, the plain fact that I'd end up with a fudge cake at the end of it all. I mean, how bad can that be? The answer is, not bad at all.
I made a small 6-inch version of the cake - more like a torte, which I always think of as relatively thin, single-layer cakes, usually made with nuts. This cake/torte is a lot like a brownie. It puffs as it bakes and you end up with a crackly top and a crust, especially along the edges, which are almost hard in a wonderfully dense and chewy kind of way. At its core, it is meltingly moist and sweet. Offsetting the sweetness, studs of toasted walnuts give the cake a ton of texture and flavor.
This cake is easy to make, a great little simple after-dinner treat to slice up and share. I opted out of the thin layer of chocolate frosting you can make and top this cake with. I think it's sweet and moist enough already without it. The cake tastes great plain, also good with a little whipped cream on the side. Ultimately though, I recommend it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It's so interesting to learn about regional cooking, as in the case of this Maryland fudge cake, a recipe found in a publication from the 1960's. Also interestingly enough, I had recently seen a show featuring Smith Island Cake (Smith Island being off the mainland coast of Maryland; the cake is considered the "official" dessert of the state of Maryland). I was tempted by it but Smith Island Cake is a far more complicated affair - featuring as many as 15 thin layers of cake alternating with thin layers of fudge! You can probably imagine why I choose to dive into this far simpler fudge cake for the time being.
