The Beloved Chocolate Cake That's Eluding Modern Bakers

In 1949, Pillsbury was entering its 80th year of business and wanted to celebrate. The food and baking brand also wanted to promote its Pillsbury Best flour, and so, the Pillsbury Bake-Off competition was born. The idea was to accept recipe submissions from home bakers across the country and select the best, most impressive, and most delicious one. Every recipe submitted had to use Pillsbury Best flour, and the company received thousands of entries in the inaugural competition. Even First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt attended.

Perhaps one of the most memorable recipes to ever come from the Pillsbury Bake-Off was the Tunnel of Fudge cake — a chocolate nut cake baked in a bundt cake pan with a gooey chocolate center. It resembled an early version of the modern lava cake, but with the size and impressive appearance of a centerpiece dessert. The runner-up recipe was created and submitted to the 1966 competition by a Houston woman named Ella Helfrich.

Despite not taking home the gold, the Tunnel of Fudge cake gained popularity and is even credited with reviving demand for the bundt cake pan. But, for all its popularity at the time, this decadent cake that once was a centerpiece of countless PTA meetings, church potlucks, and dinner parties in the late '60s is almost impossible to recreate today due to one very important and discontinued ingredient: Two Layer Size Double Dutch Fudge Buttercream Frosting Mix.

Even though the recipe was common for several years after it first got introduced to the masses through the Bake-Off, Pillsbury discontinued the Two Layer Size Double Dutch Fudge Buttercream Frosting Mix, which was one of the main ingredients and the key to making that iconic gooey, fudgy center. And replacing the special Pillsbury frosting has stumped many modern bakers.

While there are other brands of frosting mixes on the market, you'd be hard-pressed to find a food blogger who claims to have found a perfect copycat recipe. Even the recipe on the Pillsbury website differs from Helfrich's original, which can be found in 1966's "Pillsbury Busy Lady Bake-Off Recipes," available for $19.99 on Amazon, or on the back of some vintage Pillsbury Rich n' Easy Creamy Double Dutch frosting mixes if you can get your hands on one — or squint hard enough at a photo online.

This cake is a tricky recipe because it's structurally challenging, too. It has to be strong enough to support that ribbon of dense, gooey fudge but still be fluffy and moist like any good cake. It also comes with the other challenges of a bundt cake like getting it out of the pan cleanly and without cosmetic damage.

Today, this cake remains a case to be cracked. And, while you may be able to create a very similar iteration of this beloved retro cake, it seems we may never get to experience the precise magic that made the Tunnel of Fudge cake so popular. But that's not to say stop trying, because baking is a science and science requires experimentation, and, frankly, most failed chocolate cake experiments are still going to taste pretty darn good.

If you want to try it for yourself, there are some tips and tricks to follow: First, if you were successful in achieving the precious gooey ring of fudge in the center, the cake is going to be best when it's fresh and warm. That way the fudgy center doesn't get a chance to thicken, overcook, or harden. Second, as with any recipe using a bundt pan, proper greasing is key. Make sure to get butter or oil in all the crevices of the pan, then coat with a light dusting of flower or even cocoa powder if you really want to beef up the chocolate flavor. And finally, the nuts are necessary. Walnuts are what's called for in the original recipe, but pecans should work well, too.