Gooey Chocolate Pudding Cake

I had some homemade vanilla ice cream in the freezer and it was just calling to be eaten with some chocolate cake!  I wanted something easy and quick and not too cake-like.  This recipe was perfect!  Think molten lava chocolate cake!  It looks really weird when you're making it--like a big mud puddle, but it totally works.  Eat it warm out of the oven with some vanilla ice cream--it's almost like hot fudge.  Yum!  Saving this one so we can make it again in the future!

FUDGY CHOCOLATE PUDDING CAKE
(found here)

Ingredients
1¼ cups white sugar, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup milk
⅓ cup butter, melted
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1¼ cups hot water
Ice cream

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together ¾ cup white sugar, flour, ¼ cup cocoa, baking powder and salt. Add in the milk, butter and vanilla and stir until smooth.
3. Pour batter into UNGREASED 9x9" square baking pan. Stir together remaining ½ cup white sugar, brown sugar and remaining ¼ cup cocoa; sprinkle mixture evenly over batter. Pour hot water over top; do not stir (I know that it sounds weird, but I promise that it will all work out!).
4. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is almost set (you do not want to over cook or it will not have the warm gooey pudding in the bottom). (35 min. in my oven was perfect)
5. Remove cake from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes. When you scoop the cake into serving dishes, be sure to spoon the sauce from the bottom of the pan over the cake. Top with ice cream!

You can also garnish with fresh fruit like raspberries or strawberries, or chopped nuts are delicious on this too!