My most decadent bundt cake yet, this chocolate bundt cake is dense, moist, rich, and covered in a luscious chocolate fudge frosting. Recipe includes a how-to video!
One Bowl Chocolate Bliss
There are few things I enjoy quite as much as taking a dessert I already love and transforming it into an even more decadent, chocolate version of itself. First was my chocolate cake, then my chocolate cheesecake and chocolate rolls, and today it’s this rich, decadent chocolate bundt cake.
It’s the evil twin to classic bundt cake, dark and mysterious, cloaked with a glossy fudge cape and pierced with melty pops of chocolate chips. It’s deliriously good, perfectly dense but still soft and moist.
And it’s made in one bowl (excluding the frosting, I hope that’s obvious 😉). I literally don’t know what more you could as for.
What You Need
- Flour. Make sure you use all-purpose (plain) flour and do not use self-rising flour or you’ll have quite a mess in your oven.
- Cocoa powder. I use and recommend using unsweetened natural cocoa powder. I have not tried this recipe with Dutch processed or dark cocoa.
- Baking powder & baking soda help give the cake some lift.
- Salt & vanilla extract enhance the flavors of the cake.
- Very hot coffee or hot water. A HOT liquid is essential to “bloom” the cocoa powder and give it a rich chocolatey flavor. Either will work well, but using coffee will enhance the chocolate flavor even more.
- Sugar. I use a blend of granulated and brown sugar (which adds flavor and moisture to the cake).
- Eggs. This recipe uses half the number of eggs that my classic bundt cake uses.
- Sour cream adds moisture, flavor, and tenderness to this cake.
- Butter & oil. A blend of butter and oil gives the cake the right balance of flavor and moisture, without making it dry! I use this technique in many of my cake recipes (like my red velvet cake!)
Tip: Instead of mini chocolate chips you can finely chop a 4 oz chocolate bar by mincing it as you would mince garlic. This leaves melty chocolate flecks throughout the whole cake.
As always, remember this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Low Maintenance Cake Batter
This batter for this cake is simple to make and can be made in a single bowl. It’s simple, and unlike many, many cake recipes it’s quite difficult to over-mix.
I’m not saying it’s impossible so don’t go crazy with your Kitchenaid and walk away with it on speed eight while you make a phone call to the IRS, but the batter is… durable. The cake is slightly more dense than your average cake by design (as a good bundt cake should be), made with melted butter and oil rather than creaming together the butter and sugar.
You need to mix thoroughly and can make the whole thing with an electric mixer (rather than worrying about folding together wet and dry ingredients by hand like you must with my vanilla cake).
Icing/Glaze
How could any chocolate bundt cake be complete without a fudgy crown of glossy chocolate icing? While I have my frosting of choice, I’m leaving you with a few options:
- Use the icing I include in the recipe, which is the same irresistible fudge glaze that I use on my hot milk cake.
- Use my chocolate ganache, which is a common bundt cake icing and is a bit darker in flavor.
- Or you can be vanilla and just dust the cake with powdered sugar, just don’t actually tell me that you skipped more chocolate for that it or I might just judge you (just a tiny bit).
I had a battle with my perfectionism while filming the icing portion of this in today’s video (in the recipe card). It was taking forever for it to cool to be thick enough to pour (the lights we use to film are hot!) so I set it aside to do something else and when I came back it had cooled too much and was thick like my chocolate frosting. If this happens to you, you can pop the icing in the microwave for a few seconds at a time until it returns to the proper consistency, but I tried to just roll with it (like I said, those lights are hot and I was tired!) so my icing in my video looks a little less than perfect!
Frequently Asked Questions
While cake flour could work when substituted properly, I don’t recommend experimenting with any other flour. Using self-rising flour is a big no-no and will cause your cake to overflow all over your oven.
Cornstarch helps to make the cake more tender. If you don’t have it you can leave it out.
Yes! Wrap tightly in plastic wrap (sometimes I also wrap with foil for good measure) and then freeze for up to several months.
I recommend using my chocolate cake recipe instead for either of those sizes. However, this cake could be baked in those pans, just make sure not to fill the pan more than ⅔ of the way full (you may have to discard a little batter).
More Recipes You Might Like
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
Chocolate Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup (68 g) natural cocoa powder
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup (118 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk lightly beaten (room temperature preferred)
- 1 ¼ cup (318 g) sour cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¾ cup (177 ml) hot coffee or hot water¹
- ½ cup (85 g) mini chocolate chips
Chocolate Glaze²
- 3 oz (85 g) unsweetened chocolate chopped into small pieces
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) whole milk
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (175C) and thoroughly and generously grease and flour a bundt pan (tap out excess flour) or spray generously with baking spray (not cooking spray, it must contain flour or the cake will stick). Set aside.
- In a large bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer) whisk together flour, sugars, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.2 cups (250 g) all-purpose flour, 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar, ⅔ cup (68 g) natural cocoa powder, 1 Tablespoon cornstarch, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon salt
- Add butter and oil and stir well until completely combined (mixture will be thick).½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (118 ml) avocado oil or vegetable oil or canola oil
- Add eggs, egg yolk, sour cream, and vanilla extract and stir until smooth and well-combined.2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk, 1 ¼ cup (318 g) sour cream, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Gradually add hot coffee or hot water and stir until combined. Stir in mini chocolate chips.¾ cup (177 ml) hot coffee or hot water¹, ½ cup (85 g) mini chocolate chips
- Pour batter into prepared bundt pan and bake on the center rack for 50-55 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out with a few fudgy crumbs or clean. Allow to cool for ten minutes then carefully invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely before covering with chocolate glaze.
Chocolate Glaze
- Combine chocolate, butter, and milk in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 30 second increments (stirring well in between) until chocolate and butter are completely melted (mixture may look slightly separated, this is fine).3 oz (85 g) unsweetened chocolate, 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, ⅓ cup (80 ml) whole milk
- Stir in vanilla and salt.¼ teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. Allow to cool until mixture is still fluid but no longer runny (about 15 minutes) then drizzle over the top of the chocolate bundt cake. Allow glaze to harden before slicing and serving.2 cups (250 g) powdered sugar
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Janice
Can I use greek yogurt instead of sour cream ? I always have that on hand.
Sam
Hi Janice! Full fat greek yogurt will work. 🙂
Christina
This is BY FAR the most amazing chocolate Bundt cake I’ve ever had and was a total crowd pleaser. It was so moist and the frosting was incredible! 100% recommend! It was also super easy!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Christina! 🙂
Sára
Hi Sam!
I made this bundt cake for the second time. It tastes heavenly. Sadly it didn’t come out of the pan right for me either time. This time I wanted to save it with some glaze. I already planned on using vanilla instead of chocolate because white on dark brown looks very elegant. Sadly it came out looking like an an*l creampie. Still delicious tho.
Sam
I’m sorry it keeps sticking Sara! My best advice is to use a baking spray that has flour in it and make sure to get all of the cracks and crevices really well. I’m glad you still enjoyed it! 🙂
Jen
Good recipe, but way too sweet. More than 2 cups of sugar for 2 cups of flour! I had to cut the sugar quite a bit. Also, I forgot to sift the powdered sugar for the icing so I had clumps (but that was my bad!).
The cake tastes good though. Thanks!
Sandra
Hi Sam ,Your chocolate Bundt cake was so good Thank you so much for the recipe Everyone loved it Can’t wait to make another one 😋
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this, Sandra! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and for letting me know how it turned out, I really appreciate it! 🙂
Cris
Hi,
I’m so ready to try this recipe. It looks delicious. The recipe says 3/4 cup of hot coffee. I’m going to be using instant coffee. How many scoops should i use (Teaspoon, Tablespoon)? And then will I add 3/4 cup of water to the coffee?
Sam
Hi Cris! I usually go by what the instant coffee says in the instructions, but I’d mix a teaspoon of instant coffee with the hot water (and yes you would use 3/4 cup). I hope that helps, and I hope you love the cake! 🙂
Lisa
Hi Sam! Love, love all your recipes. For this one, do you think it would work for mini bundt cakes?
Sam
Thank you Lisa! This should work as mini bundt cakes but I’m not sure of a bake time here. Enjoy! 🙂
Fernanda Clemente
Just the best cake ever!!! It was me and my 3 kids and my daughter in law and the cake was gone at the spot!!!! Doing it again today….
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Fernanda! 🙂
maria
Hello, bought by mistake can I use salted butter,?
Sam
Hi Maria! That will be fine. I would just reduce the salt by 1/4 teaspoon in the cake and cut the salt in half in the icing. 🙂
Elle
This is an amazing chocolate cake recipe!! I can’t believe how easy this was to make. There had to be some sort of crazy magic that happened here. It was too easy to be as incredible as it was. I am still thinking about this cake! Thank you so much for the recipe! This is one that I will make again and again!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Elle! I hope you enjoy it for many years to come. 🙂
Destiny
Your recipes are truly the best. I’m making this bundt cake as I write and the batter was amazing. Can’t wait for the final product!
Sam
Thank you so much, Destiny! I hope you love this one too. 🙂
Lynne Ham
Sam,
I have made this wonderful recipe twice now. It is my go-to chocolate cake. It is fabulous! I highly recommend this recipe.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Lynne! 🙂
Martha DeCastro
My new favorite chocolate cake!!! The cake has a lot of ingredients but is super easy and goes from start to oven very fast. The chocolate glaze is devine! On this cold day my kitchen was on the cool side so it was ready for the cake in just a few minutes. Delicious chocolatey moist cake with amazing fudge icing. Doesn’t get much better than this. Sam, your instructions are great and easy to follow. Thank you!
Sam
Thank YOU so much for trying my recipe and for commenting and letting me know how it turned out for you, Martha! I’m so happy to hear that it was such a hit! 🙂 <3
Sarah
Hello! If I’m gonna use a 6 cup Bundt pan, do I halve the recipe?
Sam
Yup. 🙂
Sarah
This was one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever had!
Jackie
Hi
I hit the jump to video and no video.
Sam
Hmm it appears to be working for me. Do you have an ad blocker enabled? That will stop the video from showing up.
Yana
Hi Sam,
Would semi-sweet chocolate chips work instead of unsweetened chocolate for the glaze? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Yana! The semi-sweet chips will work here. 🙂
Yana
I halved the fudge frosting as I only wanted frosting on top and some dripping on the sides instead of having the whole bundt covered because I didn’t want too much chocolate. I regret that now. The fudge frosting is so good. Thanks Sam for an easy but wonderful recipe!
Sam
I’m glad you still enjoyed it! When it comes to frosting I always make excess for “sampling”. 🤣
Patsy
I do not enjoy the taste of coffee. Since you recommend coffee over water, does using coffee leave a coffee taste or just enhance the flavor of the chocolate? I’ve not made this but plan to do so as soon as possible.
Sam
Hi Patsy! I am also not a coffee fan. You won’t taste it here. The coffee just really enhances the flavor of the chocolate. 🙂