Chocolate Bundt Cake

Chocolate Bundt Cake that’s supremely chocolatey and decadent, soft and fudgy, and has a perfectly moist crumb. It’s a queen of cakes and easy to make!

Luxurious Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Topping

Who doesn’t have a weakness for chocolate? Especially when it comes in cake form and is covered with a melted chocolate ganache glaze?

This cake is what chocolate cake dreams are made of! And I’d have to say it’s definitely better than what you’ll get at the infamous Nothing Bundt Cakes.

It’s loaded with a trio of rich cocoa, butter, and sour cream. So you are getting three layers of decadence all intertwined together to create a perfect slice of cake!

You’ll find it has a nice medium density and so much moisture in every bite, not a dry crumb to be found.

And soon to be your favorite things about it – the topping is exceptionally easy, it only needs 2 ingredients, and you don’t have to wait hours for the cake to cool to ice it and dive in!

Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe Ingredients

• All-purpose flour: I use unbleached all-purpose flour. Cake doesn’t rise quite as high as with bleached all-purpose flour so the option is up to you.
• Granulated sugar: I know it’s a huge amount here, but this is cake after all. You could maybe reduce a little but not by much or the cocoa will be to strong and cake won’t be as tender.
• Baking soda: One of the ingredients needed to give the cake lift.
• Salt: Careful not to forget it or the cake will taste totally flat. A fair amount is needed since there’s lots of sugar and chocolate.
• Unsalted butter: Salted butter works fine too, just omit the 1/2 tsp salt from the recipe as there is generally about 1/4 tsp salt per stick of salted butter.
• Water: Water should be very hot to help bloom the flavors of the chocolate.
• Unsweetened cocoa powder: I use regular cocoa powder here. There’s no baking powder here so don’t use Dutch process.
• Sour cream: In a pinch, whole Greek yogurt should work fine too.
• Eggs: These are a key ingredient to bind ingredients so cake doesn’t crumble into pieces and they also help the cake rise nicely.
• Vanilla extract: If possible, stick with real vanilla extract for best results.
• Bittersweet chocolate: Semi-sweet chocolate also works well if you want it a little less intense in flavor.
• Heavy cream: This is needed for a better consistency and to keep that chocolate from re-hardening. It offers a luscious finish.

Scroll down for full recipe with amounts and print option.

Tools Needed

• Bundt Pan. I’ve got a few different ones but this one here is my favorite and has a great non-stick coating.
• Electric hand mixer. This Kitchen Aid is my go-to. It works well and seems to be quieter than the cheaper brands I’ve had.

How to Make Chocolate Bundt Cake Batter

1. Preheat oven: To 350 degrees.
2. Prepare bundt pan: Spray a 12 – 15 cup non-stick bundt cake with non-stick cooking spray. Dust lightly with flour and cocoa powder (about 1.5 tsp of each). Shake out excess.
3. Whisk dry ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
4. Separately mix butter, water and cocoa: In a large mixing bowl whisk together melted butter, hot water and cocoa powder.
5. Blend mixtures: Add flour mixture to butter mixture and using an electric hand mixer blend until well combined.
6. Add remaining cake ingredients: Add sour cream, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
7. Pour into pan: Pour mixture into prepared bundt cake pan.

How to Bake and Glaze Chocolate Bundt Cake

1. Bake in preheated oven: Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 – 50 minutes.
2. Cool briefly, invert to remove: Let cool 8 – 10 minutes, then run a knife down the sides of cake to ensure they’re loose. Invert onto a wire rack to cool at least 30 minutes (I like to cover with a cake carrier or big bowl while cooling to help soften the exterior).
3. Make ganache topping: Place chocolate in a medium heat proof mixing bowl.
4. Add hot cream to chocolate: Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan on the stove until just simmering. Pour hot cream over chocolate (submerge chocolate if needed).
5. Let rest then stir: Let mixture rest 4 minutes then stir until melted and smooth.
6. Pour ganache over cake: Pour chocolate mixture evenly over cake. Let cool slightly.

Can you freeze bundt cake?

• Yes, bundt cakes freeze incredibly well. You may choose to hold the topping for better appearance though.
• Let cake cool before storing.
• Store in an airtight container up to 3 months. I like to wrap in foil then store in the container.
• Thaw on the counter or in the fridge.

Variations

• Finish with a different topping of choice such as a chocolate buttercream frosting or chocolate cream cheese frosting.
• Sprinkle bundt cake with chopped walnuts or pecans.
• Leave off ganache and pair with caramel sauce and ice cream.
• Bake as mini pound cakes instead of one large. Bake time will be around 20 minutes.

Helpful Bundt Cake Tips

• If possible use a kitchen scale to measure dry ingredients for the most accurate results. I have two but this one is my favorite.
• Essential to a bundt cake is a good non-stick bundt pan. I’ve had too many bundt cakes stick to bad pans in the past, it’s worth the investment into a decent one.
• Coat inside of pan with non-stick cooking spray and a little butter and flour. This is the insurance to make sure your cake doesn’t stick and break.
• If possible, use room temperature ingredients so the blend together nicely and cake rises a little better.
• Be careful not to over-bake the cake or, as always, they start to dry out.
• Don’t invert bundt cake too soon, or too late! If you try to remove too early the cake can break, if you remove too late it will have steamed and the moisture will make it stick to the pan.
• Serve cake at room temperature. While you can store in the fridge for a longer shelf life the texture is best at room temperature.
• Chop the chocolate finely for the ganache topping so it will melt through. If you find that it hasn’t after resting and stirring you can heat over a double boiler while stirring to melt.

More Dreamy Cake Recipes You’ll Love

• Birthday Cake
• Chocolate Cake
• Chocolate Sheet Cake
• German Chocolate Cake
• Flourless Chocolate
• Pound Cake

5 from 35 votes

Print Recipe

Chocolate Bundt Cake

A cake that's supremely chocolatey and decadent, soft and fudgy, and has a perfectly moist crumb. It's a queen of cakes and easy to make!

Servings: 14

Prep25 minutes minutes

Cook40 minutes minutes

Cool45 minutes minutes

Ready in: 1 hour hour 50 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups (248g) all-purpose flour (scoop and level to measure)
• 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter,* melted
• 3/4 cup (175ml) very hot water
• 2/3 cup (63g) unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process, scoop and level to measure)
• 3/4 cup (175g) sour cream, preferably room temperature
• 3 large eggs, preferably room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache Topping

• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12 - 15 cup non-stick bundt cake with non-stick cooking spray. Dust lightly with flour and cocoa powder (about 1/2 Tbsp of each). Shake out excess.
• In a medium mixing bowl whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl whisk together melted butter, hot water and cocoa powder.
• Add flour mixture to butter mixture and using an electric hand mixer blend until well combined.
• Add sour cream, eggs and vanilla extract. Mix until well combined.
• Pour mixture into prepared bundt pan.
• Bake in preheated oven until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 - 50 minutes.
• Let cool 8 - 10 minutes then run a knife down the sides of cake to ensure they're loose. Invert onto a wire rack to cool at least 30 minutes.
• To make the chocolate ganache place chocolate in a medium heat proof mixing bowl.
• Heat heavy cream in a small saucepan on the stove until just simmering. Pour hot cream over chocolate (submerge chocolate if needed).
• Let mixture rest 4 minutes then stir until melted and smooth.** Pour chocolate mixture over cake. Let cool slightly.
• Cut into slices and serve.

Notes

• *Salted butter can be used in place of unsalted if that's all you have. Just omit the 1/2 tsp salt from the recipe.
• **If chocolate hasn't completely melted you can heat over a double boiler stirring until melted or in the microwave in 20 second intervals on 50% power stirring between intervals.
• While the cake is cooling I like to cover with a cake carrier or big bowl while cooling to help soften the exterior.
• If you didn't plan ahead it's not critical to use room temperature ingredients. It just improves the rise only slightly.

Nutrition Facts

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Amount Per Serving

Calories 419 Calories from Fat 216

% Daily Value*

Fat 24g37%

Saturated Fat 14g88%

Trans Fat 1g

Cholesterol 93mg31%

Sodium 194mg8%

Potassium 177mg5%

Carbohydrates 50g17%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 32g36%

Protein 5g10%

Vitamin A 669IU13%

Vitamin C 1mg1%

Calcium 43mg4%

Iron 2mg11%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Nutrition values are estimates only. See full disclaimer here.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Bundt Cake

Author: Jaclyn