A good chocolate cake recipe is like a little black dress: everybody needs one. Maybe this chocolate bundt cake will be yours? It’s definitely one of the best, right up there with our Moist Chocolate Cupcakes, One-Bowl Chocolate Cake, and Devil’s Food Chocolate Cake. If you haven’t made a bundt cake in ages because you are afraid of it sticking to the pan or coming out dry, this is your sign to give it another try. This rich chocolate bundt cake is made from scratch and 1,000x better than any cake mix version. I’m sharing all my best tips and tricks in addition to my chocolate bundt cake recipe so you never have a bundt cake failure again!
You will love this Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
Bundt cakes (especially chocolate bundt cakes!) are one of the best cakes to bake at home. The unique shape of the bundt cake pan ensures that the cake is cooked perfectly and evenly, as opposed to pound cakes which can sometimes be undercooked in the middle. However, it can be a little daunting looking at the pan, thinking “how will I get this cake out of there?”. Before you pour in the chocolate bundt cake batter, make sure you generously butter and flour the pan, and it should easily slip right out after cooling. I have always had the best success when using baking spray (not cooking spray!) which has flour in it already for the best release. This homemade Chocolate Bundt cake is super easy to whip up! Prep takes just 20 minutes and the oven will do the rest of the work for you. When I say it’s an any-and-every occasion cake, literally this cake is perfect anytime, even just because! It would be a fun birthday cake (maybe add some M&Ms for a pop of color!) and also great to share when you have company over.
Chocolate Bunt Cake Recipe ingredients
Chocolate Bundt Cake
Sugar: Simple, white granulated sugar is needed as it provides sweetness to the chocolate bundt cake. Butter: Plenty of salted butter is added to this cake to give it a rich, buttery flavor. It. Is. Delicious! Vanilla extract: I used my Homemade Vanilla Extract which I would highly recommend making a batch of at some point if you haven’t already, but store-bought is great too! Eggs: Eggs are a binding ingredient that also help the cake to rise to a soft fluffiness. Cake flour: Cake flour is called for as opposed to all-purpose flour as it gives a softer cake result due to its lower percentage in protein. Chocolate: We have 3 different forms of chocolate here: cocoa powder for a rich, dark chocolate flavor, chocolate chips for extra pockets of solid chocolate, and chocolate pudding mix which holds the fluffy structure of the cake while also adding a little moisture. If you haven’t added chocolate pudding mix to a cake before, you’re in for a treat! Baking soda: Baking soda gives a little extra rising boost to the chocolate bundt cake. Salt: This pantry staple ingredient brings out all of the other flavors. You can’t tell it’s there but you can definitely tell when it’s missing! Buttermilk: Just to add an extra tang, and to help bind all of the ingredients into the perfect cake batter, I added buttermilk instead of regular milk.
Chocolate Fudge Icing
Water: This chocolate icing recipe is a thinned out, pourable buttercream. Water is a great medium to thin it out as it doesn’t add or take away from the buttery chocolate flavor. Butter: I like my icing to be rich and extremely buttery so I added plenty of salted butter for this incredible taste. Vanilla: Vanilla brings out all the sweetness as well as adding a hint of vanilla flavor. Cocoa powder: This chocolate bundt cake glaze is the most chocolatey I could make it, without it tasting bitter. You won’t find another chocolate icing like it! Powdered sugar: This is where the sweetness comes in! Powdered sugar as opposed to confectioners or granulated gives the best, silky smooth texture. Heavy cream: I didn’t want to take away any luxuriousness from the chocolate icing so I mixed in some heavy cream to bring it all together and make it taste like creamy chocolate heaven.
How to make a Chocolate Bundt Cake
Cake Batter
- Combine the dry ingredients, and then the buttermilk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate pudding. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk, mixing between each addition until combined.5. Add the chocolate chips and pour. Stir in the chocolate chips, then transfer the thick cake batter to the prepared bundt pan.6. Bake! Bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean with just a few crumbs.7. Cool and ice. Finally, cool the chocolate bundt cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.
The Best Chocolate Bundt Cake Icing
Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe Tips
Here is what I do, and it works every time!
Generously butter the bundt cake pan. Butter is a form of oil, and what is oil if it’s not slippery? You can also spray it with baker’s spray instead – such a handy thing to keep in your pantry! There’s also a homemade version if you want to make your own. Dust the butter with flour. This keeps the butter from melting and mixing into the batter while it’s cooking. You can be generous with the flour as well! Allow the cake to cool. When the cake cools, it holds itself together much better than a cake straight out of the oven, so allow the chocolate bundt cake to cool for 15 minutes in the bundt cake pan before turning it out onto a wire rack.
Why is this chocolate bundt cake so moist?
The main secret is the bundt cake pan! The pan touches more of the batter than a regular cake pan, cooking the edges but locking in the moisture. It’s kind of like one of those brownie edge pans but for cakes. Also, adding chocolate pudding to the batter gives it extra moisture while it’s baking. Also, if you find that your bundt cakes keep turning out dry, there is a good chance you are overbaking them. That’s usually the biggest culprit and my first troubleshooting spot when I’m working on a new recipe and having dry results.
Variations of this Moist Chocolate Bundt Cake
If you don’t want to go the all chocolate route, this is still a delicious cake simply dusted with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Or decorate the top of the cake with piped lines of cream cheese icing, just like the ones at Nothing Bundt Cakes. Here are a few of my other favorite frostings that would also be delicious spread or piped over the top of this chocolate bundt cake.
Homemade Rainbow Chip Frosting Coconut Pecan Frosting Strawberry Frosting Salted Caramel Frosting
How to store Chocolate Buttermilk Bundt Cake
Store this chocolate bundt cake in a cake container at room temperature. If you don’t have a cake container, you can cut it into individual slices and store it in a regular airtight container. It will keep on the counter for up to 4 days.
More Cake Recipes Like This
Pear Ginger Bundt Cake Kentucky Butter Cake Sour Cream Pound Cake Cranberry Orange Pull-Apart Monkey Bread Classic Apple Cider Donuts Carrot Cake Baked Donuts with Cream Cheese Glaze
Recipe based on the popular Brick Street Cake from Through Her Looking Glass.
Lemon Bundt Cake
Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake
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