Rich, moist and easy chocolate chocolate chip bundt cake that starts with a boxed cake mix and pudding mix. Simple. Elegant. Delicious.
This Chocolate Bundt cake recipe has been a family favorite for over 15 years. It's the one my son always requested for his birthday. 15 years ago, I only made a handful of cakes from scratch. It was a time when jazzed up boxed cake mixes were very popular. In fact, this recipe was inspired by and adapted from the Darn Good Chocolate Cake recipe from Anne Byron's The Cake Mix Doctor cookbook. This great cookbook was first published in 1999, which means it was published before Nothing Bundt Cake existed. I have no idea what inspired Nothing Bundt Cakes' Chocolate Chocolate Chip bundt cake recipe, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were inspired by Anne Byron as well. It's just that good. In fact, I would argue that this recipe is even better than Nothing Bundt Cakes' Chocolate Chocolate Chip bundt cake.
And as for the frosting, the original recipe by Anne Byron had no frosting or glaze. The cake is sweet and rich and moist and really needs no frosting or glaze. But I always used a powdered sugar shaker to shake on some powdered sugar to make it a little prettier. Until Nothing Bundt Cake came out with their frosting drips and fancy cake toppers. So now whenever I really want to add some extra flair to this cake, I will do a cream cheese frosting droop design and add some fresh flowers. This is where you can add your own favorite frosting design or cake topper too!
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Cake Ingredients
- Devil's Food cake mix
- Small vanilla instant pudding mix
- Cocoa powder
- Espresso powder
- Sour cream
- Vegetable oil
- Warm water
- Eggs
- Semi sweet chocolate chips
See recipe card for quantities.
Frosting Ingredients
- Powdered sugar
- Cream cheese
- Salted butter
- Heavy whipping cream
See recipe card for quantities.
Substitutions
- Pudding mix - you can use chocolate pudding mix in place of the vanilla pudding mix + cocoa powder. The original recipe called for chocolate pudding mix, but I have a cocoa powder that I truly love. So I always use vanilla pudding mix + my favorite cocoa powder.
- Espresso powder - you can grind your own favorite coffee bean into a fine grind or even substitute instant coffee powder for the espresso powder. However, if the instant coffee granules are large and not a fine grind like used for espresso, dissolve them in the warm water.
Variations
- Cupcakes - you can turn use this recipe for cupcakes as well. Bake those at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes.
Storage
Store the chocolate bundt cake in an airtight container for up to 7 days. Non-frosted cake may be stored at room temperature, but frosted cake should be stored in the refrigerator.
Next Level Tips
- I love making desserts from scratch. But I'm not going to lie, this is one of my go-to cakes for when I need an easy, last-minute fool-proof dessert. There are big opinions on both sides about using boxed cake mix. My opinion is that if bakeries can do it (some just buy the mix by the 50 pound bag instead) and professional bakers can do it, then so can I on occasion. And I do, without any guilty feelings. This cake is just that good!
- The espresso powder is optional, but espresso powder enhances the chocolate flavor. Try it! Even if you have to use instant coffee instead of espresso powder, it's worth it.
- If you find frosting too sweet, add ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon of salt to the frosting. Salt balances out the sweetness. And by using a small amount, you don't taste saltiness.
- I love topping this cake with fresh flowers. Just make sure the flowers you choose are non-poisonous and safe to be touching food.
FAQ
Absolutely! You can make a light tissue paper flower or use real flowers. To use real flowers, you can wrap the stems in plastic wrap to make a centerpiece to fit in the hole of the bundt cake. Or, sometimes, I'll just use one or two flowers and stick them directly into the cake. Just make sure to use non-poisonous flowers.
The Ateco round tip #12 was used for the chocolate bundt cake in the photos.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Chocolate Bundt Cake
Equipment
- 1 Hand or stand mixer
Ingredients
Cake Base
- 1 box of Devil's Food cake mix
- 1 small box of vanilla pudding mix
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder optional
- 1 cup sour cream
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup warm water
- 4 eggs
- 10 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
Frosting (optional)
- 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 4 tablespoons salted butter room temperature
- 4 cups powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Making the cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 ℉. Spray a 9 inch bundt pan with cooking spray.
- Place the cake mix, pudding mix, cocoa powder and espresso powder in a mixing bowl and mix until the dry ingredients are combined.
- Add the water, oil, sour cream and eggs to the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. Mix on low for one minute. Scrap down the sides and mix an additional minute or just until all the ingredients are combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.
- Pour the batter in to the sprayed bundt pan. The batter will be thick. Smooth out the batter with a spatula.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes until the cake starts pulling away from sides and also springs back when touched.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for at least 20 minutes.
- Invert the cake on to a cakeboard or a serving plate. Allow the cake to completely cool before frosting or finishing with powdered sugar.
Frosting the cake (optional)
- Add the room temperature cream cheese and butter to a mixing bowl and mix on medium speed until creamy with no lumps, about 2 minutes.
- Add the powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream to the mixing bowl. Mix on medium high until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides several times, about 5-6 minutes. [Depending on the temperature of the cream cheese and butter and the humidity of the kitchen, you may need to add more heavy shipping cream if the frosting is too heavy/thick. Add additional heavy whipping cream one tablespoon at a time, mix on medium high and check for fluffiness.]
- Add the frosting to a piping bag and pipe on the frosting. Or use a knife or icing offset spatula to spread the frosting on the cake.
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