December 13, 2024

Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake

posted by Julie in Birthdays, Bundt Cakes, Chocolate Desserts, Desserts, Recipes, Valentine's Day
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This Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake is truly the perfect everyday cake!  A rich chocolate cake, covered in chocolate ganache, with a soft, fudgy center.  Easy enough to make any day, but delicious enough for a celebration.

chocolate bundt cake covered with chocolate ganache and chocolate shavings.

It’s no secret that bundt cakes are my favorite kind of cake. A bundt cake is an anytime cake; it’s perfectly in place at your brunch table, a potluck, or for dessert after dinner with friends. It’s just so much more approachable and relaxed than a traditional layer cake, but also a little bit of a step up from a sheet cake.

If there’s one dessert that’s always guaranteed to impress, it’s this Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake. This cake is rich, moist, and decadent, with a deep chocolate flavor and a soft, tender crumb that melts in your mouth. Perfect for celebrations, weeknight indulgences, or when you just need an excuse to bake something truly special.

Because I love recipe development and baking so much, it’s rare for me to make the same version of a cake over and over. But I’ve made this chocolate bundt cake at least 20 times. If I’m making the same cake so many times, you know it has to be good.  And friends, this chocolate fudge bundt cake is g-o-o-d.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • Rich chocolate flavor: The combination of cocoa powder, melted chocolate, and coffee creates a deep, indulgent chocolate taste.
  • Elegant yet easy: Bundt cakes look stunning without requiring elaborate decoration or frosting skills.
  • Crowd-pleaser: Chocolate lovers (and even non-chocolate lovers) can’t resist its fudgy texture.
slice of chocolate bundt cake on a white dessert plate.

Ingredients and Substitutions

  • Hot Coffe: Coffee makes chocolate taste even more chocolatey, but boiling hot water can be used instead.
  • Bittersweet Chocolate: I like the deeper flavor of bittersweet chocolate, but dark chocolate works well also.
  • Sugar: This cake uses the trifecta of granulated sugar, brown sugar, and confectioners’s sugar!
  • Butter: Make sure the butter is at a cool room temperature before use.
  • Eggs: The eggs should also be at room temperature.
  • Vanilla Extract
  • Dutch-processed Cocoa Powder: Because this recipe relies on eggs for lift rather than chemical leveners, either Dutch-processed or natural unsweetened cocoa power can be used but I prefer the flavor of Dutch-processed in this recipe.
  • Flour: Use a gluten-free 1:1 baking flour mix instead of all-purpose flour to keep this cake gluten-free.
  • Salt
  • Heavy Cream: The ganache can use heavy cream or full-fat coconut milk, but don’t try to substitute in regular milk or half-and-half.
  • Light Corn Syrup: Corn syrup gives the perfect shine to the ganache, but you can omit if you don’t have any on hand.
overhead view of ingredients used to make chocolate fudge bundt cake.

How to Make Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake

  1. Melt the Chocolate: Pour steaming hot coffee (or boiling water) over chopped chocolate and whisk until smooth.
hot coffee and chopped chocolate in a bowl.
smooth melted chocolate in a mixing bowl.
  1. Cream the Butter: Beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and continue to beat until smooth. Pour in the melted chocolate mixture.
butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a glass mixing bowl.
creamed butter and sugar in a bowl.
pouring melted chocolate into creamed butter.
cake batter made from butter, sugar, and melted chocolate.
  1. Add Dry Ingredients: Gradually add the dry ingredients (cocoa powder, flour, powdered sugar, and salt) and beat until just combined.
mixing dry ingredients into a chocolate cake batter.
extra chocolately cake batter in a mixing bowl.
  1. Bake the Cake: Pour the batter into a greased bundt pan and bake for 40 – 45 minutes, until the edges start to pull away from the pan. Cool in the bundt pan for 20 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely.
bundt cake pan filled with chocolate cake batter.
freshly baked bundt cake still in the pan.
  1. Make the Ganache: Heat the heavy cream and corn syrup until simmering, then stir in the remaining chocolate, stirring constantly until smooth. Alternatively, heat the heavy cream in the microwave until steaming, add the chocolate, and stir. Cool slightly, then pour the glaze over the cake.
chopped chocolate and heavy cream in a saucepan.
melted chocolate ganache in a small saucepan.
drizzling chocolate ganache over a chocolate bund cake.

Easy Chocolate Ganache

This chocolate bundt cake is delicious on its own. But adding a rich, chewy chocolate ganache takes it to a whole new level and really puts the fudgy in chocolate fudge bundt cake!

Ganache gets its soft consistency — almost chewy when chilled — because it’s an emulsion, made from combining chocolate and heavy cream. Chocolate ganache is a permanent emulsion, meaning it will remain unified as a thick mixture for an extended period of time.

What’s an emulsion and how does it work?  It’s time for my favorite subject… kitchen chemistry!

Kitchen Chemistry

An emulsion is a mixture of liquids that normally would not mix.  Ganache is a fat-in-water emulsion, combining melted chocolate and heavy cream.  Little droplets of the cocoa butter (from the melted chocolate) and droplets of the butterfat (from the heavy cream) separate and are suspended in the remaining water (from the cream) and sugar (from the chocolate).  Casein, proteins found in milk, act as the emulsifier, helping to keep the fat and water from separating.

To make the best chocolate ganache, add chopped chocolate to warm cream (rather than adding hot chocolate to cold cream).

Heat the cream until steaming, then pour over the chopped chocolate and allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes to melt the chocolate, releasing the cocoa butter into the solution.  Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth and creamy.

We’re also adding a little corn syrup to our ganache; it helps make the ganache even softer and shinier.  It’s not necessary, however, and can be left out if desired.

Pro Tip: if the ganache looks curdled or grainy, the emulsion has broken, which means the fat separated out from the liquid. To fix broken ganache, warm it in a double boiler while whisking fast and continuously until the emulsion comes back together and the ganache is smooth.

chocolate fudge bundt cake with a few slices removed.

Tips and Tricks for The Best Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake

  1. Looking to perfect your bundt cake baking skills?  Give this post on ESSENTIAL BUNDT CAKE TIPS a quick read — it covers everything from how to make sure your bundt cake doesn’t stick to how to prevent the bottom of the cake from doming!
  2. Don’t overbake the cake!  Bake just until the edges begin to pull away from the edge of the bundt pan and the top is springy when pushed back.  An instant-read thermometer should register as 200 ºF when inserted into the middle of the thickest part of the cake.
  3. Make sure the cake is fully cooled before adding the chocolate ganache. Warm ganache on a warm cake will just run right off the cake, rather than covering the cake in a thick layer.
  4. Chop chocolate into small, uniform pieces, no larger than 1/2-inch.  This will allow the chocolate to melt in the warmed cream, which is essential to form the emulsion.
  5. Leftover cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.  Thaw the frozen cake at room temperature before eating.  (Storing the cake in the refrigerator makes it taste even fudgier – it’s our favorite way to eat it!)
close up view of a slice of chocolate bundt cake highlighting the moist fudgy center.

More Outrageously Chocolatey Recipes:

slice of chocolate bundt cake highlighting the rich fudgy interior.

Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake

Yield: Serves 16
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Cooling Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours

A rich chocolate cake, covered in chocolate ganache, with a soft, fudgy center.

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • 1/2 cup (113.5 grams) hot coffee
  • 2 ounces (57 grams) chopped bittersweet chocolate, divided
  • 1 cup (198 grams) granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup (160 grams) light brown sugar, packed
  • 1 1/4 cups (282 grams) unsalted butter , room temperature
  • 5 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, divided
  • 3/4 cup (63 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
  • 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 2 cups (227 grams) confectioners’ sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For the Ganache:

  • 8 ounces (227 grams) chopped bittersweet chocolate
  • 3/4 cup (170 grams) heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup (78 grams) light corn syrup

Instructions

    1. Preheat oven to 350 °F.  Grease a 12-cup metal bundt pan.
    2. Melt the chocolate. Pour hot coffee over 2 ounces (57 grams) of chopped chocolate in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth.  Cool to room temperature.
    3. Mix the batter. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter until light and fluffy.  On low speed, add eggs and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract until combined, about 30 seconds.  Add the chocolate mixture and beat another 30 seconds, until incorporated.
    4. Beat in remaining dry ingredients (cocoa, flour, confectioners’ sugar, and salt) until just combined.
    5. Bake the cake. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake 40-45 minutes, just until edges are beginning to pull away from the pan.  Cool upright on a wire rack for 1 hour, then invert onto a serving plate and cool completely.
    6. Make the ganache glaze. For the glaze, combine heavy cream, corn syrup, and remaining chopped chocolate in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until smooth.  Remove from heat and stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.  Set aside until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes.  Pour glaze over cake.

Notes

  1. Don’t overbake the cake!  Bake just until the edges begin to pull away from the edge of the bundt pan and the top is springy when pushed back.  An instant-read thermometer should register as 200 ºF when inserted into the middle of the thickest part of the cake.
  2. Make sure the cake is fully cooled before adding the chocolate ganache. 
  3. If the ganache looks curdled or grainy, the emulsion has broken.  To fix broken ganache, warm it in a double boiler while whisking fast and continuously until the emulsion comes back together and is smooth.
  4. Leftover cake can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 3 months.  Thaw the frozen cake at room temperature before eating.  (Storing the cake in the refrigerator makes it taste even fudgier – it’s our favorite way to eat it!)

Recipe adapted from Cook's Country

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© Julie (Bunsen Burner Bakery)
Cuisine: American / Category: Bundt Cakes
Moist, fudgy, and full of chocolate flavor, this easy made-from-scratch Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake is your new go-to dessert for celebrations or weeknight indulgence.

This recipe was first shared December 2017 and was updated with new pictures and helpful tips in December 2024.

posted in Birthdays, Bundt Cakes, Chocolate Desserts, Desserts, Recipes, Valentine's Day
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