This glazed chocolate bundt cake with chocolate ganache is super chocolatey, moist, easy to make, and a total show stopper! If you’re looking for a no holds barred chocolate dessert, this is it.
Ingredients for the recipe
Get the wet ingredients ready
First, just add the sugar, salt, oil, sour cream, eggs, milk and vanilla in a large enough bowl, to accommodate the whole amount of batter. Whisk all the ingredients together until you have a nice smooth mix. If all the ingredients are at room temperature, they should mix beautifully! The classic bundt cake shape with the hole in the middle also brings so much nostalgia for me. It reminds me of the chocolate bundt cakes I used to eat as a kid, in both appearance and taste. BUT this recipe is even better because it’s made from scratch and not from a box mix. My chocolate cake recipes are always a hit, from the devil’s food cake, to my classic chocolate cake, one bowl fudgy chocolate cake, chocolate swiss roll cake, flourless chocolate torte etc. And I know you guys are going to love this homemade glazed sour cream chocolate bundt cake made from scratch as well! 🙂 Use a kitchen scale to weigh the ingredients. That way you can place the bowl on your scale and measure the ingredients as you go. You can even sift and weigh the dry ingredients into the batter using a sifter directly over the mixing bowl. Follow with some of the wet ingredients first, then the dry ingredients. The key is to end with the hot water or hot coffee. This is important. If you’re using volume measurements, you can still make this in one bowl, but you will obviously have to measure ingredients separately and use more bowls and measuring cups. Eggs – I use 2 large eggs in this recipe. Sour cream – This adds the acidity required for the baking soda to react and rise in the cake. This ingredient is important because without it, the cake will be too dense. Greek yogurt is a good substitution. Don’t use low fat or no fat versions, as the fat adds richness to the cake. Milk – Milk is added for flavor. You can also add buttermilk if you have some at home, but milk is more likely to be in your fridge (I assume). Hot water or hot coffee – The batter is a very wet batter that results in a moist cake. The hot water helps hydrate the cocoa powder to “bloom” the cocoa so that you get a deeper chocolate flavor. Coffee also helps bring out more chocolate flavor, but you can increase the coffee flavor to make a mocha bundt cake instead as well! Oil – This recipe uses oil instead of butter. You can use melted butter instead, but butter does give the cake some fudgy texture. Using oil gives the chocolate bundt cake a more even and light crumb. Vanilla – Also adds flavor, and balance to the sweetness. Salt – I use finely ground sea salt. Salt is absolutely necessary in any baking recipe. You can add just a small amount and it will mellow out the sweetness. It’ll transform your baked goods from being bleh to wowsa! Natural cocoa powder – This recipe uses natural cocoa powder and NOT dutch cocoa powder. The reason is that natural cocoa powder is a little acidic. Since we are using baking soda, we need acid in the chocolate cake batter so that it rises as it bakes. You can read more about this in my detailed baking basics article on dutch process vs natural cocoa powder. Baking soda – The chemical leavener that causes the chocolate bundt cake batter to rise as it bakes (along with the acid component). Baking soda does NOT have an acid added to it (unlike baking powder), so the recipe requires other acidic ingredients to properly activate it. You can also read more about chemical leaveners in my baking basics article on baking soda vs baking powder. Dark chocolate – I like to use chocolate that has between 60 – 70% cocoa. That’s because I want the glaze to not be too sweet so that it complements the sweet chocolate bundt cake. But you can use any type of chocolate you like instead. Even white chocolate if you prefer. You can use bar chocolate or chocolate chips. Heavy cream – Absolutely necessary to make a rich ganache! But you can also use coconut cream. Butter – Butter adds a little more flavor to your glaze, and a little shine too. But you can leave it out if you want to as well. Salt – Chocolate and salt are a match made in flavor heaven. Salt makes the flavors of the chocolate ganache glaze pop even more, so don’t forget to add it! Butter the inside of the bundt pan, making sure to get every nook and cranny. This is very important because you don’t want your cake to stick to the pan. I like to use a pastry brush to butter the pan. Some also use nonstick spray, but I prefer butter over nonstick spray. Add the cocoa powder and dust the whole inside of the pan as well. Discard the excess cocoa powder and set aside. Also preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C (conventional).
Bake the cake
As soon as the cake batter is stirred and is smooth, transfer the batter into the bundt pan and bake the cake in the preheated oven for 50 – 60 minutes, or until the cake is baked through. The cake is done when a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. For the one bowl method – Place a sifter over the large mixing bowl (with the egg mix). Place this on the scale and tare the value. Add the flour to the sifter. Tare the value and add the cocoa powder next. Add the baking soda and sift all three ingredients into the mixing bowl. Follow with salt, and fold to combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. The batter will be a little stiff at this stage, but that’s OK!
Making the chocolate glaze
Chop the chocolate into small pieces and place them in a heat-proof bowl. Heat the cream and salt together in a small saucepan until it just starts to simmer. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let it sit for about 30 seconds and stir to melt all of the chocolate. While still warm, add the butter and stir to dissolve. When the ganache is smooth, cover it and let it cool down. It should be almost at room temperature (slightly warm) and thick with a pourable consistency before it can be poured over the cake.
How to glaze the chocolate bundt cake
Once the chocolate cake is baked, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool down slightly, about 5 – 10 minutes. While the pan is still warm (but easy to handle), flip the cake over onto a cooling rack. It’s important to flip the cake over while the pan is still warm, so that the cake comes out easily. Let the cake cool down to room temperature. Then transfer the cake with the wire rack onto a baking sheet. Once cooled, you can pour the cooled down ganache over the cake. I sometimes like to chill the chocolate bundt cake in the fridge (for about 30 – 60 minutes), and then pour slightly warm ganache glaze. The sheet pan underneath will catch any excess chocolate glaze. This way I get a really nice thin coating of chocolate glaze that immediately sets on the chilled cake. But you can make your glaze layer as thick as you like. Flip it too late (when cold), and the cake might get stuck in the pan, or be soggy because of condensation. Serve just as is, or you can shower the cake with some chocolate shavings too. After all, as the best ever chocolate bundt cake, that decadent chocolate glaze deserves all the love it can get as well!
Serving suggestions
This chocolate bundt cake is nothing if not delicious, light, and moist! It’s just as delicious without a glaze, but you have to admit, the glaze obviously makes it that much better, and also balances the sweetness well (i.e. if you use dark chocolate for the cake). You can serve the cake just as is, OR Top it with chocolate shavings or sprinkles. The unglazed cake can be served with a dusting of confectioner’s sugar. Whipped cream and fresh berries are also a great way to serve this cake. A scoop of vanilla ice cream and hot fudge sauce with a slice of the chocolate cake! For an ever more decadent dessert, pair this chocolate bundt cake with a browned butter butterscotch sauce or caramel sauce.
Tips for perfecting chocolate bundt cake recipe + glaze
Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature (except for the hot water), so that it all mixes easily. Make sure the bundt cake pan is well greased to prevent the cake from sticking. Use a kitchen scale for best results! Cocoa powder is hard to measure correctly with cups. Check if the cake is done halfway through the baking time. Oven temperatures can vary and as a result bake times can vary too. Use natural cocoa powder for best results. You can use dutch cocoa powder too, but the texture will be slightly different. Be sure not to overheat the cream and chocolate for the glaze as it can cause it to split.
Frequently asked questions
