The Perfect Chocolate Bundt Cake

This Perfect Chocolate Bundt Cake is an elegant dessert that’s also approachable enough for the everyday.  Let’s bake this moist, rich, and downright squidgy Counter Cake that’s as easy to whisk together as it is to devour!

Let us grant ourselves a little January luxury – and I’m talking about the luxury of a Counter Cake.

A Counter Cake is usually baked on a Thursday or Friday, likely following the hellscape of a Tuesday combined with a Wednesday.  What a one-two punch we endure every week.  It is a comfort in its very baking and a balm to the soul, slice by slice.  The glory of this type of cake is that it carries into the weekend where it promptly disappears by Sunday afternoon.

This particular recipe is rich with cocoa powder and dark coffee.  It bakes up to be the most tender, moist cake that keeps for days.  It’s humble, with a dusting of powdered sugar.  My friend Jessi’s grandmother might say this cake “eats well” which feels like the most accurate grandmother compliment.

Grab a whisk and a big ol’ bowl.  Put on a pot of coffee and grab the bottle of ground ginger. Cake is comin’.

A list of ingredients you’ll need to make this Perfect Chocolate Bundt Cake

Dry Ingredients

•  granulated sugar

•  Dutch-processed cocoa powder here’s the difference between natural and Dutch-processed cocoa powder

•  all-purpose flour

•  baking soda and baking powder

•  kosher salt

•  a dash of ground ginger for warmth

Wet Ingredients

•  large eggs

•  vegetable oil instead of butter for this cake to help make it tender for days

•  whole milk buttermilk if you can get your hands on it though reduced-fat buttermilk will do (Sour cream mixed with whole milk is also a great substitute.)

•  vanilla extract

•  strong brewed coffee to enhance the chocolate flavor

Grab a large bowl.  There’s no need to use a stand mixer for this recipe, though, if that’s your preference, a paddle attachment will be the way to go.  Combine together the dry ingredients: sugar, flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and that little bit of dried ginger.  Whisk until entirely cohesive so there are no hidden pockets of sugar or cocoa.

In a separate medium bowl we’ll whisk together the wet ingredients:  whole eggs and an egg white, buttermilk, strong coffee, and a big splash of vanilla extract.

If the coffee makes you nervous, would you consider decaf? The coffee really deepens the flavor of the chocolate Bundt cake.  It’s important!  If coffee is a no-go for you, water will still make a great chocolate cake.

As we do, we’ll add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix by hand.  This will feel like a loose cake batter.  It’s pourable, baking into a fairly light Bundt cake.  This isn’t a pound cake – it’s a lighter snacking cake aka a perfect Counter Cake.

Brush the Bundt pan with butter or shortening and dust generously with flour.  My Dad has a recipe for cake release grease that I’ll share here soon!  It’s a mixture of shortening and flour and perfect to have on hand for cake baking.  Whatever you do, don’t skimp on greasing every nook and cranny of your Bundt pan so the cake comes out clean.  I’ve had my fair share of Bundt-stuck cakes and it’s just the worst.

I baked this cake in my favorite Bundt cake pan from Nordic Ware.

PRO TIP:

Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and gently place it in the oven to bake right away.  This isn’t the sort of cake batter that wants to sit around in the bowl.  The baking soda is immediately trying to puff and rise the cake and if the cake batter sits, I’ve found that the cake is harder to remove from the pan.  

Once the cake is baked through (really test it with a toothpick before removing from the oven), allow it to rest at room temperature for 20-25 minutes.  You want the cake to cool from screamin’ hot but you don’t want it to cool to room temperature before removing it form the pan.  A slightly warm cake is easiest coaxed from the pan.  Start with gently easing a butter knife between the baked cake and the pan before flipping onto a wire rack or cake stand to completely cool.

You’re welcome to adorn this cake with a sour cream glaze, an easy vanilla frosting or even chocolate ganache (made with chocolate chips and heavy cream).  I think this cake is perfection with a simple dusting of powdered sugar.

Slice into this cake and – it’s a perfect crumb!  Top with lightly whipped sweet cream and maybe a few fresh raspberries.

This will be your go-to chocolate Bundt cake recipe.  It’s a gem of a Counter Cake.

Leave any questions or comments below.

Happy Baking! xo

The Perfect Chocolate Bundt Cake

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 20 reviews

• Author: Joy the Baker
• Prep Time: 20 mminutes
• Cook Time: 45-55 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes plus 20 minutes of cooling time
• Yield: 1 bundt cake 1x
• Category: cake, birthday,
• Method: baking

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Description

This is a moist and bouncy chocolate Bundt cake.  Lovely as a celebration cake, but down to earth enough as an everyday chocolate cake.  Dress it up or down, it’s a flawless cake.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cups Dutch-processed cocoa powder, plus more for dusting the pan
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 cup strong brewed coffee, cooled
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• powdered sugar and softly whipped sweetened cream, for topping

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Instructions

1. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Grease a Bundt pan with butter or vegetable shortening and dust with cocoa powder or all-purpose flour, tapping any excess out of the pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa powder, flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and ground ginger. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, yolk, cooled coffee, buttermilk, vanilla and oil. Careful to not slosh the mixture onto the countertop. I’ve done this more times than I care to admit.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and use a rubber spatula to fold the two together. The batter will be fairly loose but whisk until no lumps remain. Pour the batter into the prepared Bundt pan, scraping the bowl to get every last bit.
5. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out dry or with just a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool for 15-20 minutes before trying to remove the cake from the pan. As the cake cools, the edges should pull away from the sides of the pan a bit. You may want to carefully poke a butter knife along the sides of the pan to ease the cake away from the pan before inverting the cake onto a wire rack.
6. Serve warm or at room temperature dusted with powdered sugar and a side of softly whipped cream. Store cake, wrapped or in a lidded cake stand at room temperate. Keep a knife close by (aka on the cake plate) for slicing.

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