Fudgy Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake

This chocolate espresso bundt cake is based off of my beloved Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake, and is honestly even better! It still has that rich, dense pound cake quality, but with some cake flour and oil, it's also incredibly soft & moist. Like it stays moist for DAYS. 

For more chocolate cake recipes, try Fudgy Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes, Dairy Free Chocolate Cake, Mini Flourless Chocolate Cake, and Chocolate Sour Cream Pound Cake. 

Why you'll love this chocolate espresso cake

• Fudgy, Moist Texture: Unlike most chocolate cake recipes, this recipe bakes up incredibly fudgy & moist with a pronounced chocolate flavor, an even, tight crumb, and a melt-in-your-mouth texture that is utterly irresistible. 
• Balanced Espresso Flavor: The espresso flavor is not overwhelming, but rather a balanced flavor that complements the chocolate. 
• Perfect Make-Ahead Dessert: Since this cake stays moist for literally days, it's the perfect dessert to make 1-2 days ahead of time! Just save the glaze for right before you're ready to serve 🙂

Ingredient Notes

Ingredient quantities are listed in the recipe card below. Here you'll find notes on why I chose certain ingredients, as well as ingredient substitutions.

• Cake Flour: Cake flour makes this cake extra soft, but you can absolutely use regular all-purpose flour, or even GF 1:1 flour. 
• Cocoa Powder: I used a combination of dutch process and black cocoa powders for an extra rich chocolate experience.
• Espresso Powder: Be sure to use a fine ground espresso powder, not instant espresso. 
• Baking Powder: Be sure your baking powder is fresh by testing it some water.
• Butter: Use high-quality butter, such as European-style butter for best flavor.
• Sugar: I know there is A LOT of sugar in this cake, but do be tempted to reduce it. Sugar is used not only to sweeten the cake, but also for the structure and texture of the cake. 
• Eggs: Be sure your eggs are at room temperature before adding them to the batter.
• Sour Cream: You can also use plain whole milk greek yogurt.
• Oil: I recommend using light-tasting extra virgin olive oil, but any neutral oil will work.

Step by Step Instructions

This chocolate bundt cake recipe is fairly simple to make. So long as you grease and coat your bundt pan thoroughly, you should come out with a gorgeous bundt cake! 

Step 1: Brush the bundt pan with melted butter, then dust with cocoa powder. 

Step 2: Make the cake batter by creaming together the sugar and butter, mixing in the eggs one a time, then alternating the dry and wet ingredients. 

Step 3: Pour the batter into the bundt pan, smooth out the top, and bang on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 50-55 minutes. 

Step 4: Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then use a knife to loosen it from the sides, and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. 

Expert Baking Tips

• If you do not have black cocoa powder, you can use an equal amount of dutch process cocoa powder, making it a total of 95g or 1 cup + 2 tbsp.
• Use a neutral oil, such as vegetable or canola oil. I recommend using light-tasting extra virgin olive oil.
• Do not let the cake cool in the pan longer than 10 minutes, or it may stick to the pan!

How to serve this bundt cake

I recommend waiting to glaze this cake until right before serving. The glaze soaks into the cake, and makes it extra moist (not that it needs it, but still makes it SO good). The glaze does set, so don't worry about making a mess or the cake just sitting in liquid. 

Since both the cake and the glaze are fairly sweet, I think a dollop of whipped cream would be perfect to balance out the sweetness! 

Storage Tips

Store this bundt cake in an air-tight container at room temperature for 3-5 days. You can also store individual slices in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. 

All of the recipes on this blog are carefully developed with gram measurements so you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success. Volume measurements are extremely inaccurate and leave room for significant errors. Not all measuring cups are made equally, so your one cup of flour will be different from my one cup of flour. By providing precise measurements in grams (aside from minor ingredients, which are given in tsp/tbsp), you can make these recipes accurately and with less cleanup! All you need is this kitchen scale. 

If this still isn't enough to convince you, I have provided volume measurements in the recipe card. If you are interested in understanding the conversions, this is the best conversion chart.

But trust me, once you try baking in grams you'll never turn back!

Happy baking! x