The Ultimate Moist Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe

Baking a bundt cake is usually a terrifying experience. You spend an hour measuring ingredients, you bake it, and then you face the worst ten seconds in all of baking: flipping the pan upside down and praying the cake actually comes out in one piece.

Half the time, the bottom of the cake stays permanently glued to the metal pan, and you are left holding a jagged, broken ring of dry cake. I used to hate making them. The ones that did come out of the pan clean were usually so dry you needed a gallon of milk just to swallow a slice.

I spent a month testing this Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe to fix both of those problems. It is impossibly moist. It is so fudgy it almost eats like a brownie. And most importantly, if you follow my exact instructions on how to prepare the pan, it slides out perfectly every single time.

I took this cake to a neighborhood potluck last winter. A guy I barely knew ate three slices, tracked me down in the kitchen, and asked if I was a professional baker. I am not. I just know that the secret to chocolate cake is vegetable oil and hot coffee.

If you need a quick, no-bake chocolate fix for a Tuesday afternoon, you are better off making my Little Chocolate Chickpea Truffles. If you want a vanilla dessert instead, go check out the Vanilla Magic Custard Cake. But if you have a birthday, a holiday, or a dinner party where you need to impress people with a giant, beautiful, chocolate centerpiece? You make this bundt cake.

🍫 Bake Time · Giant Centerpiece · 12 Servings

Prep time: 20 min · Bake time: 55 min · Calories: 410 kcal

The Nutrition Breakdown

Let’s be realistic. This is a massive chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache. It is a heavy, rich dessert meant for celebrations. Here is the estimated breakdown per slice (assuming you get 12 generous slices out of a standard bundt pan):

• Calories: 410
• Protein: 5g
• Carbohydrates: 56g
• Dietary Fiber: 3g
• Total Sugars: 42g
• Fat: 21g
• Saturated Fat: 8g
• Sodium: 320mg

Do not try to substitute the sugar with artificial sweeteners or cut the oil in half. The sugar and the fat are exactly what keep the cake structurally sound so it doesn’t fall apart when you flip the pan.

The Right Tools for the Job

A bundt cake relies entirely on the hardware you use.

The Pan: You need a high-quality, heavy cast-aluminum bundt pan (10-cup or 12-cup capacity). Do not use a cheap, floppy silicone mold. Silicone does not conduct heat well, meaning your cake won’t get that slightly crusty exterior that helps it release from the pan.

The Grease: Standard butter and a dusting of flour will betray you. The flour mixes with the butter in the oven and acts like concrete. You need to use a baking spray that specifically contains flour in the spray (like Baker’s Joy), or you need to make a homemade “cake goop” by mixing equal parts vegetable oil, shortening, and flour, and painting it on with a pastry brush. Get into every single crevice.

The Ingredient Lineup

The Cake Batter:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot, strongly brewed black coffee

The Ganache Glaze:

• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

The Cocoa Powder: You really need to find Dutch-processed cocoa powder. It is darker, smoother, and less acidic than standard natural cocoa powder (like regular Hershey’s). It gives the cake that almost-black, bakery-style color.

The Oil: We are not using butter in this cake. Butter tastes great, but it turns solid at room temperature, which makes cakes taste dry the next day. Vegetable oil stays liquid at room temperature. That is why this cake stays incredibly moist for three days sitting on your counter.

The Coffee: Do not skip the coffee. You will not taste the coffee in the final cake. Hot coffee forces the cocoa powder to “bloom,” which basically means it unlocks the deepest, richest chocolate flavor possible. If you absolutely refuse to use coffee, use 1 cup of boiling hot water instead.

Whisk, Pour, Bake

1. Whisk the dry stuff.
In a massive mixing bowl, dump the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

Take a wire whisk and aggressively mix it all together until it is a uniform, light brown powder. Break up any hard clumps of cocoa powder.

2. Mix the wet stuff.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla extract together.

3. Combine wet and dry.
Pour the wet buttermilk mixture into the dry flour mixture. Stir it with a spatula just until it comes together. It will look very thick and somewhat dry.

4. The Hot Coffee Pour.
Slowly pour the hot, steaming coffee into the batter.

Use a whisk to gently stir it in. Go slow, or you will splash hot coffee and chocolate batter all over your shirt. The batter will suddenly look very thin, dark, and liquidy. That is exactly what you want.

5. Bake it.
Pour the liquid batter into your heavily greased bundt pan. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 50 to 55 minutes. Check it with a long wooden skewer. When it comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs, it is done.

6. The Flip.
Pull the pan out of the oven. Put it on a wire cooling rack and set a timer for exactly 15 minutes. Do not flip it immediately, or the boiling hot cake will tear. Do not leave it in the pan for an hour, or the sugars will cool and permanently glue the cake to the metal.

After 15 minutes, put the wire rack on top of the pan, hold them tightly together, and flip the whole thing upside down. Hold your breath. Lift the pan straight up. The cake should slide right out. Let it cool completely.

What I Got Wrong First

My first run at this recipe was a nightmare. I used butter to grease the pan, and I dusted it with cocoa powder instead of flour because I read a blog that said cocoa powder keeps the outside from looking dusty. Well, the cocoa powder burned to the butter. Half the cake stayed permanently stuck in the intricate ridges of the pan. Use baking spray with flour. It never fails.

My second mistake was opening the oven door at the 30-minute mark to check on the cake. The sudden blast of cold air shocked the cake, and the entire center collapsed. A bundt cake is a massive, heavy structure. It needs consistent heat to build its walls. Keep the oven door shut until you hit the 45-minute mark at the absolute earliest.

Quick Cake Troubleshooting

Why did my cake stick to the pan?
You either missed a spot when greasing, or you let the cake cool in the pan for too long. If you forgot to flip it and it’s stuck cold, fill your kitchen sink with an inch of boiling water. Set the bottom of the metal pan in the hot water for 5 minutes to melt the fat, then try flipping it again.

Why did my cake overflow in the oven?
You used a pan that was too small. This batter requires a 10-cup to 12-cup pan. If your pan is smaller, only fill it 3/4 of the way to the top and bake the leftover batter as a few cupcakes.

Why is there a weird, dense, rubbery ring at the bottom of my cake?
This happens when you don’t fully mix the wet and dry ingredients before adding the hot coffee. Unmixed pockets of flour and egg sink to the bottom of the pan and turn into a rubbery puck.

Make-Ahead Baking Schedule

Bundt cakes are the perfect make-ahead dessert because the oil keeps them fresh for days.

Up to 3 Days Before: Bake the cake, flip it, and let it cool entirely. Do not glaze it. Wrap the bare cake tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and leave it on the kitchen counter. It will actually get moister on day two as the flavors settle.

The Day Of: Make the ganache. Heat the half cup of heavy cream in the microwave until it is bubbling (about 45 seconds). Pour it over the chocolate chips. Let it sit for two minutes, then whisk it until it is smooth and glossy. Pour the warm glaze over the top of the room-temperature cake and let it drip down the sides.

Variations and Tweaks

Peanut Butter Glaze: If you love the combination of chocolate and peanut butter (like in my Chocolate Peanut Butter Valentine’s Heart), skip the chocolate ganache. Heat half a cup of creamy peanut butter in the microwave until it is runny, whisk in a little powdered sugar, and pour it over the dark chocolate cake.

Double Chocolate Chip: Fold one cup of mini chocolate chips into the batter right before you pour it into the pan. Toss the chips in a tablespoon of flour first so they don’t all sink to the very bottom of the cake while it bakes.

Frosting Instead of Glaze: If you hate the sticky mess of a glaze and want real frosting, grab a piping bag and use Wilton’s Buttercream Icing Recipe. You can pipe massive white stars all the way around the ring of the cake.

Storing Leftovers

Do not put this cake in the fridge. The fridge pulls moisture out of baked goods and makes them stale and hard.

Keep it covered with a cake dome on the kitchen counter. It stays incredibly soft for up to 4 days. If you want to freeze individual slices, wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them for up to three months.