Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Updated March 05, 2020
This easy Chocolate Bundt Cake is the BEST chocolate cake recipe! This bundt cake always gets rave reviews because it is easy to make, moist, and perfect for any celebration. You will love this easy homemade chocolate cake!
The Best Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe
My birthday is tomorrow and Valentine’s Day is next week which means it’s time to celebrate…with chocolate. Cookies are usually my dessert of choice, but this Chocolate Bundt Cake holds a special place in my heart. It’s our go-to homemade chocolate cake recipe. It never disappoints and always cures my chocolate cravings.
If you are looking for a fool-proof, guaranteed to make you and everyone who takes a bite swoon, then make this Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake.
Why I love this Homemade Chocolate Cake
I like cakes that are easy to make and this homemade chocolate cake definitely fits the bill. This is the best chocolate bundt cake you will ever make and eat! Trust me!
- There are no complicated steps and you don’t have to spend hours or days decorating.
- You don’t need a mixer to make this bundt cake, you can whip it up by hand! I love my KitchenAid Mixer to pieces, but sometimes it’s nice to do it the old-fashioned way.
- It’s so moist! This bundt cake recipe calls for sour cream, which makes the cake super moist. It is the secret ingredient!
- If you don’t have sour cream, you can use plain Greek yogurt. It produces a lovely cake as well.
- Use good quality cocoa for this bundt cake so you get a nice chocolate flavor.
- The chocolate glaze is silky, smooth, and so divine. It would make anything taste good. Drizzling it on top of this amazing chocolate bundt cake really should be illegal. (I want to continue baking and eating this cake, so please don’t tell the police. I don’t want to go to jail. Let’s keep this our little secret:)
- Make sure you grease your bundt pan really well. You don’t want it to get stuck. I like to use soft butter, make sure get into all of the details of the pan so nothing sticks!
- Use high quality chocolate to make the chocolate glaze so the cake has the best flavor!
- If you want to skip the chocolate glaze you can dust the cake with powdered sugar, but I really like the chocolate glaze. It is the perfect finishing touch to the bundt cake.
Occasions for a Chocolate Bundt Cake
This cake is very rich and a small piece usually does it, but since it’s my birthday I think I need a big fat piece…for breakfast:) Starting my birthday with chocolate cake must mean it’s going to be a great year. At least that’s what I’m going with. We shall see! At least I know my day will be wonderful!
This chocolate cake recipe is perfect for any celebration, or just because you need chocolate. I am a firm believer that every day should be celebrated and there is no better way to celebrate than with chocolate.
And if you want to make your Valentine’s heart go pitter patter, just give them a slice of this cake. Everything will be smooth sailing after they taste this Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake!
How to Make Chocolate Cake
Watch below for a quick step-by-step video on how to make this chocolate bundt cake!
If you like this chocolate bundt cake, you might also like:
- Flourless Chocolate Cake
- Easy Chocolate Cake
- Strawberry Chocolate Cake
- Ultimate Chocolate Cupcakes
- Strawberry Cake
- Funfetti Cake
Chocolate Bundt Cake
Equipment
- Bundt Pan (I use this one from NordicWare)
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter plus more for the pan
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder we use Dutch process
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for the pan
- 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the chocolate glaze:
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons corn syrup
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10 or 12-cup Bundt pan and set aside.
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, and water and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and baking soda. Add half of the melted butter mixture and whisk until completely blended. The mixture will be thick. Add the remaining butter mixture and whisk until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking until completely blended. Whisk in the sour cream (or Greek yogurt) and the vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before glazing.
- While the cake is cooling, make the chocolate glaze. Place the chopped chocolate and corn syrup (or agave) in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the heavy cream and sugar in a small saucepan and put over medium heat. Stir until the cream is hot and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until smooth.
- Generously drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, allowing it to drip down the sides. Cut into pieces and serve.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
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I’ve made this cake probably 20 times (I have a big family). I tweaked the recipe slightly (brown sugar for white and yogurt for sour cream), but it turns out amazing every time. It is truly the perfect chocolate cake recipe.
I am so glad you love this cake so much!
Really good, moist cake. I did find that it took closer to 55 minutes to be done.
Been using for years! Easy no fail chocolate fix. Thank you for sharing!
It is the best!
Delicious Cake! I used an easier glaze. I’d like to leave a picture of the one I made and decorated for Easter! So yummy!
An excellent version of chocolate cake. Our family all loved it. Didn’t change a thing to the recipe!
I am glad your family loved the cake.
DELICIOUS!! And easy!
Can this recipe be made into 2 layered cake?
I am glad you liked it! That should be fine, just reduce the baking time.
I forgot to add the water my butter was very thick crossing my fingers that it bakes ok as my son 6y is super excited we made this together!
I should have written this YEARS ago. This cake is my husband’s absolute favorite & its legend has spread far & wide. So easy & always perfect. I found your recipe years ago when I bought a beautiful new Nordic Bundt pan (the jubilee) and thought ‘this needs a really special cake to show off this pattern’. The chocolate glaze pools so perfectly into all the crevices. I use half milk & half dark chocolate for the glaze (usually buy the pound size bars at Trader Joe’s, but one day at going to splurge for some high end chocolate for the glaze to see if we can taste much difference)
I’ve even baked it for a world number one tennis player twice on his birthday (I was working in the players dining room at our local tournament & he was a very young man & it was his birthday. I gave him the choice of a few of my best desserts & he chose this one & he & his team loved it & asked for it again the next year. And his dad is a chef in a country known for their cuisine!)
So your perfect chocolate cake is internationally renowned!
Thank you for taking the time to share this! Made my day!
This is the BEST chocolate cake my husband and I have ever had. I’ve been making it at least once or twice a year for years now since discovering your fantastic recipe. I always use yogurt and have sometimes substituted the water for coffee. It is such a moist, rich chocolate cake and the ganache takes it over the top. Thank you so much for such a beloved recipe at our house!
It really is the best!
I’ve made this cake several times and it is always a success – simple to make and very tasty. The one change I make is to use black coffee instead of water in the cake. The chocolate glaze is perfect. So much better than an overpowering frosting.
Such a great dessert!
This cake is delicious! However, I’ve made it three times now and each time — no matter how carefully I’ve prepped the Bundt pan — part of the cake always sticks to the pan. I’ve tried the butter and flour as directed and I’ve also used the baking spray. Neither method worked. I’m going to give it one more try next week. For Thanksgiving I’m baking it in my Angel food cake pan.
Linda, I’ve been making Bundt cakes for many years. I always generously butter and then flour my pan. We live in Europe now and can’t buy Baker’s Joy with the flour already in the spray, which was my go to in the US. But most importantly, no matter what the recipe says, I let the cake cool completely before beginning the process to take it out of the pan. First, I use a soft, narrow silicon spatula/scraper and gently release both the cake’s inner and outer edges. One of the things I find that will cause the top to stick is add-ins that sink. Sometimes, tossing the add-ins in a little flour can help them remain buoyant in the dough. I’d love to hear other tricks too because it’s very frustrating when that happens.
i have just made it for the first time and having the same problem 🙁
This is the best chocolate cake/bundt/cupcake recipe. Great chocolate flavor and very moist. I made cupcakes (got 26 out of the recipe), baked at 350F for 18 minutes. Came out perfect. Instead of the chocolate glaze, I made Strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream frosting. Yummy!!!
Thanks for the great recipe. It is now my go to for chocolate cake/bundt/cupcakes.
That frosting sounds amazing! Glad you love the cake!
how much water do you put in?
I made exactly and I got raves. It is now my go to Chocolate cake and looks so pretty too!
Yahoo! Glad you loved the cake!
This cake is delicious! Recipe is easy to follow, it’s a must try.
The very best!
I love this cake it’s so moist & delicious. Can I make it a layer cake instead? Please let me know.
Yes, depending on how many layers and the size, you might need to double it!
any idea how the cooking time should be adjusted to make this in a loaf pan?
It might take longer in the loaf pan! Check often to be safe.
I love this cake and make it all celebrations. or sometimes we just want it. Can i make a day ahead and then wrap it? I need it tomorrow for desert but have to make it today as busy tomorrow. Please say if that is okay, I want it as fresh as possible
Yes, it should be just fine. I am glad you love it!
I made this cake for my daughter’s 12th birthday. It was a huge success!!!
Thank you for this easy and accurate recipe.
Yay! Happy birthday to your daughter!
Absolutely Perfect!! This is now and forever my go to chocolate cake! Made the recipe exactly as directed. I did use Pam baking spray for my Bundt pan and no issues with cake sticking at all. Thank you for this amazing recipe! 10 stars!
10 stars! YES! Thank you!
Such a great recipe! Only thing I did was add slightly more (1/4 cup more) of sour cream — recipe is perfect, thank you!
It’s such a good cake!
Oh my god i made this recipe today.
It was an instant hit, absolutely delicious.used hersheys cocoa powder and greek yog instead of sour cream. It was absolutely perfect. Added crushed nuts ontop of the glazing, wish i could upload a pic!!
I love the addition of nuts! Nice job!
I made this cake for company and the cake was moist and delicious. Everyone loved it. I had to make up my own glaze because I did not have bittersweet chocolate.
Thank you.
This makes me so happy!
Hands down the best, most moist cake ever. My only issue is that the top of the cake stuck to the Bundt pan, I did butter and flour as directed. Next time I will use a loaf pan.
It’s such a GOOD cake!
Simple delicious! Easy to bake. I added raspberries ans blueberries on top. irrésistible!
Oooh, so pretty!
My son has asked for this cake for his birthday for…a decade now?? Hard to remember when we started making it but it’s his absolute favorite. Not too sweet, perfectly dense and flavorful, and almost impossible to mess up, this cake is a hit every time.
If possible, make it the day before. It’s perfect on day one but even better on day two. The hard part is letting it sit there for 24 hours!
FYI, Karo is getting harder to find but agave works just fine.
I love that you have been making this cake for so long. It is the perfect birthday cake!
The texture of this cake is one of the best I’ve ever tried. Incredibly light and moist. The only thing I can knock is that the cake itself could use more chocolate, but that’s made up for by the intense glaze. If I were to experiment I would increase the cocoa powder and add a little bit of espresso powder.
I made this in a 9×13 pan, 35 minutes at 350 degrees. It domed quite a bit so next time I’ll try 340 with cake strips around the pan.
Thank you for sharing this great recipe!
It’s the best! Thanks for sharing!
I made this for my mom’s get together and it turned out great
Love this recipe
It’s such a great dessert!
This cake was absolutely delicious! I made it for my birthday. I wanted a simple chocolate cake & I saw this recipe for a Bundt cake. Perfect ! Thank you . I will definitely make it again . So good & moist.
Yay! Happy Birthday!
Cake is great. This is my 2nd one. Family loves it and it is so easy to bake
Yay! I am so glad your family loves it!
This cake is amazing as is! Made it several times and always a hit! Just wondering if anyone has ever tried it with a plant based margarine instead of butter? Do you think it would work out as well?
Can you use milk chocolate chips in this
Yes!
This cake was amazing! I always do a lemon cake for Easter but was in the mood for chocolate. I added a tsp of espresso powder to bring out even more chocolate flavor and doubled the vanilla, which I usually do. I added a little butter and extra chocolate square and salt to the glaze. It was so moist and good and fabulous the next day too! This will be my new chocolate cake go-to.
It is the best!
I made this cake using raspberry greek yogurt for my friends birthday. Everyone loved it and enjoyed the hint of raspberry they tasted. Delicious!
Question, Can I make a layer cake instead of a bundt pan?
I love the raspberry yogurt addition! Yes, that should be fine!
Was excited to try this recipe, but was disappointed in the cake. Did not find it to be moist at all,( and I cooked it 37 minutes to make sure it wasn’t over cooked), and found the cake to lack flavor. I did however think the glaze was good.
Interesting, the cake is very moist and I think has lots of rich, chocolaty flavor! Sorry you didn’t like it!
Thank you for the recipe, I love it and keep making more and more. Brings love to my family
I am so glad!!
Excellent flavor, classic and classy chocolate cake. Very easy to make. Looks beautiful presented on a cake stand.
The best!
I made this cake for my husband who is gluten- free. I substituted the flour with King Arthur gluten-free measure for measure flour. It turned out great. It’s great as is even without frosting.
Thanks for sharing! Glad it worked for you!
Maria, I made this recipe and it truly is the best chocolate cake I have ever eaten. I have eaten a lot of chocolate cake in my 75+ years. Delicious!
Hi Diane, this makes me so happy!!!