Name: Moist Chocolate Bundt Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 155 min
Ingredients: 2½ cups all-purpose flour; 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-processed preferred); 2½ tsps baking powder; 1½ tsps baking soda; 1¼ tsps salt (or ¾ tsp if using salted butter); 1¼ cups soft light brown sugar; 1¼ cups white granulated sugar; 1 cup whole milk (room temperature); ⅓ cup unsalted butter (melted); ¾ cup unflavored vegetable oil (I use canola oil); 3 large eggs; 1 tbsp vanilla extract/essence; 1 cup strong hot coffee (1½ tbsp instant coffee in 240g hot water or use espresso); ½ cup heavy cream; 1¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate (I use 50% dark chocolate); ½ cup unsalted butter; ½ cup powdered sugar (also known as icing/confectioners' sugar); ¼ tsp instant coffee powder; ¼ tsp salt (omit if using salted butter); 2 tsps unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch-processed preferred); 1 tsp vanilla extract/essence

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If you’re a chocolate lover, this Chocolate Bundt Cake is about to be your new favorite treat! Rich, moist, and deeply chocolaty, it’s baked to perfection in a classic bundt pan and topped with a silky chocolate fudge frosting that takes it to the next level!

Why This Is the Best Chocolate Bundt Cake

There’s no shortage of chocolate cake recipes out there, but trust me, this one’s something special. It’s the kind of cake that feels just as perfect for a celebration (like birthdays!) as it does for a cozy night in. With its soft texture, rich flavor, and that dreamy chocolate fudge frosting, it’s guaranteed to win over anyone who takes a bite.

The cake itself is based on my go-to chocolate sheet cake recipe and the frosting is from my reader-favorite, chocolate fudge frosting recipe, so if you’ve tried either of those, you know what I’m talking about! Here’s why you’ll love it:

Moist

Thanks to a combination of oil, butter, milk, and hot coffee, this bundt cake bakes up incredibly soft and tender. Every bite is moist without being heavy, and it stays that way for days.

Rich Flavor

Dutch-processed cocoa and strong hot coffee deepen the chocolate flavor, making this cake truly indulgent. It’s rich, decadent, and full of that classic chocolatey goodness that you want in a chocolate cake.

Irresistible Frosting

The silky chocolate fudge frosting is what really takes this bundt cake over the top. It’s glossy, smooth (like a chocolate ganache), and seeps into every curve of the cake, adding extra richness and making it look just as good as it tastes.

How to Make Chocolate Bundt Cake

You can find the full list of ingredients for this recipe in the recipe card at the end of the blog post (for easy navigation, hit the ‘jump to recipe’ button at the top of the blog post). Here is a quick visual breakdown of the recipe (recipe video is also provided in the recipe card below).

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Set your oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) conventional. Very generously grease and dust (with flour) a 12-cup bundt pan, or use a baking spray or cake release that has flour in it (I use my homemade cake release to grease my pan). Set aside for now.

Sift together flour, Dutch process cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using a whisk, mix until well combined and set aside for now.

In a large bowl add in brown sugar, white sugar, milk, melted butter, unflavored vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla. Using a whisk, mix until well combined.

Add in flour mixture from earlier to the wet ingredients and mix with a whisk until just combined. Do not overmix.

Pour in hot coffee and mix with a whisk until well combined. The mixture should be smooth, but avoid overmixing.

Transfer cake batter to prepared pan. Give the pan a little shake to help the batter settle into all the corners, then tap it lightly on the counter twice to release any large air bubbles. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a skewer (a toothpick will be too small!), cake tester or thin knife inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.

Once ready, allow the cake to cool in the cake tin for 45 minutes, before turning it out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Place a small saucepan over low heat and add in heavy cream, chocolate, butter, powdered sugar, coffee, salt, cocoa powder, and vanilla. Stir until just melted and smooth (do not let it simmer or boil). Once smooth, immediately take it off the heat.

Strain frosting through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Let cool at room temperature until it thickens.

Spread frosting over the top of the cake (make sure cake is at room temperature), then slice and serve.

How to Store Chocolate Bundt Cake

Store the frosted cake covered at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week. If you’d like to freeze it, wrap the cooled cake (without frosting) tightly in plastic wrap and foil, then freeze for up to 2 months. Just thaw overnight in the fridge and frost before serving.