Make the best homemade Chocolate Overload Cake, drizzled with chocolate ganache! Thanks to sour cream and real chocolate, this bundt cake comes out super moist and rich in flavor. This will be a great easy dessert recipe to celebrate the holidays or any occasion.
If you are looking for a showstopper chocolate cake that is easy to make, try this scrumptious Chocolate Overload Bundt Cake. It is a foolproof recipe that will result in a most amazing moist and rich dessert that everyone will love.
To get the best results, just follow all the tips and tricks that I included for you in the recipe below. Trust me, after trying this cake, you won’t need any other recipes.
Also, if you want to make a classic layered chocolate cake, filled and topped with whipped chocolate ganache, try this reader’s favorite Chocolate Cake from Scratch.
For more chocolate desserts, check out my Fudgy Brownie Cookies, Cheesecake Brownies, Chocolate Bourbon Truffles, Julia Child Chocolate Mousse, and Caramel Filled Cupcakes.
Why you will love this recipe
- Easy to make. You don’t need to spend hours on making and decorating this cake. Instead, simply mix the ingredients, bake in one pan and drizzle with ganache.
- Has rich chocolate flavor. Thanks to using real chocolate, natural cocoa powder, and instant espresso powder, this recipe has rich deep flavors. Plus, chocolate ganache adds a nice finish touch to the dessert.
- Make it ahead of time. You can easily make it a couple of days before the celebration, tightly cover with foil, and store on the countertop until ready to serve.
Ingredients and Substitution
- All-Purpose Flour. It is important to measure the flour correctly. To do so, scoop the flour into a measuring cup (do not pack!) and scrape with the back of the butter knife across the top to level it.
- Baking Soda. It will help the cake batter to rise and get light.
- Salt. Salt is an important ingredient in any dessert as it helps to balance the sweetness and flavors.
- Chocolate. Use good quality baking or real chocolate for the cake base and the ganache. Chocolate chips won’t work here.
- Cocoa Powder. Use natural cocoa powder instead of processed.
- Instant Espresso Powder. Don’t skip this ingredient! You won’t taste coffee in this dessert, but it help to enhance the flavors and make it richer.
- Butter. It’s important to use room temperature unsalted butter, so it will be easier to beat it with sugar to create an airy texture. This will help the cake to stay light and not too dense.
- Sugar. I don’t like my desserts to be too sweet, so I use less amount of sugar. If you like your desserts to be sweeter, you can add 2 extra tablespoons of sugar.
- Eggs. The key to perfectly blend eggs with the batter is to make sure thy are room temperature and to add them one at a time, mixing them well in between.
- Vanilla Extract. I highly recommend to use real vanilla extract for baking.
- Sour Cream. Full fat sour cream will help to make the cake super moist and delicious.
How to make it
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix 2 tbsp softened butter and 1 tbsp cocoa powder and brush the inside of a bundt pan with a pastry brush. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, add 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and ¼ tsp salt. Whisk and set aside.
In a separate bowl, add 6 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate, ¾ cup natural cocoa powder, and 1 tsp instant espresso powder. Pour over ¾ cup boiling water, whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Then set aside to cool off.
In a separate large mixing bowl, add 12 tbsp room temperature unsalted butter and 1 ½ cups granulated sugar. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat everything together on a high speed for 3-5 minutes, or until it’s light and airy.
Add 5 room temperature eggs (1 egg at a time) and beat well again.
Add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 cup room temperature sour cream. Mix well until combined.
Then add the chocolate mixture and mix until combined.
Add dry ingredients and fold them in until there are no flour pockets.
Pour the batter into the pre-greased Bundt pan, transfer to the oven and bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes.
To make sure it’s properly baked, insert a toothpick in the center, it should come out with moist crumbs but not wet.
Take the pan out of the oven and let sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Then flip the pan and transfer the cake to a wire rack. Let it cool off completely for about 2 hours.
Make chocolate ganache
Chop 4 ounces chocolate in smaller pieces and transfer to a bowl.
Heat up ½ cup heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat until light simmer. Then pour over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
Whisk very well until all the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth consistency.
Let it sit on the countertop until it cools off and gets thicker consistency.
When ready to serve, drizzle over the cake and let it drip on the sides.
Tips for best results
- Greasing bundt pan. While you might usually grease a bundt pan with butter and then dust with all-purpose flour, this technique is not going to work for this recipe. Since this is a chocolate cake, you don’t want it to be covered with white flour. So, instead, we will mix softened butter with cocoa powder and brush it in a thick layer inside of the pan. That will help to create a good protection layer to easily release the baked cake.
- Ingredients. To make sure all the ingredients blend well together and create light cake, they need to be room temperature (especially butter, eggs, and sour cream).
- Instant Espresso Powder. This extra ingredient really makes a difference and helps to elevate chocolate flavors in the dessert.
- Mixing eggs. When you add eggs to the batter, it’s always recommended to add one egg at a time and mix well in between. This will ensure that they are all will mixed well. Also, make sure that the eggs are room temperature.
- Do not overbake! This is probably the most important step. While it usually takes about 45 minutes to bake, the timing might vary on your oven, cake pan, and the cake batter. Start checking it after 40 minutes. To do so, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake, it should come out with some moist crumbs (not raw, but cooked moist crumbs). If the toothpick came out all clean, you probably overbaked the cake.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can bake it ahead of time. After it’s completely cooled off, tightly cover with foil and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Top with the ganache before serving.
You can serve it as it is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
You most likely overbaked it or added too much flour. Make sure to follow the recipe and read tips before starting baking.
More Dessert Ideas:
- Apple Pie with Puff Pastry
- Ricotta Cake
- Baked Apples
- Peach Cobbler
- Classic Tiramisu Recipe
- Mixed Berry Puff Pastry Tarts
- Vanilla Creme Brulee
- Mini Blueberry Cheesecakes
- Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake
- Chocolate Covered Dates
Chocolate Overload Cake
Ingredients
Ingredients for Chocolate Bundt Cake:
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped
- ¾ cup natural cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- ¾ cup boiling water
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 5 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup full fat sour cream room temperature
Ingredients for Chocolate Ganache:
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Mix 2 tbsp softened butter and 1 tbsp cocoa powder and brush the inside of a bundt pan with a pastry brush. Set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, and ¼ tsp salt. Whisk and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, add 6 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate, ¾ cup natural cocoa powder, and 1 tsp instant espresso powder. Pour over ¾ cup boiling water, whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Then set aside to cool off.
- In a separate large mixing bowl, add 12 tbsp room temperature unsalted butter and 1 ½ cups granulated sugar. Using a stand or hand mixer, beat everything together on a high speed for 3-5 minutes, or until it’s light and airy.
- Add 5 room temperature eggs (1 egg at a time) and beat well again.
- Add 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 cup room temperature sour cream. Mix well until combined.
- Then add the chocolate mixture and mix until combined.
- Add dry ingredients and fold them in until there are no flour pockets.
- Pour the batter into the pre-greased Bundt pan, transfer to the oven and bake at 350°F for about 45 minutes.
- To make sure it’s properly baked, insert a toothpick in the center, it should come out with moist crumbs but not wet.
- Take the pan out of the oven and let sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Then flip the pan and transfer the cake to a wire rack. Let it cool off completely for about 2 hours.
- Chop 4 ounces chocolate in smaller pieces and transfer to a bowl.
- Heat up ½ cup heavy cream in a saucepan over medium heat until light simmer. Then pour over the chopped chocolate and let sit for 2-3 minutes.
- Whisk very well until all the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth consistency.
- Let it sit on the countertop until it cools off and gets thicker consistency.
- When ready to serve, drizzle over the cake and let it drip on the sides.
Notes
- Greasing bundt pan. While you might usually grease a bundt pan with butter and then dust with all-purpose flour, this technique is not going to work for this recipe. Since this is a chocolate cake, you don’t want it to be covered with white flour. So, instead, we will mix softened butter with cocoa powder and brush it in a thick layer inside of the pan. That will help to create a good protection layer to easily release the baked cake.
- Ingredients. To make sure all the ingredients blend well together and create light cake, they need to be room temperature (especially butter, eggs, and sour cream).
- Instant Espresso Powder. This extra ingredient really makes a difference and helps to elevate chocolate flavors in the dessert.
- Mixing eggs. When you add eggs to the batter, it’s always recommended to add one egg at a time and mix well in between. This will ensure that they are all will mixed well. Also, make sure that the eggs are room temperature.
- Do not overbake! This is probably the most important step. While it usually takes about 45 minutes to bake, the timing might vary on your oven, cake pan, and the cake batter. Start checking it after 40 minutes. To do so, insert a toothpick in the center of the cake, it should come out with some moist crumbs (not raw, but cooked moist crumbs). If the toothpick came out all clean, you probably overbaked the cake.
What a wonderful bundt cake! I love chocolate so I’ll admit to using dark chocolate chips instead of semin sweet and the cake came out fabulous.
Loved this cake! It was super moist and full of chocolate flavor. This will be a staple at our house.
Such chocolatey goodness! Bundt cakes are one of my favorites to bake and this one was easy to make and so moist and delicious. I loved the little bit of coffee flavor from the espresso powder.
You had me at chocolate overload! I am all for a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting! Can’t wait to try out this recipe!
Nothing beats a good old fashioned chocolate cake, this was so good and melted in my mouth.
My hubby is a huge chocolate lover. He saw this recipe on Pinterest and asked me to make it for him. Rich, chocolatey, perfect!
I love a good chocolate bundt cake and this one definitely did not disappoint! Everyone enjoyed it – thanks!
I’ve never made a bundt cake but this turned out perfectly! I loved the chocolate flavour in the cake. Thanks!
Chocolate overload for SURE and we absolutely loved it. It is so rich and delicious, thank you!
I LOVE bundt cakes. They don’t require hours of fancy decorating. This is the perfect cake for parties. It would make a great birthday cake too.