This irresistible Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake delivers rich flavor and incredible moistness. With simple ingredients and expert tips, this foolproof recipe creates the perfect velvety chocolate bundt cake that melts in your mouth!
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I love that bundt cakes are easy to make and they taste delicious. They make a perfect dessert for any occasion. I have served this cake for birthdays, holidays and even for a dessert on Sunday. There is really no wrong time to serve a chocolate dessert in my opinion.
If you are new to baking bundt cakes, it is imperative that you coat the inside of the pan with a non-stick cooking spray. There are few things worse than tearing a beautiful bundt cake because it got stuck to the pan.
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Why You’ll Love This Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake Recipe
- Incredibly Moist Texture: The combination of butter and sour cream creates a cake that stays deliciously moist for days after baking.
- Rich Chocolate Flavor: This recipe balances cocoa powder in the cake with a decadent chocolate glaze for a double dose of chocolate goodness.
- Simple Ingredients: You likely have most of these pantry staples on hand already, making this an easy go-to dessert.
- Impressive Presentation: The bundt shape creates a stunning cake that looks professional with minimal effort, especially once drizzled with the glossy chocolate glaze.
🎂 Perfect for everything from casual family dinners to elegant dinner parties, this cake can be dressed up or down for any occasion!
Recipe Ingredients
- Butter
- Cocoa Powder
- Salt
- All-Purpose Flour
- Sugar
- Baking Soda
- Vanilla Extract
- Sour Cream
- Eggs
- Heavy Cream
See the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How To Make Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Step 1: Preheat the oven and grease and flour a Bundt pan. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, and water and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Step 2: Combine the flour, sugar, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Add half of the melted butter-chocolate mixture and mix until blended; it will be very thick. Mix in the remaining butter mixture. Add the eggs. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla until smooth.
Step 3: Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before making the glaze.
Step 4: Put the chopped chocolate and corn syrup in a medium bowl and set aside. Combine the heavy cream and sugar in a small saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the cream is hot and steaming and the sugar is dissolved. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. If it’s very runny, let it sit for a minute or so to thicken. Drizzle over the cake.
Recipe FAQs
Bundt cakes do really well in the freezer. I usually bake the bundt cake, let it cool and then store it in an airtight container up to 3 months in the freezer. When I am ready to eat the bundt cake, I simple thaw on the counter and then add the frosting.
Yes! This cake actually develops even better flavor after a day. You can bake it up to 2 days in advance and store it in an airtight container at room temperature. Add the glaze just before serving for the freshest appearance.
Absolutely! Full-fat Greek yogurt makes an excellent 1:1 substitute for sour cream in this recipe. You’ll still get that wonderful moisture and tender crumb that makes this cake special.
After you have removed the cake from the oven, let it cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan. If you remove the bundt cake while it is too hot you run the risk of tearing the cake; if you wait too long, then it’s likely to stick.
Expert Tips
- Room Temperature Ingredients: Make sure your eggs and sour cream are at room temperature before mixing. This creates a smoother batter that bakes more evenly.
- Don’t Overmix: Once you add the flour, mix just until combined. Overmixing can develop the gluten in the flour, resulting in a tougher cake texture.
- Cooling Time Matters: The 15-minute cooling time in the pan is crucial—it allows the cake to set enough to release cleanly, but not so long that it starts to stick again.
- Glaze Consistency: For the perfect dripping effect, let the glaze cool slightly but remain pourable. If it gets too thick, warm it gently or add a touch more cream. If it’s too thin, let it cool longer before drizzling.
More Amazing Cake Recipes to Consider
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Chocolate Sour Cream Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- ¼ cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
- 2 large egg
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Glaze
- 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped (I used half milk half semi-sweet chocolate)
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup or honey or agave
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat to 350º F. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with baking spray with flour and set aside. (You can also use butter and flour, but I've had better luck with bundt pans well coated with baking spray with flour.)
- In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, salt, and water and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, just until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- Combined the flour, sugar, and baking soda in a mixing bowl. Add half of the melted butter/chocolate mixture and mix until blended (it will be very thick). Mix in the remaining butter mixture. Add the eggs. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla until smooth.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then invert onto a rack. Let cool completely before making the glaze.
For the Glaze:
- Put the chopped chocolate and corn syrup in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Combine the heavy cream and sugar in a small saucepan, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the cream is hot and steaming and the sugar is dissolved.
- Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. If it’s very runny, let it sit for a minute or so to thicken. Drizzle over the cake.
Notes
- If the glaze is too thick to drizzle, you can add cream, a tablespoon at a time and stir to combine until it’s a workable consistency.
- Keep this cake covered at room temperature rather than refrigerating. The refrigerator can dry out the cake, while proper room temperature storage maintains its moisture for up to 5 days.
- For an even more intense chocolate flavor, add 1-2 teaspoons of espresso powder or instant coffee to the cocoa mixture. Coffee enhances chocolate flavor without adding coffee taste. You could also fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips to the batter before baking.
- This cake freezes beautifully. Cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature and add the glaze fresh after thawing.
Sue
Both of these bundts are stunners! I’d love to try the one with the p. butter filling:)
Kimberly
I love any food that has chocolate on it. I do love chocolate very much. Thank you for sharing this mouth watering dessert. I want to try this recipe this coming weekend.
Tracey
Both of your bundts sound (and look!) amazing Barbara! I love making bundts in my 6-cup bundt pan, they’re so much more manageable in size.
Eliana
I love bundts because they are so easy and no-fuss. This one here looks like the perfect one when you want to indulge in some chocolatey goodness.
Barbara
I’m still back on those lemon donuts! 🙂 YUM!
And this is a very chocolaty bundt cake, Barbara. Love that fudge poured all over it. Sour cream makes for such a tender crumb, tool
Lorraine Not Quite Nigella
Mum, I started drooling as soon as I saw the drizzle! Chocolate sour cream is one of my favorite combos- like mum like daughter! 😉
Tracy
Both of these sound lovely! And I’m totally drooling over that shiny glaze, too. Yum!
Cookin' Canuck
What a lucky family you have, Barbara! Both of the cakes sounds wonderful, but I can’t stop looking at the one with the peanut butter tucked inside. Yum!
Lisa
OMG..how could I have missed that tunnel of peanut butter cream cheese heaven in the middle?? I think that punches my ticket OUT of the peanut butter club lol
Lisa
That is the fudgiest looking chocolate bundt I’ve ever seen. Total dessert porn. I love the idea of the half-size bundt pan because although mini-bundts are cute and full size bundts are what I’m used to – half-size seems (in the words of Little Red Riding Hood’ “Just Right” 😉 Perfect for 2 to 4 people (probably two in my case).
Ilke
Do they know how lucky they are? Always wish for rich chocolate homemade cake for my birthday! Looks awesome!
Iris
Those just look absolutely beautiful! Happy birthday to your husband and son!
gloria
barbara this cake look amazing!!! love it!
Elizabeth
I love sour cream and cream cheese cakes!
Jenn and Seth (@HomeSkilletCook)
ohh wow, just found your blog through foodblogs…you have so many delicious things on here! I will definitely be trying this bundt cake sometime 🙂
Megan
I love the idea of a half size Bundt pan. With my small family, it would be perfect. And the cake looks killer! I’m going to go check out the pans. Did you get yours at KA?
Barbara
Nope – I ordered them from Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Nordic-Ware-Pro-Form-Bundt/dp/B000BRGMUO/ref=sr_1_2?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1327242691&sr=1-2. It would be perfect for your little family. You should order two. You could eat one, freeze one or give one away to friends.
Maria
I still need to make this cake! Looks so good!
Kitchen Belleicious
i love the picture that shows the beautiful inside of the cake! this is so delicious and your men are very lucky
Linda V @ Bubble and Sweet
Oh which to choose….I’d have to have a slice of each just like the rest of your family cause they both sound too delicious.
JG
The men in your family must have enjoyed their b’day cakes! The cakes look so good.
~Judy