Bundt Cake Rich with Chocolate and Coffee
A Bundt shaped cake always entices. Something about the silhouette with its ridges and curves shouts, “I’m ready for guests”! That said a simple Mocha Chip Bundt Cake like this is just as good with a cup of coffee on any old morning. The instant espresso powder provides a rich coffee flavor while mini chips dot the cake with tiny bites of chocolate.
The glaze is a rich ganache. You could present the cake without it, but the glaze really finishes it off beautifully.
Note that chips are formulated to hold their shape and do not melt as fluidly as bulk chocolate. I recommend that you buy a separate chocolate for the glaze. Also, the image shows a cake in which I used 1 cup of chips for the batter. While I liked this version best – because I think the glaze provides more than enough chocolate – most tasters wanted the higher proportion of chips listed below in the recipe. It’s up to you but if you use the full 1 1/2 cups your cake will have more chips strewn throughout.
- 3 cups sifted cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into pieces
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 ¼ cups sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups miniature semisweet chocolate chips
- 6 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped, such as Ghirardelli semisweet or 60% bittersweet or Callebaut semisweet
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso
- For the Cake: Position rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 325°. Coat a 10 to 12-cup Bundt cake pan with baking spray (flour and oil).
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt to aerate and combine; set aside.
- Beat the butter with flat paddle in stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Add the sugar gradually and continue to beat on medium-high speed until lightened. Dissolve the espresso powder in the vanilla in a small bowl and then beat into creamed butter and sugar mixture. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the bowl once or twice.
- Add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream in about 3 batches, pulsing the machine on and off and beating gently, stopping when there are still a few streaks of flour remaining. Remove bowl from stand mixer, add chocolate chips and fold in (the residual flour will become incorporated as well). Batter will be thick
- Spread evenly in prepared pan, smoothing top with small offset spatula. Bake for about 45 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick shows a few crumbs clinging. Cool pan on rack for about 20 minutes or until pan is just warm to the touch. Unmold cake onto rack and cool completely.
- For the Glaze: Place chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Place cream and espresso powder in a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Bring to a boil, then pour over the chocolate and allow to sit for about 5 minutes. The heat of the cream will melt the chocolate. Whisk until smooth, then pour over the cake and allow to drip down sides.
- Cake is ready to serve or store at room temperature under a cake dome for up to 3 days. Cover the cut ends of the Bundt with plastic wrap to keep them fresh.
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