This post may contain affiliate links. See our disclosure policy.
This Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe is rich, moist, and delicious! Our recipe tastes just like the cake you can get at the popular Nothing Bundt Cakes shop, but at a fraction of the price.
Featured with this recipe
- A Nothing Bundt Cake Chocolate Chocolate Chip Recipe
- Ingredients in Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Secret to a Moist Cake
- Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Nothing Bundt Cake Copycat Recipes
- More Chocolate Cake Recipes
- How to Make Chocolate Bundt Cake
- Chocolate Bundt Cake (Nothing Bundt Cake Copycat Recipe) Recipe
This Chocolate Bundt Cake is rich, moist, easy to bake and fun to serve! Perfect for any birthday party, anniversary gathering, backyard picnic or Sunday dinner. Take some help from the store with a boxed cake mix and add a few simple ingredients to make it taste especially homemade and delicious. Top with our luscious cream cheese frosting for a show stopping centerpiece that everyone will love.
A Nothing Bundt Cake Chocolate Chocolate Chip Recipe
There are few things I love more than a Nothing Bundt Cake. If you have one nearby, you know what I’m taking about. They are dense and moist and delicious, but they are also a little pricey. You can make this bundt cake for much less than the cost of one at the store. And I guarantee you have most of these ingredients already in your fridge and pantry.
This chocolate bundt cake recipe tastes just like the real thing – plus you can steal a taste of the cake batter and eat as much frosting as you want. I won’t tell!
Ingredients in Chocolate Bundt Cake
Save tons of money by making this copycat recipe yourself. Here’s all you need for a perfectly rich and delicious chocolate bundt cake:
- Devil’s Food cake mix – one box of your favorite brand. Make sure to use the devil’s food cake mix instead of regular chocolate cake mix.
- Chocolate pudding mix – one 3.4 ounce box INSTANT pudding mix.
- Sour cream – one cup of regular sour cream. You can also use plain greek yogurt if you like.
- Eggs – four large whole eggs
- Water – about half a cup
- Vegetable oil – half cup
- Mini chocolate chips – one and a half cups. Add more as a garnish on top of the frosting too!
For the Cream Cheese Frosting:
- Cream cheese – two packages of 8-ounce cream cheese, softened to room temperature.
- Butter – one cube, or half a cup, also softened. Remove the butter and cream cheese from the refrigerator abut a half hour before making the icing.
- Powdered sugar – 3 to 4 cups, depending on how thick you like your frosting.
- Vanilla extract – a couple of teaspoons of pure vanilla extract add such a rich flavor to the cream cheese frosting.
Secret to a Moist Cake
I have tried my hand at several bundt cakes and this truly is the best chocolate bundt cake recipe. What separates this cake from others that I’ve tried is how moist it is. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a cake as moist as this one.
The secret is adding instant pudding mix and sour cream to the mixture. And because you start with a devils food cake mix, it’s such an easy recipe to make. No worrying about the right amount of cocoa powder, baking soda, salt or all purpose flour. All of that is taken care of in the dry ingredients of the cake mix. All you have to do is whisk in the sour cream, water and oil in a large mixing bowl and you’re all set!
Don’t forget the chocolate chips, which adds an extra level of richness and chocolate flavor to the finished product. You could use milk chocolate or semi-sweet, whatever you have on hand.
Perfect Cream Cheese Frosting
You could top this chocolate cake with a simple glaze or a layer of ganache glaze, but if you want a true copycat recipe, you must try this rich cream cheese frosting. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to frost this cake like a pro! All you need is a Ziplock bag and some scissors. Put the frosting into the bag, cut a tiny hole in the bottom corner and get busy! Watch the video in the recipe card to see how it works.
Frequently Asked Questions
The way the pan is designed, round with a hole in the middle, the cakes come out very thick and moist. Unlike other cake pans, which allow for more expansion during the baking process, this pan keeps the batter from expanding, resulting in a moist, thick cake.
Yes! For best results, use baking spray or use a pastry brush to brush vegetable oil all over the inside of the bundt pan. That way the cake comes out in tact. Use a toothpick to check to see if it comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack until ready to frost.
Use a toothpick to check to see if it comes out clean. If it is, you’ll know the cake is done. Once it’s done, remove from the oven and allow it to cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes, but preferably closer to 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack until you’re ready to frost.
READ NEXT: 35+ Valentine’s Day Dessert Ideas
Nothing Bundt Cake Copycat Recipes
More Chocolate Cake Recipes
If you love chocolate cake you are in the right place! Check out some of our favorite cake recipes that make the perfect dessert for any occasion.
How to Make Chocolate Bundt Cake
Chocolate Bundt Cake (Nothing Bundt Cake Copycat Recipe)
Video
Equipment
- Bundt Cake Pan
- Electric Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1 (13.25-ounce) box devil's Food cake mix
- 1 (3.4-ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 large eggs
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup oil
- 1 ½ cups mini chocolate chips
Cream Cheese Frosting
- 16 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a standard Bundt cake pan. Set aside. Mix together cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, water, and oil. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes.
- Remove from oven. Let cool for 20 minutes.
- Remove the cake from the Bundt pan by placing a plate upside down over the Bundt pan. While holding the plate firmly on top, flip both over so the cake comes out onto the plate. Cover the cake with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight before frosting.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Start with 2 cups, then keep adding more until it is nice and thick.
- Spoon the frosting into a resealable zip-top gallon bag. Clip one bottom corner of the bag.
- Squeeze frosting out of the bag onto the cake in strips, as pictured.
Notes
- Place frosting in a Ziplock bag.
- Cut a tiny hole in the bottom corner of the bag.
- Frost cake in strips over the entire bundt cake.
Have you tried making bundtlets with this recipe? If so, what would the cook time be?
I haven’t made bundtlet with this recipe, but I think it’s a great idea. I just need to get a bundtlet pan. I would suggest 10-15 minutes. You can use the toothpick test to tell when they are done. Be careful not to overcook. Please let us know how they turn out!
Can’t wait to try this one! Can you tell me what size of pudding?
Appx. 5 oz. (usually 5.1 oz.) Hope this helps!
Thank you! The small pudding is 3.9 and the large is 5.9. I will try the large one. I’m making it this week.
I want to make a lemon raspberry one. How would you make it to be as close to Nothing Bundt Cakes?
Hi. I love love your recipes. Used to make it all the time. Then husband found out he had cealtic. Gasp. What was I to do. I found Betty Crocker gluten free cake mix in place of regular cake mix Everything else is gluten free. To quote my husband “this is too good to be gluten free”. The only other thing I had to do was grease my pan with crisco and coco powder or my cake wouldn’t come out.
Now if they made gluten free lemon cake we would try the lemon cake. I did a marble cake. Using your recipe. Just switched out yellow cake and vanilla frosting. For the yellow part of the marble. Excited to try the flour free cake and the 4 ingredient cake as well.
Thanks. Keep the recipes coming.
super
http://www.pearlaccountants.org/
Thanks so much!
I made one for friends and everyone loved it! I plan to try other flavors. My only problem was that the cake caved in the middle. This has happened both times I made one. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks for the recipes!
I’m not sure… what kind of bundt pan are you using (ceramic? non-stick? etc..)?
I tried this recipe today! It was sooo good! I can’t wait to try the others.
So glad you liked it! 😀
Probé los pasteles de Nothing Bundt Cake y estan riquisimos, un poco caros, por eso quede maravillada con esta receta!!! La haré muy pronto! Amo su página de recetas
Gracias
Translation: I tried the Nothing Bundt Cake cakes and they are delicious, a little expensive, so I marvel at this recipe !!! I will do it very soon! I love your recipe page
Thank you
Reply: Thank you Mildred! I hope you enjoy the cake!
My version came out pretty dense. It was delicious and we hadn’t tried Nothing Bundt Cake yet. We had the chance to try some after and their cake was moist and fluffy. Did I do something wrong in the process that mine became so dense?
Hi Brianna, if you want a lighter, fluffier cake, here are a couple of tips for you. First, sift the cake mix two or three times. This will make the dry ingredients finer and eliminate the salt chunks that are often in cake mixes. Second, separate the eggs. Add the yolks when mixing the ingredients. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they are white and fluffy. Fold the whipped egg mix into the cake batter and then add the chocolate chips. It’s a few more steps, but it will make the cake lighter.
I made this before we even tried a Nothing Bundt Cake. We loved it. Then we tried the NBC version, only thought was mine was a lot more dense. Any thoughts? The real one sort of melted in your mouth but this was dense. Still loved it though.
Is there any substitute for sour cream?
Yes, you can use Greek yogurt! Hope this helps!
Hi there!!! This is probably a silly question, but what type of flower did you use as garnish/decoration? Is it artificial? Or real? Thank you!
Hi Roxy– the one in the picture is a fake flower. haha I even think there are some feathers in there with it! The cake we made in the video, however, we used real roses and I think that way is much more beautiful. We need to re-take a picture with roses instead!
I love the fake flower!
Hi there!! This may sound like a silly question, but what kind of flower did you use as the garnish/decoration? Is it real? Or fake? Making this for a friends birthday, and the flower gives it that extra touch.
I am looking for a lemon cake anything bundt.
I saw it somewhere but can ‘t remember where. Know it had a lemon cake mix bur what else
We gotcha covered: https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/our-version-of-nothing-bundt-cakes-lemon-cake/
I just had this cake yesterday and noticed there seems to be a very light caramel sauce under the frosting and maybe a touch of raspberry. Have you tried one from the store recently?
We haven’t but that sounds delicious! A chocolate Raspberry one is SUCH a good idea!
Are you sure it was the chocolate cake and not the turtle cake? The turtle cake comes with a layer of caramel on it.
I own a Nothing Bundt Cakes store and while I’m sure your cake tastes great that is not our recipe.
That is why it’s a copy cat recipe and not the recipe. Care to share any secret ingredients? 🙂
I see this recipe was posted from a while back. I would definitely love to try it for a friend’s birthday, but what size cake mix or how many ounces did you use? I know the cake mix boxes used to be 18.25 ounces, but have since switched to 15.25 or 16.25. Thank you so much for your help and cannot wait to hear back from you and try this delicious recipe! P.S. A carrot cake one would be awesome for Easter! 🙂
Thank you, Dawn! I’ve used the 15.25 ounce box in this recipe because that is what is available in my local grocery stores. A carrot cake is a great idea! Stay tuned…
Do you have a red velvet bundt cake recipe? I would love to see it if you do.Email is angelawitulski@aim.com .
THANK YOU
We don’t, but that is a great idea. We will work on it!
I have been making this cake for most of my married years (47) and it is without a doubt everyone’s favorite and so easy to make. I got the recipe from my mother. I have baked and served it, and frozen it and used at a later date. I never ice my cake, but sprinkled it with powdered sugar. My daughter uses icing. It’s great no matter what the occasion. Definitely try it. You won’t be sorry.
You can make it as a sheet cake also.
Thank you, Elaine! I’ve never used this recipe for a sheet cake. Good to know!
okay im making this AS WE SPEAK! I hope you get this message today and not like I. 3 months because this post seems to be from 2013! do I HAVE to refrigerate it overnight?! I want it like now! no but seriously, dinner is almost served and I only want to wait as little as possible after it’s done to eat it! are you only refrigerating it for the coldness? thanks so much! My husband is drooling!
You can absolutely serve it before you refrigerate it. Hopefully you didn’t keep your husband waiting! 🙂
We have just found that the cake stays more moist when wrapped and put in the fridge, and it is more similar to a Nothing Bundt Cake when served cold. Thanks for asking!
This cake looks divine!!! But, I’m a little confused. The video looks as though you added 1/2 stick of butter, and the recipe says to add 1/2 cup (which as you know is one whole stick). Did I miss something?
The frosting calls for 1/2 cup of butter, not 1/2 stick. Thanks for asking!
Should you keep this cake in the refrigerated after you frost it?
Yes!
Love this cake! We’ve been making for 30+ years now and it’s always a favorite, but we top it with powdered sugar. I’ll have to give the “icing” a try!
The cream cheese frosting is incredible. Definitely more calories, but worth it! 🙂