Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cake

This chocolate fudge brownie cake is moist, dense, and exploding with rich chocolate flavor. Baked up in a bundt pan and topped with a deliciously sweet chocolate glaze for a brownie bundt cake that gets rave reviews!

This is hands down the best chocolate fudge brownie bundt cake you'll ever make.

It's perfect with or without chocolate chips, and you can make it in full or mini sizes. This is a chocolate lovers dream brownie cake!

To make the best chocolate brownie cake, you'll make both a fudgy, dense chocolate cake and a shiny chocolate glaze. The glaze is what makes this cake really pop!

What is a Bundt Cake?

A bundt cake is any cake that's made in a bundt pan, a round, fluted cake pan. It’s more about the shape of the pan and doesn’t really have anything to do with the ingredients used to make it.

Bundt pans are used for baking cakes with dense batters like this chocolate fudge brownie bundt cake but also for pound cakes or coffee cakes. The fluted shape of the pan and the hole in the center allow for a combination of even heat distribution and air flow thanks to the hole in the center of the pan. 

Bundt cakes are all about baking evenly to create cakes that look beautiful are cooked to perfection!

Brownies in a Bundt Pan?

You bet you can and you've done it with this amazing chocolate fudge brownie cake recipe. This cake is really just a modified brownie batter, so you're baking it like a cake, but what you're tasting is a rich brownie.

This was inspired by my chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting on this site, and pairs well with this amazing milkshake recipe.

I wanted to make it more chocolaty, though, so I toyed with the batter recipe and turned it into what amounts to a brownie. So I ended up with a fusion of fudge, brownies, and cake!

Why You Will Love Chocolate Fudge Brownie Cake

• It's a delicious, rich, chocolaty cake that's perfect for any occasion.
• It's the perfect combination of cake and brownie, with a moist crumb and the perfect amount of density.
• It's topped with a rich, chocolate fudge glaze.

Ingredients

This chocolate fudge brownie cake recipe might look fancy, but it's very easy and it only uses simple ingredients that you can easily find at your local grocery store.

Let's take a look at the main ingredients for a brownie cake. For the full list of ingredients along with amounts, see the recipe card at the end of the post.

• Chocolate: The brownie cake portion of the recipe is made with dark cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate. The combination is what gives it plenty of rich chocolate flavor.
• Nuts: Totally optional but pecans or walnuts give the brownie fudge bundt cake some texture and crunch.
• Sugar: We will be using a combination of granulated sugar, brown sugar and powdered sugar for the brownies.
• Butter: Baking with unsalted butter is best when making a chocolate brownie bundt cake.
• Heavy cream: Used to make the rich chocolate glaze to drizzle over the top of brownie cake. You can also use whipping cream.
• Light corn syrup: Lightly sweetens the chocolate glaze and makes it extra shiny.
• Bittersweet chocolate: For rich, not overly sweet chocolate flavor.
• Vanilla extract: Just a touch for additional flavor. It's used in the glaze and bundt cake.

How to Make a Brownie Cake

Making this recipe is very simple. It's so easy that even beginners can make it, in fact.

We'll be covering the major points of the recipe below. For the full recipe, see the instructions in the recipe card at the end of the post.

Step 1: Baking the Chocolate Brownie Cake

1. Pour boiling water over the chocolate and whisk until smooth. Then, let it cool.

2. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
3. Combine the butter and sugar and then beat until creamy.

4. Combine the eggs and vanilla in a bowl.
5. Beat them into the other wet ingredients.

6. Add the chocolate mixture and mix until combined.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
8. Bake until the edges of the cake begin to pull away from the pan. Cool the brownies in the pan.

Step 2: Making the Best Chocolate Glaze

When the cake is ready, make the glaze to drizzle over it.

1. Combine all glaze ingredients except the vanilla in a small saucepan.
2. Heat over medium heat and stir constantly until smooth. Then, stir in the vanilla and set aside until it's slightly thickened.
3. Place the bundt cake on a wire rack over a baking sheet and pour the chocolate glaze over the entire cake. Let it set for 10 minutes and enjoy!

TOP TIP: Glaze the cake while it's set on a wire rack over a baking tray. This allows any excess glaze to drip off and the baking pan catches up for easy cleanup!

Substitutions and Variations

• Bundt Pan Substitutions: If you don't have a bundt pan, place an empty can in the center of a round cake pan. Weight it down with pie weights or beans and pour the batter around it.
• Baking Chips: Try adding chocolate chips or chopped chocolate to the batter. You can also use different flavored chips such as butterscotch, caramel, white chocolate, peanut butter, or toffee chips.
• Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes: Try using mini bundt pans to create mini bundt cakes. Keep an eye on the cakes and bake them for a bit less time.
• Add a Cream Cheese Swirl: Add a cream cheese swirl inside cake by following my directions in this other chocolate bundt cake with a cream cheese swirl.

If you love brownie dessert recipes, you may also enjoy this chocolate peanut butter trifle with brownies, Brown Butter Brownies or salted caramel cheesecake with brownie bottom.

How to Store a Bundt Cake

• Room Temperature: You can store this cake at room temperature for up to 2 days.
• Refrigerator: Store the cake in an air-tight container for up to a week in the refrigerator.
• Freezer: Place the cake in the freezer uncovered until hard. Then, wrap it tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil and store for up to 3 months.
• Make Ahead: This cake stores well, so you can make it the day before if you'd like or don't have the time to make it fresh. That being said, this cake always tastes the best right after it's baked and glazed.
• Chocolate Glaze: Store it at room temperature for up to two days or you can refrigerate it immediately. You can also freeze it for up to a month for longer storage.

How to Transport a Brownie Bundt Cake

Always let your cake cool completely before moving it further than from the counter to the table. Cool cake is firmer and slides less than warm cake. A cake carrier or cake box is ideal.

A cool environment is best for transporting cake, so if you're going on a long ride, place ice packs around the base of the cake box to keep the cake nice and cool. Chilling your cake before moving it for a long trip is also recommended.

How to Serve

• Hot Cocoa: Perfect if it’s cold outside. You can make Regular Hot Hot Chocolate, Peppermint Hot Chocolate or Mexican Hot Chocolate.
• A Selection of Halloween Recipes. There's so many to choose from.
• Milkshake: I love them with a salted caramel milkshake.
• Special Occasions: Serve up a brownie cake for a birthday party or any special event or occasion.
• Add a scoop of ice cream: It can be vanilla or any flavor you like!

Expert Tips

• Use an oil spray or apply melted shortening with a brush to the interior of the bundt pan to coat every surface, then coat with cocoa powder and shake to remove any excess. This allows you to remove the cake easily.
• Never use butter to coat the pan as the milk solids in butter can actually promote sticking.
• The cake is done when the edges begin to pull away from the pan.
• To help the cake come out cleanly, run a butter knife or rubber spatula around the sides and the center of the bundt pan. Then, after flipping it over, give it a few firm taps.

FAQ

More Bundt Cake Recipes

Ready to get cooking? Remember that you can print this recipe if you would like.

This post was originally published in November 2020. It has been updated with new content and images.