Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake is a dream dessert for coffee and chocolate lovers. A rich chocolate cake batter is swirled with coffee and baked until fluffy. Pour a dreamy espresso cream cheese frosting on top and watch it cascade down the sides. Talk about decadence! Slide your fork into a piece and enjoy this indulgent cake.
This bundt cake is a KJ & Company fan favorite. For a cake recipe, it’s surprisingly hassle-free! The chocolatey batter comes together in one bowl. Plus, you don’t have to worry about different layers and multiple pans—but the pan design still makes the cake feel elevated.
To me, the ultimate Christmas dessert needs both coffee and chocolate. Growing up, my mom would make her delicious chocolate espresso cheesecake once a year. It’s a Christmas treat in our family, much like this chocolate espresso bundt cake!
Why KJ Loves
Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake
This chocolate espresso bundt cake is a coffee and chocolate lover’s dream come true! A rich, moist chocolate cake is topped with a creamy and dreamy espresso frosting for the ultimate dessert!
Chocolate Espresso Cake Ingredients
Brewed coffee, hot
Choose your favorite blend! Make sure you brew the coffee strong and mix it with the cocoa powder when it’s hot. The hot coffee activates the cocoa powder, giving the cake a deep, intense chocolatey flavor.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder
Will I ever stop raving about Dutch-processed cocoa powder? Probably not. It’s just that good.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder creates a richer, fuller chocolate flavor that stands out from other chocolate products. It is less acidic than regular cocoa powder and produces a darker mellower flavor.
You can usually find Dutch-processed cocoa powder at your local grocery store. They sell some larger bags at Costco, and you can also try ordering it online.
Other Ingredients
You’ll need heavy cream, vegetable oil, eggs, and your baking staples: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and vanilla extract.
Bundt Cake Pro Tips
1
Use a good pan!
Make sure to have a good bundt pan to bake this cake in! An old, battered bundt pan can cause the cake to stick to the pan. (Speaking from experience!)
2
Grease the pan…
Use a generous amount of nonstick spray or melted shortening so that releasing the cake from the pan will be a piece of cake 😄But don’t use melted butter, or you may be less successful.
3
…but don’t flour it!
Generally, flouring a pan will actually produce worse results. However, you can use granulated sugar or toasted almond flour in the pan if you want to be super thorough.
Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients
Instant espresso powder
This secret ingredient takes the frosting to the next level. Do not use instant coffee granules. They’ll taste different and be crunchy (ew, not the result we’re going for). But the instant espresso powder is the perfect complement to the rich chocolatey cake base.
Heavy cream
This ingredient makes the frosting silky smooth and pourable.
Cream cheese
Powdered sugar
Vanilla extract
Frosting Pro Tips
1
Soften the cream cheese.
Make sure you bring the cream cheese to room temperature, for a smooth frosting.
2
Stir the cream in.
To make the frosting pourable, we don’t want to whip the heavy cream. It will turn into whipped cream, making the frosting fluffy and difficult to pour over a cake. For best results, stir the heavy cream in with a spoon.
3
Use a gravy boat.
I like to transfer my frosting to a gravy boat for easy pouring!
Serving Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake
I recommend frosting the cake on your serving plate or cake stand. Moving a frosted bundt cake can be a risky undertaking!
If you want to get extra fancy, try garnishing the cake with decorations. You could make chocolate curls or even sprinkle crumbled toffee on top.
Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake FAQs:
Can the cake be made in advance?
Yes! Bake the cake and cool it according to the instructions. Then wrap the cake in plastic wrap and store it in a cool, dry place. Unwrap the cake and frost it the day of serving. I do not recommend making the frosting in advance since we want to be able to pour the frosting over the cake.
How do you keep a bundt cake from sticking to the pan?
Keep your bundt cake from sticking by using a nice, non-stick pan. You’ll want to grease the pan with a non-stick spray or melted shortening. (Don’t use butter or flour in the pan. Both of those ingredients may cause the cake to stick.) Here are some more tips to prevent your bundt cake from sticking.
Should you grease and flour a bundt pan?
You’ll want to grease the pan with a generous amount of nonstick spray or melted shortening. Don’t use butter or flour in the bundt pan; otherwise you’ll likely end up with pieces of your cake left in the pan!
What size bundt pan should I use?
Use a standard-size bundt pan for this recipe (roughly a 12-cup size).
What does adding coffee to chocolate cake do?
Adding coffee to the chocolate cake intensifies and enhances the chocolate flavor. Even if you don’t love coffee, you may be surprised at how delicious the coffee tastes in the cake.
Do I need to refrigerate the chocolate espresso bundt cake?
Yes. After the cake is frosted, you will want to refrigerate it, as the frosting uses heavy cream and cream cheese.
Recipe Video:
Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake
(218 votes, average: 3.71 out of 5)
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- Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake is a dream dessert for coffee and chocolate lovers. A rich chocolate cake batter is swirled with coffee and baked until fluffy. Pour a dreamy espresso cream cheese frosting on top and watch it cascade down the sides. Talk about decadence! Slide your fork into a piece and enjoy this indulgent cake.
This bundt cake is a KJ & Company fan favorite. For a cake recipe, it’s surprisingly hassle-free! The chocolatey batter comes together in one bowl. Plus, you don’t have to worry about different layers and multiple pans—but the pan design still makes the cake feel elevated.
To me, the ultimate Christmas dessert needs both coffee and chocolate. Growing up, my mom would make her delicious chocolate espresso cheesecake once a year. It’s a Christmas treat in our family, much like this chocolate espresso bundt cake!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup brewed coffee, hot
- 3/4 cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
For the frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- Up to 1/2 cup heavy cream
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the coffee and cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside to cool. In a large bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, vegetable oil and eggs until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla extract and the coffee and cocoa mixture until combined.
- Add the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in with the wet ingredients. Whisk until smooth and there are no clumps. Pour the cake batter into a very well greased bundt cake pan. Bake for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool for a couple minutes in the pan before turning it out onto a cooling rack to cool completely. If you allow the cake to sit too long in the bundt cake pan, it can cause it to stick to the pan when you try to turn it out.
For the frosting:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until light and fluffy, about a couple minutes. Reduce the speed to low and mix in one cup of powdered sugar at a time until a smooth frosting forms. Mix in the vanilla and instant espresso powder.
- Use a rubber spatula to slowly fold small amounts of the heavy cream into the prepared frosting to make it a pourable consistency.
- Pour the frosting over the top of the cooled bundt cake and allow it to cascade down the sides. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you can’t find Dutch processed cocoa powder (I love to use Ghiradelli), you can use regular cocoa powder.
- If you are wanting to make the cake in advance, make the cake as directed above, cool completely, wrap with plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator. Make the frosting and pour over when ready to serve.
- You want the frosting to be a pourable consistency. If it thickens back up, simply stir in a little bit more heavy cream until pourable.
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 779
- Sugar: 79.9g
- Sodium: 564mg
- Fat: 37.1g
- Fiber: 3.3g
- Protein: 8.9g
- Cholesterol: 113mg
Keywords: Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake
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Hi, I’m KJ!
Here you’ll find simple, delicious recipes for the home cook. I strive to make wholesome meals with easy-to-find ingredients that you feel comfortable making in your own kitchen—but I won’t shy away from a few indulgences! (I see you: butter, bacon, cookies!)
If you haven’t made this yet, do yourself a favor and make it already! The cake is so moist, with just the right amount of coffee flavor, and the icing is absolutely to die for 😋 This is the best cake recipe I’ve found in a long time! Thanks 😊
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Clarissa! Thank you so much!
Can this cake be made in a round cake pan instead of a bunt pan?
Please respond ASAP because I’m making it for Thanksgiving
Hi Karen, if you are making it in a normal 9-inch round cake pan, you will need 2 cake pans for this recipe. Or, it will also bake in a 9×13 pan to create a sheet cake. Thanks!
Is this also the case with loaf pans? Can I make two of those instead of using a bundt pan?
Hi there! This recipe works in 2 standard round cake pans if that is preferred over a bundt pan. I have not tested it in a loaf pan.
I am not sure what size my bundt pan is but my cake looks a little deeper than the photo and took an hour in the oven. After reading the comments from ither posters, I added heavy cream gradually and definitely did not need a cup. A cup could have turned it into a glaze I am sure. My icing was very warm by the time I was ready to pour so just a splash of cream made it pourable! Delicious cake!
Me too!!
I’ve given it to all my friends and neighbours and they’re raving about it..
I bake for a cafe and it’s def going on the counter!!!
This looks so good! I bet the ratings for coffee & chocolate are perfect!
Thanks, Suzanne! You can never go wrong with coffee and chocolate!
Thanks for sharing! How far ahead of time can I make it?
Hi Vanessa! The cake can be made a day or two in advance and carefully wrapped in plastic wrapped once it’s been removed from the pan and completely cooled. I would make the frosting directly prior to frosting and serving.
Really really good! The espresso frosting is delish!
Is the heavy cream supposed to be whipped first, then folded in to the other frosting ingredients? Mine was the consistency of a glaze, not as fluffy as your picture. But delicious nonetheless!
I had a similar result with the frosting. It came out as a glaze. Thoughts?
Hi Jessica – I’m so sorry that your frosting consistency did not turn out as desired! After going back and re-testing the recipe, we found that there was a typo in the heavy cream. It should be up to 1/2 cup of heavy cream until desired consistency, not 1 cup. Thank you for your feedback!
Hi Michele – I’m so sorry that your frosting consistency did not turn out as desired! After going back and re-testing the recipe, we found that there was a typo in the heavy cream. It should be up to 1/2 cup of heavy cream until desired consistency, not 1 cup. Thank you for your feedback!
What size pan did you use!? It looks so good!!
Thanks, Maria! I used a standard-size bundt pan for this recipe. Roughly a 12-cup size bundt pan.
Oh. My. Goodness. That was moist with just the right amount of coffee flavor. Will be making this again. Thank you!
Hi! And Merry Christmas! I just came across this recipe and it looks and sounds delicious! One thing though, I don’t like cream cheese, so can you please recommend another frosting recipe that’ll go well with this cake?
Merry Christmas, Gina! Unfortunately, I have not tested the frosting recipe without the cream cheese in it. This frosting recipe is a little different since it’s made to be more pourable. If you have a favorite frosting recipe that would work with the chocolate cake, you could smear that across the top instead.
Tried this cake as per instructions and it was FABULOUS!! Perfect combination of chocolate and coffee and wasn’t overly sweet. Will definitely be making this again. Was a big hit with the whole family.
This cake was SO DELICIOUS! It was moist and the coffee in the cake and frosting is amazing. I made it for a family birthday and everyone loved it. I can’t wait to make this again!
Can you make this recipe using mini bundt pans? Also would the bake time be the same?
I made the cake, it was delicious, doesn’t need frosting it is so moist! But, I followed the frosting directions to a tee but only used 1/2 cup heavy cream and it was very runny. I added another cup of powdered sugar to get it to a consistency where it wouldn’t run off the cake. I thought maybe I should have whipped the heavy cream before adding but per comments it shouldn’t be whipped. How does it look so decadent in the pics? What could I have done wrong?
I love baking cakes and was surprised to read the quantity of whipped cream in the icing portion of this recipe. Since KJ hasn’t commented on any of the previous comments/concerns, I’ll add my input – and that is that I would try 2-4 Tablespoons of heavy cream and add more ONLY if needed. I believe it was a typo in her post.
Hi Nicole – thank you for your feedback! After going back and re-testing the recipe, we found that there was a typo in the heavy cream. It should be up to 1/2 cup of heavy cream until desired consistency, not 1 cup. Thanks again!
Hi Carole – I’m so sorry that your frosting consistency did not turn out as desired! After going back and re-testing the recipe, we found that there was a typo in the heavy cream. It should be up to 1/2 cup of heavy cream until desired consistency, not 1 cup. Thank you for your feedback!