Killer Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake
Just in time for your weekend plans, the most decadent, intensely chocolatey, take-a-sliver-every-time-you-pass-it chocolate cake. Moist and rich, the secret ingredient is (wait for it) … yogurt! That’s what makes this cake so moist and yummy. I dare you not to love it at first bite.
Hot Wheels, Anyone?
Let me tell you about this cake. It goes back to my two super-fun years at Mattel Toys, 6th Floor, Hot Wheels Package Engineering, Hawthorne, Calif. My supervisor and I had become fast friends. Mel was the best.
Together, we’d mastered the all-new Friden 5610 Computyper, now proudly displayed in the National Museum of American History (I know, right?!). This new technology was challenging for sure, but we had so much fun learning how to use the thing because Mel had that delightful way of keeping me in stitches with her keen sense of humor.
The Hot Wheels Package Engineering team was small but mighty, bonded together by all the goodies Mel would bring and display proudly in the break room.
That Cake
One day, the most beautiful chocolate Bundt cake showed up. That cake still stands out in my mind like no other chocolate cake on earth. It’s that good. Without a word, Mel slipped this recipe into my desk drawer, freshly typed out on one of our new IBM Selectrics, which had shown up with our new buddy, Friden.
Semi-homemade
I call this cake “semi-homemade” because it starts out with a cake mix—specifically a Duncan Hines Devils Food cake mix, no substitutes ($1.25 today at my supermarket). And that’s what makes it so easy—no tedious steps to cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, gently fold, and so forth, none of that! Just dump, beat well.
I don’t know where Mel got this recipe, but I do know that it’s a keeper. I think you’re about to discover the same. And what better time for a killer chocolate fudge cake than this holiday weekend?
Not-reasonable facsimile
Not that I would do such a thing, but I’ll let you know that you could purchase a similar (smaller, not quite as delicious) chocolate fudge cake from We Take the Cake, and have it delivered in a few days, right to your front door. You could, for a whopping $90. And you’d have an OK cake. But why would you when in less time than it takes to find, figure out, place that order, and wait days for delivery—you can make it cheaper, better, faster!
I just priced the exact cost to make this homemade Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake today, buying the ingredients from my local KingSoopers. Not $90, that’s for sure. Ready? Exactly $7.32.
*Cake Mix Too Small for the Recipe?
It’s been about five years since cake mix manufacturers got the bright idea to shrink the size instead of increase the price. As a result, 18.25 oz cake mixes have gone the way of my Friden Computyper.
Most cake mixes now come in a 15.25-oz. size. And that’s a problem because baking is different from cooking. Baking counts on chemical reactions, exact times, and temperatures. Measurements are critical. So, if a recipe calls for an 18.25-oz. cake mix and you use a 15.25-oz. mix, it’s not going to turn out right. Below, you will discover several options by which you can increase any 15.25-oz. cake mix to a proper 18.25-oz. size.
Chocolate Fudge Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 18.25 oz* Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix
- 4 eggs
- 1 8-oz. container plain yogurt 3/4 cup
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1 3.4 oz. pkg instant vanilla pudding
- 1 6-oz pkg chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
For the Glaze
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup, like Karo
- 1 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar, sifted
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Generously grease and flour Bundt (or angel food) cake pan. Or two round cake pans to make a layered version.
- Place cake mix, eggs, yogurt, oil, water, and pudding mix in a large bowl.
- Beat with an electric beater or by hand with a whisk, for about 5 minutes. The batter will be very thick!
- Stir in chocolate chips and (optional) walnuts
- Pour batter into a generously greased Bundt or angel food pan. 350° F oven for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Don't over bake!
- Take from oven and cool for about 10 minutes before turning onto a plate.
For the Glaze:
- In a small saucepan over low heat, heat cocoa, water, oil, and Karo syrup, stirring until completely mixed.
- Remove from heat and stir in powdered sugar.
- Drizzle glaze over warm cake. Top with nuts, if desired.
- Enjoy!
Notes
If Your Cake Mix is Too Small
These instructions are for this specific cake that calls for a regular 18.25 oz. cake mix. Cake mixes in any brand are becoming increasingly difficult to find in that size. It seems that 15.25 oz. is becoming the standard. If your cake mix is too small, you can upsize it to 18.25 oz as follows:Method #1:
Purchase two cakes mixes. Add 3 oz. (6 tbspn) from the second mix to make up the difference. Keep the balance of that 2nd mix in a tightly sealed container to use the next time you make this cake.ÂMethod #2:
Purchase a plain yellow cake mix and empty its contents into a glass mason jar. Keep it tightly covered. When you need to supplement any flavor cake mix so that it is a full 18.25 oz, remove 3 oz. of the yellow cake mix and add to the 15.25 oz. cake mix. Yellow cake has a neutral flavor, so this is not going to adversely affect the outcome.Method #3: Three-Ounce Cake Mix Upsizer
For white and yellow cake mixes:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 2 tspn baking powder
- 1/4 tspn baking soda
Â
For chocolate mixes:
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tspn baking powder
- 1/4 tspn baking soda
Nutrition
*If Your Cake Mix is Too Small
Cake mixes with 18.25 oz. contents are increasingly difficult to find, if at all. The standard has become 15.25 oz. And there must be millions of recipes out there that have been passed down from generation to generation, preserved in vintage and church cookbooks—many of which are built around a “standard” cake mix. If your cake mix is too small, it’s easy to remedy that. Here are three options:
Method #1: Buy Two
Purchase two Duncan Hines Devils Food or other cake mixes. Add 3 oz. (6 tablespoons) from the second mix to make up the difference. Keep the balance of that second mix in a tightly sealed container to use the next time you make this cake.
Method #2: Use Plain Yellow Cake Mix
Purchase a plain yellow cake mix and empty its contents into a glass mason jar. Keep it tightly covered. When you need to supplement any flavor cake mix so that it is a full 18.25 oz, remove 3 oz. of the yellow cake mix and add to the 15.25 oz. cake mix. Yellow cake mix has a neutral flavor, so this is not going to adversely affect the outcome.
Method #3: Three-Ounce Cake Mix Upsizer
For white and yellow cake mixes:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tspn baking powder
- 1/4 tspn baking soda
For chocolate mixes:
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 tbsp cocoa powder
- 2 tspn baking powder
- 1/4 tspn baking soda
Whisk all dry ingredients together and store in a clean mason jar. When you wish to increase a 15.25 oz cake mix to 18.25 oz, add three ounces of this mix (6 tablespoons) to your existing cake mix. Yield: About 6 portions.
Updated 8-6-22
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What does the following mean:
1 8-oz. container plain yogurt 3/4 cup
Is there 3/4 cup of yogurt in an 8 ounce container?
I’m so confused.
Thanks! This recipe looks mouth watering and want to try it as soon as I figure out the yogurt.
Yogurt, also sour cream, are not equivalent in weight to say flour or sugar. Using a dry measure vessel to measure out 8 ounces of yogurt is going to skew your recipe. It’s must wiser as a home cook/baker to get an inexpensive food scale, rather than relying on whatever measure cups or devices you might have. 3/4 cup is a rough estimate on the yogurt but far better than assuming 8 oz of yogurt equals a one cup.
Thanks, Mary!
So much talk about cake mix box sizes, how many cups is the pan size?
I love it but I substituted SourCream for the yogurt it was so moist.
I recently made a lemon poundcake that’s similar to this with a box of cake mix and pudding mix. I didn’t think it was as good as usual but I didn’t think a whole lot about it. I hadn’t even thought about the cake mix being a different size than before. It seems so wrong for Duncan Hines to make this change that affects recipes that were on their boxes and advertisements that people have been using for years.
I agree, Laura. I’d rather pay another $.25 or whatever the cost of 6 tablespoons of mix than deal with the 3 oz. shortfall.
I’m confused. When increasing mix for batter do you just add the 6 tablespoons or do you also have to add all of the other items listed to second box and then add 6 T. Help.
Thanks
ONLY the 6 tablespoons of the contents of the cake mix box, or “upsizer” if you wish to make it yourself. Ignore everything on the box(es) when following a recipe where cake mix is an ingredient.
I also made it with 8 oz of sour cream & instant chocolate pudding instead of vanilla. I used chocolate chunks.
me too! Mary is correct in saying it’s a “killer chocolate fudge cake”, and one my family has enjoyed for years.
I’m wondering ab out the vanilla pudding mix. Wouldn’t this cake be even fudgier with chocolate pudding mix?
Mary – I made this cake today using Method #3 to expand the cake mix. The measurements seemed off – i would not have been able to get 6 servings using 6 tablespoons each. So I did some research and found that all the other upsize recipes included 1 cup of sugar too. That would give the volume needed.
Naomi … Thanks for that heads up! You sent me back into research mode and you’re right there are more than a few upsizer methods and recipes out there—and it seems that the majority do include 1 cup of sugar! The times I’ve used this method to upsize a cake mix, I’ve had good results. But I must admit I’ve never calculated how many times I could do that (actually measuring out 6 servings).
Thanks for the details
There’s an error on the recipe; the nuts and chocolate chips are listed under the glaze and not in the cake. It took me a minute to realize that was a mistake.
Oh so sorry! All fixed now (thanks for that catch, Melanee!)
Hi Mary, I bet a whole lot of your fans would be forever grateful if you modified then published this recipe using a 15.25 oz. cake mix only without having to add more quantities of cake mix or upsizer to it. It would be so much simpler. Thank you!
That would be great, Rebecca, but I’m not a food scientist or recipe creator. I think we’ll all be better off fixing the cake mix! This is not the only recipe out there that expects a cake mix to be 18.25 oz. I have an awesome collection of Jr. League, and a number of church cookbooks with recipes that spring from a “standard” cake mix. I’ll bet I’m not the only one 🙂
You’re most definitely not the only one. Thank you for this info. Much appreciated!
Do the chocolate chips and nuts go into the cake rather than the glaze?
Yes. Recipe card fixed now to make that clear.
Grease and flour the bundt pan first? Recipe does not mention flouring the pan. Have to believe this is an omission.
You certainly can do that, Sharon.
This recipe sounds great, but many readers will bypass the recipe because of the new box cake size, despite your scientific work-around methods. Just this week, I noticed that a 5 lb. bag of sugar is 4 lbs. When did that happen?
That happened quite a while ago, Gina. Crazy, isn’t it!
And a pound of bacon is 375g (in Canada) instead of 454g – yet we STILL call it a # out of habit.
Restaurants super size things – yet the food manufacturers reduce container sizes. Hmm…
The chocolate chips are listed in the glaze list of ingredients, but the instructions say to put them in the cake. Please clarify ~ thanks!
Recipe card corrected now. Sorry about that
Hi Mary! For clarification, recipe says chocolate chips are for the glaze, directions say they go in the cake. Don’t want to mess this up!
Yep. Fixed.