What a tasty combination - dark chocolate and Kahlua liqueur!
I LOVE the combination of Kahlua and chocolate, and this one bowl Bundt is one of the easiest I've ever made. You'll combine your favorite 15-17 ounce boxed chocolate cake mix - I used a Dark Chocolate mix from Betty Crocker. Normally I don't care for Bundt cakes using a box mix, but I thought I'd try this one and like it. It's easy, combines sour cream and pudding mix so that creates a little heavier cake crumb, making it a tasty cake. Plus, it's a one bowl cake. No need for an electric mixer.
I've adjusted the cake to feature one of my favorite liqueurs - Kahlua. I enjoy the mellow coffee and chocolate flavors of Kahlua as they are mix with the dark chocolate flavor of the cake. I've even developed an easy and flavorful Kahlua icing to drizzle on top. You can booze it up by adding a little more in both the cake and icing. Or, turn down the booze by using less than what's called for in the recipe. Of course, you could use coffee extract and omit the booze altogether. Sprinkling a few mini-chocolate chips or chocolate shavings on top, and you have an elegant cake.
Don't feel like you have to make this cake with Kahlua. I have also made it with coffee, substituting the same amount of coffee (decaf for me). It still came out delicious, just not as boozy tasting.
I normally like to use the larger 10' or 12" or 14" Bundt pans, since I happened upon a 6" Nordic Ware Bundt pan, I'm liking that size much better. With the large pans, I would freeze half of the Bundt cake for later, even a month or so later. But, now that I have two 6" pans, I can still make the large recipe, but split it between two pans, and freeze one of the cakes. Freeze it without the toppings so you can have fresh when you serve it later. Or, I can cut the recipe in half for one fresh Bundt cake. Or, give the extra cake to a friend! It makes a great little Birthday Cake.
Did I say this is a one bowl cake? No need for an electric mixer. Just combine all the ingredients in one bowl as described below.
Prepare the 12" Bundt pan or two 6" Bundt pans:
- Make sure your butter is soft and generously butter the entire inside of the pan, making sure to get in all the crooks and crannies, as Gram used to say.
- Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of flour into the pan and shake all around so every single inch of the pan is covered. Coating the entire inside guarantees the cake will easily pop out when you turn it upside down on a platter.
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. You will bake it for one hour.
Make the cake:
1 Dark chocolate cake mix (15-17 oz size)
1 Chocolate pudding mix (3.75 oz box)
2 C Sour cream
4 Eggs, beaten with a fork
3/4 C Vegetable oil
1/3 C Kahlua liqueur
1 C Chocolate chips, dark and/or semi-sweet
- Did I say this is a one bowl cake? That means less clean up!
- In a large bowl, first mix the dry cake and pudding mixes together.
- Add the beaten eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil and Kahlua together and stir well with a spatula, scraping down the sides until all ingredients are well combined.
- Lastly add the chocolate chips. I like to use a combination of regular sized dark chocolate chips with semi-sweet mini-chips. Delish!
- Pour the batter into one large pan or two 6" pans.
- Bake at 350F degrees for about 50-60 minutes for the large Bundt pan. I usually bake it for 50 minutes and give it the clean toothpick test. After you stick the toothpick in and it comes out clean, the cake is done.
- Let the Bundt cool for 1-15 minutes and slide a plastic orange peeler around the bends of the edge to make sure it has separated from the pan. Then, flip it onto a serving plate.
- For two 6" Bundt cakes, I bake them a little less than the larger cake. Set your timer for 40 minutes and do the clean toothpick test. If they need more time, I switch the two pans from side to side since my oven bakes a little warmer on one side. Bake them for another 5-10 minutes and do the toothpick test again. (One of my small cakes was done at this point so I took it out of the oven (I could tell the cake had pulled away nicely from the sides). The other small cake needed another 5 minutes.)
Shine it up with Kahlua glaze:
1 C Powdered sugar
4 T Kahlua liqueur
- Whisk together. If you like your icing thinner, add a little water. If you like it thicker, add more powdered sugar.
- Drizzle the icing over the cake after the Bundt has cooled 20-25 minutes. Drizzling the icing on when it's too hot will cause the coating to melt off the cake.
Serve it up with big red berries
This cake serves well with a great chocolate flavor. Play around with different ways to serve it. Dress it up with red raspberries, juicy strawberries or blueberries. Or, how about a not too sweet red wine? Dollops of homemade whipped cream cut the chocolate if it has a too heavy chocolate flavor for you.