This is the most ridiculous chocolate pudding cake ever, baked in a bundt pan and topped with creamy chocolate frosting. It’s seriously delicious and so easy to make by doctoring up a chocolate cake mix. Everyone goes crazy for this ultra-moist chocolate cake recipe!
If you love this easy chocolate cake, try my ridiculous vanilla cake, too!
I’m never opposed to using a good old-fashioned boxed cake mix from time to time. I treat it just like any other ingredient, and sometimes there really is no substitute. Take my earthquake cake or fudgy cake mix brownies, for example. Or, there’s this outrageously moist, positively irresistible, completely ridiculous chocolate pudding cake!
The texture of this chocolate cake is so soft and decadent, made with a cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, and lots of chocolate chips. This is the perfect chocolate bundt cake to take to any party, or even whip up on a weeknight because it’s that easy.
Some would say this is too much chocolate cake. And to them, I say, that’s the point! It wouldn’t be ridiculous if this cake weren’t completely over the top in all the best ways possible.
What Makes This Chocolate Pudding Cake So Ridiculously Good
Just look at that insanely moist crumb! It is hands down one of the best chocolate cake recipes I’ve ever made. And in case the photos aren’t enough to convince you, here’s why:
- Out-of-this-world chocolatey. I don’t think any chocolate cake rivals the level of rich, fudgy chocolate flavor and soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture of this cake.
- So easy to make. Dare I say, ridiculously easy. There is a time and place for “from scratch” cakes, but not today. This recipe uses store-bought chocolate cake mix and a handful of other ingredients that you dump and mix.
- One bowl. The chocolate cake batter comes together in a single bowl for easy clean-up.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The name of the game here is moisture. All the ingredients layered together make the most absolutely moist and decadent chocolate cake, smothered with chocolate frosting. Below you’ll find a quick overview, with the full ingredient amounts available in the recipe card.
For the Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Cake Mix – You can use your favorite box of chocolate cake mix, whether it’s regular Duncan Hines chocolate cake, devil’s food, triple chocolate, German chocolate cake, or another kind.
- Chocolate Pudding – Instant chocolate pudding mix adds even more flavor to the cake while keeping the texture super soft. Some cake mixes have pudding already “in the mix.” It might be tempting to omit the pudding and use a cake mix with it already added, but adding your own pudding mix separately is just better. Trust me.
- Sour Cream – Another secret to the best moist chocolate cake is sour cream. I go all out and chuck in the whole container. Ridiculous? Exactly. If you don’t have sour cream, you can use equal parts plain Greek yogurt instead.
- Eggs – For richness and structure.
- Oil – This cake replaces butter with vegetable oil for added moisture that doesn’t weigh down the crumb.
- Chocolate Chips – I up the chocolate factor in this cake recipe with semi-sweet chocolate chips.
For the Frosting
- Butter – I recommend unsalted butter, brought to room temperature so that it’s easier to combine.
- Cocoa Powder – Use high-quality unsweetened cocoa powder. Dutch process cocoa powder will yield a darker color and fudgier flavor.
- Powdered Sugar – Also called confectioner’s sugar, to sweeten the frosting without making it grainy.
- Vanilla – Pure vanilla extract is best to enhance the flavor.
- Heavy Cream – Full-fat heavy whipping cream will make the creamiest frosting.
How to Make Chocolate Pudding Bundt Cake
Who’s ready to have their mind and taste buds blown by a homemade chocolate cake? Cake recipes really don’t get any easier than this:
- Combine the ingredients. Add all the cake ingredients to a bowl and mix until smooth. Next, stir in the chocolate chips.
- Bake the cake. Pour the cake batter into a well-greased bundt pan, then bake at 350ºF for about an hour, until set. Let the cake cool in the pan for a bit before inverting it onto a plate to cool completely before you frost it. If you aren’t frosting the cake (borderline blasphemy, but I’ll let it slide), try it warm and die at how good it is.
- Make the frosting. When the cake is cool, whip up a quick batch of chocolate frosting. Begin by creaming together butter, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar, then add the vanilla and cream. Continue to beat until the frosting is thick and creamy.
- Frost the cake. Spread the frosting in a generous layer all over the cake. I like to sprinkle a few spare chocolate chips on top at this point, because why not?
Watch This Chocolate Pudding Cake Come Together
This pudding cake is made in just a few quick steps. Watch everything come together below:
Can I Make This Cake in Another Pan?
Absolutely. You can make this chocolate cake recipe in a sheet pan or as a layer cake. Just adjust your bake times accordingly. Here are some quick guidelines:
- For the layer cake. Divide the batter between 2 9-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350ºF for 25-35 minutes, until set. You will also need to scale up the frosting recipe to fill the layers.
- For the sheet cake. Add the batter to a 9×13-inch baking pan and bake at 350ºF for about 35-40 minutes.
Tips for the Best Pudding Cake
Cake mix recipes are basically foolproof, so I know yours will turn out great. Here are some additional hot tips to ensure your chocolate pudding bundt cake is a slice of perfection:
- Don’t over-mix the cake batter. Even cake mix cakes can be over-mixed to the point where they turn out dense and tough. Make sure to only mix until the ingredients are just combined, to keep the batter light and airy.
- Don’t over-bake the cake. To avoid ending up with a dry chocolate cake, pull it out once the top is set and a toothpick comes out mostly clean.
- Keep the chocolate chips from sinking. The cake batter for this recipe is so thick that the chips hardly sink at all. If you’re concerned about it, however, you can toss your chips in the dry cake mix at the start of the recipe to help keep them dispersed.
Decorating Ideas and Recipe Variations
You honestly could skip the frosting and dust it with a little powdered sugar if you feel so inclined, but since frosting-skipping is against my religion, I won’t press the issue.
- Frosting: Change up the frosting and try mint chocolate chip frosting, fluffy marshmallow frosting, or chocolate cream cheese frosting.
- Fruit: Top this cake with fresh, tart strawberries or raspberries, candied lemon, or orange slices.
- Chocolate: Garnish with chopped dark chocolate or chocolate shavings.
- Birthday Cake: Making this recipe for a birthday? Try frosting it with perfect party frosting and decorating it with rainbow sprinkles.
How to Store Homemade Chocolate Cake
Store your ridiculous chocolate cake in an airtight container or cake saver on the counter for up to 3 days, or for up to 1 week in the fridge. If you do keep it refrigerated, make sure it’s tightly covered and let it come to room temperature again before serving.
Can I Freeze Chocolate Pudding Cake?
Yes, but I recommend freezing the bundt cake before it’s frosted. Once the cake is cooled, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap plus a layer of foil, and store it frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost your chocolate bundt cake in the fridge, then frost it as usual.
More Easy Chocolate Cake Recipes
Ridiculous Chocolate Pudding Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Cake
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This has to be the most ridiculous chocolate cake I’ve ever made. Made from chocolate cake mix, pudding mix, and sour cream, it’s the ultimate moist chocolate cake recipe topped with fudgy homemade frosting.
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Cake
- 1 (15.25 ounce) box chocolate cake mix
- 1 (3.9-ounce) box instant chocolate pudding
- 1 (16-ounce) container sour cream
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
For the Chocolate Frosting
- 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Liberally grease a 10-inch bundt pan with butter or shortening and lightly dust with flour. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine all the cake ingredients. Mix on low for 30 seconds until combined and then on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 55-60 minutes, until the cake is set. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert the pan onto a cake plate. Cool completely before frosting.
Make the Frosting
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on low speed, beat the butter, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar until combined. Add in the vanilla and cream and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Frost the top of the cake and garnish with more chocolate chips if desired.
Notes
- To store. Store your ridiculous chocolate cake in an airtight container or cake saver on the counter for up to 3 days, or for up to 1 week in the fridge. If you do keep it refrigerated, make sure it’s tightly covered and let it come to room temperature again before serving.
- To freeze. I recommend freezing the bundt cake before it’s frosted. Once the cake is cooled, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap plus a layer of foil, and store it frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost your chocolate bundt cake in the fridge, then frost it as usual.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 545
- Sugar: 51.9 g
- Sodium: 363.3 mg
- Fat: 27.6 g
- Carbohydrates: 75.1 g
- Protein: 7.2 g
- Cholesterol: 65.3 mg
I like cakes to be dense and moist, not light and fluffy, and this nailed it—totally delicious (I can’t wait to have another slice for breakfast!). And with the sour cream undertones, it tastes almost like a chocolate cheesecake! My sister and I both put this in our “keeper” file.
I made this in a Bundt cake pan (definitely needed the full time to bake). The frosting is delicious too—not greasy like many buttercream frostings. I added more whipping cream to make it fluffier and more spreadable.
Hello Shelly! I’m looking forward to making this for my girlfriend, but was wondering, I have a 7 Inch Springform pan that I like to bake with, as it’s just the two of us and we try to keep dessert portions a little smaller. If I were to adjust the recipe for that sized pan would you recommend cutting everything in half? Or is there another formula you recommend?
Safe to assume baking would be the same temp, but check it after 20 minutes and bake until a toothpick come out clean?
Thank you!
Daniel
You could cut the recipe in half and bake it in a 7- inch round pan, sure! That should work fine. I have never done it this way, but would guess that the bake time would be about 20-25 minutes! Good luck!
Awesome! I’ll let you know how it goes! Thank you!
I made this today. Maybe it’s the semi sweet chips. I don’t know. It’s thick, it’s heavy, it’s bitter. I tried a cake with pudding before, didn’t like it either. I don’t care for it.
I made this in a 9×13 baking pan because I don’t own a bundt cake pan yet. Initially, when I first tasted the cake I thought it was way too sweet. I did add extra butter to the frosting and drizzled homemade hot fudge sauce over that instead of adding more chocolate chips to the top. I wanted a different kind of flavor rather than a repeated layer of what was already used. The hot fudge was made with condensed milk which lends a buttery sweetness to the chocolate chips I swirled in and the butter too.
While it was overly sweet when the cake was room temperature eating it cold and right out of the fridge is amazingly good. I will definitely make it again the same way or perhaps drizzle bourbon sauce over the frosting instead of hot fudge.
Thanks for the 9 x 13 baking time tip–mine is in the oven! I usually use two round 9 inch pans but didn’t remember the time I use for that. I don’t add frosting to this cake but your ideas sound good for a less sweet cake. I’m using a 10 oz bag of peanut butter chips today…I think it will be good but the usual semi-sweet chocolate is a favorite.
Oh my gosh! I just made this and it was delicious. I didn’t have a bundt tin or round tins so I used a 9 x 13 metal pan. 35 minutes at 350 degrees and it was perfect. So tasty! Thanks!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for your feedback on baking it in different pans!
Shelly (or others?): I want to make this cake dairy free. Should I sub in a non-dairy sour cream or just omit it? Thanks!!
I’ve never tried making this non-dairy, but I would imagine that dairy free sour cream will work fine! Cake mix recipes are generally pretty forgiving!
Ok, thx! I was also thinking maybe coconut milk (the thick kind in a can with the fat layer) or coconut cream. I’m making it this week, so I’ll try to remember to post the results!
Maybe try pumpkin?
Can I pour this into standard cake pans? If so how long would I could the cake for? Looking for a recipe that has something similar, I lost my favorite I would make it for family events in the 1970’s, it was double chocolate layered cake, whip cream frosting and fresh strawberries.
Yes, you can! I would bake it for 25 minutes, and check it from there!
I need a recipe, not a box mix!
There are TONS of homemade chocolate cake recipes on Pinterest. Please don’t come here to complain when you could’ve easily kept looking, or even Googled it. I have several of both kinds, and I’ll be adding this one to try bc I’m intrigued at the 16oz of sour cream.
Oh, and if you’ve never tried using a boxed mix with the “right” doctoring up, you should give it a try b4 complaining. They are very good when u add an extra egg, pudding mix & either sour cream or mayo.
LOL….you go, girl. I agree. Most of the time I bake from scratch, but sometimes, with the right doctoring, a box mix works great. I love this recipe. I’m a little weird, so I made some chocolate mousse and spread it over the frosting to add to the decadence, because I can’t get enough chocolate. YUM!
Shelly, if I double the cake recipe do I need to double the amount of sour cream and pudding also. Making cake now.
yes 🙂
My mom always made this cake for me growing up! It has always been my absolute favorite and now my daughter said she wants to try making it this weekend for my birthday! ❤️
Hope it’s as good as you remember!