Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cake

This is a “more is more” kind of chocolate cake. Devil’s food cake mix gets supercharged with instant chocolate pudding mix and sour cream, creating a batter so rich and dense it barely needs frosting. A dusting of powdered sugar is all it takes.

The sour cream is doing serious work here. It adds moisture and fat that keep the crumb tender for days, and its slight tang balances all that chocolate sweetness. The pudding mix intensifies the chocolate flavor and gives the cake an almost truffle-like density.

Fold the chocolate chips in gently at the very end. You want them whole, not crushed, so they hit you as pockets of melted chocolate throughout the slice. They’ll sink slightly toward the bottom of the bundt pan during baking, which is fine.

Chef Tips

• Grease and flour the bundt pan thoroughly, getting into every ridge. A stuck bundt cake is heartbreaking.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before flipping. Too soon and it falls apart; too long and it sticks.
• Use full-fat sour cream, not light or fat-free. The fat content is what keeps this cake moist.
• Test with a toothpick at 55 minutes. Overbaking dries out the crumb fast.

Variations

• Add a tablespoon of espresso powder to the batter for a mocha depth that amplifies the chocolate.
• Use white chocolate chips instead for a visual contrast and sweeter bite.
• Drizzle with a simple chocolate ganache instead of powdered sugar for an even more indulgent finish.