Double the chocolate in this delicious Chocolate Cheesecake Stuffed Bundt Cake!
This post has been sponsored by Nordic Ware. They sent me this stunning Crown Bundt pan and have compensated me monetarily for this recipe. All opinions are my own.
I don’t have to tell you how excited I was about this Crown Bundt pan when I first saw it. I may have gasped. You guys know I am a huge Bundt fanatic, to put it mildly, and have an ever-growing collection of pans (much to Ryan’s dismay). Well, when I saw this one I was smitten. And as luck would have it, the lovely folks over at Nordic Ware wanted to send me one!
Deciding what to bake in this beauty was a challenge. I wanted something striking, but I didn’t want it to take away from the prettiness of the pan. I considered a glaze, but worried it might cover too much. I’d considered a simple powdered sugar dusting, but I wasn’t 100% sold on that either. Instead, I decided to go with a naked (gasp!) dark chocolate cheesecake stuffed Bundt. That’s the beauty of Nordic Ware pans — they are stunning on their own and don’t need all of the bells and whistles of a traditional cake. Don’t get me wrong, I am all about bells and whistles, but sometimes simplicity is the best way to go.
The rich dark color of this Chocolate Cheesecake Bundt is achieved with the use of black cocoa which is honestly one of my favorite things ever. I’ve used it SO much since discovering it a year ago. I like the intensity it gives to chocolate cakes and cookies, so I always try to substitute some of the cocoa powder with black cocoa.
Can we talk about how stunning this Crown Bundt pan is? That gold-metallic finish is dreamy. And it’s a NICE gold, not a drab, faded iPhone gold. You know what I’m talking about. This pretty pan has literally been sitting on my counter since the day I got it. I don’t care that it takes up space, it’s too pretty to put away.
In addition to the Crown Bundt, Nordic Ware has created an exclusive line of pans to celebrate their 70th anniversary. 70 years! Can you believe it?? They are family owned and operated, proudly producing quality kitchenware products, primarily made in America. With a wide variety of collections and hundreds of products, Nordic Ware has become known internationally, with millions of fans around the world.
The anniversary collection is inspired by their Scandinavian roots, and all of the pans in that collection have this same stunning gold-metallic finish. It’s taking all of my restraint not to order them all. Along with their new collection, Nordic Ware will be launching contests and other events throughout the year to celebrate. Be sure to follow them so you don’t miss out!
This cheesecake stuffed Bundt cake is amazingly good. It actually rivals my favorite chocolate cake in both flavor and texture. The cheesecake adds a bit of a tart tang that compliments the chocolate cake perfectly. I opted to fill it with a chocolate cheesecake, but you could do a plain one instead (just skip the melted dark chocolate) or any other flavor. If you’re not a cheesecake fan, you can just leave that out altogether and you’ll still have a delicious chocolate cake on your hands!
Chocolate Cheesecake Stuffed Bundt Cake
Ingredients
Cheesecake Filling:
- 6 oz cream cheese room temperature
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1 Tbsp + 2 tsps all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 oz dark chocolate melted & cooled
Chocolate Bundt Cake:
- 6 Tbsp Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted, plus extra for dusting
- 3 Tbsp black cocoa powder sifted
- 4 1/2 oz dark chocolate finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp espresso powder not granules
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar packed
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
Instructions
Cheesecake Filling:
- Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add in egg, vanilla, and flour and beat until well combined. Add in chocolate and beat until well combined. Set aside.
Chocolate Bundt Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 10 or 12 cup Bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder.
- In a medium bowl, combine cocoas, espresso powder, chopped chocolate and boiling water. Cover and let sit 5 minutes. Whisk until smooth. Let cool to room temperature and whisk in buttermilk. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- Place butter in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on med-high until pale. Add in sugar and beat until well combined (approx. 3 mins).
- Reduce speed and add in eggs one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Add in vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and chocolate mixture, beginning and ending with the flour (3 additions of flour, 2 additions of chocolate). Mix just until combined.
- Dollop some cake batter into the Bundt pan and nudge into the cracks with a spatula. Add in more cake batter until pan is almost half full.
- Carefully dollop in cheesecake filling being sure not to let it touch the sides.
- Top with remaining cake batter and smooth with a spatula.**
- Whack cake pan on the counter to get rid of any bubbles and fill in any cracks. Bake for 50-60mins or until a cake tester comes out mostly clean. Rotate pan after 40mins.
- Cool in Bundt pan for 10mins. Whack Bundt pan on the counter to loosen cake and turn out onto cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
** Be sure to only fill pan no more than 3/4 full. If you have batter leftover, you can bake it alongside the Bundt in a loaf pan or in cupcake tins. Recipe inspired by and adapted from Handle the Heat.
Sreekala says
I have made this 2 times now and it is absolutely delicious! I followed all the instructions and it turned out perfect. Thank you Olivia for your wonderful and PERFECT blog!
Olivia says
Thanks so much Sreekala! I’m so glad you like it 🙂
Garima poddar says
Hey Liv, this cakes stunning! I don’t have a Bundt pan😔do you think it would work if I used a normal loaf tin.
Cannot wait to try this🤩
Olivia says
Hi Garima! Yes, that would work fine. You might need a couple of tins and baking time will need to be adjusted.
Ruth-Ann says
Another stunner from you! It’s coming time for our huge pie and cake auction for missions at church so I’m trying to decide what to make. I did your lemon poppyseed and rocky road bundts lady year – real winners!
I’m thinking of this one in either the blossom or heritage pan. Am leaning towards the latter. It need some to look spectacular- any suggestions for glaze (especially one that firms up vs. running down and off the edge of the platter) or deco?
Others may get lost on Pinterest or or other social media, I do that on your site! 🙂
Olivia says
Hi Ruth-Ann! You are too sweet! I love the heritage pan, it’s my all time fave! It’s a stunner, so I would go with that one 🙂 For a glaze that firms, you could do a chocolate ganache. It would run down, but shouldn’t as much as a traditional powdered sugar glaze — especially if you let the ganache thicken slightly before pouring. If you want to try that route, I would do a 1:1 ratio (by weight) of chocolate to cream. Here’s an example, of what it looks like on a layer cake anyhow: https://livforcake.com/mocha-chocolate-cake/ Let me know what you decide and if you need any tips!
Ruth-Ann says
Thanks! I may test that out. Have to think of some decor that’ll pop. Or, do you think there’s a white or other color equivalent (for contrast)?
Here’s a snag I’m now also tempted by your black forest cake! 🙂 I may have to do both!!
Olivia says
You could do a white chocolate ganache instead, but I would do a 2:1 ratio of chocolate to cream in that case. You can color the ganache with gel or powdered colors. The Black Forest Cake is my fave!!! <3
Ruth-Ann says
Hello again! I decided to make both this cake and the Black Forest cake (and hoping the whip cream frosting holds well at room temp,for up to 3 hrs!). The cakes for that one baked well and are in the freezer. 🙂
For this cake you caution against letting the filling touch the sides; same for the centre tube too, I assume.
Do you think I could use your homemade cake release and then dust with cocoa powder or better to use butter or oil (or crisco?) with the cocoa? Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Ruth-Ann! So nice to hear from you 🙂 For the Black Forest Cake I think the whipped cream should be ok at room temp for 3 hours – but if you’re concerned you can google for stabilized whipped cream recipes — those might hold up better!
For this cake — yes to the center tube also and I think the cake release would be fine on it’s own, but you could dust it with cocoa powder too to ensure there is no white film on the cake.
Ruth-Ann says
This cake is now in the freezer. I ha trouble dusting with cocoa in the deep ridges of the heritage pan. It kind of clumped even though I sifted it. So the cake didn’t come out clean and sharp. The filling didn’t actually sink so I guess I should have added it sooner. Ah well. I look forward to tasting it later. The other cakes worked out well. It looks good anyway. Next time I would skip the cocoa dusting.
Olivia says
Hmm, interesting about the cocoa clumping… I don’t remember that in mine (but it’s been a while!!) I think I sifted the cocoa over the greased pan and it did ok. Truthfully, it would probably be fine just greased and not dusted with anything, but I always suggest it just in case! Strange that the filling didn’t sink for you — I wish it hadn’t for me!! I hope you still loved the taste of it, regardless 🙂
Ruth-Ann says
I wanted to post an update on this cake. I pulled it out of my freezer for Fathers Day. Delicious! Moist, rich but not overly sweet cake and the chocolate cream cheese filling is like a nice little surprise. Definitely worth the effort! Thanks Olivia!
Olivia says
Hi Ruth-Ann! Thanks so much for your update, I’m so glad you liked this one 🙂
Jess says
Hi Olivia, I am planning on making your beautiful chocolate recipe for a friend that works for the railroad so instead I am using the Nordic Express bundt pan. When I compare the volume of your cake to the Nordic Ware website specifically for this little train it looks like I should cut your receipt in half? Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you,
Jess
Olivia says
Hi Jess! Yes, I would cut the recipe in half — you can do this by adjusting the Servings to 7. Baking time would need to be reduces as well for the smaller cakes. I would check to see how they are after 15 mins.
Lisa says
Can these be made into cupcakes?
Olivia says
I’ve never tried making cupcakes with this, but it can’t hurt to give it a go!
Neva bennett says
Liv know what you mean about Nordicware I’m a big fan and they are a weakness of mine
Olivia says
They are the BEST 🙂
Trang says
OMG this cake looks amazing, I’m drooling, definitely gonna save to make later. I’m all about the chocolate inside out 🙂
Olivia says
Thanks so much Trang! I hope you like it 🙂
Tracy says
Can these be made in the mini bundt pan too?
Olivia says
Hi Tracy! I’ve never tried it but I think it could work ok. Not sure about the cheesecake distribution though!
Elenice says
This cake is a real work of art, cut it to eat, but the dilemma seems so tasty.
Olivia says
Haha, thank you Elenice!
Clint says
So I’ve made this twice now. Both times, upon attempt to remove the cake from the pan, it breaks apart at the cheesecake filling, leaving the cake below the cheesecake stuck in the pan. I’ve tried Pam and then cocoa powder and also oil dusted with cocoa powder. No success.
Olivia says
Oh noooo 🙁 That is heartbreaking. Can I ask what brand of Bundt pan you are using? I’ve found that to make a difference 🙁
Lance says
Try using Baker’s Joy Non-Stick spray. I don’t use anything else for my Bundt pans and don’t have problems. Also when removing from the pan put the cooling rack top side facing down on the pan then flip both over quickly. This way there is not as much space for the cake to travel before it hits the rack.