The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt CakeĀ šš« This easy pumpkin cake is loaded with chocolate chips and drizzled in rich and decadent chocolate ganache! One of the BEST pumpkin cakes ever! An EASY, no-mixer fall favorite that everyone just LOVES!
Easy Pumpkin Bundt Cake Recipe
- I originally posted this recipe in the fall of 2012. I had a little girl in the kitchen that day who was just 5 years old helping me. She’s now a in university. I feel like I remember more about this cake than I sometimes do about the last 14 years that have seemingly passed by in the true blink of an eye.
- If you’re lucky enough to have small kids underfoot, bake a pumpkin cake with them! You will thank yourself when they’re in high school and far too busy to be baking cakes with you.
- I went on to write a cookbook dedicated to only pumpkin recipes, published in 2014. It’s called Cooking With Pumpkin and I’d love it if you wanted to buy or download a copy! I included this pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake in my cookbook because it’s just THAT good!
- The pumpkin puree keeps this chocolate pumpkin bundt cake moist and dense and the spices, including pumpkin pie spice, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves, complement the pumpkin puree and are a reminder that fall is here.
- Being the chocaholic that I am, I used chocolate in two ways. Chocolate chips are woven throughout the cake and chocolate ganache is poured over the top.
- The ganache is so easy to make and comes together in about 1 minute in the microwave. Chocolate chips, cream, and vanilla. It’ so simple to make but tastes so decadent.The ganache stays a bit soft and silky, even over time, which is very different from a chocolate buttercream which hardens and dries out after it’s exposed to the air. I love buttercream but not when it gets crunchy.
- Between the chocolate chips in the cake and the chocolate ganache on top, if you like your pumpkin with a side of chocolate, this cake will make you happy. It made me very happy.
Ingredients in Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
- Eggs, pumpkin puree, canola oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, and butter extract: These keep the cake soft, moist, and springy. Oil makes the cake moister than butter, while sour cream adds a tender, spongy texture. Greek yogurt can also be used. Butter extract enhances the overall flavor, but it can be omitted if you don’t have it on hand. Use pure pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling.
- Granulated sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, allspice, cloves, all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt: These dry ingredients give the cake structure, sweetness, and plenty of warm fall flavor. If you don’t have all the spices on hand, feel free to mix and match with what you have.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips: These add rich chocolate flavor throughout the pumpkin cake and are also used to make the decadent chocolate ganache topping.
- Cream or half-and-half: Combined with chocolate chips to make the smooth, rich ganache that gets drizzled over the cooled bundt cake.
Note: Scroll down to the recipe card section of the post for the ingredients with amounts included and for more complete directions.
How to Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
- Whisk together the wet ingredients in a large bowl, then mix in the dry ingredients. Once the dry ingredients are mixed into the wet, don’t over mix! This is a thicker cake batter, and you can easily over-develop the gluten and create a dense cake.Ā
- Gently fold in the chocolate chips.
- Turn the batter into a greased and floured 12-cup bundt pan.
- Bake until the top has set and is golden, or a toothpick comes out clean (due to the chocolate chips, you may hit some chocolate patches with the insertion test).
- Let the cake cool for 15 minutes before inverting it.
- Once the pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake is cool, top with chocolate ganache.Ā The pumpkin chocolate bundt cake MUST cool in the pan for at least 15 minutes before it can be inverted. If you try to invert the cake right away, you run the risk of the cake sinking.Ā
The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Chocolate Ganache
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup canned pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Ā½ cup canola or vegetable oil
- Ā¼ cup sour cream, Greek yogurt may be substituted
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter extract, optional
- Ā¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- Ā¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- Ā¼ teaspoon allspice
- Ā¼ teaspoon cloves
- 1 Ā½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Ganache
- ā cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Ā¼ cup cream or half-and-half
- Ā½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- optionally add 1 to 2 tablespoons rum or bourbon, coffee liqueur, or chocolate-flavored liqueur
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 12-cup Bundt or tube-cake pan with cooking spray (I useĀ Pam cooking spray with excellent results) or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
- In a large bowl combine eggs, pumpkin puree, sugar, oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, butter extract, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, allspice, cloves (if you donāt have all of them on hand, just use what you do have) and whisk to combine until mixture is smooth and silky.
- Add the flour, baking soda, salt and stir until just combined (donāt overmix or the gluten will over-develop and cake will be tougher).
- Fold in the chocolate chips and pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing it lightly with a spatula if necessary and give it a slam on the counter to release any air.
- Bake for 38 to 42 minutes, or until top has set (it may crackle, this is okay) and is golden or a cake tester, toothpick, or blade of a knife comes out clean (due to the chocolate chips, you may hit some chocolate patches with the insertion test).
- Allow cake to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before inverting and releasing cake from pan and placing it on a rack to finish cooling. While cake cools, make the ganache.
Chocolate Ganache:
- Place chocolate in a medium microwave-safe bowl and heat on high power for 1 minute to soften chocolate; set aside.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, heat the cream (I used half-and-half) on high power just until it begins to bubble and show signs of boiling, about 1 minute.
- Pour hot cream over chocolate and let it stand about 1 minute. Whisk vigorously until chocolate has melted and mixture is smooth and velvety.
- Add vanilla, optional alcohol, and whisk to combine. Set bowl aside for about 5 minutes, allowing ganache to cool and thicken a bit.
- Whisk mixture briefly before preparing to drizzle it over the cake. Ganache will set up a bit with time, but remains quite viscous and drippy.Ā
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Recipe FAQs
I baked this pumpkin chocolate chip cake in a 12-cup Bundt pan, but it can be baked in a 10-cup Bundt, and youād probably have success dividing the batter among two 8-by-4-inch loaf pans.
Or, follow this classic pumpkin chocolate chip cake recipe so you don’t have to worry at all about pan conversions!
I love cake as much as the next person, but many of us are cooking for ourselves or small families and we donāt necessarily need ginormous Bundts just laying around and this one isnāt extreme.
More Easy Pumpkin Desserts:
Easy Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting ā Moist pumpkin cake is topped with a creamy homemade cream cheese frosting. This easy fall dessert is perfect for Thanksgiving, Halloween, and more!
The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread ā This pumpkin chocolate chip bread is truly the best homemade pumpkin bread youāll ever make. Itās moist, packed with chocolate chips, and tastes like fall!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Brownies ā Rich, fudgy brownies topped with pumpkin and chocolate chips!! An EASY, no mixer pumpkin brownie recipe thatās FASTER than using a boxed mix! Bring on pumpkin spice season!!
Cream Cheese-Filled Pumpkin Bread ā This is without a doubt the BEST pumpkin bread recipe! This pumpkin cream cheese bread tastes like it has cheesecake baked into the middle. Youāll definitely want a second slice!
Soft and Chewy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies ā Between the molasses, pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin pie spice extract that I used, these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies beautifully showcase the flavors of fall!
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake ā This soft and moist pumpkin cake is loaded with chocolate in every bite!! An EASY one-bowl fall dessert thatās perfect for impromptu entertaining or anytime a pumpkin craving strikes!!
Originally posted October 1, 2012 and reposted September 29, 2021 with updated text.
I made this for a Halloween party yesterday. I used a box of the Pacific organic pumpkin purĆ©e, 16oz container and the only spices I used was the 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp do pumpkin pie spice, instead of the allspice and cloves. I added one tablespoon of butter because I didn’t have the butter extract. I also used mini chocolate chips in the cake instead of full size. Ā I did every thing else as directed.
This bunds cake came out perfect. It was so moist and so delicious, amazing. I was looking for a pumpkin cake that reminded me of the pumpkin cake cookies and this was exactly what I was looking for. I had a piece for breakfast this morning and it tasted even better than it did yesterday.
Tasted great, looked pretty and I will be making this again for sure. Thank you!
Thanks for trying the recipe and Iām glad it came out great for you!
Thanks. Have been dying to make this , will try this weekend “as written” ….
Hi Averie
could you use half white sugar and half light brown in this recipe??
I have only made it the way as I wrote it and can’t speak to the results if you tinker with the recipe.
With thanksgiving just around the corner, my pumpkin cravings are in overdrive so I made this cake last night with a few, healthier modifications: used organic pumpkin instead of Libby’s, coconut oil instead of veg oil, cane sugar in place of granulated, organic kefir instead of sour cream (just happened to have that on hand), organic/fair trade 70% chocolate (roughly chopped) in place of the choc chips, omitted the butter extract, almost doubled all spices, and baked in a medium sized sheet pan. All other ingredients were organic. Here is my take on it: one very disappointing thing is that it was not as pumpkin-y as I hoped. There is a hint of pumpkin, but definitely not full pumpkin flavour. Maybe if Ā the cake sits tightly wrapped for a day or two, the flavour may intensify. Even with the extra spices I used, I feel the cake could certainly use more. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a tasty cake, just not enough pumpkin!Ā And that’s about the only negative thing I can say. I love everything else about the cake. It was so soft, so light, and so moist. The chocolate chunks are a great addition, especially when they melt with my coffee. So yummy. My cake baked in about 25 min in a convection oven, in the sheet pan. I will certainly be marking this recipe and making the cake again.Ā I always like to keep some baked yummies stashed in my freezer for unexpected company, last minute guests, and what not and this recipe will be great for that.Ā It’ll make a lovely base for tortes and other layered butter cream cakes too!
Maybe it’s the brand of pumpkin puree – they can vary wildly in their intensity of pumpkin flavor which is why I use Libby’s because I get consistent results but I’m glad that you enjoyed it overall.