German Chocolate Bundt Cake

Recently, my husband and I received a family recipe for German Chocolate Cake. In honor of mother’s day, and Mason’s grandmother Brenda, I decided to make the cake. It was the best chocolate cake I have ever had! It is so good, I’ve put it here on With The Woodruffs for all of you.

After I made the cake, I couldn’t stop thinking about how good it would be as a bundt cake. After all, a good bundt cake is light, fluffy, and perfectly moist. So, I decided to test it out and let me tell you – I was right! For our weekly game night with friends, I made a German Chocolate Bundt Cake, and it was a big hit. I imagine I will be making this cake for many occasions in the future.

I am so excited that I was able to use such a treasured recipe and give it a new life with an exciting twist. Instead of coconut frosting, I opted for a chocolate ganache and cookie butter drizzle. The ganache, contrasted with the subtle hits of cookie butter, together with the tender cake, come together to create a perfect melt-in-your-mouth bite.

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German Chocolate Bundt Cake Recipe Walkthrough

In this post, I will walk you through how to make this insanely good cake. As a visual learner myself, I am always sure to give instructions via a visual walkthrough with recipe notes and tips, or if that’s not your style, you can skip down to the recipe card down at the bottom of the post.

While it may look like a lot of photos, don’t let that sway you from giving it a shot. And yes, each step is so important for the end result.So, buckle up and lets get baking!

Making the Bundt Cake

The hardest part of making this bundt cake is gently folding in the egg whites. Other than that, every other step is simply mixing in the ingredients using a stand mixer. And, it doesn’t get any easier than that, does it?

Step 1: In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Start off with the mixer on low speed, for about 30 seconds, before switching to high speed for another 2.5 minutes. Be sure to scrape the bowl, halfway through, to prevent any lumps from forming.

Step 2: Add the egg yolks, one at a time, to the butter and sugar mixture.

Make sure that each egg yolk incorporates fully, on low to medium speed, before adding the next one.

Step 3: Add the German Chocolate to the boiling water, and stir until the chocolate completely melts.

Make sure that the chocolate is completely cool before adding to the batter. If you add the chocolate while still hot, you run the risk of boiling the egg yolks in the batter

Step 4: Pour the melted chocolate into the batter and mix until fully incorporated.

Because we are adding a liquid to the batter, be sure to start off the mixer on the lowest setting to avoid any chocolate or batter to splatter out of the bowl. Once the chocolate is slightly incorporated, it is safe to increase the speed of the mixer.

Step 5: Alternatively, on low speed for 3-5 minutes, add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the batter.

Add one third of the flour mixture, followed by a third of the buttermilk. This allows both ingredients to completely combine with the rest of the batter and stop any lumps from forming.

Step 6: Mix the batter on medium to high speed for another 3 minutes or until everything completely combines.

Be sure to pause halfway through and scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl to catch any lumps that may be forming

Step 7: Add the egg whites to the stand mixer, and using the whisk attachment, whip on high speed for 3-minutes.

Set the mixer is on the high speed, so that there is no liquid remaining on the bottom of the bowl. The egg whites are done when stiff peaks begin to form.

Step 8: Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate batter, until fully incorporated.

This will take a few minutes, as to not knock out any of the air whipped into the egg whites. Be sure that all egg whites are evenly mixed into the batter to prevent any whites streaks from forming in the baked cake.

Step 9: Pour the cake batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake at 350ºF for 45 minutes.

When the cake is fully baked, it will start pulling from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted will come out clean. Another way to test, is to check the internal temperature of the cake. A fully baked cake will be 210ºF.

If you’re looking for a cake that bakes a little faster, check out my Chocolate Chip Cake with Espresso Cream Cheese Frosting.

Step 10: Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, before flipping and removing from the pan.

If you’ve greased the pan enough, the cake will just slide out! If some of the cake happens to stick to the pan, don’t worry. The ganache will cover any imperfections!

Making the Ganache

For years I thought that ganache was super fancy and difficult to make. Turns out, its just melted chocolate and heavy whipping cream! So, do not let the fact that this recipe has a ganache make you feel like it will be too hard. Even you can make a good ganache, let me show you how below.

However, if you’d prefer to make a cake that does not require a topping, check out my chocolate pumpkin bundt cake recipe.

Step 1: Heat the heavy whipping cream over medium heat.

Fill a medium saucepan with the heavy whipping cream and heat until the cream begins to simmer. Immediately remove from the heat Don’t let the heavy cream get to boiling!

Step 2: Pour the chocolate chips into the saucepan with the heavy cream and cover for three minutes.

The chocolate will slowly melt from the residual heat of the pan and the hot heavy cream. Allowing it to melt for a few minutes before stirring prevents too many air bubbles from forming and helps create a smooth ganache.

Step 3: Gently stir until the chocolate chips are completely melt and combine with the cream.

Be patient and keep stirring! Try not to cheat by melting the chocolate in the microwave, because it will not work to make ganache.

Once you pour the ganache over the cake, it’s good to go! If you’re feeling extra, you can add a cookie butter drizzle like we did but it is not necessary. This is seriously the most moist and tender cake you will find out there! Sorry to say the dreaded “m” word, but I think it applies here and is exactly what you want from a good bunt cake.

I am so excited to share this delicious recipe with you all! I always miss out on German Chocolate Cake because I do not like coconut, so I am happy to be able to enjoy it without the coconut and with a fun twist.

If you try this recipe out, please let me know what you think in the comments below. If you love it, share it on your Pinterest to help more people find this tasty treat. Sharing is caring, right?