Chocolate Bundt Cakes For Two

A few simple additions, a humble box of cake mix and instant pudding mix transforms into delicious, decadent mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes smothered with rich chocolate glaze. So easy and so delicious making it perfect for date-night or dinner for two dessert.

Better known as Myrna’s Chocolate Cake, mother of my dear friend Mia, baked this cake for years, while selflessly sharing the recipe with all who asked.  Mia shares that her mother learned her way around the kitchen following Julia Child to become an accomplished home cook.  

Mia shares, “Growing up we had the privilege of delicious food and of seeing the joy of entertaining.” 

Her dad had a sweet tooth and so, “for desserts our family enjoyed chocolate mousse, soufflés, flans, homemade ice cream…anything found in Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

But one of Myrna’s most requested treats, by grandchildren and adults in equal measure, was this chocolate cake. “Just goes to show, anything made with enough love will satisfy the soul!”  said Mia.

Dessert for Two?  A full-size bundt cake when there are two for dessert is a bit much – so I put on my apron and started playing around with a mini bundt pan, adjusting measurements and bake times to make Myrna’s Chocolate Bundt Cake a dessert for two.

Although, Mia shares

It's our experience that two people can make their way through the full size cake in a matter of days". 

Mark, Mia’s husband,  loves the cake, even on day two and beyond, ice cold out of the fridge.  

Recipe Ingredients

• Devil’s food cake mix.  Myrna always used Duncan Heinz, but any devil’s food cake mix will work for this recipe.
• chocolate instant pudding. 
• extra large eggs.  Temperature plays an important role in the behavior of ingredients in baking.  Use room-temperature eggs when making this recipe as they more easily incorporate than cold.  The additional mixing required to incorporate cold ingredients may adversely affect the texture of the cake. Eggs take about an hour to come to room temperature.  To warm more quickly place uncracked eggs in bowl of warm water (110 degrees) for about 10 minutes.
• vegetable oil
• chocolate chips
• cream and more chocolate chips for the glaze. 

Quick Tip:  You will not use all of the cake mix and instant pudding mix, instead store in an airtight jar or container to make more mini chocolate Bundt cakes when the craving strikes.

Note:  ingredient measurements are in the recipe card below.

How to make mini chocolate bundt cakes

Chocolate bundt cake for Two?  For this recipe for two, I recommend ditching the large bundt pan and use a mini bundt pan.   Mini bundt pans produce perfect single-serving cakes.  You will need a tray-style mini Bundt pan or two single 1 cup bundt pans for this recipe—the center tube is necessary to facilitate even baking. 

Spray 2- 3 of the Bundt pan tray cups with baking spray that contains flour and bring your eggs to room temperature. 

Mix the cake mix, instant pudding, egg, water and vegetable oil using either a hand-held or stand mixer starting at a low speed.

Once the dry ingredients are not in danger of flying out of the mixing bowl, gradually increase the speed to medium-high mixing for a total time of 2 minutes to fully incorporate ingredients.

Fold chocolate chips into the batter using a rubber spatula. 

Divide batter evenly between prepared cups, smooth tops and gently tap tray on counter to release air bubbles.

Bake the cakes at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 – 22 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through baking.

Let the cakes cool in tray on wire rack over baking sheet for 10 minutes, before removing from pan to cool completely on rack. 

For the chocolate glaze:  Microwave chocolate chips and cream in medium bowl at 50% power, stirring occasionally until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, 1 to 3 minutes. 

Pour glaze over tops of cooled cakes, letting glaze drip down sides.

Preparing a bundt pan

My preferred method for preparing a single bundt pan or cups of a tray-style pan is to coat it thoroughly with baking spray (which contains both oil and flour). 

No baking spray? Try making a paste with oil and flour, it works just as well.    Make a paste with 1 tablespoon flour or cocoa powder (for chocolate cakes) and 1 tablespoon melted butter. 

Using a pastry brush, apply paste to inside of Bundt pans making sure to cover all the nooks and crannies with the paste.

Importance of room temperature ingredients

Temperature plays an important role in the behavior of ingredients in baking.  Use room-temperature eggs when making this recipe as they more easily incorporate than cold.  The additional mixing of required to incorporate cold eggs may adversely affect the cake’s texture.

One of Myrna’s baking tips is to not overmix the batter in order to achieve a tender cake crumb.

Eggs take about an hour to come to room temperature.  To warm more quickly place eggs in bowl of warm water (110 degrees) for about 10 minutes.

Make ahead and freezing Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes

It turns out, these cakes freeze really well and are great to pull out of the freezer when chocolate dessert craving hits. If you want to make an entire batch of Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes using the entire cake mix and instant pudding mix, simply let the cakes cool completely on a wire rack and freeze in an air-tight container, they will keep up to 4 months.  Do not glaze cakes you intend to freeze.

Take them out of the freezer the day you want serve, placing them on a wire rack to defrost.  This keeps the bottoms from becoming too wet while defrosting.  Make the glaze and pour over the cake before serving.  Defrosting takes about 1 hour.

A tip: the mini Bundt cakes are so easy to whip together that I make 2 mini Bundt’s at a time and store the leftover mix and chocolate chips for the next time I want to satisfy my chocolate craving.

Nothing better than a fresh baked Mini Chocolate Bundt cake.

More desserts for two

Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:

Pairing

These are my favorite main dishes to serve before dessert: