Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Like straight up chocolate, with a hint of tangy cheesecake goodness!
Texture: Oh man. Rich and moist yet light and fluffy, with a luscious cheesecake filling and crazy fudgy chocolate glaze.
Ease: Easy but messy.
Appearance: Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous.
Pros: Sassy twist on a classic dessert.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Oh yeah.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
I have kind of an obsession with desserts that contain a secret surprise filling. Between my recent Fudge Filled Cookies and this Cheesecake Filled Chocolate Bundt Cake, I am apparently on a mission to delight the pants off our taste buds.
I remember being a kid and my parents ordering the occasional fast food “family meal” that always seemed to come with a bundt cake as a dessert. And you know what? Those cakes were gross. SO insanely dry, bland, and boring. They weren’t even worth eating, unless you’re a kid and just want sugar in any form. I was turned off of bundt cakes for years until I started making my own.
Here are Handle the Heat bundt cakes are actually worth indulging in. Chocolate cakes actually taste like chocolate. Plus they’re RICH as can be, I want you to almost think you’re eating a brownie. But still light and fluffy. A culinary contradiction. Not to mention I don’t do boring simple cakes. I go over the top, like stuffing a cake with cream cheese and drenching it in the thickest, fudgiest glaze possible. Even using ingredients like sour cream and a hint of espresso powder to really amp up the flavor. That’s my kind of cake, and I hope it’s yours too.
Holly on Instagram made this recipe and says, “The deep chocolate flavor pairs perfectly with the tangy cream cheese.” Check out her gorgeous photo:
Cheesecake Filled Chocolate Bundt Cake
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
For the cake:
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-processed
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon espresso powder
- 3/4 cup boiling water
- 1 3/4 cups (7.87 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 5 large eggs, at room temperature
For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons corn syrup
- 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray.
For the filling:
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add the egg, vanilla, and flour until well combined. Set aside.
For the cake:
- Combine the cocoa, chocolate, and espresso powder in a large bowl. Pour the boiling water into the bowl and cover. Let stand for 5 minutes. In a small bowl whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
- Whisk the chocolate mixture until it is smooth. Let cool to room temperature. When it has cooled, whisk in the sour cream.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla for about 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until combined. On low speed gradually add the flour mixture and the melted chocolate mixture alternatively, beginning and ending with the flour, until the batter is smooth.
- Pour a little more than half the batter into the prepared pan. Pour the cheesecake filling into the center of the batter, not allowing it to touch the edges of the pan. Pour the remaining batter of the filling.
- Bake the cake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs. Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn the cake out and let cool completely.
For the glaze:
- In a small saucepan heat the cream and corn syrup over medium heat until hot. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, whisking until smooth. Let cool slightly until thickened. Drizzle over the cake. Let the glaze set at room temperature, about 10 minutes, before serving.
Hi Tessa,
This recipe calls for dutch processed cocoa and baking soda. I read somewhere that dutch processed cocoa is usually paired with baking powder for leavening. Is there any truth to this?
Such a beautiful cake! What lovely flavors MasterRusk
Hi all,
I made this cake today and it’s so beautiful and taste great even thou you can’t really taste the cream cheese, so my advise is double the CC. I followed the recipe exactly and the cheese was a bit runny, but I put it in the fridge till I was ready for it and spooned it onto the bottom batter and it turned out great…. I only used spray and it never stuck once. Thank you Tessa I am trying to post picture.
Sorry, but the cheese filling part was annoying as hell you could’ve suggested a piping bag which is what I think you used..and the measurements feel like they are way too much???. Too calorie heavy and complicated for no reason, I get that it’s dessert but the taste is not to die for. Will not make again.
Suggestions. 1…spray the pan well and then powder it with flour or cocoa powder..
my delicious cake stuck to the bottom of the pan when ot was done. ( I knew this but …DUHHH I followed the recipe.)
2. For a 10 cup Bundt pan, bake it 60-65 minutes.
3. Add a couple teaspoons of lemon juice to the cheesecake filling.
I made this for a coworker’s birthday. It was good but mine turned out a bit dry and the cheesecake filling was dry. I’m not sure what I did wrong but I’m going to try it again because it was good enough to want to see if I can do better. Thank you for the recipe!
I just baked this cake for my husband’s birthday. It’s cooling now so I can’t comment on the taste but I made it exactly as written. My batter wasn’t runny, my cream cheese mixture was easy to put in and it cooked for only 5 minutes longer than suggested. The prep took me a while as I am not a experienced with baking in any way.
I didn’t have the problems others had and right now it looks perfect. I can’t wait to surprise him tonight when he cuts it open!
Hi Tessa- just saw this recipe for the time. It says 1 1/2 sticks butter (6 oz) wouldn’t that be 12 oz since one stick equals 8 oz? Thanks!
1 stick is 4 ounces!
I made this cake exactly as written. It was for my husband’s birthday. It was incredible!!! OMG! Worth the effort! Only problem, it is dangerous if you are watching your waist 🙂 Share it. YUM!
I was worried about some of the issues others were having, but I took a chance on this. I’m glad it did, it turned out delicious! I swirled some cherry preserves into the cheesecake to add a little extra pizzazz. I also had the issue with there being more cake than pan, and it baked for about 75 minutes, but it came out well, and it was done all the way through. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Just made this cake and followed the recipe exactly. Too much batter for the pan so it overflowed a bit. Although toothpick came out dry and top of cake was almost burnt, when I turned the cake over after cooling a bit, it pretty much fell apart and was goppy in middle including cheesecake filling – it was significantly undercooked.
I have it in the freezer now trying to firm it up before trying to camouflage it with the chocolate glaze but I’m not optimistic. Seems to taste wonderful from the gop I got on my hands trying to shape it up but there’s something wrong with the cook time. I make a lot of cakes and haven’t ever had this happen to me before.
This cake looks and tastes awesome! After reading all of the comments I used a chocolate cake mix and added about 3/4 cup sour cream. I followed the filling recipe but added the 2 Tbs flour others recommended. I received rave reviews from my dinner guests! The cake was super moist and there’s plenty of cheesecake filling. Thanks for everyone’s suggestions!