This easy chocolate cream cheese pound cake comes together super fast, but tastes amazing. It’s a quick cake to throw together that everyone will love.
This cake is a doctored cake mix recipe, which makes it super easy to make and very predictable. It’s practically a no-fail cake and tastes just like you made it from scratch.
This easy bundt cake is an excellent quick dessert. People will think you’ve slaved in the kitchen to make it, but it comes together really quickly.
Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
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The great thing about this cake is that it’s so moist, you can serve it without a glaze if you want. It’s great by itself, with a glaze, or even with ice cream.
This cake is perfect for potlucks and family get-togethers.
Oh and one quick thing to note for those that are technical baking wizards, I realize that this isn’t technically a ‘pound cake’. However I’m okay with calling it that as many people call these types of cakes ‘pound cake’ in general terms. If that bothers you, feel free to call it another name.
Now, let’s talk a little bit about just some of the ingredients for this recipe. (The entire ingredient list is in the recipe card lower in this post.)
Ingredient Notes:
Unsalted Butter: You’ll want to use unsalted real butter for this recipe. It gives it a ‘from scratch’ flavor.
You’ll also want to make sure that you set the butter out at least an hour before you start making this cake as it needs to be room temperature.
Cream Cheese: This adds a little flavor and moisture to the cake. This will need to soften before using as well.
Chocolate Cake Mix: This cake starts with a cake mix that we’ll doctor up…that’s what makes it so easy.
Chocolate Pudding Mix: This will add a boost of chocolate flavor and moisture.
*The recipe card close to the end of this post will go into all the ingredients and amounts.
Mixing method:
The mixing method for this cake couldn’t be easier. You’ll essentially just mix up the butter and cream cheese first, then dump in all the other cake ingredients and mix well.
The batter will be very thick, so you’ll most likely need to switch to hand mixing once you get all the ingredients incorporated.
For the glaze, you’ll literally just add the ingredients to the bowl, microwave and mix well.
*The recipe card below will show all the steps.
Tips & FAQs:
It’s really best to use real butter for this recipe. I have not tested this recipe with margarine, but if you want to experiment with it, feel free to test it out.
You can, but you just can’t predict how salty it will be. If that’s all you have though, you can try it.
This cake is moist and will stick the pan if you don’t
If you try to mix them cold, the batter will be very hard to mix.
I used Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix, but you can probably use any chocolate cake mix you like. Just note that you won’t be adding the ingredients that the cake mix box calls for. You’ll instead, add the ingredients that the recipe below calls for.
Yes, but you would want to change out the pudding mix with a different flavor and perhaps add a different glaze. I do have another recipe for a vanilla version of this cake here: Vanilla Cream Cheese Pound Cake
You’ll want to use a small box of the instant pudding mix. You won’t be adding the other ingredients that the pudding mix will call for on the box, you’ll just add in the dry pudding mix.
Just know that you don’t want to add any additional liquid to the batter. If it gets too thick for your mixer, just switch to hand mixing it.
That’s okay. The batter will not fill up the pan, but it will rise quiet high during baking.
No, but it does help to firm it up a bit and it adds shine.
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Ok let’s get to the recipe!
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe
Easy Chocolate Cream Cheese Pound Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese (softened)
- 2 tsps vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 box chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix)
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 3.4 oz pkg. instant chocolate pudding mix (dry)
- ⅓ cup milk
- ¼ cup water
- 4 large eggs
For the glaze:
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup (optional, but helps to add shine and to firm up the glaze)
- ½ cup heavy cream (sometimes called whipping cream – not whipped cream, half and half should work as well)
Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10″ bundt pan very well.
- Mix butter, cream cheese and extracts very well until completely smooth.
- Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix on medium to medium/high until incorporated. Once the batter starts to thicken up, you may need to switch from the electric mixer to hand mixing it.
- The batter will be very thick. You don't want to add any more liquid to it.
- Add to prepared pan and smooth the batter evenly. The batter will not fill the entire pan up to the top. That is normal as the cake will rise quite high when baking.
- Bake at 325 for 55-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the top will come out with a few moist crumbs on it, but not raw batter.
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn out of the pan onto the wire rack and cool completely before adding a glaze or powdered sugar.
For the glaze:
- In a bowl, add the chocolate chips, butter, cream and corn syrup. Melt in the microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute. Once melted, mix until smooth. Either spoon the glaze onto the cake or add to a squeeze bottle and then squeeze onto the the top of the cake.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Raquel EG Herrera
I would love to bake this cake especially it looks and sounds so good, but I don’t use box cake mixes I wish there is a recipe to make cake mix flour. I would greatly appreciate if you have one. Thank you!
Kara
Hi there, I’m so sorry, but I don’t have a recipe for dry cake mix. It’s usually a combination of flour, sugar, leavening ingredients, additives and preservatives. It would take experimenting with different measurements of ingredients to make sure it all came out the same though as that would essentially make this a scratch cake. Hopefully, in the future, I can put up a scratch version of this cake, but I would need to do some experimenting and testing first.
Natalie
hi! Can you make this recipe into a layer cake? I am trying to find a recipe almost brownie like, but still cakey- this one looks very moist!!
Thanks for your time!
Kara
Hi Natalie, I haven’t tried this as a layer cake. I think it would probably be fine though. The texture would probably be a little more dense than your average layer cake, but it sounds like that’s what you’re going for anyway…something more brownie-like. I’d probably use two, 8-inch round pans and bake at 325 degrees F. Since I haven’t tried it in layer cake pans, I’m not sure how long it would take to bake, but I’m guess around 35-45 minutes or so. You’ll just want to keep an eye on it. One other thing…you might not need to add all the batter to the two pans. Just fill each pan about 2/3 of the way up and see how far that gets you. If there’s extra, you can make a few cupcakes out of it. Hope this helps.
Natalie
Thank you very much! I am going to try it out. I have to actually make a 10in cake with it. Didn’t know if you have any tips for a 10in cake? Do you think 1x the recipe will fill the 10in pan ok? Would you still bake it at 325 and for how long? Sorry for all the questions, I’m sure I’ll figure it all out, but appreciate your expertise! Thanks again 😊
Kara
Hey Natalie, no worries for all the questions. Ok, if you’re doing two 10 inch round cake pans then I would actually mix up a recipe batch and a half. Mix it all up together, then pour into the two pans. That’s for two 10 inch layers. You might have a little left over, but that’s better than having thin layers. So yes, still bake it at 325 F. It’ll probably be around the same amount of time, but just keep an eye on it and use a toothpick in the middle at the end of the bake time. Do you have any heating cores for your pans? They’re things you put into the center of baking pans to help it bake evenly when using large pans. If you have any, use those. I do when I bake in anything that’s 10 inches or larger. If you don’t, it’s not mandatory. Just don’t bake at any higher than the 325 degrees F so that the middle will be done as well and not just the outside. Let me know how it goes!
Natalie
Thank you Kara, this recipe worked out great! I ended up doing 1x the recipe for one 10in pan at 325 for 55min. Came out perfect! the layers were about 2in high, but that worked for what I was trying to achieve. I got alot of comments that this was the best cake some had ever tasted! I paired it with a white chocolate buttercream and a white chocolate whipped cream frosting in the middle (brownie sundae theme) it was definitely a hit! I think I am going to use it again this weekend for my son’s birthday too! Thank you again, I just love your recipes! 🙂
Kara
Oh yay! I’m so glad it worked out. Oh and happy birthday to your son!
Natalie
Hello again Kara,
This recipe was a huge hit also at my son’s birthday! Very moist, makes a great layer cake. I had another quick question for you. I would like to try it with a yellow cake mix. I noticed you have a vanilla version if this cake. I was wondering what pudding mix and extracts you would recommend for making it a yellow cake version instead? Thanks for your time 🙂
Kara
So glad it was a hit! Yay!
So, if you want to try a yellow cake mix, you could just use a vanilla pudding mix and vanilla extract, then cover with a chocolate glaze. I LOVE that classic combo of yellow cake and chocolate frosting so I think that would be delicious. You could even add in some mini chocolate chips to the batter (maybe about a cup). That would really take it over the top. 🙂
Beverly
This cake is delicious! I made it for company and they couldn’t say enough about how moist and good it was. My grown grandson said it was the best chocolate cake he had ever had. 😍
Kara
Oh wow, the best chocolate cake! That is a major compliment!😊 I’m so glad everyone loved it and thank you so much for the great review.💖
Pam Vizuete
You were so right about this wonderful recipe. Truly THE BEST chocolate bundt cake ever! I am making it for the third time. I used your recipe exactly except for a scant 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon which I always use with chocolate cake. Awesome.
Kara
Yay, Pam! I’m so glad you loved this one! It’s definitely one of my favorites. I love the idea of adding the hint of cinnamon…I think it goes perfectly with chocolate. I also do that with my chocolate chip cookies and it’s so good. Thanks so much for your awesome review!
Kim S.
Awesome, Awesome!!! Took this cake to work and received a wonderful comment from ALL my co-workers.
Kara
Oh yay, Kim! So glad your co-workers loved it and thanks for the great review!
Brenda
Noticed several months ago boxed cake mixes are now 13.25 oz, rather than the 15.25 oz they were last year. Has anyone made this cake with the 13.25 oz mix? How did it turn out?
Kara
Hi Brenda, ugh I hate that they keep giving us less for our money. I think that the recipe should still work for this cake though. I made it about a month ago. I don’t remember though if the box said 15.25 or 13.25. I just looked in my cabinet and there is a mix of both. I only use Betty Crocker’s but some of my mixes say 15.25 and some say 13.25. It’s weird. If you’re worried about it turning out the same, you could always add in an additional 1/4 – 1/2 cup flour. That should make up for the lost 2 ounces I think. Hope this helps!
Brenda
Hi Kara,
I made the cake with the 13.25 oz cake mix and it may have been a bit smaller than it would have been. It was delicious, though! My husband suggested that I keep an extra box of mix to use 2 oz whenever making cakes. It may not be long before I try his idea, because this cake is not gonna last very long! Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe!
Kara
Thanks for letting me know how it turned out! I think your husband has an excellent idea. Tell him thank you and I will most likely suggest that in the future. I think just adding a bit of flour will work as well, but the extra cake mix will have more flavor for sure. Glad it still turned out though!
Nancy
Hi Kara!
My family loves a white cake with chocolate frosting. I have tried your other white cake recipes, but this sounds so good that I’d like to try it in a 9×13 with the chocolate glaze from this recipe. Do you think that would work and how long would you bake it? I love your site!
Thank you!
Kara
Hi Nancy, hmmm that’s a good question. I haven’t tried this one in a 9×13 pan. I think it could work though. It might be a little more dense than the usual 9×13 cake, since it’s more of a pound cake texture, but I think it would still be good. I’d probably bake it at 325 F and I’d start to check it around 30 minutes or so. It may take a bit longer than that to bake though, but to be on the safe side, I’d just set a timer for that and check on it then and go from there. Oh another thing I just thought of, watch how full it is in the pan. It does puff up quite a bit when baking, so make sure that there is still room in the pan for it to rise and not overflow. There might be a little extra batter left over. I’d make that extra batter into chocolate ‘muffins’ though. 😉 I’d love to hear how it turns out in the 9×13!
Frances Winegeart
My first time ever making a pound cake, and I chose this Chocolate one. It turned out wonderful. Thank you
Kara
Hi Frances, that’s great! I’m so glad you liked it and thanks for the awesome review!