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!
Jump to:
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.
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Supplies & tools:
Ok let’s get to the recipe!
***I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are used to seeing and using. For weight in metric measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s a best guess. Please note that because I develop recipes using ‘cups’ I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results.
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
How to Share
I’d love for you to share this recipe link or tag it, but please do not share screenshots or copy/paste the recipe to social media as the content and photographs are copyright protected and we (bloggers) work really hard on our content. Sharing the link, tagging us on socials and pinning it is super appreciated though!
Leave a Reply