Chocolate-Fudge Bundt Cake

This bundt cake goes deep on chocolate two ways: melted unsweetened chocolate blended with canola oil, plus a generous helping of cocoa powder in the dry mix. The teaspoon of instant coffee in the batter is a baker’s trick; it doesn’t taste like coffee but pulls the chocolate flavor forward and makes it read darker and more intense.

The combination of mostly egg whites (with just one whole egg) and yogurt instead of butter gives the cake a tender, almost mousse-like crumb without the heaviness of a traditional pound-cake-style bundt. The hot-pan/cool-pan rule applies: cool the cake on the rack in the pan before inverting, or the surface tears when it sticks.

A simple chocolate drizzle or a dusting of confectioners’ sugar is all the finish this cake needs. The crumb is rich enough on its own that heavy frosting tips it over the edge.

Chef Tips

• Grease the bundt pan generously, getting into every crevice; a stuck cake ruins the whole presentation.
• Beat the egg whites and sugar until truly fluffy and pale; this builds the structure that gives the cake its lift.
• Don’t open the oven door before the 35-minute mark. The yogurt-and-egg-white batter can deflate from the temperature drop.
• Test for doneness with a wooden skewer in the deepest part of the cake; cocoa cakes look done long before they actually are.

Variations

• Swap a tablespoon of espresso powder for the instant coffee for a more pronounced mocha note.
• Fold a half cup of chocolate chips into the batter at the end for melted pockets throughout the cake.
• Add a tablespoon of orange zest to the batter for a chocolate-orange twist.