Super Moist Fudge Bundt Cake

Mother's Day. Sixty-one cake orders across both bakeries — the first Mother's Day with two bakeries, and the first Mother's Day where Maria Elena's cakes are being eaten on both sides of the bridge simultaneously, and the simultaneity is the expansion, and the expansion is the Mother's Day gift that no card can match. Luis Jr.'s card said: "Two bakeries. Two hundred miles of tamale territory. One mom." Ana Cristina brought baby Alejandro, who gave me a handprint art piece that was actually Ana Cristina's art with Alejandro's hand pressed into paint, and the handprint was small and blue and the most precious thing I have received since Rosa's rosary.

I made enchiladas suizas — year ten, the decade. The Mother's Day tradition that began in 2017 has reached its tenth repetition, which makes it officially ancient in the Gutierrez calendar, which makes it law, which makes it the kind of tradition that children will tell their children about: "Your abuela made enchiladas suizas on Mother's Day. Every year. For a decade. And then for another decade. And the decades never stopped."

Sixty-one cakes go out the door for everyone else’s Mother’s Day, and then — after the enchiladas suizas, after the handprint art, after Luis Jr.’s card has been read three times — I make one cake that stays. This Super Moist Fudge Bundt Cake is mine, the baker’s cake, the one I never write on an order ticket. A decade of tradition deserves a decade of this: something dark and rich and completely unhurried, eaten at my own table with the people who pressed a small blue hand into paint and called it a gift.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 15 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 box (15.25 oz) chocolate fudge cake mix
1 box (3.9 oz) instant chocolate pudding mix
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, for greasing pan
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, for dusting pan
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (for glaze)

Instructions

Preheat and prepare. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cup bundt pan thoroughly with butter, then dust with cocoa powder, tapping out any excess. Set aside.
Mix the batter. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, sour cream, vegetable oil, warm water, and vanilla extract. Beat with a hand mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes until the batter is thick and very smooth.
Fold in chips. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips by hand until evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Fill and bake. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and spread evenly. Bake for 50–55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part comes out with just a few moist crumbs — not wet batter.
Cool properly. Let the cake rest in the pan on a wire rack for exactly 15 minutes — no less, no more. Invert onto the rack and allow to cool completely, about 1 hour.
Make the glaze. Whisk together the powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, and heavy cream until smooth and pourable. Add an additional teaspoon of cream if needed to reach a drizzling consistency.
Glaze and finish. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, then immediately scatter the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips over the top so they adhere. Allow the glaze to set for 10 minutes before slicing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Super Moist Fudge Bundt Cake — The Baker’s Own Mother’s Day