Mocha Swirled Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

caramel sauce and flaked salt on top of bundt cake on wire cooling rack with empty glasses behind.

Mocha Swirled Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Better than any coffee shop! This Mocha Swirled Bundt Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce is THE cake to bake any time of year. Sweet, chocolate-y, and enough coffee to put some pep in your step! SO. GOOD.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 1

Total Time: 1 25

Servings:

Calories: 474kcal

Ingredients

Cake

3½ cups all purpose flour*
1½ cups granulated sugar
2½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⅛ teaspoons salt
1¾ cups whole milk
3 large eggs
⅞ cup vegetable oil
1¾ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup bittersweet chocolate
3 Tablespoons espresso powder

Caramel

1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon lemon juice
¼ cup unsalted butter sliced
½ cup heavy cream

Instructions

Cake

Heat oven to 350℉.
Spray a 10-inch bundt pan with baking spray. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, oil, and vanilla.
Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients.
Stir to combine.
Spoon ¼ of the batter into a small bowl.
Fold in melted chocolate. Set aside.
Stir espresso powder into larger amount of batter.
Use a cookie scoop or a ladle to add batters to pan, alternating as desired.
When done, use a flat-bladed knife to swirl the batter.
Bake for 50 minutes, or until cake tests done.
Allow to cool in pan for 20-30 minutes.
Turn out onto a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.

Caramel

Heat cream and keep warm.
In a medium, heavy duty saucepan, combine sugar, salt, and lemon juice.
Cook over medium low heat, stirring continuously, until sugar melts and comes to a boil.
Continue cooking and stirring until sugar syrup turns golden brown.
Immediately remove from heat and whisk in butter.
Stir in warm cream.
Drizzle over top of cooled cake before serving.

Notes

*This recipe was written using an average of the dip and sweep method for measuring flour and the spoon and level method. If you are using a scale, you will need to add 3/4 oz or 22 g to the measurement for each cup of flour.

Substitutions:

If you don’t have espresso powder, you can use instant coffee.
A store-bought caramel sauce can be used on top of this cake, if desired.

Expert Tips:

Check the expiration date on your baking powder and baking soda.
Remember to preheat your oven!
Be careful to not over-mix your cake batter.
Don’t let the melted chocolate for the cake sit too long before stirring in the cake batter. The longer you let it cool, the higher chance you have of it solidifying.
The chocolate cake is a little thicker than the espresso cake batter. Swirling them may be difficult so be sure to swirl it thoroughly to ensure the perfect marbling.
If you’re unsure if the cake is baked, use a cake tester or an instant read thermometer to check! A cake tester should come out clean with no crumbs once the cake is completely baked. If you use a thermometer, a completely baked cake should read about 210°F.
Be sure to let this cake cool completely before serving.
When you’re melting the sugar, make sure you keep stirring! It burns very quickly.
The hardest thing about candy can actually be your burner temperatures. We cook on a natural gas range so, our low could be your medium. Keep an eye on the sugar and adjust as necessary!
A wooden spoon is the best to stir with, but you can use a whisk.
Make sure you stir around the corners of the pot as well, not just the center!
The caramel will bubble intensely after each addition – butter, cream, vanilla. Be careful!
If desired, the caramel can be made in advance.

Nutrition