Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Bundt Cake

This fabulous Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Bundt Cake combines pumpkin purée, fall spices and chocolate to make a scrumptious pumpkin chocolate bundt cake worthy of special occasions.

If you're looking for a seasonal cake to wow your guests with at your next fall dinner party without having to spend hours on dessert, this Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Bundt Cake is it!

This super moist, dense and tender pumpkin cake is spiced with just the right amount and combination of warm spices. The layer of melted chocolate and crumbly pumpkin spice and brown sugar mixture in this pumpkin cake is sure to make this an unforgettable dessert. 

The aroma coming out of your oven while this bundt cake bakes will make your mouth water with anticipation of your first bite.

Jump to:

• How to make it
• Ingredients Overview
• Steps Overview
• Pumpkin Bundt Cake Variations
• Serving Suggestions
• Storage Instructions
• More Pumpkin Recipes
• Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Bundt Cake Recipe

How to make it

Making this pumpkin cake recipe from scratch requires a few steps but it is easy to make and you won't need an electric mixer for this recipe. Adding the chocolate swirl is optional ( I go over some options below) but it really adds a special touch to this cake and makes it worthy of special occasions. 

To be clear, this pumpkin bundt cake doesn't get made by swirling a pumpkin batter with a chocolate batter. Instead, we melt chocolate to add a chocolate swirl in the middle of the cake.

If you're looking for a marbled cake that swirls  both pumpkin batter and chocolate batter together, take a look at this Marbled Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf Cake instead.

Here's an overview of the ingredients needed for this pumpkin and chocolate bundt cake. You will find the amounts in the recipe card at the end of this post. 

Ingredients Overview

• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda: Makes the cake rise
• Pure pumpkin purée: Make sure you use canned pumpkin purée and not pumpkin pie filling. I have not made this using homemade pumpkin puree, if you decide to try it, make sure to blot out any excess moisture from it. 
• Canola, vegetable oil or other light tasting oil: If using coconut oil, make sure to melt it before measuring.
• Brown and granulated sugars
• Ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg
• Large eggs: Use room temperature eggs.
• Pure vanilla extract: Adds flavor to the cake.
• Salt: Enhances all the flavors.
• Dark chocolate chips: I use semisweet chocolate chips in this recipe.

Steps Overview

1. Heat oven and grease and flour your bundt pan so that your cake releases easily.
2. Into a large mixing bowl, sift the flour along with the baking soda and salt. 
3. Into a small bowl add the ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg, whisk to combine. 
4. Add one teaspoon of the spice mixture into the flour bowl, whisk to combine and set aside.
5. Add 1/4 cup of brown sugar to the bowl containing the spices, combine the brown sugar and spices and set it aside. This spice mixture will give your cake a burst of flavor and a nice crumbly topping.
6. In a separate large bowl, combine the pumpkin purée, granulated sugar, the remaining brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Stir to blend your wet ingredients together. 
7. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave oven making sure to do it in short 20 to 25-second increments and stirring in between so you don't burn the chocolate.
8. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mix well and pour approximately half of your batter into your bundt cake pan. Spread all of the melted chocolate over the batter and evenly sprinkle half of the brown sugar and spice mixture onto the chocolate.
9. Pour the remaining batter in the pan and sprinkle the top with the remaining spice and sugar mixture. Bake the bundt in a preheated oven for approximately 55 to 60 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
10. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes and then turn out to cool completely. Remember to flip this cake over again to have the brown sugar and spice mixture showing on the top part of the cake.

Pumpkin Bundt Cake Variations

This is a great recipe because it is quite versatile. Here are some variations you can make to the recipe:

• You could add 1/2 a cup of chopped walnuts or pecans to this cake. A great way to incorporate them would be to add them to the spice and brown sugar mixture, this way you'll have nuts in the middle and on top of the cake.
• If the idea of adding a chocolate swirl seems like too much trouble, use the chocolate chips to make a pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake instead. Just add the chocolate chips to the batter once it's all combined and give it a good stir. If you choose this option, I would suggest you just add the spices to the flour mixture and forget about adding the spice and sugar mixture in the middle and on top of the cake. This way you also leave out the 1/4 cup of brown sugar that gets added to the spice mixture.
• If you prefer a plain pumpkin spice cake just leave the chocolate chips out. Add the spices to the flour mixture and omit the extra 1/4 cup of brown sugar.
• Make the cake healthier by adding in some whole grains. Try replacing up to half of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour.

Serving Suggestions

This pumpkin bundt cake is a great way to celebrate and experience the flavors of the autumn season. It would make a great dessert to serve at a Halloween party or at Thanksgiving dinner. Though this moist pumpkin cake is delicious on its own, you can always serve it with a scoop of ice cream. 

Storage Instructions

Cover the cooled chocolate pumpkin cake with a cake dome or use plastic wrap to cover it loosely. After serving the cake store any leftovers in an airtight container. Cake can be frozen for up to three months wrapped well in plastic wrap and then again with aluminum foil.

I hope you'll find this pumpkin bundt cake is a great way to celebrate and experience the flavors of the autumn season.

If you love pumpkin desserts you'll want to check out this Maple Pumpkin Roll Cake, it's devine!

More Pumpkin Recipes

• Chocolate Swirled Pumpkin Loaf
• Pumpkin Walnut Bread
• Pumpkin Scones with Espresso Glaze
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins