Chocolate Cream Cheese Tunnel Cake is an easy cake mix cousin to the famous Pillsbury Bake-Off Tunnel of Fudge Cake. I'm calling it a cousin rather than a sibling because unlike the original version which magically forms its own tunnel, this one has you spoon the tunnel ingredients over the batter before baking. The cake batter rises over it to form the tunnel. The other big difference is the fudge tunnel is made with melted chocolate and cream cheese. It's actually a chocolate cheesecake tunnel. And lastly, this is an easy cake mix tunnel cake!
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Chocolate Tunnel Cake With 15.25 oz Box Mix
The recipe is based on one I posted back in 2006, but I was still experimenting with it at the time. Plus back then cake mix came in 18.25 oz boxes, so I've had to adjust it a quite bit. The older cake mix tunnel cake had double the tunnel, but cream cheese is expensive and I wasn't sure we needed quite so much chocolate cheesecake running through the center. My Chocolate Cream Cheese Tunnel Cake calls for just one package.
Serving Temperature
I tried serving the cake straight out of the refrigerator and at cool room temperature. At first I thought it would be best chilled since the filling is cheesecake, but it's actually better at room temperature.
More Chocolate Cream Cheese Tunnel Cake Tips
This is a fun cake that doesn't require too much attention to detail, but there are a few things to note.
- Clear out a large space in the refrigerator because this cake is best chilled. Also, try to find a flat piece of cardboard or a cutting board that you can invert the cake on. Once you've chilled it, it will be easy to slide onto a serving plate or stand.
- You can dust your Bundt pan with cocoa powder or flour. I like using cocoa powder for chocolate cakes.
- Use Duncan Hines cake mix if you can. I've only tested this version with DH, but will update when I try other brands.
- To soften the cream cheese, cut it into large chunks and soften in the microwave using one of the lower settings. It's okay if it's slightly warm. It needs to be fairly soft and squishy.
- I haven't tested with regular chocolate instead of chips, but if you'd rather use that you can try using the equivalent gram amount. But the chips worked really well even for the ganache. I use Costco's Kirkland brand which are very good.
- If you don't want to bother with the corn syrup and are okay with a slightly smaller tunnel, you can make the cream cheese filling with ½ heaping cup chocolate chips, 1 package of cream cheese, 6 tablespoons of sugar and 1 ½ tablespoons of cream.
Recipe
Chocolate Cream Cheese Tunnel Cake
Equipment
Ingredients
Chocolate Cheesecake Filling
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (such as Kirkland brand) (170 grams)
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened (228 grams)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (25 grams)
- 2 tablespoons light corn syrup (40 grams)
- 1 large egg, make sure it's room temperature
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream (14 grams)
Cake
- 1 box chocolate cake mix (Duncan Hines Perfectly Moist Devil's Food) (15.25 oz)
- 1 cup cold coffee (228 grams)
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- ⅓ cup chopped pecans or walnuts or broken cookies** (optional)
Ganache
- ½ cup heavy cream (114 grams)
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips, slightly heaping (84 grams) -- you can add more if you want
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan with butter and dust with flour or unsweetened cocoa powder. You could also just spray it with flour-added baking spray.
- Put the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high for 30 seconds and stir until chips begin to melt. Repeat until chips are completely melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Cut the cream cheese into 4 large chunks and put it in a microwave-safe mixing bowl. Soften it by heating at 50% power in 30 second intervals.
- Beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar and corn syrup until smooth, then beat in the room temperature egg. Once smooth, stir in the melted chocolate and the cream. Set aside.
- Combine the cake mix, coffee, oil, and eggs in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes. Pour into prepared pan.
- Spoon the cream cheese mixture in a ring over the batter, keeping it away from the sides and center of the pan. Sprinkle nuts over the cream cheese mixture.
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 38 minutes or until top springs back when pressed lightly in the center and cake is has cracks.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then invert onto a flat surface. I like to use a small cutting board covered with a piece of foil.
- Let the cake cool out of the pan for about 30 minutes, then make the ganache. Heat the cream in a saucepan or in the microwave until it just starts to boil, then add the chocolate chips. Let stand for 1 minute, then stir until smooth. Allow the ganache to cool and thicken slightly before you spoon it on. Spoon it over the cake, letting it drip down the sides and into the center.
- Transfer the whole cake to the refrigerator and allow it to cool completely and chill slightly or just let it cool at room temperature. I think it's best served at cool room temperature.
Anna says
Cream cheese brownies are an excellent choice! You can cut them very small.
Cindy D says
Would love to make this for my birthday later this month! But it has too much sugar and we don't need leftovers, so I will probably settle for cream cheese brownies. Thanks for posting!