Baking has become very therapeutic for me. When I’m having a bad day or – lately, getting fed up with daylight savings and the fact that it looks pitch black outside at 4pm (here in Seattle), baking always seems to do the trick for me. Lifts my spirit. Or, in the very least, I can offer up something to a friend or neighbor and brighten their day. I love knowing that when I mix eggs, butter and sugar etc, I will usually get something wonderful.
This was my first time baking with a mini bundt pan, so I foolishly baked it for the same amount of time I would have a regular sized bundt cake and over baked my first batch. I was testing a new chocolate cake recipe with a dry pudding mix and they came out like hockey pucks. Here are a few things I’ve learned so far re: bundt cakes:
- Mini bundt cakes should be baked for less time; probably no more than 20-25 minutes
- If making a chocolate bundt cake, when you grease and dust the bundt pan, dust with cocoa powder instead of flour so you won’t have white marks on your cake!
- If made the right way, the mini bundt cakes will overflow while baking and you will end up with lovely, scrumptious mini bundt cake tops (like muffin tops) that you can cut off and devour immediately. . well not immediately but soon after they have cooled a bit! My chocolate hockey puck tops were all thrown into the trash. . as were the pucks themselves. Horrible.
- All bundt cakes are beautiful. If you don’t own a bundt pan, go buy one!
Vanilla Mini Bundt Cakes with Kahlua
Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 1/4 sticks
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs lightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup Kahlúa
FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
- 1/2 stick 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- 5 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate finely chopped OR semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels OR a blend of both milk chocolate and semi-sweet morsels
- Sprinkles any kind; optional
Instructions
FOR THE CAKE:
- Position your rack inside your oven to the lower third and preheat to 375 degrees. Grease and flour the wells of your mini bundt pan; tap out the excess flour.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth, about 30 seconds. Add the granulated sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, about 4-5 minutes. Stop the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla until well incorporated, about 1 minute.
- Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Beat each addition until just incorporated, again, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Spoon about 2/3 cup of batter into each well and spread in the batter evenly. Bake until the cakes are lightly golden and a toothpick inserted in between the edge and the corner of the cakes comes out clean, for about 20-25 minutes. DO NOT OVERCOOK. When finished, transfer the pan to a wooden cutting board or other safe, cooling surface and let cool for about 10 to 15 minutes.
- After this time, while the cakes are still a little warm, remove the cakes from the bundt pan and transfer to a wire rack on a cookie sheet. While the bundt cakes are still cooling, punch holes with a toothpick into the cake and drizzle very lightly or brush on the Kahlúa.
FOR THE GLAZE:
- START THE GLAZE WHILE THE CAKES ARE COOLING.
- Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat, then stir in the heavy cream and confectioners sugar. Add the chocolate chips and stir with a whisk until smooth. Remove from heat and keep stirring until you have reached the desired consistency.
- Spoon on, pour or drizzle the glaze over the top and sides of each cake. Add sprinkles immediately if desired.
Vanilla cake recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma.
Boozy December Bundt-A-Month Round-Up!
Please check out all of the lovely Boozy Bundt-a-Month Recipes! This is quite the line up and perfect for the holidays!! I hope you enjoy!!
Araby Spice-Limoncello Bundt Cake with Limoncello Glaze by Lora from Cake Duchess Bailey’s and Buttershots Bundt Cake by Karen from In The Kitchen With KP Banana Pineapple Bundt Cake with Coconut Rum Glaze by Carrie from Poet In The Pantry Chocolate Bourbon Mini Bundt by Holly from A Baker’s House Chocolate Port Bundt Cake by Paula from Vintage Kitchen Eggnog Rum Pound Cake by Dorothy from Shockingly Delicious Madeira Pound Bundt Cake by Renee from Magnolia Days Mint Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake with Creme de Menthe by Laura from The Spiced Life Shirley Temple Bundt Cake by Kim Beaulieu from Cravings Of A Lunatic Spiked Eggnog Bundt Cake with Bourbon Glaze by Kate from Food Babbles Sweet Potato Bourbon Bundt by Jennie from The Messy Baker Blog Long Island Iced TeaCake by Deb from Knitstamatic Rum and Raisin Butter Bundt with Rum Honey Glaze by Stacy from Food Lust People Love Tiramisu Bundt Cake with Kahlúa Mascarpone Glaze by Anuradha from Baker Street Vanilla and Bourbon Cake by Kate from Diet Hood Vanilla Mini Bundt Cakes with Kahlúa by Alice from Hip Foodie MomHere’s how you can be a part of Bundt-a-Month:
Get inspired by your favorite cocktail, mocktail or just use your favorite liqueur and bake us a Bundt for Boozy December.- Post it before December 31, 2012.- Use the #BundtAMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title should read #BundtAMonth: Chocolate Cinnamon Bundt)- Add your entry to the Linky tool below- Link back to both Lora and Anuradha’s announcement posts. Follow Bundt-a-Month on Facebook where we feature all our gorgeous bundt cakes. Or head over to our Pinterest board for inspiration and choose from over 350 Bundt cake recipes.Powered by Linky Tools
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