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!
This month’s Bundt-A-Month theme is Boozy December! Pick your favorite liqueur and incorporate it into a bundt; OR get inspired by your favorite cocktail OR mocktail and bake a bundt! How cool is that?! Now, as I said earlier, I love baking but I don’t bake much at all with liqueur . . but I was up for the challenge! I chose the mini bundts so I could just add the liqueur to only a couple bundt cakes (the ones with no sprinkles) and kept the rest booze-free for the girls and to give away.
Personally, the Kahlua added a nice hint of flavor with the chocolate glaze and cake. A lot of recipes call for 1 cup or 1/2 cup of Kahlua when baking with it but I just drizzled a small amount. Some recipes have you add the Kahlua directly into the cake batter (and you can add coffee too!) or just brush it directly on the baked cake like I did. If you want to try something for Boozy December, give this recipe a try and let me know how you like it! The vanilla cakes are seriously delicious!! Maybe next time I’ll go for the 1/2 cup of Kahlua into the batter!
I hope you enjoy!
Vanilla Mini Bundt Cakes with Kahlua
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL THE INGREDIENTS AT ROOM TEMP (ESP THE BUTTER, MILK AND EGGS). This recipe is for mini bundt cakes but can easily be used for a REGULAR full-sized bundt pan. Adjustment: you will need to bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.
Servings: 6
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
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
Prettiest little Bundts I ever did see, Alice! And I am definitely trying that chocolate glaze. It looks wonderful!
Thank you so much, Stacy! Let me know how the glaze works for you! 🙂
They are adorable Alice! The glaze is perfect and mini bundts get me every time. Who wouldn´t want to eat them? Have a great weekend!
Thank you so much, Paula! 🙂 These are easier to give away too!
These are the cutest little cakes EVER! I love the addition of kahlua with chocolate. Yum! Happy #BAM! Pinned.
Thank you, Jennie!
Awesome mini bundts, aren’t the fun to make?! I love the chocolate glaze and decorations, so festive. I have a definite soft spot for Kahlua, yum!
Thank you, Deb! Totally loved baking the mini bundts!! 🙂
As always, your pictures astound me Alice! So beautiful. Love the classic pairing of vanilla, chocolate and coffee flavors. These little bundts sound so good!
Thank you so much, Kate! 🙂
I love your mini bundts! They are just gorgeous. Your photos on FB of your little princess with them were so precious. Happy Birthday to her again. Great baking tips on the bundts (especially the cocoa powder tip). Thanks for baking with us again, Alice xx
Thank you, Lora! And thanks for the comment about Madeline! 🙂 She had a mini bundt, peanut butter cookies and a real birthday cake for her bday! so spoiled! 😛
great post! thanks for all the good bundt tips… your cakes look adorable (& delish)! i love kahlua…
Thank you, Allie!
These are so cute! Where did you buy the mini cupcake stand? I love it!
Hi Julianne! The cupcake stand is from Bed, Bath and Beyond. . and it was super cheap, $4.99. Here’s the link: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=18645351
The glaze is perfect, Alice! Totally drawing me in. I don’t know how you managed to take pictures. This wouldn’t make it out of the kitchen for me! Absolutely stunning. Thanks for baking along! 🙂
Thank you, Anuradha! Getting the bundts photographed in natural sunlight was my goal! 🙂 There was no time to enjoy even one! I had to take the photos right away! 🙂
Yum, I think Kahlua would be delicious in a cake! I really love your cake stand, do you change out the color of the ribbon for different cakes? I saw one at Home Goods recently and must go back to buy it as an early Christmas gift to myself! And the mini cake stand to go with the mini Bundt– fabulous!!
Thank you so much, Holly! I just purchased this cake stand . . but yes, I think I am going to switch out the ribbon occasionally. . I also photographed it without any ribbon and it looks nice and classic that way. YES! Go back and get it. . nothing wrong with an early Christmas present for yourself! 🙂
Baking lifts my spirits, too! It’s a stress reliever for me. 🙂
Your mini bundts are beautiful! I am loving your stand…we need to swap! 😉
Oh, Alice – we all have our kitchen mishaps. That’s why I have an entire category on my blog for Epic Fails. This, however, is you rising above baking adversity – these lil bundts look fantastic! Especially with that thick, luxurious chocolate glaze dripping all over the place. And I’m sure I’ve said this before but I covet your cake stand. Nice touch with the chocolate ribbon!
How wonderful! Those bundt cakes look so gorgeous and great tips on how to dust bundt pan with cocoa powder.
Those are SO adorable Alice and beautiful!!! I love them. I have that same cake stand but with red ribbon!! I love all of your vibrant posts 🙂
Baking is totally my favorite kind of therapy! And holy cow, mama: I want these little boozy bundts in my life!!!!
What beautiful little bundts! It may have taken two tries, but you did great! And Kahlua certainly adds a nice touch. 🙂
Hi, I was just getting set to make these and noticed your recipe makes 6. My mini bundt pan has 12. Help! Does the cooking time and all the ingredients stay the same?? I was making these for a party today!
Hi Nicole!
You will have to double the recipe so you have enough batter and yes, cooking time should be the same but insert a toothpick to make sure the mini bundt cakes are cooked! Please let me know how they turn out for you!! 🙂 Happy Saturday!
THANK YOU!!!
You are so welcome!! Hope they turn out well for you!! 🙂 PS: make sure you spray the bundt pan with either non-stick spray or grease with butter and also sprinkle a little flour in there so the cakes pop out after they have cooled. Sometimes, the hardest thing about a bundt is releasing it from the pan! 🙂
As it turns out…I didn’t need to double the batter. I guess my bundts are “baby” bundts. Haha, I ended up with enough batter for 12 baby bundts (its a Wilton pan), and I used the leftover to make 22 cupcakes. I only cooked the tiny bundts for 15 minutes and they came out perfect. Can’t wait to try them!
Oh great! How did they taste? I hope you liked them!
Ooh! This looks great! I’ve never baked with kahlua before, but I definitely want the coffee taste in the glaze! I ran out of heavy cream, and haven’t got the time to run out to buy it; could I substitute the heavy cream with whole milk?
For the chocolate glaze/ganache? I’ve never tried it with whole milk. . I would think you’re not going to get the same consistency . . and you want the perfect chocolate glaze for this. If you can’t go out and get some, do you have liquid coffee creamer you can use? If you try the whole milk, let me know how it works! it might work since you’re also adding butter but again, I’m sure the consistency will be different.
I used the whole milk and added a bit of light corn syrup, and it thickened nicely after leaving it for 10minutes 🙂 thanks!
Oh that’s great!!! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂