Bundt cakes are always welcome at parties and bake sales and with some mini Bundt cake recipes, everybody can have a little cake to call their own.
Where did that Cake Come from
In 1950, H. David Dalquist created the Bundt cake pan. He lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the time and made the cake pan at the request of the local Hadassah society. Up until that time, the bundkuchen cakes, that were traditional to the German immigrants of the area were made in heavy cast iron cake pans. Mr. Dalquist's creation made the traditional cakes much easier to make because his pans were made of aluminum and were lighter and easier to manage than the heavier cake pans. For 16 years, the newly created Bundt pans were insanely popular with the Hadassah society and their friends. But in 1966, a contestant in a Pillsbury baking contest came in second place with a Bundt cake that was called the "tunnel of fudge" cake. After that, Bundt cakes became the rage across America.
If you happened across a bake sale or a church event in the late 60s and early 70s, you would find a Bundt cake there. In the 80s, Bundt cakes fell out of favor, but I don't know why. They are delicious, easy, and fun to make. Bundts are versatile as well...you can make a coffee cake Bundt, a plain yellow Bundt cake, a chocolate chip Bundt cake or, yes, even a tunnel of fudge Bundt cake. But what if you are looking for something a bit smaller than a two-pound ring of pound cake? Well, my friend, then you are looking for a mini Bundt cake.
The Pan That Can
No matter which Mini Bundt cake recipes you want to bake up, you will need a mini Bundt pan in which to bake it. Here is where your options get interesting. You can get mini Bundt pans as single cake pans, four cake pans, six cake pans, and even 12 mini cakes in one pan. The designs for mini Bundt pans vary from the basic original slightly ribbed design to spirals, Bavarian, festive, star shaped, rose, garland, sunflower, and even a mini angel food cake pan for those so inclined to bake up six mini angel food cakes. Some of these mini Bundt pans use 2 1/2 cups of batter while the 12 cake mini cake pans use 1/4 cup of batter per cake. In a strange twist, while most pans are made of aluminum like Mr. Dalquist's original design, some of the mini Bundt pans are ceramic, iron, or even steel coated with a non-stick layer. These are the materials he was trying to avoid and the reason why he made his cake pan out of aluminum.
Mini Bundt Cake Recipes
Once you have chosen the mini Bundt pan you want to use, you will need to fill it with cake. Since most mini Bundt pans are coated with a non-stick layer, a quick spray with non-stick spray will guarantee that your cakes pop out of the pans when they are cooled.
Lemon Pecan cake
Ingredients
- 2 sticks of butter
- 1 1/2cups sugar
- 1 cup firmly packed sugar
- 6 eggs
- 3 cups of cake flour
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup of chopped pecans
- Zest of two lemons chopped fine
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup of sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Using a stand mixer, beat butter, sugar, and brown sugar together until they become light and fluffy.
- Scrape the butter/sugar mixture down.
- Continue to mix.
- Add the eggs one at a time waiting until each egg is completely incorporated. Scrape down the bowl before adding the next egg.
- Sift the flour, nutmeg, salt, and baking soda.
- Add the flour mixture to the eggs one cup at a time, letting each cup fully incorporate before adding the next cup.
- Once the flour has been completely added, add the vanilla and the lemon zest.
- Add the sour cream and mix completely.
- Add the pecans and mix briefly.
- Now, pour the batter into your mini Bundt pans.
- Only fill them about half to ¾ of the way to the top of the mini Bundt pan.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- Check with a toothpick after 20 minutes by inserting a wooden toothpick into one of the cakes. If it comes out clean, the cakes are done.
- Glaze with any icing that you like.
