Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes

I’m obsessed with these Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes! I made them as a treat for my daughter and her friends, but they turned out so cute I wanted to share them with all of you too. The cake is tender, full of fall flavors, and topped with cream cheese frosting. So good!!

Last year I posted this recipe as a pumpkin sheet cake (recipe below) and decided to try the same batter as mini bundt cakes this year – love it both ways! No doubt Halloween will look different this year, but with my youngest almost 13 years old now, she and a few friends decided on a photo Halloween Scavenger Hunt in our neighborhood instead of Trick or Treating. Do you have any more ideas for me to add to their list?

The Best Pumpkin Cake

I truly do believe this is the best pumpkin cake ever. It’s moist, flavorful, and one of my all-time favorite desserts. As a bonus, you don’t even need a mixer to make it!

Start by whisking all of the liquid ingredients and sugar together.

Next add all the spices and flour, and whisk until just combined.

Prepare the mini bundt pan by spraying it liberally with Baker’s Joy. If you haven’t discovered Baker’s Joy yet, I want to introduce you to your new best friend….

This baking spray has flour mixed in with the oil, so cakes release easily every time. If you can’t get your hands on some right now, just spray the mini bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and then dust with flour.

Fill each bundt tin a little less than 2/3 full. If the tin is filled higher than this, the batter will rise higher than the cavity of the bundt and that can result in uneven bundt cakes when you invert the pan.

Inevitably a few of the cakes are going to rise a little higher than you’d like, but that’s an easy fix. Just let the cakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes and hold a serrated knife level with the top of the pan and slice off the dome of the bundt. Bonus: you get to eat the tops of lots of little cakes.

The Frosting

This is the same frosting I used on my Mini Red Velvet Bundt Cakes earlier this year (recipe below). Because a little tang goes perfectly with the spices in this cake, I opted for a cream cheese frosting with these mini bundt cakes. It was definitely the right decision…

Fill a bag with the frosting and pipe little mounds of frosting on top of each bundt cake. I used a Wilton 8B tip for these cakes, but you can also use a freezer bag with the corner cut off to pipe the frosting on top instead.

Add sprinkles and toppers!

If you’re not a big fan of pie (or making pie), keep this recipe around for Thanksgiving in a few weeks. Enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes

Cake:
1 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 (15 ounce) can of puréed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (powdered, not fresh)
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature
8 ounces full fat cream cheese, at room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of kosher salt

Directions:

Cake:
Whisk together oil, sugar, pumpkin, and eggs until smooth. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined and no lumps of flour remain.

Spray the mini bundt pan liberally with Baker’s Joy (or baking spray and dusted with flour). Fill each bundt just under 2/3 full with batter. Bake at 350 F until cooked through and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. This batch took 15 minutes to bake, but adjust the cooking time if your bundt pan is smaller or larger than the pan I used.

Let the cakes cool in their pan for 5 minutes. If any of the cakes have domed up over the bundt cavity, use a serrated knife to gently shave off the top of the dome off (see pictures above). This will enable the bundt cakes to sit flat on a platter. Let cool completely and decorate with icing and sprinkles.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
Combine butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat for about 5 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Start the mixer slowly (so the powdered sugar doesn’t fly out of the bowl), and gradually increase the speed. Add frosting to a large pastry bag, fitted with a star attachment (Wilton 8B). Alternately you can use a gallon sized ziplock bag, with the corner cut out (the opening about the size of your fingertip).

When piping the dollop of frosting on top, it’s important to keep the tip straight and directly above the bundt. It’s also important to keep the piping bag tightly twisted to avoid getting pockets of air mixed in with the frosting. But most of all, just relax and have some fun!

Store, covered, in the refrigerator up to 3 days. These taste even better the second day.

Here are some related recipes you might like!

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

Mini Red Velvet Bundt Cakes with Cream Cheese Frosting