These mini red velvet bundt cakes are as delightfully spongy as they are cute. With lots of cocoa powder and buttermilk, they’re snack-size versions of your favorite cake with cream cheese frosting.
Cute & Easy Mini Bundt Cakes
With luscious cream cheese frosting and a raspberry on top, these mini red velvet bundt cakes are perfect for the holiday season. They’re cute as can be and even look like the hats of Santa’s little helpers! Dusted with a bit of powdered sugar, they look like they were rolled in a bit of snow before serving. So pretty!
Don’t let the fact that these are mini cakes scare you into thinking they’ll take ages to make — they won’t. Ready in less than an hour, your guests will arrive to beautifully decorated bite-sized red velvet treats. If you don’t have a bundt pan, don’t let that stop you. They bake just as well in cupcake trays.
Watch out if you make them in advance, though, because they’ll start disappearing from the fridge and freezer one by one… The good thing is, you’ll stay on Santa’s “nice” list even if you down the entire batch of these spongy bundt cakes by yourself.
What Does Red Velvet Taste Like?
On its own, red velvet tastes like a moist and tangy chocolate cake. The buttermilk and vinegar are very present, balancing out the cake’s sweetness without being too in-your-face.
With an airy crumb coated in cream cheese frosting, it’s a creamy and slightly acidic chocolate dessert. Best of all, it’s not overwhelmingly decadent.
Recipe Ingredients
Cocoa powder, buttermilk, and red food coloring are the most important ingredients on this list. If you’ve got those, it’s time to get started! Check the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact ingredient amounts.
For the Bundt Cakes
- Granulated sugar – White or light brown sugar works great.
- Butter – Salted or unsalted will do.
- Vegetable oil – Corn and canola oil also work for this recipe. Don’t substitute it for melted butter.
- Eggs
- Sour cream – You can swap it out for full-fat unsweetened Greek yogurt.
- Buttermilk – If you don’t have any, make your own! Remove 1 tbsp from a cup of milk and substitute it for 1 tbsp of white vinegar.
- All-purpose flour – Don’t use cake flour because it won’t provide the structure the bundt cakes need.
- Cocoa powder – Make sure it’s unsweetened. Please don’t use cocoa mix, they’re not the same.
- Instant vanilla pudding
- Baking powder
- Salt – Skip it if you used salted butter.
- Baking soda
- White vinegar
- Red food coloring – Use gel or liquid food coloring. The powdered ones add a weird, salty flavor to food when used in large quantities.
For the Frosting
- Cream cheese – Full-fat makes a more luscious frosting, but low-fat will work too as long as it’s high quality.
- Powdered sugar – Don’t use granulated sugars.
- Butter – Salted or unsalted is okay.
- Milk –
- Salt – Skip it if you used salted butter.
How to Make Red Velvet Mini Bundt Cakes
As long as you measure the ingredients properly and don’t skip steps, making these should be a piece of cake.
- Prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously spray the bundt pan with non-stick baking spray.
- Cream the butter. In a large bowl, whisk the butter, sugar, and vegetable oil until well combined and slightly pale. You can also use a hand or stand mixer for this.
- Add wet ingredients. Slowly incorporate the eggs, sour cream, buttermilk, and vanilla pudding. Whisk until fully combined.
- Add the dry ingredients. Add the flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Mix until just combined. Add the vinegar and red food coloring. Whisk until the batter is completely red, but don’t over-mix.
- Pour the batter. Fill each cavity with batter until it’s 50% full. Don’t add more than this or the bundt cakes will overflow during baking.
- Bake. Pop the bundt pan into the oven for 16-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Cool. Remove the pan from the oven and let the bundt cakes cool for at least 10 minutes. Carefully flip the pan onto a cooling rack. The bundt cakes should fall out easily. For the ones that don’t, gently insert a butter knife along the edges to help unstick them. Set them aside to cool completely.
- Make the frosting. Add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter, milk, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Beat over high speed for 2-3 minutes or until light and fluffy.
- Decorate. Once the bundt cakes are completely cooled, transfer the frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Decorate them with frosting to taste. Serve and enjoy!
Tips for Success
These tips take seconds and can really save the day:
- Use a Ziplock bag. If you don’t have a piping bag, use a large Ziplock bag instead. Fill it with frosting, add the piping tip — or skip it if you don’t have one— and snip off the corner.
- Let them cool. Wait until the bundt cakes are fully cooled because even the slightest amount of residual heat will melt the frosting.
- Grease with butter. If you don’t have non-stick baking spray, generously grease the cavities with butter and dust them with flour.
- Make cupcakes. Don’t worry if you don’t have a bundt pan, use a cupcake tray instead.
- Don’t eyeball it. Measuring out the ingredients for any baking project can be the difference between succeeding and failing.
What to Serve with Red Velvet Bundt Cake
These mini red velvet bundt cakes are great with a large glass of cold milk. However, for something a little more extraordinary, try it with some yummy drinks and ice cream.
For an extra red-velvety drink, try my Red Velvet Hot Chocolate with Marshmallow Whipped Cream. However, my Chocolate Milkshake and Homemade Strawberry Milk are great options too. If you need something a little boozy, pair it with Carajillo (Mexican Coffee Cocktail). It’s amazing!
How to Store
Refrigerate fully cooled and frosted bundt cakes in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
If they don’t have frosting, they can last for up to a week at room temperature.
Can I Freeze Homemade Bundt Cake?
Yes! With or without frosting, the process is the same.
Place the fully cooled bundt cakes on a baking tray. Pop them into the freezer for 30 minutes. Then wrap them with plastic wrap and place them in a freezer-friendly bag or container. Frosted cakes can be frozen for up to 2 months, whereas unfrosted cakes will keep for up to 3 months.
Mini Red Velvet Bundt Cakes
Ingredients
For the Bundt Cakes:
- 1 ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temp
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 eggs + 2 yolks
- ¼ cup sour cream
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup cocoa powder
- 1 package, 3.4 oz instant vanilla pudding
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon red food coloring
For the Frosting:
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter, room temp
- 2 tablespoon milk
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray at least one mini bundt pan with plenty of non-stick baking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar, butter and vegetable oil to a large mixing bowl. Whisk together until smooth and creamy and slightly lightened in color.
- Add in the eggs and sour cream and whisk to combine. Add in the buttermilk and whisk to incorporate.
- Next, add in the flour, cocoa, vanilla pudding, baking powder, salt and baking soda and whisk just until combined. Whisk in the white vinegar. Lastly, add in the red food coloring and whisk until all of the batter is red.
- Fill each of the mini bundt pans halfway full with batter. Place into the oven to bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with moist crumbs.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and place onto a cooling rack to cool for a few minutes. If you only have one pan and are baking in batches, carefully flip the pan over onto the cooling rack. (If the bundt cakes do not fall out of the pan, gently tap each one with the heavy end of a butter knife to help dislodge the cakes from the pan.) Continue baking bundt cakes until all of the batter is used.
- After the mini bundt cakes are baked and cooled, make the cream cheese frosting. Add all of the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat together on high speed for 2-3 minutes or until completely smooth.
- Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe a small swirl of frosting onto the top of each mini bundt cake.
Notes
Nutrition
Categories:
More Red Velvet Desserts
- Red Velvet Truffles
- Red Velvet Mug Cake
- Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Red Velvet Dream Cake
- Red Velvet Cream Cheese Bundt Cake
- Red Velvet Cupcakes
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