Spicy Chocolate Pumpkin Mini-Cakes
Submitted by maryscomp2
Rich chocolate pumpkin mini bundt cakes with warm pumpkin pie spice, topped with an orange-tinted brown sugar frosting and cookie stems. Adorable fall treats that taste as good as they look.
YIELD
12 mini cakesPREP
20 minCOOK
20 minREADY
80 minThese little cakes are the showstoppers of fall baking.
A full cup of cocoa powder meets a can of pumpkin puree and a generous tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice, creating mini bundts that are rich, moist, and warmly spiced in equal measure.
The brown sugar frosting gets tinted pumpkin-orange with food coloring and poured over each cake so it drips down the ridges like autumn itself.
Halved pirouette cookies tucked into the center holes make adorable little stems, turning each cake into a miniature pumpkin that’s almost too cute to eat. Almost.
Pro Tips
- Use room temperature eggs and softened butter. Cold ingredients won’t emulsify properly and you’ll end up with a dense, uneven batter.
- Don’t panic when the batter looks curdled after adding the pumpkin and milk. It smooths out completely once you beat in the flour.
- Cool the cakes in the pan for a full 10 minutes before inverting. Too soon and they’ll stick or break apart.
- Reheat the frosting gently if it thickens up while you’re working. A few seconds in the microwave on defrost brings it right back to pouring consistency.
Variations
- Use a standard muffin tin with ⅓ cup batter per well if you don’t have mini bundt pans.
- Skip the food coloring and drizzle with a simple chocolate ganache for a more grown-up presentation.
- Add a pinch of cayenne to the batter for a Mexican hot chocolate twist that builds slow heat with each bite.
Ingredients
Directions
Hot oven to 350℉ (180℃).
Lightly grease twelve 1 cup capacity mini-bundt pans.
(If you only have 1 pan with 6 wells, the batter can remain at room temperature while the first batch bakes.)
You can also use regular ½ cup capacity muffin tins using ⅓ cup batter per well.
For batter: In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium low speed, beat butter, sugar, cocoa, pie spice, baking powder and baking soda unitl creamy, gradually increasing speed to high.
Add eggs, one at a time and beat until mixture is fluffy.
On low speed, beat in pumpkin, milk and vanilla (mixture will look curdled).
Gradually add flour, beating just until blended.
Fill each prepared well with ⅔ cup batter (if using separate tins).
Smooth tops.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes until a pick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
Invert pan on rack and tap to release cakes.
Let cool completely.
Place rack over a waxed paper lined baking sheet.
For frosting: In a medium saucepan, bring brown sugar, butter and milk to a gentle boil.
Stir until butter melts, sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth.
Gradually beat confectioners’ sugar and vanilla into hot mixture.
Remove from heat and beat in red and yellow food color until frosting is pumpkin orange.
(You may need to add some more food coloring.)
Spoon frosting over cakes so it runs down sides, letting some cake show near the bottom.
If frosting becomes too thick, stir over low heat or transfer to a microwave safe bowl and microwave on medium (defrost) until the right consistency.
Cut wafer cookies in half crosswise and insert in center hole of cakes for inchstems inch.
(Frosing will help them stick.)
Cover with plastic wrap and store at room temperature up to 3 days.
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