Cherry Lemonade Mini Bundt Cakes

I needed to bake for the hubby for a meeting and I was struck with inspiration! I usually send him with a bundt cake for this group as they really like bundt cakes but they were meeting somewhere different and needed a snack they could eat with their hands. Little did they know I have mini bundt cake pans! Then I got to thinking that mini bundt cakes made for perfect lunchbox bundts. They are easy to wrap up and make a perfect little lunch desserts.

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I also was experimenting with a new ingredient I discovered recently; Dragonfruit Powder. I learned about it from an instgram feed for dyed pasta. It’s an all natural way to add vibrant color to food. I hadn’t considered using it in this recipe until the very end – you’ll see where. It’s not a vital component, it just adds a bit of color. It does have a slightly sweet flavor of its own.

2 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
zest and juice of one lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup full fat sour cream
1 cup bing cherry halves, either fresh or frozen

For the Colorful Lemon Powdered Sugar
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 tsp dried dragonfruit powder
1 TBS lemon juice powder

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cooking spray

Preheat oven to 325°
Spray the mini bundt pan(s) with cooking spray (you can also make this as one large bundt cake)
Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside
Zest and juice the lemon, set aside
Quarter the bing cherry halves, set aside. If working with frozen cherries, it’s best to keep them frozen. They are easier to cut. After you have cut them place them back in the freezer.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attached cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about three minutes.
Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one.
Then add the vanilla, zest and lemon juice. Mix well. The batter will look curdled, don’t worry.
Remove about 1/3 cup of the flour mixture and add it to the cherries – remove them from the freezer if you have put them there. Toss the cherries with the flour until they are well coated. Set aside.
With the mixer on low add the flour mixture in thirds and the sour cream in halves alternatively – beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
Remove the bowl from the mixer.
Add the cherries to the batter and gently stir until well combined.
Fill the mini bundt pan(s) 2/3rds full

To fill the bundt pans easily I put the batter into disposable decorating bags. A zip bag would work just as well. I trim a good sized bit off of the bottom and then use that to fill the bundt molds. It is so much easier than using a spoon.

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When you need to rest a bag between baking times, just fold the fill end over and put it in a small cup.
Drop the pan on the counter a few times to eliminate air bubbles.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes, rotate the pan(s) and bake for another 10 – 12 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let the cakes cool about 10 minutes then remove from the pan(s). You will probably need to run a butter knife around the edge – just be gentle – to get the cakes out.
You can then refill the pan after washing it and spraying it with cooking spray.

Optionally you can use mini angel food cake pans to make a slightly larger mini cake. These bake for just a bit longer. Add 2 – 4 more minutes

Make the Lemon Powdered Sugar
While the cakes are baking add the confectioner’s sugar to a bowl and whisk.
Place a small strainer over the bowl and add the lemon juice powder to the strainer and stir until all lumps have been eliminated and the powder has been added to the sugar.
Do the same with the dragonfruit powder.

Whisk the mixture until it is a lovely shade of pink.
You can still make the lemon powdered sugar without the dragonfruit powder, it just won’t be pink. (If you don’t have and don’t want to acquire the lemon juice powder you can just add a bit of lemon juice to the sugar until you have a glaze to drizzle to add the bit of lemon kick to the mini cake.)

Dust the mini bundt cakes with the lemon powdered sugar.

How Were the Cherry Lemonade Mini Bundt Cakes?

As I stated above I created this recipe for the hubby’s meeting. I sent the bulk of these mini bundts out the door with him. None came home so I guess that tells me all I need to know about how they were!

I do think they were pretty with the pink powdered sugar on them. The addition of the lemon juice powder to the confectioner’s sugar made it the perfect lemony touch to these moist cakes. They were also easier to eat than cake with a glaze.

The larger (marginally) cakes made with the mini angel food cake pans make for a very pretty presentation. The cake is delicious; it’s moist with a lemony flavor and full of cherry pieces. Mmmm.