If carrot cake is a must on your Easter table but you’re tired of the same old recipe, give these adorable Carrot-Pineapple Mini Bundt Cakes cakes a try. Made in two six-cup mini Bundt pans, each one is packed with everyone’s favorite ingredients: shredded carrots, cinnamon, crushed pineapple, and chopped toasted pecans. The glaze, made with buttermilk, vanilla, powdered sugar, and butter is a tangy and rich stand-in for the usual cream cheese frosting. And, instead of having to frost a layer cake, all you have to do is simply drizzle the glaze over the cooled Bundts. For a fancy finish, garnish the cakes with (edible!) pineapple flowers. Be sure to make the flowers a day in advance so they can fully dry overnight. Or, for an easier topper that will still look great on your Easter table, garnish each mini Bundt with a fresh pineapple wedge or sprinkle with yellow nonpareils.
How to Make It
Prepare the Mini Bundt Cakes: Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat together granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter with a heavy-duty stand mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add oil, and beat until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.
Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat in vanilla at low speed just until blended. Fold in carrots, drained pineapple, coconut, and pecans. Spoon batter into 2 heavily greased (with cooking spray) 6-cup mini-Bundt pans, filling each about three-fourths full.
Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 18 to 23 minutes. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Gently run a knife around edges. Remove from pans; cool completely, about 30 minutes.
Prepare the Buttermilk-Vanilla Glaze: Stir together powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of the buttermilk in a medium bowl. Gradually add remaining buttermilk, 1 teaspoon at a time, as needed for desired consistency. Spoon glaze over tops of cooled cakes, allowing to drip down sides. Garnish with Pineapple Flowers.