This Glazed Chocolate Bundt Cake is a small bundt cake recipe baked in a 6 inch Bundt cake pan. Decorate it with vanilla glaze or chocolate ganache for a sweet treat.
Because I have a lot of 6 inch cake recipes, I’m often asked about small bundt cake recipes.
Can the batter for my small cakes fit into a small bundt cake pan?
One day I was browsing the Walmart baking aisle when I saw it – 6 inch bundt cake pans available in store! No need to special order online or go to the craft store!
I immediately grabbed two pans and went home to test some recipes.
First up was my small carrot cake recipe, which I made for Easter dessert.
Then I made my small chocolate cake recipe, which you can see in these photos.
So the answer is yes, you can make small Bundt cakes using any of my small cake recipes without adjustments.
Bundt cakes are named after the pan used, which is a round fluted tube pan with a curvy design (not to be confused with an angel food cake pan which is completely flat and smooth).
Often you see large 12-cup pans, but I opted for a small 3-cup pan to make Bundt cake for two.
I personally love Bundt cakes because they require minimal cake decorating skills.
All you do is pour Bundt cake glaze or easy ganache recipe over top and let it flow down the curves.
No need to spread around frosting or make fancy roses with a piping bag.
What is the size of a small Bundt cake?
The pan I used is this 6 inch Bundt cake pan, which has a volume of 3 cups.
That means it can hold roughly 2 cups cake batter without overflowing as you’ll need room for it to rise.
Because there are SO many mini Bundt cake pans out there, you may need to do some math in order for my small bundt cake recipe to work.
For example, if you’re using a 6 cavity mini fluted tube pan, each cavity is roughly 1 cup volume.
Because you need room for rising, you’ll want to fill each cup roughly 3/4 of the way. That means you’ll get roughly 3 mini bundt cake pans with this recipe.
What if I don’t have a 6 inch Bundt cake pan?
If you’re looking to bake a regular-sized 12 cup Bundt cake, check out my recipes for Chocolate Pumpkin Bundt Cake and Chocolate Espresso Bundt Cake.
Don’t have a Bundt cake pan at all? Make Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes. Same batter in a cupcake pan.
Ingredients For Small Bundt Cake
To make your chocolate Bundt cake with glaze, gather the following ingredients:
- Semisweet chocolate: Look for semisweet chocolate that is around 55% cacao.
- All-purpose flour: The standard flour in almost every pantry. Make sure you’re properly measuring flour by spooning it into your cup so you don’t end up with too much flour.
- Cocoa powder: Adds a deep chocolate flavor you cannot accomplish with baking chocolate alone.
- Baking soda: Leavening agent that makes your cake rise
- Espresso powder: Coffee really brings out the chocolate flavor. Don’t worry – a small amount won’t make your cake taste like coffee. It’s only noticeable if you leave it out.
- Salt: Salt makes sure your cake isn’t bland.
- Butter: Not only does fat add flavor, butter helps the cake rise from its steam when it melts, trapping carbon dioxide in the batter as it bakes. This creates a tender crumb texture.
- Granulated sugar: Sweeten sthe cake.
- Brown sugar: Helps make the cake a little more moist because of the added molasses
- Egg: Use 1 standard large egg that’s been brought to room temperature. Using a cold egg means the batter won’t rise as much.
- Vanilla: Enhances the chocolate flavor.
- Buttermilk: The acidity from the buttermilk is needed to activate the baking soda. If you don’t have any, substitute whole milk plus lemon juice or vinegar. I highly recommend whole milk and not low fat or skim because the extra fat helps keep the cake moist.
- Hot coffee: As mentioned, coffee enhances the chocolate flavor. If you don’t want to use coffee, substitute hot water or beer.
How To Make Small Bundt Cake
Here’s how to make your recipe for small bundt cake from scratch:
- Sift together your flour and cocoa powder then stir in your baking soda, espresso powder, and salt.
- Cream together your butter and both sugars until smooth. The airiness will help your cake rise with a tender crumb.
- Beat in your egg, vanilla, and melted chocolate, scraping down your bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk and coffee, adding the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions (begin and end with dry ingredients).
- Pour the batter into your 6 inch cake pan greased with cooking spray.
- Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
How many servings will does a 6 inch cake make?
Serving sizes are subjective, especially if you only want a small bite. Generally 6 inch Bundt cakes can be sliced into 4-6 slices, making it about 4-6 servings.
However, if you slice it small enough, you can push for 8 slices, equaling 8 servings.
How To Glaze A Chocolate Bundt Cake
Since pouring your glaze or ganache can get a bit messy, I place my chocolate Bundt cake on top of a wire rack over a baking sheet.
This allows the icing to drip down without your cake sitting in a pool of it. You can even line your cookie sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy clean up.
With a spoon or small vessel with a spout, pour your glaze evenly, letting it drip down the curves.
If you’re decorating with sprinkles or nuts, immediately add while the glaze is still wet so they stick.
Let your cake sit at room temperature for about 2 hours for the glaze to harden. Or refrigerate to speed up this process.
How To Store Glazed Chocolate Bundt Cake
Store your chocolate Bundt cake with glaze in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 4 days for freshness.
If your glaze gets too warm or if you’re using ganache, store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
If refrigerating, let your cake sit out at room temperature for 15-30 minutes to allow it to warm up. A cold cake makes it more difficult to taste the flavor.
More Small Bundt Cake Recipes
Enjoyed this chocolate Bundt cake? Here are more flavors you can make:
- Small Vanilla Cake Recipe
- Small Red Velvet Cake
- Small Lemon Cake
Small Bundt Cake Recipe (6 Inch)
Yield: 4-6 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
This Glazed Chocolate Bundt Cake is a small bundt cake recipe baked in a 6 inch Bundt cake pan. Decorate it with vanilla glaze or chocolate ganache for a sweet treat.
Ingredients
- 1 ounce semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (when measuring, use the spoon and level method)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon espresso powder
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 1/4 cup (2 ounces or 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar (soft and moist, not dry and crumbly)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature (or substitute whole milk with 1 teaspoon vinegar added. Do not use skim or low fat.)
- 2 tablespoons hot coffee (or substitute beer or hot water)
- Vanilla Glaze or Ganache, for decorating
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Generously grease one 6-inch Bundt cake pan with cooking spray or rub the pan with butter.
- Add about an inch of water to a pan and bring to a simmer. Turn off the heat and place a heatproof bowl over top. Add the chopped chocolate and melt until smooth. Remove from the heat and cool for 10 minutes.
Alternatively, add chocolate to a microwave-safe bowl then microwave for 30 seconds. Stir then continue microwaving in 15 second increments until melted and smooth.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa then stir in the baking soda, espresso powder, and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl on medium-high speed (with paddle attachment if using stand mixer), beat together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and creamy, about 1 minute.
- Scrape down the bowl then beat in the egg, vanilla, and melted chocolate.
- On the lowest speed possible, add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk and coffee, adding the flour in 3 additions and the liquid in 2 additions (begin and end with dry ingredients).
When the flour is about 90% incorporated, stop the mixer and switch to a rubber spatula. Finish adding the flour by hand as you don't want to overmix the batter.
- Transfer the batter to the pan. Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Cool for about 15 minutes, run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen, and invert onto a cooling rack. Cool right-side-up.
- Once fully cooled, decorate with glaze or ganache. Store in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 4 days (glaze only) or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week (glaze or ganache).
For best results, let the refrigerated cake sit at room temperature 15-30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- This recipe makes roughly 2 cups batter. Because there so many different Bundt pans out there, you may need to do math for your pan. Example: for mini fluted pans with 1 cup capacity, fill each cavity about 3/4 of the way full then bake 10-15 minutes to make 3 mini cakes.
- Love this recipe? Check out my full list of 6 Inch Cake recipes including yellow cake, strawberry cake, and more.
- Don't have a 6 inch pan? Check out my recipe for Small Batch Chocolate Cupcakes and 8 Inch One Layer Chocolate Cake.
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