These adorable mini carrot cakes combine moist, spiced carrot cake and topped with a sweet, tangy cream cheese drizzle for mini bundt cake treats.
Their elegant shapes and delicate frosting details make them perfect for special occasions or simply adding a touch of sophistication to your afternoon coffee break.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
These mini bundt cakes are a smaller version of the classic carrot cake, which makes them perfect for individual servings. Delicious and moist, with a perfect balance of sweetness and spice, mini carrot cakes are the perfect treat for any occasion.
- Easy to make. The batter is a snap to make, and SO much better tasting than store bought carrot cake mixes that use bits of dehydrated carrots.
- Delicious. You can adjust the spices, with more or less of any you want to be more dominant, but the spices make these mini bundt cakes taste divine!
- Perfect size. The mini size makes these perfect for a dessert buffet, packing for lunches, or a small snack with coffee.
Ingredients You'll Need
I included mix-in's with this mini carrot cake recipe, but all three are optional. I like how the plumped raisins, flaked coconut, and crunchy pecans add texture and flavor to this recipe.
For Mini Carrot Cakes
- Brown Sugar - Light or Dark, either is fine.
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vegetable oil - Choose a neutral tasting oil like sunflower.
- Vanilla extract
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Cinnamon - Ground Ceylon cinnamon has the sweetest flavor for baking.
- Mace - The arils of mace surround the nutmeg, so they are part of the same plant. But, Mace has a slightly earthy flavor. You only need a little bit, but mace is SO underrated in baking! You can use Nutmeg instead also.
- Grated Carrots - You will need 2 medium carrots, peeled and grated.
- Raisins - Golden or Black, soaked in warm water for 5 minutes to plump.
- Shredded Coconut - Sweetened shredded or flaked coconut, optional.
- Pecans - Chopped, optional.
For Cream Cheese Icing
You can use the full size recipe of our Classic Cream Cheese Frosting, or the mini batch I've included in the recipe card below.
- Powdered sugar
- Cream Cheese - Softened to room temperature.
- Butter - Softened to room temperature.
- Vanilla extract
- Cream - Or milk to achieve a drizzle consistency.
Full ingredient amounts and preparation instructions are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.
To Make Carrot Mini Bundt Cakes
Use freshly grated carrots in this mini carrot cakes recipe, as there's more moisture in them than pre-grated carrots that have sat in cold storage.
- Preheat your oven to 350F, and spray a mini bundt cake pan with non stick cooking spray. Set aside.
PRO TIP: When baking with small cavity pans for mini bundt cakes, Madeleines, or cast iron novelty pans, use non stick cooking spray that included flour, like Bakers Joy for a foolproof pan release.
Mix Sugar And Eggs
- Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk ingredients until fully combined. You don't need to use a mixer.
Grate The Carrots
- Grate the two carrots if you haven't already. You need 2 cups worth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together so they're mixed well.
- Add the grated carrots to the dry ingredients and toss to coat the carrots in flour.
Mix The Mini Bundt Cakes Batter
You will toss the grated carrots in the dry flour mixture so that the carrots are coated. This will keep them from massing together and uniformly mixed in the baked mini bundt cakes.
- Add plumped raisins, pecans, and coconut mix in's, if desired.
- Add the flour and carrot mixture to the blended wet ingredients and mix just until blended.
Bake And Ice The Mini Carrot Cakes
- Using a small cookie scoop, fill the mini bundt cakes pan cavities ⅔ full with a scoop of batter.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes. Remove and cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Prepare the icing by mixing the softened cream cheese, room temperature butter, and powdered sugar together. Add the vanilla and the cream to blend into a smooth creamy consistency that you can either drizzle with a spoon or pipe.
- Pipe or drizzle cream cheese icing over the mini carrot cakes and serve!
Tips for Success
- Use room temperature ingredients. This will help ensure that your mini bundt cakes turns out light and fluffy.
- Don't overmix the batter. This will make your mini carrot cakes tough.
- Bake the cakes until they are a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool completely before frosting them. This will help prevent the frosting from melting.
- Decorate your however you like! You can use a variety of frostings, sprinkles, and other toppings also.
Substitutions and Variations
If you don't have Mace, just use ground Nutmeg. You can also omit the shredded coconut, pecans, and raisins if you prefer a simple carrot cake that is just spiced. A few scrumptious variations using this mini carrot cake recipe are:
- Carrot Bundt Cake - Pour all the batter into a regular size bundt cake pan, and bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool and then ice the bundt cake with cream cheese frosting.
- Sheet Pan Carrot Cake - Pour the batter into a 9 x 13 baking pan, and bake 25 minutes at 350F. Ice with a nice layer of cream cheese frosting.
Serving Suggestions
Mini carrot cakes are especially popular during Autumn and Spring, but are delicious any time.
Serve them on a buffet or event. If you love small cakes, visit our recipes for Lemon Poppy Seed Scones or our Mini Pumpkin Muffins.
Storing Options
- Mini carrot cakes can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature for a few hour, but then refrigerate since the icing is dairy based. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months.
- To freeze, simply place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Then, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container and freeze.
- When you are ready to eat them, thaw them at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Related Recipes
Equipment
Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Below are some of my favorite pieces of equipment that I use when making these mini bundt cake recipe.
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- Mini Bundt Cake Pan - I love this mini bundt cake pan because it does NOT have a hollow center. This lets me use the mini bundt cakes as little 'nests'.
- Rimmed Baking Sheet & Cooling Rack - This thick, sturdy set of two baking sheets and a cooling rack are an incredible value.
- Cookie Scoop
Frequently Asked Questions
Mini carrot cakes can be served on their own or as part of a larger dessert platter. They can also be used as a party favor or as a gift. To make them more festive, you can top them with sprinkles, candy, shaved chocolate and a few miniature candy Easter eggs in the center.
To prevent your mini bundt cakes from sticking to the pan, you can grease and flour the pan well or use a non-stick cooking spray with flour.
Carrot cake is oil-based, rather than butter-based. This keeps it moist and helps it last for days.
You may have not soaked your raisins first. If you don't soak raisins before adding them to batter, they will absorb moisture from the batter, making the baked cakes dry. Simply soak raisins in hot water for 5 to 10 minutes to plump them up before adding to the batter.
More Delish Ideas
Carrot Mini Bundt Cakes
Ingredients
For Carrot Mini Bundt Cakes
- ¾ cup brown sugar light or dark
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup vegetable oil neutral oil such as sunflower
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups carrots grated
- 2 cup flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1½ teaspoon cinnamon ground Ceylon
- ¼ teaspoon mace ground, or substitute ground nutmeg
- ¼ raisins golden, soaked in hot water to plump
- ¼ coconut shredded or flaked
- ¼ pecans chopped
For the Cream Cheese Icing
- 1¼ cup powdered sugar
- 2 oz cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 2 oz butter room temperature
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon milk or cream, plus more if needed to get desired consistency
Instructions
Carrot Mini Bundt Cakes
- Preheat your oven to 350F, and spray a mini bundt cake pan with non stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Whisk ingredients until fully combined. You don't need to use a mixer.¾ cup brown sugar, ½ cup granulated sugar, 3 large eggs, ¾ cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Grate the two carrots if you haven't already. You need 2 cups worth.2 cups carrots
- In a separate bowl, whisk all the dry ingredients together so they're mixed well. Add the grated carrots to the dry ingredients and toss to coat the carrots in flour.2 cup flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt, 1½ teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon mace
- Add plumped raisins, pecans, and coconut mix in's, if desired. Add the flour and carrot mixture to the blended wet ingredients and mix just until blended.¼ raisins, ¼ coconut, ¼ pecans
- Using a small cookie scoop, fill the mini bundt cakes pan cavities ⅔ full with a scoop of batter.
- Bake for 15 to 17 minutes. Remove and cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
For Cream Cheese Icing
- Prepare the icing by mixing the softened cream cheese, room temperature butter, and powdered sugar together. Add the vanilla and the cream to blend into a smooth creamy consistency that you can either drizzle with a spoon or pipe.1¼ cup powdered sugar, 2 oz cream cheese, 2 oz butter, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 tablespoon milk
- Pipe or drizzle cream cheese icing over the mini carrot cakes and serve!
Notes
- Use room temperature ingredients. This will help ensure that your mini bundt cakes turns out light and fluffy.
- Don't overmix the batter. This will make your mini carrot cakes tough.
- Bake the cakes until they are a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool completely before frosting them. This will help prevent the frosting from melting.
- Decorate your however you like! You can use a variety of frostings, sprinkles, and other toppings also.
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