Vegetable Garden Mini Cakes
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These adorable, delicious, and unique mini cakes, that are shaped liked garden vegetables, are a delightful treat for spring and summer entertaining.
Vegetable Garden Mini Cakes
Earlier this week I spent a day in the kitchen working on some new spring recipes to share with you. One of the items on my recipe list was these adorable mini cakes. I had a feeling they were going to turn out cute, but I never expected them to look this good.
While these mini cakes do take some time to make (the decorating takes the most time), they are really easy. I’m hoping that this post and the printable recipe below will make them even easier for you.
What makes these mini cakes so easy to make is that I used a specialty cake baking pan designed to bake mini cakes in the shape of beloved garden vegetables. (You can purchase the pan HERE.)
If you’re familiar with my recipes, you’ll know that I adore these specialty cake pans. I’ve made gingerbread houses, a beehive, individual shortcakes, and even a chocolate skull cake. I put together an entire blog post with all of my creations HERE. They are pretty special.
When I stumbled upon this pan, I knew I had to give these a try and I’m so glad I did.
I used a brown sugar carrot cake batter to make these mini cakes. It’s very similar to the recipe that is provided with the baking pan, but with a few changes that make it even more delicious. I also added on a confectioners’ sugar glaze in coordinating vegetable colors to really bring the mini cakes to life.
With that being said, let me walk you through the recipe and share tips for styling these sweet little cakes.
How to Make Mini Cakes:
Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare your baking pan by spraying it with baking spray. Then, use a pastry brush to make sure all the nooks and crannies of the pan are coated with the spray. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the brown sugar and butter. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again until smooth.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add half of this mixture to your sugar and butter mixture. Start to combine for a few seconds, and then add in your buttermilk. Combine for a few more seconds and then add in the rest of your flour mixture. Finally, add in the finely shredded carrots and mix until just combined.
Use a teaspoon to fill each cavity 3/4 full of batter. Do not overfill. Lightly bang pan on counter to level the batter.
Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the center is set and the edges begin to brown. Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 5-8 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Clean your pan and repeat with the remaining batter.
Next, prepare your glaze. In a medium-sized bowl, start with the confectioners’ sugar. Then, add the half and half one tablespoon at a time to reach the desired consistency. Whisk to combine. Mix in the vanilla extract and optional food coloring.
Whisk well until the glaze is smooth and no sugar clumps are visible. Drizzle onto your cake with the whisk, a spoon, or a piping bag.
I dyed the glaze in various colors using my favorite food dye which you can find HERE. I added the dye to piping bags which I found to be the easiest method for applying the glaze.
Once your cakes have cooled, use a pastry bag to drizzle each cake with the confectioners’ sugar glaze.
I suggest adding some wax or parchment paper to your counter first, and then pipe onto the cakes while they are still on the cooling rack. The wax paper will catch any drips making clean-up really simple.
To present these mini cakes I used two different methods, For both methods, I used some crushed chocolate graham crackers as “dirt.” With the first method, I simply baked a boxed brownie mix, then added a thin layer of the “dirt”, and after that, I placed the mini cakes on top to complete the look. If I was to do it again, I’d likely add a layer of frosting between the brownies and “dirt” to provide a little added moisture.
With the second method, I skipped the brownies and just added some of the crushed chocolate graham crackers to a serving dish and placed the mini cakes on top of that.
Both look super cute. It’s a winner either way.
And with that, my adorable garden vegetable mini cakes are ready for their big debut. Grab a shovel and rake and dig in!
Looking for more mini dessert recipes? Try these:
- Cakes in a Jar
- Mini Margarita Cheesecakes
- Mini Key Lime Pie
- Mason Jar Cherry Supreme
- Mini Skillet Blueberry Pies
As you can see in some of my photos, I also made another specialty cake. It’s a wonderful Lemon Pound Cake. I’ll be sharing that recipe with you soon! Stay tuned!
I hope you love this mini cake recipe as much as I enjoyed making it. Happy Baking!
Vegetable Garden Mini Cakes Recipe:
Vegetable Garden Mini Cakes
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups finely shredded carrots
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter melted
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup buttermilk
Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 4-5 tablespoons half and half
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- food coloring
- crushed chocolate graham cracker crumbs for garnish
Instructions
- Begin by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare your baking pan by spraying it with baking spray. Then, use a pastry brush to make sure all the nooks and crannies of the pan are coated with the spray. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the brown sugar and butter. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again until smooth.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add half of this mixture to your sugar and butter mixture. Start to combine for a few seconds, and then add in your buttermilk. Combine for a few more seconds and then add in the rest of your flour mixture. Finally, add in the finely shredded carrots and mix until just combined.
- Use a teaspoon to fill each cavity 3/4 full of batter. Do not overfill. Lightly bang pan on counter to level the batter.
- Bake for 14-16 minutes or until the center is set and the edges begin to brown. Allow the cakes to cool in the pan for 5-8 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. Clean your pan and repeat with the remaining batter.
- Next, prepare your glaze. In a medium-sized bowl, start with the confectioners' sugar. Then, add the half and half one tablespoon at a time to reach the desired consistency. Whisk to combine. Mix in the vanilla extract and optional food coloring.
- Whisk well until the glaze is smooth and no sugar clumps are visible.
- Once your cakes have cooled, use a pastry bag to drizzle each cake with the confectioners' sugar glaze. Allow the glaze to set before styling on top of crushed chocolate graham cracker crumbs.
These turned out adorable! And were delicious too! Thank you!
wow thank you for the good and the great article.
Those cakes are about the most adorable things I’ve ever seen! Well done!
These are the best spring cake idea I’ve seen this year. Bravo! Perfect for Easter or a garden party. Love them.