Mini Lemon Tea Cakes

Lemon poppyseed poundcake has always been one of my favorite treats. I had fun using the traditional recipe, which I usually make in a loaf pan, to make mini bundt cakes. These cakes are moist and have a delicious lemon flavor. The cream cheese drizzle on top makes the cakes extra tasty! I made these for our Mother's Day brunch, and everyone loved them!

MINI LEMON TEA CAKES

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

2 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. poppy seeds

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 tbsp. lemon zest (about 2 lemons)

1/2 cup sour cream

5 large eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE

4 ounces cream cheese (can be low fat)

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Strawberries to garnish, if desired

Preheat oven to 350 degree.

Spray mini bunt pan with baking spray.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.

In separate bowl, cream together sugar, butter, lemon zest, and sour cream. Once combined, add lemon juice and oil. Then add eggs, one at a time, until mixed well.

Gradually add flour to wet ingredients until just mixed.

Bake for 15 minutes.

To make glaze, beat cream cheese, lemon juice, and powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cakes.

Yields 24 glazed mini tea cakes

Nutrition Info: 223 calories, 24g carbs, 12g fat, 4g protein

ENJOY!

Mini Pumpkin Bundt Cakes

Happy New Year! I can already tell that 2012 is going to be an exciting year, and I am looking forward all that lies ahead. I have officially been writing this blog for five months now, and I can's wait to continue sharing my baking endeavors with you.  If you remember, I posted about these mini bundt pans that I received as a Christmas present, and I was dying to try them out. I decided to make these mini pumpkin bundt cakes because the recipe promised to yield very moist little cakes. There is nothing worse than biting into a dry bundt cake. I am always ready to try a new dessert with pumpkin, as it is one of my favorite ingredients to bake with. I used my favorite salty caramel sauce to drizzle on top!

MINI PUMPKIN BUNDT CAKES
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
5.1 oz box of instant vanilla pudding mix
15 oz. pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat sugar, brown sugar, and oil together in large bowl. Add eggs, mixing well after each addition.

In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pudding mix.

Alternate adding pumpkin and dry ingredients to the sugar, oil, and egg mixture. Mix well.

Fill greased mini bundt pans (I always use baking spray that contains flour) 2/3 full with batter. The cakes will rise a lot while baking.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, but do not over bake! The cakes will start pulling away from the edges of the pan when they are done and inserted toothpick will come out clean.

Allow to cool so that you can use your hands to remove them from the pan and place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!