A Beginner’s Guide to Baking the BEST Bundt Cakes: Plus 3 Easy Bundt Cake Recipes from Mixes

The BEST (easy) Bundt Cake Recipes, plus tips for PERFECT Bundt cakes every time! –> I have to admit, I used to be intimidated by Bundt cakes. They seemed like something only my grandma, the seasoned baker could pull off.

Then one day we had a Bundt cake from the bakery “Nothing Bundt Cakes.” As you can probably gather from the name, they only serve Bundt cakes, and they are INCREDIBLE. It was rich and moist and perfect. The only catch: a large Bundt cake from there is around $22. Ouch. There are only a very few occasions that I can justify that cost for.

So I was determined to find a way to make this magnificent Bundt cake on my own. After a quick Pinterest search I found a copycat recipe for the Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt cake. So I ordered a Bundt cake pan from Amazon and gathered the supplies (sour cream in a cake? you can’t go wrong with that!).

To my surprise the Bundt cake was VERY easy to make and turned out GREAT (on the first try!).

Since then I have tested a BUNCH of other Bundt cake recipes. I’ll share the three recipes that I have perfected and always come back to. What is nice about all three of these recipes is that they begin with a box cake mix. This means you can mix them up in five minutes or less (but taste like they were made from scratch!).

Here is what I LOVE about Bundt cakes:

I’m serious, once you start making these cakes, you’ll never think of making anything else, here’s why:

1. They sit up tall on a cake stand and LOOK GRAND, much prettier than a cake in a regular cake pan
2. They’re incredibly MOIST
3. They’re EASY, but make you look like a seasoned baker ;)
4. The possibilities are endless- there are recipes for every kind of Bundt cake imaginable!
5. They freeze well so you can make them ahead

Now I can see why my grandma had multiple Bundt cake pans and used to make them all of the time!

The Best Inexpensive Bundt Cake Pan

First things first, you need a Bundt cake pan. Now I didn’t know if this was a fad or a lifestyle when I first got started so I didn’t want to invest much in a pan. However, since then, I’ve come to learn that you don’t actually need to spend a lot to have your Bundt cakes turn out perfectly.

Here is the 12-cup pan I bought for under $10 on Amazon:

Here are a few tips for buying a Bundt cake pan:

1. 12-cup is the standard size for most recipes
2. Avoid silicone- they stick, stick, stick!
3. For some, baking glass is preferred, but NOT here
4. Pans with more detailed designs or crevices will stick more — be prepared to grease & flour more if you purchase one of these

You don’t have to spend a lot to have great tasting cakes! I’ve baked over 30 cakes in this one above & the pan shows NO wear & they still pop out perfectly!

You can also find great pans at Target or Walmart, any kitchen store, and garage sales –– they aren’t hard to come by! I’ve since purchased two smaller 6-cup pans. All of the recipes below divide perfectly into the smaller pans so we can eat one and then I can freeze one. The cakes freeze very well and are prefect size for smaller groups.

Here are the 6-cup Bundt cake pans:

And while all of these pans say that they are dishwasher safe, I always wash them by hand to preserve the finish. It may not be necessary, but like I mentioned above, I’ve used them quite a bit and they still look like new!

Tips for Baking Great Bundt Cakes

So now that you have a pan, let’s get to the baking. Here is my best advice when getting starting:

Baking time is KEY! It may take a few times to perfect it in YOUR oven, but it is worth it, pay close attention to the time
Err on the side of undercooked, a toothpick inserted should come out just slightly coated
Let it cool for 20 minutes in the pan before dumping out & it should never stick
Try the same recipe a few times, besides cooking time, different ingredients (like the brand of boxed cake mix) can make a huge difference in the taste
Keep the recipes you like and stick with them!

I really can’t emphasize enough how important the baking time is. It can make the difference between an incredibly moist Bundt cake and one that is just ok. So when you’re getting started, pay close attention to the amount of time that the cake is in the oven. For example, my oven takes 53 minutes for pumpkin and 55 minutes for chocolate. Now that I know this I never open the door until the timer goes off and they’re perfect every time. Knowing the exact times in my oven makes them even easier to make!

Three easy but AWESOME Bundt Cake Recipes from mixes

If you’ve never made a Bundt cake before, I highly recommend using a recipe that starts with a boxed cake mix. Don’t worry, you add other things like sour cream and pudding so the end result is far from the original mix! This takes the guess work out of exact measurements for flour and sugar and other ingredients and is SO easy!

But, don’t mistake easy for lacking quality or flavor. Every time I serve these cakes I’m asked for the recipe and my guests rave! Maybe someday I will go back to some of the other recipes I’ve tried that don’t start with a prepared cake mix, but I truly couldn’t tell the difference (and either could my guests!).

Easy Beginner Bundt Cake Recipes:

1. Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake –> Find the recipe HERE

2. Vanilla White Chocolate Bundt Cake –> Find the recipe HERE

3. Perfect Pumpkin Spice Bundt Cake –> Find the recipe HERE

Now that I have these Bundt cake recipes perfected I like to make modifications to them depending on the occasion. For example, for our son’s birthday I added Oreos to the top of the chocolate Bundt cake:

How great does that look? It looks like it came from a bakery, but was SO easy!

Of course sprinkles and other fun toppings go a long way for holiday and seasonal celebrations, too…the possibilities are endless! And what’s better than a cake that looks beautiful but also tastes great?!

Tips for Frosting a Bundt Cake

When its time for frosting, you have a lot of flexibility. Here are a few tips for frosting success:

1. Make sure that the Bundt cake is cool.

2. You can use homemade frosting (cream cheese is the heavy favorite in our house and what Nothing Bundt Cakes uses ;), or store bought. Most often I use store-bought Betty Crocker Rich & Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting, guests always ask if it’s homemade! (The cream cheese frosting from Aldi is a close second.) If I have a little extra time I do like to make homemade frosting, but it certainly isn’t necessary for a great cake!

3. Pipe the frosting: Most often I put the frosting in a gallon Ziploc bag and cut off the tip and pipe it onto the cake. The fluted lines from the cake pan create a handy guide.

4. Glaze the cake: if you aren’t confident with your piping skills, you can always warm up the frosting until it is slightly liquified and pour it on the cake. This gives more of a glazed look and is equally as pretty and tasty!

And I truly hope that you love these Bundt cakes as much as our family does, they are the highlight of our celebrations now! Plus, they truly are easy, you’ll be a pro in no time!

Happy Bundt cake baking!!

Have you downloaded our Easy Awesome Bundt Cake Recipe Book yet?

This 47-page full-color digital download includes a variety of our favorite Bundt cake recipes, plus I share my best tips, FAQ and decorating ideas all in one place — get it today for just $5 and support a great cause!