How to Frost a Bundt Cake: 4 Types of Bundt Cake Frosting

A bundt cake is a cake that cooks in a bundt cake pan. These pans differ from regular cake pans because of the intricate patterns they lend to the cake’s shape. The cake batter settles into the bundt cake pan’s different cutouts as the cake bakes. Therefore, bundt cakes are poor choices for layer cakes because they cannot sit evenly on top of each other.

A bundt cake recipe can involve any type of flavor because a bundt pan works with any type of cake—for example, chocolate cake, pound cake, or red velvet cake. The cake mix will generally include all the normal ingredients, such as large eggs, granulated sugar, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and a liquid.

A bundt cake bakes in a special bundt pan. Here are a few tips to help you ensure the process goes smoothly:

1. 1. Cool the cake right side up. The cake technically bakes upside down, with the pan’s detailed design on the bottom. However, you should cool the cake right side up to avoid crushing the design on your countertop or wire rack.
2. 2. Grease the pan well. There are a lot of nooks and crannies in bundt pans, so grease the pan thoroughly with a cooking spray. If you have trouble releasing the cake from the pan after baking, you risk losing all of the detail in the pan.
3. 3. Test the cake often. Bundt pans are deeper than many regular cake pans, so the cake could be brown on top but still undercooked in the middle. With a toothpick or long wooden skewer, start testing the cake about three-fourths of the way through baking. When the toothpick comes out of the cake with no wet batter on it, the cake is ready to come out of the oven. Overbaking will result in a dry cake.

Frosting a bundt cake differs from frosting a regular layered birthday cake or other flat cake due to the bundt cake’s curves and patterns.

1. 1. Let the cake cool completely. Let the cake come to room temperature, preferably on a wire rack, prior to frosting or glazing it. If you’re not frosting it right away, cover the cake tightly in plastic wrap and store it on the counter or in the refrigerator for up to a couple of days.
2. 2. Consider using a glaze instead of frosting. To cover the cake in a sweet topping without a thick frosting, use a glaze. A glaze falls gently over the cake, revealing and highlighting the design while still adding more flavor and sweetness to the cake. For a chocolate bundt cake, try a glaze with powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and milk. For a vanilla cake, try powdered sugar and lemon juice for a bright flavor.
3. 3. Use a piping bag for frosting. Traditional frosting methods are less effective with bundt cakes since they have curves. If you wish to use frosting rather than a glaze, consider using a piping bag to pipe the frosting onto the cooled cake.
4. 4. Add decorations. After you have glazed or frosted your cake, feel free to decorate the top of the cake with sprinkles, chocolate chips, a drizzle of melted dark chocolate, toasted pecans, or little candies. On a bundt cake, the pattern of the cake is part of the decoration, so consider ways to creatively highlight that aspect.

Almost any frosting you would use on traditional cakes or cupcakes will work for a bundt cake, but there are some that work better than others.

1. 1. Buttercream frosting: You can frost a bundt cake with a traditional cake frosting like buttercream frosting. It’s light, fluffy, and takes on different colors from the addition of food coloring or certain flavorings. Try flavoring buttercream frosting in a coordinating flavor to your cake mix.
2. 2. Cream cheese frosting: Depending on how you mix cream cheese frosting and the ingredients it contains, it can have a similar consistency to both buttercream frosting and a glaze. Soften the cream cheese and mix it with milk and powdered sugar for a thinner consistency, or whip it with butter to incorporate air for a thicker, fluffier consistency.
3. 3. Glaze: A thinner glaze covers the whole cake without hiding the patterns that the bundt pan created. Mix powdered sugar with milk, buttermilk, lemon juice, or water until it’s thin enough to pour over the cake but thick enough that it won’t just run off the cake completely. For a thicker glaze, mix in a little sour cream as well.
4. 4. Ganache: For a fudge-like frosting, make a chocolate ganache—a mixture of equal parts chocolate and heavy cream. Heat the heavy cream, pour it over the chocolate chunks, and let the heat of the cream melt the chocolate. Drizzle the chocolate ganache over the cake, or let it cool and then whip it up in a stand mixer for a whipped ganache frosting.

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