Maylee at Beyond Gumbo 
I love “Funfetti Cakes” made with Pillsbury cake mix. This just happens to be my most favorite “boxed” cake mix. I love the distinct almond flavor, white cake batter which is light and airy with colored sprinkles. The festive cake is just right for spring celebrations such as a birthday parties or an Easter meal, especially when served with fresh strawberries and ice cream. And, it makes a simple dessert for no particular reason — we don’t always have to have a birthday or holiday to enjoy dessert. Our small family of two does not need an entire cake. Since my “small batch” brownies baked in an air fryer turned out so well, I decided to experiment with making a “small batch” cake in my new mini-Bundt cake pans with my air fryer.
Strawberry Ice Cream
Fresh grown Louisiana strawberries are in season in Mach and April. I went all-out and made a very easy strawberry ice cream to go along with the mini-cake.
Lots and lots of mini-cake pans and baking supplies
I am having much fun experimenting with scaling down recipes to serve two folks which I can bake in my little air fryer. It required purchasing and locating in my kitchen cabinets tiny cake pans, individual ramekins and cup cake holders which fit in the little 6″-diameter air fryer basket. Thanks, Amazon! I have amassed quite a supply of miniature round baking pans!
My air fryer is a small, inexpensive Chefman air fryer. These recipes are adapted to fit and cook in this appliance. There are many types and brands of air fryers. You may need to adjust cooking times if using another type of air fryer.
Since foods cook from the outside to the middle and from the top down to the bottom in my particular air fryer — I found that many recipes required adaptation. For example — brownies were raw in the center and burnt on top. I solved this problem by purchasing a 6″- diameter Bundt cake pan. With a center pillar, the cake cooks evenly in the air fryer. This cake pan is my latest Amazon.com acquisition and just fits in the air fryer basket. It has a non-stick finish. The cake doesn’t stick to the cake pan — I oil the cake pan and the cake just pops out after baking. As always, don’t put this cake pan in the dishwasher.
Experimenting with Baking a Mini-Cake
Boxes of commercial cake mix make great cakes. I actually prefer them compared to completely “homemade” cakes for a simple cake. Making a cake “from scratch” takes skill and technique — I’ve had many flops. Cakes made from commercial cake mix always come out well — they are light and tender with great vanilla or almond flavor.
I decided to experiment with Pillsbury’s Funfetti cake mix by scaling it to fit into my mini-Bundt cake pans and air fryer basket. Since one (15.25 oz) box of cake mix made three cakes; I was able to experiment with three ingredient variations.
Ingredients:
Here are the ingredients for my “Mini-Bundt Funfetti Cake” and variations. Each cake takes one cup of dry cake mix. Don’t be tempted to make only two cakes — the batter will fill over the top edges of the bundt cake pan and will burn while baking.
This cake is Variation Two. I used one egg white and 2 Tbsp sour cream.
Variation One cake uses two egg whites, not whole eggs, as per the instructions on the box of cake mix. Egg yolks impart a yellow color to the cake batter and change the flavor. For a white cake, use only egg whites. My handy egg separator worked well to separate out the egg whites from the yolks. I saved the yolks for another recipe.
For Variation Three cake, I used one whole egg.
All these variations turned out well — just pick the one you prefer.
Making the Recipe:
To mix up the cake, completely oil the inside of the bundt cake pan. I used a pastry brush. Set the bundt cake pan aside. In a medium-sized bowl, add the dry cake mix, oil, water and egg white(s)/whole egg/sour cream. Mix with a wire whip for one minute. Pour into the small oiled bundt cake pan.
Place the bundt pan in air fryer basket on the grate. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. To avoid a burnt cake, I had to bake the cake on a lower temperature — 325 degrees — than the temperature stated on the box of cake mix.
Let cake cool for 5 minutes in the bundt cake pan and then invert and pop the cake out onto a serving platter.
Cool the cake completely to room temperature. Then ice with a powdered sugar glaze and decorate with pink sprinkles and jelly beans.
For decorations, I used pink sprinkles and candy similar to jelly beans from Dunkin’ Donuts. These are a soft candy — but not as “gummy” as jelly beans. And, they have a bright citrus flavor. Yum!
Powdered Sugar Glaze
Make a simple powdered sugar glaze by mixing powdered sugar with small amount of milk and vanilla extract. (I used vanilla extract in the glaze since the cake had a strong almond flavor — didn’t need more almond flavor.) Stir until lumps of powdered sugar are broken up. The glaze should be thick but pourable. Avoid temptation to add too much milk. A thin glaze will just run off the cake.
Drizzle the glaze over the cake.
Immediately sprinkle on pink sugar and add jelly beans. Once the glaze hardens, the decorations won’t stick.
I love this cake when served with ice cream, to make a really fine dessert. Since Louisiana strawberries are in season, I made homemade strawberry ice cream to serve with the cake. (The very easy strawberry ice cream recipe is coming next week.)
With a little experimenting, I came up with a great mini-bundt cake which I can bake in my air fryer using a 6″- diameter bundt cake pan. All three variations (cake made with either egg whites or egg white plus sour cream or whole egg) came out well.
The cake is just in time for Easter. And it is easy to make — the “small batch” fit our small family. I’ll add it to my list of ideas of “foods to cook in an air fryer.”
Enjoy.
Mini-Bundt Funfetti Cake for Spring in the Air Fryer
Ingredients for Cake:
- 1 cup (1/3 of 15.25 oz box) of Pillsbury Funfetti cake mix
- 3 Tbsp oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 large egg whites (use egg yolks for other recipes)*
- 1 recipe powdered sugar glaze
- pink sprinkles, decorations
- jelly beans, decorations
- fresh strawberries, garnish
- vanilla or strawberry ice cream, for serving, if desired.
Method and Steps for Bundt cake:
- Set temperature of air fryer to 325 degrees. Coat entire inside surface of non-stick bundt cake pan with oil or no-stick cooking spray.
- In medium-sized bowl, beat cake mix, oil, water and egg whites by hand with a wire whip for 1 minutes.*
- Pour batter into prepared bundt cake pan.
- Place into air fryer basket on wire grate.
- Insert air fryer basket into air fryer. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove basket from air fryer. Using tongs, grasp side of bundt cake pan and transfer to wire rack or kitchen counter.
- After 5 minutes, invert cake onto serving platter and remove from pan.
- Allow cake to cool completely.
- If necessary, carefully use large serrated knife to level off bottom of cake. Remove as little as possible.
- Make powdered sugar glaze (refer to ingredients and instructions, below.) Drizzle glaze over top of cake.
- Quickly sprinkle on pink sprinkles — before icing glaze has hardened.
- Decorate with jelly beans.
- Garnish with fresh strawberries, if desired.
- Serve with ice cream, if desired.
*NOTE: For cake variations, substitute 1 egg white and 2 Tbsp sour cream, or 1 whole egg.
Ingredients for Powdered Sugar Glaze:
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar, plus 1 – 3 tsp if needed
- 2 tsp milk, plus 1/2 tsp if needed
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Method and Steps for Powdered Sugar Glaze:
- Add powdered sugar to small bowl.
- Pour in milk and vanilla extract. Stir with spoon until glaze is blended and all lumps of powdered sugar are broken up. Glaze should be thick but pourable. (If needed, add 1/2 tsp milk to thin. If too thin, add 1 tsp powdered sugar at a time to thicken.)
