These are soft and moist, with a finger-licking ganache icing. They're super cute and an alternative to slices from a large cake. The mini cakes can be frozen and glazed before serving, making them great for parties. For the holiday season, use festive sprinkles or toppers, rose petals or other edible decorations on top of the glaze.
Dessert cakes
These are moist and intense if you add the rich chocolate glaze, and that is exactly what I wanted to achieve: a simple cake with outstanding chocolate flavor that is versatile for parties, birthdays, the holidays and even a small wedding.
The best part is that you can vary the toppers to adapt them to the occasion. The dried rose petals I use today are sophisticated and festive. But I've finished these with different sprinkles, like gold and red for Christmas or pink for my niece's birthday, and fresh berries for a Summer cookout.
One of our most popular categories is bundt cakes, so it was about time I introduced you to these fabulous mini chocolate ones.
Small cakes are a tad more laborious—not the batter, but filling the bundt cake pans and decorating—but so worth it! especially for a gathering or party when you want to impress and need individual desserts.
There can never be too many chocolate cake recipes. They all bring something different to the dessert table.
Ingredient Notes
Quantities are listed on the recipe card towards the end of this post. The Ingredients page has more details and lists the brands we use.
- Chocolate: use your favorite dark semisweet chocolate.
- Cocoa powder: always use unsweetened. In my experience, the dark ones are the best (this does not apply to the super dark used for making homemade Oreo cookies known as dark or black cocoa powder).
- Vegetable oil: sunflower oil is our first choice for everyday baking because it's neutral and lets the other flavors shine. But you can use canola oil, coconut oil or other vegetable oils.
- Baking powder and baking soda: make sure they're not expired.
Preparing the bundt pan
If you love making bundt cakes, you probably know the pain of not being able to remove it from the pan in one piece. It has happened to me many times!
There are several ways of dealing with this:
Shortening and flour: use soft shortening to grease the pan, every angle, every nook and cranny until it's completely covered. Using your fingers is messy but effective. You can also use a brush. Sprinkle flour and rotate the pan to cover it completely. You'll have to do it to one side and then the other. Make sure you flour the center tube. Turn the pan upside down over the kitchen sink and smack lightly it against the edge. The excess flour will fall, leaving a thin layer behind. Your pan is ready to be filled.
Cake goop or cake pan-release paste: it's one of my favorites, along with the shortening method above, because it's very effective. Mix equal parts (volume: cups or tablespoons) of shortening, flour and vegetable oil (sunflower or canola) to make a paste. Use it to coat the pan with a brush. Store it in an airtight container (I use a jar) for a month at room temperature or up to 3 months in the refrigerator.
Baking spray: use a spray labeled as having flour or specifically made for baking (as opposed to cooking). It has to have flour; otherwise, the cake will likely stick when removed. At least, that's my experience. I hardly use it anymore.
Recipe: whenever I find a great bundt cake recipe that can be easily removed from an intricate bundt pan, even though I didn’t follow step 1 above, I cling to it like life itself.
How to make mini chocolate cakes
Sifting
This step is important to avoid clumps or impurities, especially when using cocoa powder and baking soda. It also helps with fluffiness.
You can sift the dry ingredients beforehand in a separate bowl or have them measured and sift them directly over the butter mixture (my choice).
Stir both preparations
The wet ingredients are first stirred together and whisked into the dry ones. Very simple.
Vintage Kitchen Tip
After incorporating flour in a cake batter, we don't want to develop gluten, as it will toughen the baked cake. So mix *just* until it's all well incorporated but don't overbeat. I like to end mixing with a silicon spatula to ensure the ingredients are fully integrated.
Bundt pans
Fill the pan to no more than ¾ of their capacity.
I used silicon pans for the first time with these and the mini pumpkin cakes. And (surprisingly) they're working better than my metal bundtlette pans that I was having issues with the cakes sticking.
Baking the cakes
- How do you know when they're done? Mini bundt cakes bake way faster than large ones. Use a cake tester or toothpick to check: if it comes out clean (no wet crumbs or batter attached) when you insert it in the middle of one cake, they're done.
- Cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel and place on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes. This will create steam and keep moisture in.
Removing the cakes
Let cool for 15-20 minutes before attempting to remove them. Do so carefully onto a wire rack.
Let cool completely
Don't glaze them until the cakes are at room temperature or the ganache will thin out and drip too much.
Glazing bundt cakes
The domed shape of bundt cakes sometimes makes them tricky to glaze.
The right consistency is key! Too soft and it will run down the sides too much; too thick and it'll be hard to drizzle.
Let the chocolate ganache thicken before drizzling. It should be like thick honey.
How much glaze? That's up to you! I find that a thick layer is always a good idea. So allow your chocolate tooth to decide.
Kitchen notes
- Organization: read the recipe first and ensure you have ingredients at the correct temperature, equipment, and enough workspace. This will make the process so much easier.
- Baking time: Consider that all ovens and pans are different, even if they look similar. The baking time in my recipes is as accurate as possible, but it might take you more or less time. You can use a thermometer (like the OXO oven thermometer) to check that your oven is at the right temperature. I recommend you keep track of how your oven works and what tiny details you might need to adjust.
- Flavorings: For a citrus touch, use 1 teaspoon orange zest. Spices like ½ teaspoon of ground cinnamon or cardamom can be added for a different flavor profile.
- Add-ins: you can add ½ cup of semisweet chocolate chips or chopped walnuts/pecans to the batter.
- Freezing: these moist chocolate cakes freeze well for a month; make sure they're individually wrapped. I use plastic wrap first and then aluminum foil. Defrost them in the refrigerator (it takes a while, so I recommend doing it the day before) or at room temperature, unwrapped.
Related recipes you might like:
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Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes (with ganache glaze)
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Ingredients
Chocolate cake batter:
- 1 cup white sugar
- ½ cup brown sugar, light or dark
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup vegetable oil, I use sunflower oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- ¾ cup whole milk, at room temperature
- ¾ cup prepared coffee, at room temperature
Chocolate ganache glaze:
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate , I use Callebaut 811 chocolate callets
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- ⅓ cup edible dried rose petals or sprinkles
Instructions
For the chocolate cakes:
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease with baking spray metal or silicon mini bundt pans.
- Whisk to combine 1 cup white sugar, ½ cup brown sugar, ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl.
- Whisk ¾ cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 large eggs, ¾ cup whole milk and ¾ cup prepared coffee In a medium bowl. Don’t beat much, but integrate well.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones, whisking until no lumps remain.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pans, filling no more than ¾ of their capacity to avoid overflow.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester inserted comes out almost clean (with a few crumbs on it is also fine). Don’t overbake so the crumb is fudgy.
- Remove the pans and place them on a cooling rack for about 15 minutes, placing clean kitchen towels over them. This will create steam and keep moisture in.
- Carefully remove them from the pans as they are still quite soft. Cool the cakes completely on the cooling rack before glazing.
For the ganache topping:
- Place 6 ounces semisweet chocolate in a medium bowl.
- Bring ¾ cup heavy cream to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and pour over the chocolate, covering. Place a lid or a plate over the bowl and let sit for 1 minute.
- Whisk slowly starting from the center, until the chocolate is completely melted and the mixture smooth and shiny. Let the ganache sit uncovered for 15 minutes or until it is room temperature and thick enough to drizzle over the cooled cakes.
- Drizzle carefully over the cakes, dividing as evenly as possible. Before the chocolate sets, sprinkle ⅓ cup edible dried rose petals or sprinkles.
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