Dark Chocolate Mini Cakes

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. It’s the perfect time to bake something delightfully indulgent. Enter these Dark Chocolate Mini Cakes with Espresso Ganache. We’ve got all the traditional Valentine trappings in a different kind of packaging.

We’ll start with mini bundt cakes. Aren’t they cute?! I got my mini bundt cake pans at Marshall’s but you can buy them on Amazon as well. This recipe makes four cakes so you can eat them twice or double date if you like. We never actually go out on Valentine’s Day. One year we did drive into the city and go on a nice date but the traffic was insane! Neither of us likes going out at the same time as everyone else so now we celebrate at home or just have a nice date sometime in February.

How do you feel about Valentine’s Day? Annoying overpriced holiday or beautiful time for love? I think I’m somewhere in the middle at this point. I’m happy for an excuse to find a babysitter and go out, but I don’t really care if it coincides with a holiday of any kind.

I’ll take a holiday as an excuse to eat these cakes though! Dark chocolate cakes drizzled with chocolate espresso ganache are a great start. Since we are using mini bundt cake pans we are left with a perfect hollow in the top to fill with whipped cream and finish with a sliced strawberry. The presentation is gorgeous but it’s also really simple.

You can make your ganache a few days early and store it in the refrigerator. When you’re ready to use it, warm it up over low heat in a small pan (or in the microwave) until it runs smoothly off a spoon. This recipe makes more than you need for the cakes but I know you’ll want to pour it over some ice cream later or just eat it with a spoon. No judgement here since I did it last night…

Happy Valentine’s Day to you all. Whether or not you’re celebrating I hope you make yourself some Dark Chocolate Mini Cakes with Espresso Ganache and enjoy them immensely.

Thanks for pinning and sharing!

-Erin

Dark Chocolate Mini Cakes with Espresso Ganache

• Author: The Teatime Baker
• Prep Time: 30 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 55 minutes
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Cake

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Description

Dark chocolate cake is drizzled with decadent espresso ganache and topped with whipped cream and a sliced strawberry.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Ganache:

• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 Tbsp espresso powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 5 oz dark chocolate (140 g) I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips
• 1 Tbsp butter (15 g)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Cake:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp espresso powder
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 3/4 cup all-purpose floor (120 g)
• 3/4 cup sugar (180 g)
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp dark chocolate baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Topping:

• Whipped cream and fresh strawberries

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Instructions

Ganache:

1. In a small pan warm up the heavy cream, espresso powder and salt until bubbles form around the edges. Put the Chocolate chips, sugar, vanilla and butter into a heatproof bowl. Pour the warmed cream over the chocolate and whisk until you have a smooth dark brown sauce.

Cakes:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F (175 C) and grease four mini bundt cake pans and put them on a cookie sheet with edges.
2. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, vanilla, espresso powder, oil and buttermilk.
3. Add the flour, sugar, baking chocolate, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
4. Mix well and spoon into the cake pans.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for 2-3 minutes and then carefully turn out onto a cooling rack.

Serve:

1. Drizzle with warm ganache and fill the top with whipped cream. Slice a strawberry vertically in three pieces, fan them out and push them into the whipped cream.

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Notes

Ganache recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Espresso Glaze.

Keep the extra ganache in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Keywords: mini chocolate bundt cake, dark chocolate cake recipe, mini chocolate cakes with espresso ganache