This mini chocolate cake is a small cake that serves two made in a round 6 inch cake pan. The recipe makes 4 small slices of cake, which is perfect for two people! The ganache glaze on top is so easy to make and is so pretty garnished with fresh fruit. Small chocolate cake for two people is the best way to celebrate.
The last time I made this mini chocolate cake for two, we ate it in the car on the way to dinner. And if I remember correctly, we had burgers and fries.
It's not that this cake is 'light' or 'not too sweet' or whatever it is that people say about dessert to make them feel less badly about eating it. It's a solid, rich chocolate cake.
The cake has a crumb that is one notch closer to pound cake than boxed cake mix, which I love. The ganache on top is my obsession. I almost never remember to put butter on the counter to soften for cake frosting, and a 2-minute chocolate ganache solves that problem.
If you're looking for a more standard frosting, try my Chocolate Buttercream recipe.
Ingredients
- Flour. All-purpose, bleached regular flour is what I used to develop this mini chocolate cake recipe. Do not use cake flour, sifted flour, whole wheat or pastry flour for this recipe. If you make changes such as this, the results will not be the same.
- Cocoa Powder. All-natural, unsweet cocoa powder from the box is what we need, which is not the same as hot cocoa mix.
- Baking Soda. This cake only calls for baking soda for its rise and lift; it does not require baking powder. The two are not interchangeable, by the way.
- Oil. The best cake recipes use oil as the base, instead of butter. This is because oil is fully liquid at room temperature, making for a soft, tender cake crumb. This allows you to refrigerate the cake before serving without any hardening, as well. Any type of neutral, flavorless oil works here: canola oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil, or even safflower oil. Do not use unrefined coconut oil that smells of coconut, because it will alter the whole flavor of your cake.
- Sugar. Granulated sugar is what we need for this cake, not brown sugar or powdered sugar.
- Sour Cream. We're using sour cream for its rich, full flavor, also for the acidity to react with the baking soda and make the cake rise. Sour cream is 40% and it cannot be substituted with anything else. Do not use yogurt, buttermilk, whole milk or even low fat sour cream, if you want perfect results.
- Egg. While a lot of my small batch recipes call for part of an egg, we need the whole egg for this mini chocolate cake recipe.
- Vanilla Extract. The best flavor is found in real, pure vanilla extract. My preference is for one made with Bourbon.
- Coffee. This cake will not taste like coffee, though if you're looking for that, try my Mocha Cupcakes. The coffee here provides moisture and a flavor boost for the chocolate.
- Chocolate. We need chopped semisweet chocolate to melt for the chocolate ganache for this mini chocolate cake. I reach for a baking bar or my favorite bar of chocolate to chop up.
- Heavy Cream. We will melt the chocolate into a small amount of heavy cream.
- Optional: A small amount of light (clear) corn syrup makes the ganache super shiny, but it is entirely optional. I like to use fresh fruit for decorating.
How to Make a Mini Chocolate Cake
I'm going to help you out with all of your Valentine's Day dessert for two needs, but first: you're going to need a 6" cake pan to make this mini chocolate cake. They're adorable. And once you buy one, you can make all of my small cake recipes. (Plus, I even use it to make a small batch of fudge, too!).
- Preheat the oven to 350-degrees Fahrenheit, and have ready your 6 inch round cake pan with 2 inch sides. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper, and lightly spray the sides with a non-flavored cooking spray.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together: the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda; set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, sour cream, egg, vanilla and coffee. It's not necessary to use an electric mixer, whisking by hand is totally fine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir together until no streaks of flour remain.
- Pour the mini chocolate cake batter into the prepared pan, slide into the oven and bake for 29-32 minutes. Use a toothpick to ensure the cake is done before removing it from the oven.
- While the cake cools, make the chocolate ganache frosting: in a double boiler, or bowl fitted over a pan of simmering water, combine the chopped chocolate, cream, and corn syrup (if using). Stir over medium heat until melted and smooth. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate and cream in the microwave in 25-second pulses on LOW power. Stir between each pulse.
- Pour the chocolate ganache over the cake on a cake stand, garnish with fresh fruit, and serve.
If you're looking for something even fancier, can I suggest my chocolate mousse cake?
If you're looking for the vanilla version of this cake, try my mini vanilla cake. It includes a tutorial for making buttercream roses, too!
Mini Chocolate Cake
A small chocolate cake that serves just two people.
Ingredients
For the cake:
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 5 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅓ cup neutral oil (like canola or grapeseed)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup full-fat sour cream
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon warm coffee
For the ganache:
- 3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- splash of light corn syrup (to keep the frosting smooth, optional)
- pomegranate arils, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and position a rack in the lower third of the oven.
- Line a 6" round cake pan (with 2" sides) with parchment paper on the bottom, and lightly grease the sides with oil.
- Next, in a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, sour cream, egg, vanilla and coffee.
- Combine the two bowls, mixing just until combined.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan, and bake for 29-32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. If you under-bake the cake, it will slightly sink, so check it! It will also start to pull away from the sides when it's done.
- Remove the cake from the pan by carefully tilting it into one hand, peel off the parchment from the bottom, and then place it on a small cake stand.
- In a double boiler, or bowl fitted over a pan of simmering water, combine the chopped chocolate, cream, and corn syrup (if using). Stir over medium heat until melted and smooth. *Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate and cream in the microwave in 25-second pulses on LOW power. Stir between each pulse.
- Pour the chocolate over the cake, and garnish with pomegranate arils.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 626Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 22gCholesterol: 75mgSodium: 193mgCarbohydrates: 73gFiber: 6gSugar: 52gProtein: 7g
Diane says
I doubled the recipe to make a dozen cupcakes. I inserted a marshmallow into each cupcake before it went into the oven, Two minutes before taking them out (20 minutes later) I put another marshmallow onto each cupcake for the last two minutes. Absolutely fabulous.
Christina Lane says
So can I come over and eat them with you? :)
Joylove says
Can you put mayonnaise instead of sour Cream?
Christina Lane says
Yes! :)
Jbug says
OMG this is my new fav Chocolate dessert! Perfect size ! Decadent taste! So easy to make!
I baked it in a greased Pyrex round glass bowl for 35mins. Loosened the edges before it cooled and it popped right out.
Cannot wait to try other 6-in desserts...I might need to buy stretch pants LOL
Pri says
Hi! I followed you recipe to the T and am so happy with the results. The cake has an intense chocolate flavour. I have been disappointed with the other famous chocolate cake recipes as I feel that they taste 'watered down' if that makes sense. Thank you, this recipe is definitely a keeper!
-pri
Rachel Pridham says
This is in the oven baking and smells lovely. I used a small glass baking dish because that's all I had small enough. I also had no sour cream so I used one of my kids vanilla yogurt drinks (1/3rd cup of it) and added a teaspoon of lemon juice. Worked great. Doing my own buttercream icing for it instead of the ganache as chips are all sold out in stores here due to the pandemic. We are taking this over to my mom in law for Mothers day (while keeping 2 meters apart!)
Hilary C says
Wow. This cake was SO GOOD. I literally woke up thinking about it the next morning. Good thing there was more to eat! My ganache did not turn out smooth (I didn't have any corn syrup to add), but it was delicious. I did alter the ganache a tad because I only had unsweetened baking chocolate. I just added 1 Tablespoon of sugar for every ounce of chocolate. Seemed to work ok! I cut these 6 inch cakes into 6 pieces, but my boyfriend cut this one into 8 and that turned out to be fine because it is so rich...and it lasts just a little longer when sharing with a few roommates haha! I'm already looking forward to the next time I make this.
Bonnie Gordon says
I bake this cake at least once a month and EVERY SINGLE TIME it falls. This is the only cake I have this problem with. Your vanilla cake? Perfect! My full sized Boston Cream Pie (bakes from scratch). Again, perfect. I even opened a brand new box of baking soda (and tested it). Wonderful recipe, delicious taste but I always have to fill the middle with frosting. I have all your cookbooks and recommend them to everyone. Thanks for any help.
Christina Lane says
Hi Bonnie,
That's crazy, I'm so sorry! Are you measuring everything correctly? I'm sure you are. SO, one time I took this cake out of the oven before it was done and it sank. If there is any wet batter in the center of the cake, it will cause the cake to sink.
One other idea: are you using the 6" x 2" pan, or is your pan 3" tall?
Amber says
Easy peasy! I have swapped a normal, single serve container of vanilla yogurt in place of sour cream & it turns out perfectly, just like the original dessert. Instead of ganache, I mix a full package of cream cheese with 1/2 stick butter, cap of vanilla extract, & a few tbsp powdered sugar to create cream cheese frosting. Very smooth & creamy. This dessert is a win every time. #nofail
Christina Lane says
Amazing! I like your version :)
Holly says
Hi Christina! Thanks for this great recipe. I made it on the spur of the moment for Father's Day and it was a hit! So moist. I didn't have heavy cream for the ganache, so made chocolate frosting from your Texas chocolate quarter sheet cake recipe (saved the extra frosting for another cake!). I've already been requested to make this cake again!
Jenna says
If I wanted to double or triple this recipe and make it a layered cake would this recipe work for that? Like would it stay together when I stacked it and frosted it?
Christina Lane says
Yes, I have successfully doubled this recipe. I haven't exactly tripled it, but I think it would work. Just follow the recipe exactly, especially with the eggs :)