This delicious Mini Chocolate Cake recipe is a soft two layer chocolate cake topped with whipped chocolate ganache, silky chocolate ganache and piped whipped chocolate ganache! It’s a chocolate lover’s dream!
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This Mini Chocolate Cake is a cocoa based cake topped with chocolate ganache. It’s easy to whip up, moist, fluffy and very chocolatey.
I love chocolate cake and chocolate ganache. This cake combines the two. It’s the ultimate chocolate cake!
For more delicious cake recipes, try my Nutella Peanut Butter Cake, Chocolate Chip Cake Loaf and Lemon Rosemary Olive Oil Cake.
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Why We Love This Recipe
- This cake is filled with mousse-like whipped chocolate ganache and topped with silky ganache!
- The olive oil in the cake batter makes this cake moist and tender.
- It comes together quickly and easily it comes together just like this chocolate lemon cake.
- It’s the perfect cake for a birthday or special occasion or just anytime you’re craving chocolate.
Ingredients
Below are useful notes on some of the ingredients.
- Olive Oil– You won’t taste the olive oil in this recipe, but it makes the cake super moist. Use a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
- Brown Sugar– Use light or dark brown sugar. Make sure your brown sugar is fresh.
- One Egg: Use 1 large room temperature egg.
- Buttermilk-Buttermilk helps the cake stay super moist. Use room temperature buttermilk.
- Boiling Water– Hot water brings out the chocolate flavor of the cocoa powder.
- Flour– Use all purpose flour.
- Cocoa Powder-Use natural cocoa powder. For another cocoa-based chocolate cake, try my sweet potato chocolate cake!
- Baking Soda and baking powder– It’s always a good idea to check the expiration date on your leavening agents. Make sure they aren’t expired.
- Chocolate: I use semi-sweet bars of chocolate for the ganache. I recommend chocolate bars over chocolate chips. To ensure even/faster melting, chop the chocolate into small, even pieces.
- Heavy Cream or Heavy Whipping Cream: Makes the ganache super rich and spreadable. Do not use half and half or whole milk as a substitute. For another cake topped with ganache, try my cardamom orange cake!
Please see recipe card below for full list of ingredients and their measurements.
Substitutions
- Vegetable or canola oil can be used as a substitute for the olive oil.
- If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make your own! Check out this post on How to Make Buttermilk by Once Upon a Chef.
Expert Tips
- Tip #1: To bring your egg to room temperature faster, place the egg in a bowl of very warm water for about 5 minutes.
- Tip #2: I wouldn’t recommend using chocolate chips for the ganache. Use chopped chocolate baking bars for the ganache. It melts more evenly than chocolate chips.
- Tip #3: For an even thicker consistency, whip the cooled ganache with a whisk attachment on medium-high speed for 4-5 minutes.
- Tip #4: I spread about 3/4 cup of whipped chocolate ganache between these two 6″ cake layers.
Recipe FAQs
Ganache is made with chocolate and heavy cream whereas frosting is usually made with butter and powdered sugar. Ganache has a pourable consistency while frosting has a fluffier, usually sweeter texture and taste. For more information, check out this article called Ganache VS Frosting by foodiosity.com.
To make perfect layers, you need nonstick cake pans. You’ll want to use layer cake pans because the sides are perfectly straight. I use 6 by 2 inch pans greased with butter and line them with parchment paper.
Store this cake in a cake carrier or another airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. After that, store well covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 more days.
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Mini Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
FOR THE MINI CHOCOLATE CAKE
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil canola or vegetable oil can be substituted
- 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon brown sugar light or dark, packed
- 1 large egg room temperature
- 1 3/4 teaspoons vanilla
- 3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature
- 1/4 cup boiling water
- chocolate sprinkles for decoration (optional)
FOR THE GANACHE
- 10 ounces semisweet chocolate finely chopped
- 10 ounces heavy cream or heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of two 6″ straight edge cake pans with parchment paper. Spray the sides with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk to combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg, oil, sugars, buttermilk and vanilla extract until combined.
- Use a rubber spatula to gradually stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined, being careful not to over mix. Pour in the hot water and stir until combined.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared pans and bake 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place pan on a wire rack and allow to cool in the pan for 30 minutes then remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Cool completely before decorating with chocolate ganache.
Chocolate Ganache
- Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan on medium heat, bring the heavy cream to a simmer. Do not let it get to a boil. Pour the heavy cream over the chocolate. Do not stir. Let stand 3-4 minutes then stir slowly with a metal spoon until the chocolate has melted and is completely combined with the heavy cream. Scoop out about 1/2 cup of the chocolate ganache for the drip or glaze on the top of the cake. Set aside.
Whipped Chocolate Ganache
- Let the ganache stand at room temperature until it has cooled completely. Once cooled, the ganache will be thick enough to be spread or piped. To make it even thicker, whip the ganache. To do this, transfer the cooled ganache to the bowl of an electric mixer. Use the whisk attachment to beat the ganache on medium-high for 4-5 minutes until the ganache is a lighter shade and has also lightened in texture.
Assembling and Decorating
- Use an offset spatula to spread about 3/4 cup of the whipped ganache over the first layer of the cake. Place the second layer on top. Spoon or drizzle about 1/2 cup of the reserved (non-whipped ganache) over the top layer. This ganache may need to be reheated* to get back to that ganache consistency. Use an offset spatula to spread the ganache. Use an open star tip (such as the Wilton 1M to pipe more whipped ganache on top. Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles, if desired!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that nutritional values are created by an online calculator and should only be used as an estimate.
Sadie
Can I use almond milk instead?
Natalie
Hi Sadie! Unfortunately I have never tested this cake with almond milk, so I can’t say for sure how it would work. I have made it with regular whole milk and it worked just fine, but haven’t baked with almond milk before. I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful. Please let me know if you have any other questions! -Natalie
Sanah
Hi, I have a pretty small oven and only one 6 inch pan- can this be baked in a single pan and then cut into layers?
Natalie
Hi Sanah. Thanks for your question. Unfortunately I haven’t tried this, so I can’t say how it would turn out. Sorry I can’t be more helpful! Please let me know if you have any other questions. -Natalie
Barbara Ward
Adorably Chocolatey is my kind of recipe!