Coffee with the Chicken Ladies

Heart Shaped Mini Chocolate Cakes

We whipped up these cute little cakes for Valentine’s Day! They only use one egg, and they look sophisticated enough to serve after a fancy dinner. This recipe includes 1/2 cup of hot coffee. You can substitute water if you prefer, but the coffee intensifies the rich chocolate taste. As always, we include gluten and dairy free substitutions.

We talk you through this recipe in episode 168 of our podcast. If you like these mini cakes, you may also enjoy making our Flourless Chocolate Cake or our Red Velvet Cupcakes.

Heart Shaped Mini Chocolate Cakes

These rich and delicious little cakes are perfect for your Valentine’s or Galentine’s Day celebrations. We used heart shaped silicone molds, but you can use cupcake or muffin tins if that’s all you have. Because they’re so rich and delicious, we opted to skip frosting and glaze them with ganache instead.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup all-purpose flour or gluten free 1-1
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg room temperature
• ½ cup buttermilk or dairy free buttermilk room temperature (for dairy free buttermilk, add 2 teaspoons lemon juice to scant 1/2 cup plant milk and let sit for 10 minutes)
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ cup hot strong black coffee (you can sub hot water if necessary, but the coffee makes these special!)

Method

 

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Spray or grease heart shaped cupcake or mini cake molds or spray/line a cupcake pan with paper liners.
2. Combine and whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl; flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda.
3. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the egg, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla and whisk well.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix using a hand or stand mixer until just combined.
5. Add the coffee or hot water to the batter and mix again, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary, until combined.
6. Fill molds/pans only ½ full, then bake for 18-21 minutes, until the tops bounce back when you touch them with a finger or a toothpick comes out with only a few moist crumbs when used to test a cupcake.
7. Cool completely before pouring on the ganache glaze. Pour a tablespoon or so over each cake and allow the ganache to flow over the sides. Allow ganache to firm up before serving.

Notes

Easy Ganache Recipe:    

1 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips, and 1/4 cup of heavy cream, dairy free half and half, or thick dairy free milk (oat milks is best.) Combine chocolate and heavy cream in a small microwave-safe bowl. Place in the microwave on high for 30 seconds. Take the bowl out and stir the contents. Repeat this until the chocolate is melted and the cream is blended in completely.