Mini chocolate bundt cakes for two

It's time to get back to dessert!  Valentine's Day is a few days away and we should have more chocolate for the occasion.  You can't go wrong with a classic so let's have chocolate cake!  I put my mini bundt cake pan to use and made a couple of mini chocolate bundt cakes to share with my Valentines (that would be my husband and our rapidly-growing 9 year old).  We love simple, straight-up chocolate cake - it never gets old, it just has to be good.

These cakes themselves don't just look chocolaty, they also taste that way.  Because of that, you don't necessarily need a glaze (a pretty dusting of confectioners' sugar would do) but since it's for Valentine's Day after all, I topped the cakes with chocolate ganache.  Some of that ganache pooled into the hollow of the cakes and I told my son that was the "tunnel of love".  I know...I'm so corny!

This small-batch recipe from America's Test Kitchen makes two mini bundts so it's perfect for date night or an occasion like Valentine's Day.  Like many of you, we prefer to stay in for Valentine's Day.  More often than not, my husband and I celebrate early (on the closest Friday or Saturday night), with a relaxing dinner in the comfort of our own home.  Dessert is naturally required and a chocolate cake like this would be more than welcomed.  

Because of the small scale and since I don't have a hand-held mixer, I made this recipe the old-fashioned way with my trusty wooden spoon and spatula.  I enjoy being able to do that once in a while.  The effort it takes to make this recipe - from blooming the chocolate in a bit of boiling water to carefully transferring the batter into your two mini bundt molds - are well worth it since you end up with two adorable little chocolate cakes that are just how they should be - chocolaty.  It has the kind of tight, dense crumb I expect when I think bundt cakes; it's moist and the icing on top is just that.

I hope you have a very sweet Valentine's Day!  I hope it's cozy and involves plenty of chocolate.  


I'm glad I took the plunge recently and bought a mini bundt cake tin because bundt cakes are just so pretty.  It's almost a shame to cover the lovely groves with icing.   

I baked these 2 bundt cakes in my mini bundt cake tin that has 6 individual cavities and a total capacity of 5 cups.  Ideally, two individual 1-cup bundt pans should be used for this recipe.  Oddly, I don't remember ever seeing mini stand-alone bundt cake pans like that.  If you're using a tin like I did, you could easily double this recipe and divide the batter nicely into 5 bundts.  It would be fun to make extra for gifts.  I made this on a recent snow day and since we were snowbound at home, I stuck with the small batch recipe for two.

Because I was using my tin and the bundt capacity is less than 1 cup each, I filled my cake pans up fairly generously (it will be about three-quarters full).  The cakes will rise well above the rim of the cake, effectively sealing the bottom.  That's actually rather convenient because the chocolate ganache pools and settles into the well in the center.  One could argue that just one cake is enough for two to share after a nice Valentine's Day meal but I'll leave that up to you...  

To bring out the chocolate flavor in these cakes, this recipe calls for melting the chocolate (1.5 ounces), espresso powder, and cocoa with 2 tablespoon of boiling water.  Be sure to cover the mixture to trap in as much heat as you can from that small amount of water.  If you find that the chocolate hasn't melted thoroughly and the mixture is a bit clumpy, you may just need to gently warm the mixture a few seconds in the microwave to smooth things along.  It will loosen up further after whisking in the sour cream and vanilla.  (I did for a moment consider subbing the sour cream with Greek yogurt but for Valentine's Day, I decided to go for it.)

Initially, I considered tucking some finely chopped chocolate or miniature chocolate chips into these cakes (and then dusting the finished product with confectioners' sugar as per the recipe).  But the cakes themselves have plenty of flavor and are rich enough without it.  I couldn't resist adding a ganache glaze and I'm happy I went that route. You can never go wrong with ganache in my book and my family agrees wholeheartedly!  We all had fun digging into our pre-Valentine's Day bundts.  

Now I just have to either make these again or come up with some other worthy chocolate alternative for our dinner in a couple of days! 


Recipe:

Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes
Adapted from "Rich Chocolate Bundt Cakes" recipe from The Complete Cooking For Two Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen

- For 2 mini bundt cakes (about 1 cup capacity each) - 

For cakes:
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped very finely
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder or instant coffee powder
2 tablespoons boiling water
3 tablespoons sour cream, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup (1 2/3 ounces) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed (2 1/3 ounces) light brown sugar
1 large egg, room temperature

For ganache glaze (optional):
1 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon light corn syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and set a rack in the middle position.  Coat the inside of two 1-cup bundt pans with baking spray.  [I used a mini bundt pan that makes 6 small cakes with a total 5-cup capacity.  I prepped two of the cavities.  If doubling this recipe, divide batter among 5 bundts.]

Place chocolate, espresso powder and cocoa into a small bowl.  Pour boiling water over top, cover, and let sit until chocolate is melted, 3-5 minutes.  Gently whisk mixture until smooth (if necessary, you could warm the mixture on half-power in the microwave for a few seconds).  Whisk in the sour cream and vanilla.  In another bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt together.

Using a hand-held mixer (or proceed by hand like I did using a wooden spoon and rubber spatula), beat brown sugar and softened butter in a medium bowl until sugar is moistened.  On medium-high speed, beat until mixture is pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.  Add egg and beat until combined (the batter may look slightly curdled).  Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture in 2 increments, alternating with the chocolate mixture.

Divide batter between the 2 mini bundt pans.  Tap each pan on the counter to dislodge any air bubbles and wipe any drops of batter around the sides of the pan. Place the bundt pans on a baking sheet (if using individual mini bundt pans) and bake until a cake tester inserted into the cakes comes out with some moist crumbs attached, about 20-22 minutes (but check early because mine were done closer to 16-18 minutes).  Rotate pan halfway through the baking time.

Remove cakes from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.  

Optional ganache glaze:  You can simply dust the completely cooled cakes with confectioners' sugar before serving.  To make the ganache glaze, bring cream and corn syrup just to the boil.  Pour on top of the chocolate and espresso powder, and let sit 1 minute.  Gently whisk together until smooth.  Let ganache cool slightly so that it thickens a bit but is still pourable.  Pour on top of the cooled cakes and let ganache set before serving.