Guys, I made the cutest mini cake! A mini chocolate cake! A mini chocolate raspberry cake! The perfect size for you and someone special…or shall I say, your sweetheart!
Of course, you can make this cake whenever you want, for whoever you want. V-day, a birthday, treat-yo-self day, or a casual Wednesday. Do you!
I personally made this cake for my special guy and myself. He’s been traveling every week for work lately, so we won’t be together on the actual Feb 14th date. But that’s not a problem, we chose to celebrate our Valentine’s this past weekend. We spent a lovely weekend together and splurged on filet mignon for dinner! Yum! Followed up by this special chocolate raspberry sweetheart cake, of course.
Now, back to this cake. I’m getting VERY distracted by the Olympics right now!! I loooooove the Olympics. Super inspiring!
I wanted to create a much smaller cake that would be more fitting to share between 2-4 people. So what I have here is a 2 layer 6″ inch cake, instead of the usual 3-4 layers that a typical 6″ cake would have.
Between the layers of chocolate cake I added a thin layer of raspberry jam for some extra flavor before filling and frosting with a sweet pink raspberry buttercream. Loving the delicate pink color of this frosting by the way! I was feeling extra fancy when decorating this cake (I mean, it was for a special occasion after all), so I chose to go with a chocolate drip and some cute piping details. You can skip the drip if you’d like, it’s not totally necessary but definitely adds an extra special touch!
Chocolate Raspberry Sweetheart Cake
- Yield: 1 2-tiered 6" cake 1x
Description
Mini chocolate cake filled with raspberry jam and raspberry buttercream, finished with a silky chocolate ganache glaze. A sweet sized cake to share with your sweetie!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1/4 tsp instant espresso powder
- 1/4 cup sour cream, room temp
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 TBS unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
Raspberry Buttercream
- 8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 TBS seedless raspberry jam
Chocolate Ganache
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (dark or semi-sweet)
Assembly
- Seedless raspberry jam
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray two 6″ cake tins with cooking spray and line bottom of pans with parchment paper, spray top of parchment paper as well.
- Whisk together flour through salt in a medium bowl.
- In a separate bowl, or large measuring cup, combine boiling water and espresso powder. Stir to dissolve. Let cool slightly and then add in sour cream and vanilla, until smooth and well combined.
- Using a stand or hand mixer, beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Mix in egg.
- Add dry ingredients to the butter/egg mixture alternately with the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined and then use a spatula to blend in any remaining streaks.
- Evenly pour batter into the two prepared pans. Bake for about 20-23 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Let cool completely.
Raspberry Buttercream
- Using a stand or hand mixer beat butter until light and smooth. Slowly add in powdered sugar and mix on low speed until combined. Add in raspberry jam and mix together. Turn to medium speed and mix buttercream for about 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
Chocolate Ganache
- Combine cream and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup. Heat for 30 seconds, stir, then heat for another 30 seconds. Mix cream and chocolate together until fully melted and mixture becomes smooth and shiny (heating for an additional 15 seconds if necessary). Let cool to room temperature before using on cake.
Assembly
- Place one cake layer on a cardboard cake round or a serving plate. Evenly spread a thin layer of raspberry jam over the top of the cake. Use a small offset spatula and spread about 1/2 cup of frosting evenly across cake layer.
- Place second cake layer, flat side up, on top of first layer. Evenly crumb coat the cake with a thin layer of frosting. Chill cake in fridge or freezer for 15 minutes to set the crumb coat.
- Add final layer of frosting and chill again for 15 minutes. Drip on ganache then chill cake for a final 15 minutes (you may have extra ganache). If desired, use any remaining buttercream to decorate top of cake.
Happy Valentine’s Week!
xo,
Courtney
Leave a Reply