Mini Chocolate Cakes (Eggless)

Just here to satisfy all your chocolate cravings today. With two perfect individual portions of a soft, moist chocolate cake, topped with a simple ganache, sprinkles (obviously) and bonus, made without eggs. They’re so quick and so much fun to make mainly because anything in ramekins can never be boring.

A long time ago , I’d tried a recipe for a chocolate mug cake from Olive and Mango with buckwheat flour and it tasted great. But it also got me wanting a similar small portion of cake with more classic ingredients likely to be on hand when the cravings strike. I did that with a few squares of melted chocolate in the center for a gooey surprise inside but lately, felt like revisiting it one more time and I’m so glad I did.

I tweaked the recipe further to include buttermilk/soured milk that makes the cake more moist, a little bit of baking soda for a lighter crumb and the easiest ganache-like topping for a mini birthday cake-ish feel instead of chocolate in the center of the cake. You will have two perfect little portions and the batter comes together very very quickly and honestly, you don’t even need to go to the trouble of flipping the cakes out onto a plate. Just dig in with a spoon.

They’re cozy, delicious and of course, seriously chocolatey. I hope you love these!

Mini Chocolate Cakes (Eggless)

Two soft and moist individual chocolate cakes topped with ganache

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 25 minutes mins

Total Time: 40 minutes mins

Makes: 2 servings

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Ingredients

  

• 1/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature (60 ml) + 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsps unsalted butter (60 gms)
• 6 tbsps brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (40 gms)
• 2 tbsps cocoa powder (see notes)
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• Pinch of baking soda (scant 1/8th tsp)
• Pinch of salt

For the ganache

• 30 gms dark chocolate (50% to 60%), finely chopped (or chocolate chips)
• 2 tbsps cream, at room temperature

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 175 C. Grease two ramekins very well and set aside.
• Stir together the milk and lemon juice. Set aside while you make the batter.
• In a microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter but don't let it get too hot. Stir to melt down any lumps, then add the sugar and vanilla. Whisk briefly to combine.
• Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir it all in gently, then pour in the milk and fold to combine into a smooth batter. Use a whisk to break up any lumps that may have formed. The batter is pourable but not runny.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cakes have formed a few cracks on the top and domed slightly, and a toothpick poked in the center comes out with only moist crumbs, no wet batter.
• Let them cool in the ramekins at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Then loosen the edges with a sharp knife, and place a plate over the top. Flip it all together and gently shake the ramekin to release the cake. At this point I prefer to turn each cake over again so that the domed tops don't become the base. You can skip the flipping entirely and just spread the topping right into the ramekins too.
• To make the ganache topping, simply combine the chocolate and cream in a small microwave-safe bowl. Heat on high in 5 second increments, stirring in between each. Do not heat it more than 15 seconds in total. Stir to melt down the chocolate for a smooth sauce-like ganache.
• Spoon it over the cakes, decorate with sprinkles and either let the ganache set for about 10 minutes, or dive right in! Best eaten fresh but you can refrigerate the leftovers for 4 to 5 days, bringing them back to room temperature before enjoying them again. Butter cakes firm up in the fridge so the texture will be bit fudgier after chilling but of course, still yum! Happy baking!

Notes

*I used Dutch-processed cocoa here which gives a darker colour and more intense chocolate flavour, but natural cocoa which is more easily available in India (I use Hershey's) is good too. This recipe contains a combination of baking powder and baking soda, so either cocoa is fine and you can read more here.

*I normally use salted Amul butter in most of my baking but for this recipe, I found the batter tasting a bit on the saltier side. So unsalted would be better here. 

*If you have a bittersweet chocolate instead of 50% to 60% dark, you can still use it in the topping but stir 2 tablespoons of caster sugar into the cream and then heat it with the chocolate.

*Adapted from Olive and Mango

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