Mini Mint Chocolate Chip Cake
A mini mint chocolate chip cake is the perfect dessert for a small birthday party. With this crazy easy recipe, you can make an adorable mini cake and a half dozen cupcakes. The rich and moist chocolate cake is covered in mint chocolate chip buttercream and a chocolate drip. Read on to learn how to pull this off!
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Celebrating a Quarantine Birthday
I bet a lot of us have now had the, um, joy of celebrating a birthday during covid. For most of us, this means small gatherings, or even no birthday party. That’s a bummer, but you shouldn’t let a special day pass without some sort of treat. Calories don’t count on your birthday, and that’s a fact.
With small birthday parties becoming more common for the immediate future, it’s important to have some small batch recipes on hand, like this mini mint chocolate chip cake. The 4 inch cake was enough for my 3 person family and I gave the cupcakes to my dad who stopped by for an outdoor physically distanced visit.
Mini Mint Chocolate Chip Cake Details
I had originally planned on making a macaron sculpted cake for my birthday, but that was a bit extra for this year. So I let my son rifle through my stack of cake sketches and he picked this mini mint chocolate chip cake. The one that I designed for his birthday, but he had decided to go with this watermelon cake.
This recipe pairs my vegan chocolate cupcake batter with a new mint chocolate chip buttercream and includes a little chocolate drip for good measure. Luckily, every single thing about this recipe is insanely easy. And it works well with King Arthur Baking gluten free flour if you need a gluten free mini cake.
Mint Chocolate Chip Frosting
Once I had this cake picked out, I had to figure out how to make the classic mint chocolate chip frosting. It was a toss up between mini chocolate chips and finely chopped chocolate. Mini chocolate chips are definitely the easier choice, but even those are a bit chunky.
Ultimately I went for finely chopped chocolate. You want these pieces as small as you can possibly get them. Aim for “practically shredded”. Not only will it make it easier to frost and pipe, the fine chocolate will just melt in your mouth. Any large chunks will make smoothing the cake tricky.
Mini Chocolate Cake
It’s possible that I had originally intended to add mint to the chocolate cake, but I didn’t. If you want to fully embrace the mint chocolate chip cake theme, you could add a splash of peppermint extract, but I preferred letting the frosting tell the story.
To bake these mini chocolate cakes, I poured 6 ounces of my vegan chocolate cupcake batter into two 4 inch cake pans and baked for 30 minutes. The remaining batter gets baked as cupcakes.
Related Reading: Lime Macarons with Mint Buttercream
From Sketch to Reality
Just like you, my brain is constantly running and coming up with fun cake designs to try out. Problem is, I used to have trouble remembering those designs when it came time to actually make the cake.
To save me some sanity and peace of mind, I created a bunch of different cake templates. Now, when inspiration strikes, I sketch out my cake and save it for later. Then I use the sketch as a guide when I’m making and finishing off the cake!
I’ll be launching a full cake sketch book by the end of the year. If you are interested in improving your cake design process, be sure to subscribe to my email list so that you’ll be one of the first to hear about the launch.
Videos to Watch
So, I didn’t even plan on posting this recipe, but after a few friends drooled over the picture I shared on the Bakes & Blunders Facebook page, I decided this mini mint chocolate chip cake needed to make its debut.
Incidentally, I have several videos related to this cake. Watch these to learn even more about the behind the scenes of this cake.
Enjoy!
I so hope you get to try this super easy, crazy delicious mini mint chocolate chip cake. If you do, please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it! I always love hearing from my fellow home bakers. And while you’re here, tell me how you celebrated your Quarantine Birthday. Happy Baking!
Mini Mint Chocolate Chip Cake
Ingredients
Vegan Chocolate Cake
- 1 cup all- purpose flour (4.5 oz)
- 1/2 cup cake flour (2 oz)
- 1 cup sugar (7 oz)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsps cocoa powder (½ oz)
- 1 cup hot black coffee
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 5 Tbsps canola oil (2 oz)
Mint Chocolate Chip American Buttercream
- 1/2 lb unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 lb powdered sugar sifted
- 1/4 tsp peppermint extract
- 1- 3 Tbsps cream
- Pinch of salt
- Gel food color
- 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate finely chopped
Chocolate Ganache
- 2 oz cream
- 2 oz semi-sweet chocolate chopped
Instructions
Vegan Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 350℉. Spray two 4 inch cake pans with baking spray and line with parchment rounds. Line a cupcake tin with 6 paper liners Set aside.
- Sift flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt into a medium or large bowl. Set aside. Sift cocoa powder into a medium bowl and add hot coffee. Stir until combined. Add vinegar, vanilla, and oil and stir again until combined.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients. Gently stir until combined. Fill the cake pans roughly halfway, about 6 ounces in each. Use a scoop to dispense the remaining batter evenly in the 6 cupcake cavities. Bake the 4 inch cakes for about 30 minutes. Bake the cupcakes for 18- 20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when touched. (Both cupcakes and cake pans must go in the oven at the same time.)
- Cool in the pan for 5- 10 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Allow the cakes to cool completely before frosting.
Mint Chocolate Chip American Buttercream
- Beat the butter on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 5- 10 minutes. Scrape the bowl down as needed.
- Add a third of the powdered sugar to the bowl. Beat on low until combined, then on medium until creamy, about 1- 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl down. Add another third of the sugar and a tablespoon of cream to the bowl. Beat on low until combined, then on medium until creamy, about 1- 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl down.
- Add the remaining sugar and a pinch of salt to the bowl. Beat on low until combined, then on medium until creamy, about 1- 2 minutes. Scrape the bowl down. Add the peppermint and gel food color and beat until combined.
- Add cream a little bit at a time, beating between additions, until the frosting reaches the right consistency. Add the very finely chopped chocolate to the bowl and fold to evenly combine.
Chocolate Ganache
- Heat the cream in the microwave or on the stove until hot, but not boiling. Pour over the chopped chocolate. Let it sit for 2 minutes, then stir until smooth.
Assembly
- Place a layer of the 4 inch cake on a cake circle. Top with mint chocolate chip frosting and smooth. Add the second layer of cake.
- Cover the cake in a thin coat of frosting and chill for 20 minutes (crumb coat & chill). Remove from the fridge and add a final coat of frosting. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Once the ganache has cooled down, but is still loose, use a spoon or piping bag to create a drizzle around the cake. Fill in the top with ganache. Add any finishing touches and enjoy!
Notes
- I made a double batch of the frosting and added 2 drops of green and 1 drop of blue to get this color.
My Favorite Products for this Recipe
Colleen
Hi there! I’m Colleen, a novice baker with a passion for learning and improving my bakes… and blunders. On Bakes and Blunders, you can find all sorts of tasty recipes that range in difficulty, but most importantly, I’ll try to explain the reason behind important steps. If you know why a recipe works, you can tweak and adapt it to suit your unique tastes, and you’ll be able to reliably produce some very delicious treats. If you love baking and want to expand and grow your skills, or if you are a casual baker and just need some pointers, my blog is right up your alley! Join me on my baking journey and we’ll learn how to make more impressive recipes together.
2 Comments
Ronnie C
Hiya! You’re absolutely right abt COVID birthdays. Just wondering if I could make a 2 layer 6 inch cake with this recipe?
Colleen
Absolutely you can! In fact, I used this same cake batter to make a 2 layer 6 inch cake that I wrapped in an edible image. You can see the recipe and how it turned out here – https://www.bakesandblunders.com/how-to-use-edible-sugar-sheets/.