Mini Chocolate Cake – Cloudy Kitchen

Mini Chocolate Sheet Cake is made in an eighth sheet pan and has a small batch chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. This simple chocolate cake recipe is fast to make and always a crowd pleaser!

side slice of chocolate sheet cake

Mini Chocolate Sheet Cake

Whats up hiya! Merely popping in to share the recipe for this mini chocolate cake with you. That’s one different inside the sequence of mini sheet muffins I have been making – to this point I’ve made this tiramisu cake, brown butter carrot cake and mini funfetti cake, and I’ve numerous further up my sleeve!

This simple chocolate cake recipe comes collectively great shortly and bakes in an eighth sheet pan for a mini chocolate sheet cake. It is topped with a clear and silky small batch chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream. This cake is great versatile – you can mix and match flavours however you need!

Learn the way to make Chocolate Cake

This mini chocolate cake is great simple to make – you merely combine the dry parts, combine the moist parts, then mix them collectively and change to your cake pan.

The ingredient guidelines is made up of the usual chocolate cake suspects – flour, sugar, milk, cocoa, baking powder, and oil for moisture. I loads favor an oil based chocolate cake over a butter one, as I uncover that the texture is manner nicer and the cake doesn’t dry out.

This recipe is baked at 325°f / 160°f versus the same old 350°f / 180°c you usually see in baking recipes. As soon as I used to be testing it, I found that baking at a greater temperature induced the cake to have a much bigger dome inside the middle, which isn’t excellent in case you make a sheet cake. Ideally you want it to bake up good and flat.

After having fun with spherical with the entire variables (bake temp, leavening agent, sugar, and so forth), I found that lowering the baking temperature was the very best technique to cease this.

For that reason it is so very important to make it doable to your oven is calibrated / that you have a thermometer in there. Some recipes aren’t too delicate, nevertheless for others it will make an unlimited distinction.

sliced chocolate cake with chocolate frostingsliced chocolate cake with chocolate frosting

Baking in an Eighth sheet pan

I made this mini funfetti cake in an eighth sheet pan, which is half the scale of a quarter sheet pan. They’re great pleasant to bake in – I private a bunch. I like them for small batches of bread rolls, or moreover for mini sheet muffins resembling this recipe. They line fully with quarter sheet pan sized parchment (one among my favourite points), and are in order that, so cute. I exploit them regularly for toasting nuts or baking up a single cookie.

For those who can not pay cash for an eighth sheet pan, this mini funfetti cake may additionally work fully made in a 9″x5″ (23x13cm) loaf pan. You will merely wish to have a look at the bake time!

What’s Dutch Course of Cocoa and why is it very important?

Dutch cocoa and customary aren’t basically interchangeable due to the character of them. Frequent cocoa is acidic whereas dutch course of cocoa has been put by an alkalising course of, which signifies that it reacts otherwise in baking.

Frequent, acidic cocoa powder will react further strongly with baking soda (which is prime), so the cake will behave otherwise. That’s very important to note when baking, significantly when swapping in Dutch cocoa for a recipe which requires regular cocoa – it would affect the rise.

I’ve solely examined this mini chocolate cake recipe with dutch cocoa. It makes use of every baking powder and soda so that you is perhaps welcome to attempt frequent cocoa, I merely don’t perceive how you will get on. It is really worth monitoring down Dutch cocoa in case you may – I just like the depth and richness it provides to chocolate cake.

Learn the way to make Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I topped this mini chocolate cake with a small batch Swiss meringue buttercream. I sometimes make a much bigger batch of my Swiss Meringue Buttercream in a stand mixer, nevertheless this small batch can merely be made with a hand mixer. It is my hottest technique to make small batch frosting, as a result of the stand mixer bowl is usually too massive to achieve the buttercream.

This mini chocolate cake can be a great way to utilize up any leftover frosting that you can have frozen. To freeze frosting, merely pop it into an airtight container then freeze for as a lot as 3 months. Defrost in a single day inside the fridge or on the counter, then whip until mild and fluffy and also you is perhaps good to go.

Chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream is solely vanilla buttercream with melted chocolate and a tiny little little bit of cocoa powder for flavour added in. I like chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream – the chocolate cuts by the butter, and it is rich with out being too sweet.

Swiss meringue buttercream is easy to make by hand, proper right here is how I do it:

  • Combine the egg whites and sugar in a bowl, then place over a double boiler. This helps to dissolve the sugar, and it moreover brings the egg whites to a meals protected temperature.
  • Take away from the double boiler and whip the egg whites until thick. Typically you will seek for a stiff peak, nevertheless as there’s solely a small quantity this can be laborious to gauge. Swiss meringue buttercream you’re going to get away with not having great stiff peaks, so seek for one factor that holds significantly of a peak.
  • Add half of the butter, and mix to incorporate. Add the remainder of the butter and keep whipping. The mix may look break up nevertheless merely keep mixing and it will come collectively. Proceed to whip until mild and fluffy.
  • Fold inside the cooled chocolate and cocoa and mix until combined. Your buttercream is now ready to utilize.
chocolate swiss meringue buttercream with sprinkleschocolate swiss meringue buttercream with sprinkles

Frequently Requested Questions for Mini Chocolate Cake

Which pan did you use? What can I do if I have not bought
I used an eighth sheet pan. For those who shouldn’t have one you need to make the most of a loaf pan. I exploit this one – in case you might be in NZ, this place shares the exact ones!

Can this recipe be made with totally different frosting?
Positive, you need to make the most of any frosting that you just similar to on this cake!

What’s neutral oil?
Neutral oil is one thing with a neutral fashion – canola, vegetable, grapeseed and so forth.

What kind of sprinkles did you use?
I used confetti sprinkles to finish my mini chocolate cake – significantly these ones. I like how chunky and cute they’re!

top down image of chocolate cake with frostingtop down image of chocolate cake with frosting

For further small batch cake recipes, check out:

❤️ Made this recipe and adore it? ❤️

I’d LOVE to be able to go away me a overview and star rating beneath to let me perceive the way you favored it! Moreover, please remember to tag me on Instagram!

Options to your baking questions

Over time, plenty of you may need requested me questions on:

I’ve curated and answered all of them in your simple reference on this steadily requested questions submit!

Recipe For Mini Chocolate Cake

Print