Exciting news in the Treats and Eats household, it’s finally baking season! As someone who 1) gets hot easily, 2) gets extremely grumpy in the heat, and 3) lives in a house without central air, I steadfastly refuse to turn the oven on until the temperature inside the house is in the mid 60s. That means no baking from May through September. But no more no-bake treats for me – baking season is here! And to celebrate I made a mini chocolate cake with cinnamon frosting. Because small batch desserts are clearly my jam these days, and who doesn’t need chocolate cake in their life?
I made this cake in two 4-inch cake pans and split the layers in half to create a four-layer cake. You could keep it as two layers or make 6 smallish cupcakes instead. Whatever you decide to do, you will love how easy this cake is to pull together. The cinnamon frosting works really well with chocolate and makes it taste very fall or even winter-like. But if you’re not a chocolate and cinnamon fan you could certainly leave out the cinnamon and just frost it with a vanilla buttercream instead.
Celebrate the start of baking season with me by making yourself a mini chocolate cake and enjoying the long weekend!
Mini chocolate cake with cinnamon frosting
For the cake
- ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup warm water
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp yogurt
- 1½ tbsp canola oil
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
For the frosting
- 12 TBSP unsalted butter
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- 3 TBSP heavy cream
- 1 cup confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch of salt
Directions
To make the cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the bottom of two 4 inch cake pans with parchment paper and grease the sides.
Add the cocoa powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl and whisk well. Add the egg, warm water, milk, yogurt and canola oil and stir by hand until well-mixed. This took me about 4 minutes. Divide the batter equally between the 2 cake pans.
Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with only a few crumbs attached. Let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
To make the frosting
Use a hand or standing mixer to whip the butter for 5-6 minutes, until very light and fluffy. Add the remainder of the ingredients and whip for another 6 minutes.
To assemble
If you wish to make a 4-layer cake, divide each cake into two layers. Else keep as in (leveling top if necessary) to make a 2-layer cake. Place a cake layer down and add buttercream on top, spread evenly. Place another cake layer on top and repeat the process, finishing with buttercream on top and the sides.
