The Cake Merchant

Mini Chocolate Covered Strawberry Layer Cakes for Two

Babycakes: A term of endearment. This can lead to other cute nicknames such as babyface, sweetcheeks, and noodlenose.

Mini Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cakes

Baby Cakes: Miniature Layer Cakes that fit in the palm of your hand.

Mini Chocolate Strawberry Cake

I know I said that Small Batch Saturday would be every other week, but I thought I’d throw some baby cakes your way around Valentine’s Day (the cake kind, not the noodlenose kind). Leave it to me to be off schedule the 2nd week into a blog series.

These mini layer cakes are baked in 15 ounce tin cans. Seriously, BPA free cans make great little cake pans. Make sure you have a can opener that doesn’t leave rough edges, and of course, clean them thoroughly before you bake in them.

Full disclosure: While the cake and the frosting recipes are quick and easy, I’m not going to pretend like it was a breeze to get the frosting on the outside of these little cakes smooth. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for a professional, but for my oboe playing self, it was a lot more cumbersome than frosting a regular sized cake. These cakes would look equally cute naked, like these mini cakes I made last year, or with just a crumb coat. If you want to frost the outside of these cakes, I would recommend using 3 1/2 inch cake boards, a small offset spatula, and a bench scraper to smooth them out. I ended up doing the crumb coat while holding the cake in my other hand and using a turntable to finish it off.

Mini Chocolate Strawberry CakesMini Chocolate Strawberry CakesMini Chocolate Covered Strawberry CakeMini Chocolate Strawberry Cakes

So what are you waiting for? Go make some baby cakes for your babycakes!

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Mini Chocolate Covered Strawberry Layer Cakes for Two

Yield: 2 mini layer cakes

Ingredients

    For the Cake:
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Yolk of one large egg
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons natural cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
    • For the Strawberry Frosting:
  • 1/2 cup fresh strawberries
  • 12 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 1-2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
    • For the Ganache:
  • 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 4 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 2 strawberries for topping

Instructions

    For the Cake:
  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit.
  2. Grease the inside of the tin cans with butter. Line the bottoms of the cans with parchment paper and dust the sides of the cans with flour, tapping out the excess.
  3. Place the cans on a cookie sheet for easier handling.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together the water, egg yolk, and vanilla extract.
  5. Pour the melted butter gradually, whisking the entire time.
  6. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  7. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture, and mix until just combined.
  8. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 cans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  9. Cool the pans on wire racks for about 15 minutes.
  10. Run a knife around the sides of the cakes and turn them out onto the wire racks. Cool completely.
    11. For the Frosting:
  11. Place the strawberries in a blender and puree until smooth.
  12. Transfer the puree into a small sauce pan and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil.
  13. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the mixture has reduced by about half.
  14. Set aside and let cool completely.
  15. With an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed for 2-3 minutes until it becomes light and fluffy.
  16. Add 3/4 cup powdered sugar and beat on low until just combined.
  17. Add 1/2 of the strawberry puree and beat on medium for about one minute.
  18. Add the remainder of the sugar and beat on low to combine.
  19. Add the rest of the strawberry puree, vanilla extract and salt.
  20. Turn the mixer up to medium and beat for an additional minute.
  21. Beat in the milk one tablespoon at a time until you reach a spreadable consistency.
    22. For the Ganache
  22. Put the chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.
  23. In a small saucepan, heat the heavy cream over medium heat until it just begins to boil.
  24. Pour the cream over the chocolate chips and let stand for about 5 minutes.
  25. Stir until smooth.
    26. To Assemble the Cakes:
  26. Slice the layer cakes in half horizontally and place them on a 3 1/2 inch cake board.
  27. Spread a layer of frosting in between each layer.
  28. Place a dollop of frosting on the top of the cake, and spread evenly across the top of the cake. Work your way around the sides until the entire cake is covered with a thin layer of frosting. Let the crumb coat set in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
  29. Once the crumb coat has set, spread a thicker layer of frosting on the top and sides of the crumb coat to create a smooth finish. Put the cake back in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
  30. Once the frosting has set, pour the ganache over each cake a little bit at a time until it starts to run over the edge and use an offset spatula to smooth out the top. If the ganache has gotten thick, microwave it on medium powder in 10 second intervals until it reaches the right amount of drippiness.
  31. Let the excess frosting drip over the sides.
  32. Dip the strawberries in the remainder of the ganache and place on top of each cake.
  33. Let the ganache set, and serve at room temperature.
https://cakemerchant.com/2014/02/01/mini-chocolate-covered-strawberry-layer-cakes-two/

Cake recipe adapted from Small-Batch Baking

Frosting recipe adapted from allrecipes

Comments

  2. Oh my gosh these are so stinkin’ adorable! Love the color contrast between the pink and the ganache flowing down the side! Anddd now I want some dessert haha

    Reply

  8. They are adorable, I love all your cakes they are always so pretty and inspirational. I’m now co-hosting Sweet and Savoury Sunday’s and would love you to come and link up some of your recipes with us 🙂

    Reply

  15. These are ADORABLE!!! This year for V-day my hubby is doing the cooking and I am doing the baking. . . I think I found what I will be making!!!! Can I ask, what size cans did you use?? Thank you!

    Reply

  18. Aaaah, these are the cutest! And I agree, why are teensy cakes the worst to frost?! You would think they would be easy, because they’re small, but instead they wriggle around and cause all sorts of grief. You did an awesome job, though, because these are so cute.

    Reply

  22. Okay, I think these are among your top 5 best/cutest/most photogenic cakes you’ve ever made. I love them!!!! I’m so tempted to make these for Erik and me but (1) there is already wayyyy too much sugar floating around my apartment and (2) I think I’d appreciate them more than he would.

    But anyway! Props for the beautifully smooth icing, even though it was difficult! Seriously, if you are ever in Houston can you come give me some cake baking tips? Show me how to frost a cake? Because as you saw by my red velvet single slice frosting debacle…I clearly need some help! Haha.

    Reply

    • Aw, I totally loved you red velvet cake. The single slice is genius. But, yes, if you’re ever in Dallas or I’m in Houston, we should bake lots of cake, and you can show me how to make a Momofuku cake!

      Reply

  24. I have not been successful with the look of the frosting, but my husband says they tasted great anyway!

    Reply

  25. So I just saw this on your sidebar and remembered it from last year. I made something similar this year, with zero memory of having seen it on your site before, but obviously it was lodged somewhere in my subconscious. The similarity was unintentional but definitely there, so I added a note on my post directing people to your version as well. Just wanted to let you know!

    Reply

  26. These are adorable. I use Costco’s canned chicken cans for my mini cakes. They are about 2 1/4″ high and 4″ diameter. What size cans do you use for these mini cakes? Thanks. Can’t wait to try them.

    Reply

  28. What size can do you use for these cakes. I have 4 inch diameter cans that are 2 1/2 inches high that I use for mini cakes, would these do? Thanks. Can’t wait to try these cuties.

    Reply

  29. Love the look of these. We’re having a cake day at work where we’re all making different cakes to share. These would be great for the others to easily take home. So I’m planning on cheating and using a boxed cake mix since I’ll have to make more than two. How full do you fill the soup cans?

    Reply

    • I refrigerated them after the crumb coat. You can freeze them before the crumb coat so they are easier to frost. These are quite challenging to frost because of their small size.

      Reply

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