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The perfect small chocolate cake recipe to celebrate! This mini chocolate cake for two is a 6 inch chocolate cake recipe. The ideal size for an anniversary celebration!
Nope, it’s not my wedding anniversary. That’s not until June! It is, however, another important anniversary today. It’s my one year blogiversary! 🙂
I can hardly believe it’s been a year since I “went live”. I think I only had 4 or 5 recipes on my site at the time, but that number has now grown to over 100! This past year has been so much fun working on the blog, and I have learned SO much about food blogging and photography. I plan to publish a more detailed post later this week on the past year, but for now – let us eat cake!!
For having over 100 recipes, it’s a little sad to me that I only have three (now four) cakes on the site! I LOVE cake! In fact, my most popular recipe by far is the healthy smash cake that I made for Wally’s 1st birthday. I’m actually using the same 6″ cake pan
So, if you’re wanting to celebrate your anniversary with your partner by making something special, this mini chocolate cake with cream cheese icing is JUST the ticket.
How do you make pipeable cream cheese icing?
I absolutely love cream cheese icing – as in, it’s the only icing I really ever want to eat – especially when it’s allll over a fluffy, moist carrot cake…or my orange carrot cake! It’s not an obvious combo, but chocolate cake really likes cream cheese icing too. So good! That tanginess in the icing contrasts the rich chocolate flavour perfectly.
The only problem with cream cheese icing is that a traditional cream cheese icing recipe isn’t great for piping pretty designs. To create a perfectly pipe-able cream cheese icing, I changed the ratio of butter to cream cheese a bit by upping the butter content for structure, and used full-fat cream cheese rather than my usual light. The light cream cheese has too much water content! The icing still has great flavour, but it’s just a little stiffer than the average.
How do you pipe rosettes?
Speaking of piping – this was my first rose cake; thanks to this awesome tutorial from I Am Baker, it turned out great. Would you believe I decorated this cake while my toddler pulled on my pant leg and my 3-year old continuously begged for frosting? Now that’s multi-tasking!
The rosettes are way easier than they look – make sure you watch the tutorial above to learn!
Now, the cake itself is a fairly simple chocolate cake recipe – but scaled down to mini-size. The buttermilk, along with the oil, adds just the right amount of moistness! I’ve included melted chocolate in the recipe to amp up the chocolate flavour, and the instant espresso brings out that rich cocoa taste. Adding the espresso is optional, but highly recommended!
With all that said, happy anniversary to ME (or to you, if you’re making this mini chocolate cake for a special occasion)! We all need a “little” chocolate cake in our life, don’t you think?
Here’s to another great year of food!!
More cake ideas for you!
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Anniversary Cake for Two
- Total Time: 3 hours 60 minutes
- Yield: 1 6" cake 1x
Description
The perfect small chocolate cake recipe to celebrate! This mini chocolate cake for two is a 6 inch chocolate cake recipe. The ideal size for an anniversary celebration!
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup oil (vegetable or grapeseed)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder*
- 2 oz chopped dark chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
- 1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature
Cream Cheese Icing*
- 2 pkg (500 grams) full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
- 2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a 6″ springform cake pan with parchment paper, and spray with non-stick spray. Dust lightly with flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the oil and sugar until combined. Whisk in the egg, instant espresso powder, and melted chocolate. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, then add half of the buttermilk, stirring together. Add the remaining half and stir until thoroughly combined and there are no lumps. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not under bake, as you will end up with a sunken center!
- Allow the cake to completely cool before icing.*
- Prepare the icing. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or using an electric hand mixer, beat the cream cheese with the butter on medium-high speed until combined. Add half of the powdered sugar, along with the vanilla extract and mix. Add the remaining half of the powdered sugar and beat until just combined; the icing will be fairly stiff.
- Ice the cake! If you will be serving the cake the same day, store it at room temperature, preferably covered. If serving in the next day or two, keep the cake (covered) in the refrigerator.
Leftover cake will keep at room temperature, in an airtight container, for 1-2 days, or in the fridge for 4-5. Cake can also be frozen prior to frosting. Wrap the cake (once cooled) tightly in plastic wrap and store for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before icing.
Notes
- Espresso powder brings out the chocolate flavour; your cake will not taste like coffee. Optional, but highly recommended!
- This recipe made just enough cream cheese icing to add a middle layer to the cake, and substantial decorations on the outside. If you’re simply icing the outside (no middle layer) you may halve the recipe ingredients.
- I created a “2-layer” cake by slicing the cake in half with a serrated knife once it had cooled.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
Happy one year blogiversary Katherine! From the number of recipes you have on your site, I would have said you were blogging for a lot longer than that! What a great accomplishment to have such an awesome site in such a short amount of time! And this cake is the perfect way to celebrate! Those roses are perfectly piped on, and that thick layer of frosting in the middle is calling my name! I’ll be saving this recipe to try later! Enjoy your day!
Thank you Leanne!! I was actually pretty surprised to see the number of recipes I’ve put out – It doesn’t feel like that many!! I appreciate the compliments on the cake! I was so happy with how it turned out!! Cheers, friend!
Happy blogiversary! That’s so exciting! I’m so glad we’ve become friends; I love reading your posts and can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for you. Now to this cake: Katherine, I hate to say it, but the cake is too pretty to eat. Like, WAY TOO PRETTY! I’d feel guilty with every bite. But something tells me I’d find a way to gobble it down–that something might be the amazing cake-to-frosting ratio :). Gorgeousness!
Aww, thank you sweet Kelsie! I’m so glad we’ve found each other in the blogisphere too – your posts always put a smile on my face! ACK – I know – I was actually pretty sad to cut into this cake…it was my first go at a rose cake and I was so happy with how it turned out! If you’re anything like me though, you’d find a way to at least sample a piece 😉 Cheers, my dear!!
Beautiful cake dear ! Happy blogiversary (LOL love the word :-))
Thank you so much!! Haha – it’s a real thing 😉
Happy blogiversary! I can’t believe you’ve only been doing this a year! This cake is everything your celebration needs, I love cream cheese frosting to, its magical 😉 . Enjoy celebrating!! Take care.
Thank you Stacey!! I can’t believe it’s been a year – it has gone SO fast!! Cream cheese frosting is definitely magical (perfect way to describe it). Cheers!
YAY Happy Blogiversary Katherine. What a yummy and beautiful way to celebrate. Haha…I bet the boys gobbled this cake up after the photo shoot and The way you frosted it looks absolutely stunning.
May you have many more years of happy blogging. 🙂
Thank you Ashika!! The boys certainly did not forget about the cake once the photos were taken, haha – I was sad to cut into it!! I hope to keep doing this for as long as I can! Cheers my blogging buddy!!
Happy blogiersay Katherine! So awesome and such a beautiful cake! Cream cheese frosting is my favorite.
Cream cheese frosting is the BEST – right? Thank you Patrick!!
Happy anniversary to your fabulous blog. Yours looks WAY better than mine did after one year—you’re rockin’ it!! What a gorgeous cake. I’m too scared to try to pipe a rose cake—yours looks wonderful!!
Aah thanks Liz, I appreciate that!! I hope I get to where you’re at one day! You’re an inspiration 🙂 I was so scared to try the rose cake too – that tutorial really was handy!
What? Only 4 cakes for one year? You should certainly take a master class from Kelsie haha;) I think you’re doing well – I’ve liked many of your ideas and some of them have even inspired me (Hello, brie with cranberries!) Happy anniversary and please continue your amazing work! And now let’s eat the cake 🙂
I KNOW!! I was appalled, haha – I definitely need to take notes from Kelsie!! I’m so glad to hear I’ve created at least a little inspiration! Thank you so much Ben! Let us eat cake!! 🙂
Happy one year anniversary Kathy!! It’s a darn pretty cake to celebrate, those rosettes are just just too perfect:) Wishing you many, many more!
Thank you so much, Maria!! I am pretty happy with how the roses turned out 🙂 Have a wonderful weekend! XO
Happy blog-iversary, girlfriend!! I can’t believe you’ve only been doing this a year; you seem like a seasoned pro!! This cake is such a beautiful way to celebrate!! Can’t wait to see what you make in the next year!! Cheers!!
Aah you are too kind, Chey! Thank you!! I’m excited for all of the things to come this year – it can only go up! 😉 Have a great weekend chicka!