These Mini Black Chocolate Bundt Cakes with Chocolate Ganache are not only cute, but super moist and tasty. They look fancy, but very easy to make and no mixer is needed.
Halloween is in less than 2 weeks. We will be staying home and enjoying a quiet night. So I wanted to make something fun to eat.
Spiders are everywhere this season. I saw one rappelling down from the ceiling through our security camera. It’s only fitting that I do a spider related dessert. Right?
For the bundt cakes, I want the color to be extra dark for Halloween, so I used black cocoa powder. Black cocoa powder is heavy alkalized, which gives a deep flavor. And of course, it gives that beautiful black color in the baked goods. But there are a few issues with black cocoa powder. It doesn’t have much acid, so it doesn’t react to baking soda in baking. Also, the taste is not as chocolatey as Dutch-process cocoa powder. So it’s best to bake with a combination of black cocoa powder and other cocoa powder. In this recipe, I used half black cocoa powder and half dutch-process cocoa powder.
The best part about this bundt cake batter is no mixer is needed. All you need is to stir and mix everything. To start, melt the butter with coffee, and both cocoa powders. Mix until smooth. Then let the mixture cool slightly. Meanwhile, whisk together the dry ingredients (sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour). Pour the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well. Last, whisk the egg, sour cream and vanilla separately and add to the chocolate mixture Combine everything and that is the batter.
Now, get mini bundt cake pan ready. It’s best to use nonstick one. Spray the inside of the pan with nonstick cooking spray and brush throughly with a pastry brush. I baked in this pan at least 2 times, and no sticking issue.
Since these cakes are pretty small, they took about 17 minutes for my oven. If your baking pan is dark in color, it will be done faster. Check at least 5 minutes early. Once finished, transfer the baking pan to a cooling rack and cool for 7 minutes. Next, carefully invert the cakes onto a cooling rack. Cool completely.
In the meantime, work on the spider webs. I melted the white chocolate in microwave and piped the webs free handed. Since spider webs are never perfect, the pipping doesn’t have to be perfect either. Also make a few extra just in case. Transfer the webs to the fridge to set for 10 minutes. Don’t forget the spider sprinkles. Dip a sprinkle on melted white chocolate and glue onto a web. Repeat with the rest. Put back in the fridge until ready to use.
For the ganache, it’s just chocolate chip and heavy cream. I did it on the stove using a double boiler method. Once the chocolate is just melted, I poured the ganache over the cooled bundt cake. Let the ganache to set for at least 30 minutes (best a couple hours). When ready to serve, carefully peel the spider webs off from the parchment and put on top of the cakes.
These cakes are really moist, have deep chocolate flavors and not too sweet. I love the layer of chocolate ganache on top too. More chocolate is always better! And the spider webs came out very cute. It’s easy to do but doesn’t take too much work. If you don’t have a mini bundt pan, you can turn them into cupcakes too. If you don’t feel like making webs, you can definitely skip that or even change it up for something totally different. We love these mini bundt cakes, hope you’ll too!
Have a safe and fun Halloween!
Mini Black Chocolate Bundt Cakes with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients
Black Chocolate Bundt Cake:
- 113 grams coffee (½ cup)(at room temperature)
- 113 grams unsalted butter (8 tablespoons)(at room temperature)
- 16 grams Dutch-process cocoa powder (3 tablespoons)
- 16 grams black cocoa powder (3 tablespoons)
- 200 grams sugar (1 cup)
- ¼ teaspoon plus ⅛ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
- 120 grams all-purpose flour (1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 large egg (at room temperature)
- 57 grams sour cream (¼ cup)(at room temperature)
White Chocolate Spider Webs:
- 80 grams white chocolate chips (¾ cup)
- 12 spider sprinkles
Chocolate Ganache:
- 125 grams semi-sweet chocolate chips (4 ounces)
- 120 grams heavy cream (½ cup)
Instructions
- For the bundt cakes, preheat the oven to 350˚F (177˚C).
- In a small saucepan, add coffee, unsalted butter, and both cocoa powders. Cook over medium-low heat until butter is melted, stirring to make sure the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour.
- Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture. Mix with a spatula until combined, scrapping down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- In a small bowl, whisk together vanilla extract, egg, and sour cream. Add to the chocolate mixture and stir to combined thoroughly.
- Spray a nonstick mini bundt pan with nonstick spray. Grease the pan thoroughly with a pastry brush. Pour and divide the batter evenly into the pan. Bake for 17 – 20 minutes, or until set and toothpick comes out clean. (If using a dark baking pan, check at least 5 minutes early. Cake bakes much faster in dark baking pan.)
- Remove from oven and cool the bundt pan on a cooling rack for 7 minutes. Transfer the pan to a mat. Place the cooling rack upside down onto the bundt pan. Carefully hold the rack and bundt pan together and flip the whole thing over. The bundt cakes should come out easily. If not, tap the pan lightly. Remove the pan and cool the cakes completely.
- For the spider webs, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a small microwave bowl, add white chocolate chips. Microwave for 10 seconds, stir. Microwave for another 10 seconds and stir again. Repeat until the white chocolate is just melted. Transfer the chocolate into a pipping bag. Cut a tiny hole at the tip. Fill with melted white chocolate.
- To make the web, start by piping a cross about 2-inch long. Then, pipe 2 more diagonal lines through center. Next, connect the web by piping inverted arcs, starting from the outer. Repeat to make 12 webs. Transfer the baking sheet to the fridge and chill for about 10 minutes. Reserve the melted white chocolate. After 10 minutes, pipe a dot of melted white chocolate at the back of a spider sprinkle. Glue to the web. Repeat. Keep the webs in the fridge until ready to be used.
- For the ganache, prepare a double boiler. In a medium pot, add enough water to reach one inch deep. Bring to a simmering over medium heat. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate chips and heavy cream in a large mixing bowl. Set it over the pot. Stir to melt the chocolate until just smooth. Remove from heat and pour over the cooled bundt cake. Let the ganache set for at least 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove the spider webs from the parchment paper and place on the bundt cakes. Serve.
Notes
- For the coffee, I used instant coffee to make a cup of coffee. Then used half a cup for the recipe.
- Black cocoa powder is a heavy-alkalized Dutch-process cocoa powder. It is great to use to intensify the chocolate flavor and give baked goods a black color. It’s best to use with regular Dutch-process cocoa powder. I got mine from Amazon.
- The bundt pan I used is from Nordic Ware.
- I got my spider sprinkles from a local baking supply shop. You can also get them from Amazon.
- For storage, keep the bundt cakes in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- If you don’t have a bundt pan, you can turn these into cupcakes too.
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