There are very few exceptions to my fruit and chocolate feelings (which are that they can be near each other but not together as one) and this is one of them. These mini cakes of absolute goodness are made up of the moistest chocolate cake - truly like a homemade, better version of those boxed Betty Crocker devils food cakes most of our childhoods knew and loved - and topped with the perfect raspberry glaze that compliments the chocolate with just the right zing.

Plus, I mean look at them, they’re cute as hell. These will be perfect for a gathering or a little afternoon tea. If you can’t eat them all, you can easily freeze them (just not with the fresh fruit garnish, ok?). Just remove them from the freezer in advance and allow them to come to room temperature before serving!

The below direction to grease and line your mini pans, this is not a drill, do not skip this step (even if you have nonstick pans) because this cake is moist. She doesn’t come to play with all that soft deliciousness and is highly likely to prove her point by sticking in the pan if you don’t prep her properly. Heed my warning people!

So get to impressing your gathering or simply yourself and make these pretty little cuties.

Yields: 8 mini cakes

Ingredients:

CAKE

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• ¾ cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour, sifted 

• 7 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted 

• ¾ teaspoons baking powder, sifted 

• ¾ teaspoons baking soda, sifted 

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 1 large egg 

• ½ cup half-and-half 

• ¼ cup canola oil

• ½ tablespoon pure vanilla extract

• ½ cup water, boiling 

GLAZE

• 4 ounces raspberries, fresh or frozen

• ½ tablespoon lemon juice 

• ½ teaspoon cornstarch

• 1½ tablespoon butter softened

• 1 ¾ cups powdered sugar 

Directions:

CAKE

• Preheat the oven to 350F (non-convect) 

• Grease and line your 3 ½”x 2 ¼” x 1” cake molds and set aside. I recommend you leave a lip of parchment paper sticking out of each tin, to make it easy to lift each cake out after they’re baked

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt on low speed. Make sure to sift your dry ingredients! Add the eggs, half-and-half, oil, and vanilla, and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Carefully, pour in the boiling water, stir with a spatula to gently incorporate, and then mix on low briefly until fully combined.

• Fill each cake tin halfway

• Bake 10-12 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 12 minutes and then lift out each cake by the parchment paper “handles,” remove the parchment paper, and place on a wire rack to cool completely

GLAZE

• Combine the raspberries, cornstarch, and lemon juice in a saucepan. Cook over low heat, until the juices start to release. Stir occasionally, smashing the berries against the side to break them up. Once it starts to thicken, pull off the heat, and give a few pulses with an immersion blender 

• Sieve the raspberry mixture through a fine mesh strainer and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature

• Whisk the butter, powdered sugar, and raspberry mixture together until combined

Spoon your glaze over your cooled cakes and allow to sit at room temperature for a few hours, until the glaze has completely set and is “dry” to touch

Tag @accentgolden in your baking posts on social, I want to see your yummy cakes!!

Notes:

• Make sure you sift all of your dry ingredients! Both in your cake and your glaze. You don’t want lumps in either nor do you want to overmix your dry ingredients in your batter

• Have no fear, this is a very “wet” and liquidy batter. You’ve done nothing wrong (as long as you followed the recipe), just trust the process! 

• Don’t overfill your cake pans! If you’re using smaller size tins, only fill up halfway so your cakes don’t puff too high above the lip of your pan

• Be sure to sieve your raspberry mixture through a fine mesh strainer as this will give you a silky smooth glaze by removing all the baby seeds that are inside the raspberries, from your final product!

• This raspberry glaze recipe was adapted from this one by Borrowed Bites! Delicious but for the purposes of this recipe, I made it a smidge thicker and kept strictly to a raspberry flavor