High Altitude Mini Chocolate Cake for Two
An easy and moist dark chocolate cake recipe, that's just the perfect mini size for two people or a small family.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
- 6-inch cake pans (x2)
Ingredients
Cake
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 7 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ½ tbsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ⅛ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ¼ cup whole milk, room temperature
- ¼ cup sour cream, room temperature
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Buttercream
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened, Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- ½ tbsp meringue powder, optional
- ⅛ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1-2 tbsp milk, if needed
- 2 tbsp semi sweet mini chocolate chips, for sprinkling on top
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and spray the bottoms of two 6-inch cake pans with non-stick spray. You can also make a one-layer cake, but your 6-inch pan will need to be 3 inches deep so the batter doesn't overflow.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Add the egg, milk, sour cream, oil and vanilla, and whisk until combined, about 15 seconds.
- Divide the batter between the pans. Bake on the center oven rack for about 15-16 minutes, until the tops of the cakes spring back when lightly touched, or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a cooling rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel, and cool completely before frosting.
Buttercream
- With an electric mixer (stand or hand-held), beat the butter on medium speed for 1 minute until smooth.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the powdered sugar, cocoa powder, meringue powder and salt, mixing to combine.
- Add the vanilla, and increase the speed to medium (#4-6 on a Kitchen Aid stand mixer); whip for 4-5 minutes until very light and fluffy, scraping the bowl down occasionally, and only adding the milk if needed for desired consistency.Turn the speed down to "stir" and mix for 2 minutes to eliminate big air bubbles.
- Remove the cooled cakes from the pans. Fill and frost the cakes with the buttercream.To fill the cakes with a thin layer of buttercream, and then frost the cake all over, see my post on How to Stack, Fill, Crumb Coat and Frost a Layer Cake.For a naked cake, simply spread half the frosting on the first layer of cake, place the second cake layer on top, and spread with the rest of the frosting.For the look on this post's photographed cake, increase the buttercream recipe to 1 1/2 x, and use tip #902 to pipe big ruffly swirls of buttercream onto the cake layers.
- If desired, sprinkle the top of the cake with mini chocolate chips.
Notes
Leftover cake should be stored in an airtight container or cake carrier at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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