Moist chocolate cakes are infused with peppermint and vanilla and topped with my easy white chocolate buttercream frosting. I picked up this adorable mini snowflake cakelet pan a while ago and I knew I had to create a fun holiday recipe to go with it! After playing around with a few different ideas, I came up with the perfect mini cake dessert. This chocolate peppermint cake recipe is so simple and completely delicious. It has the miny flavor of candy canes paired with the richness of chocolate and the sweetness of white chocolate buttercream frosting. I’ve adjusted the recipe so that it makes just the right amount of batter to fill a 6-cavity cakelet pan or mini bunt cake pan. It’s not always easy to find cake recipes to fit these specialty pans, so I hope this is helpful! If you love the combination of chocolate and peppermint as much as I do, be sure to try my peppermint hot chocolate and chocolate peppermint cookies next.
Chocolate Peppermint Mini Cakes Recipe Highlights
Key Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make these chocolate mini bundt cakes. They are all easy to find, common pantry ingredients! Complete list of ingredients and amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Dry Ingredients: All-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Eggs: 2 whole large eggs give these little cakes the perfect fluffy texture. Oil and Milk: to give the batter moisture. Baking Extracts: Use both pure vanilla extract and peppermint extract in this recipe.
How To Make Chocolate Peppermint Cakes
Start by preheating the oven to 325°F (160°C). Spray your baking pan generously with baking spray, being sure to get into all the creases. A pastry brush can be helpful with this step!
Recipe Tips
Peppermint Extract: When you’re shopping, you might see that mint baking extracts come in a few different styles. For this recipe, be sure that you’re picking up peppermint extract, and not mint extract. Peppermint extract is lighter and sweeter and a better option for baking recipes like this one. Baking Time: The time listed in the recipe is pretty perfect for this specific mini cakes pan. If you’re using a mini bunt pan or a different-sized cake pan, you may need to adjust the baking time to suit. Test the cakes with a toothpick to be sure that they are done in the center. They’re ready when the toothpick comes out dry or with just a couple moist crumbs. Let Them Cool Completely: Don’t try to add buttercream frosting to hot or warm cakes – it will just melt! Be patient, and let the cakes cool down all the way to room temperature on a wire rack. Buttercream Frosting: You don’t need a whole batch of frosting to top these six little cakes. A quarter batch of my white chocolate buttercream is just enough.
Storing Tips
If you’ve added frosting, you should store these cakelets in the fridge in an airtight container. They’ll stay fresh for up to 4 days this way. Without the frosting, you can keep these at room temperature for up to 5 days, or freeze for up to 3 months. If you’re freezing cakes, it’s always a good idea to wrap each cake individually in two layers of plastic wrap, then place the wrapped cakes in a container or freezer bag. This helps to avoid freezer burn.
Chocolate Peppermint Cake Variations
Instead of frosting, dust the cakes with powdered sugar. This will make them less sweet. Alternate toppings: Try crushed candy canes, holiday sprinkles, shaved white chocolate, or mini chocolate chips. Skip the peppermint: These cakes are delicious as just chocolate mini cakes! leave out the peppermint extract if you like.
What type of frosting goes best with chocolate and peppermint?
I think that my white chocolate buttercream is perfect on top of these little cakes! You can also use chocolate frosting, a simple powdered sugar glaze, or try vanilla buttercream.
Can I use this recipe to make cupcakes?
I haven’t tested this recipe as cupcakes, but I think it would work fine! You may not be able to fill an entire 12-cup muffin pan with this amount of batter though. My chocolate cupcake recipe might be a better option. Add ¼ teaspoon peppermint extract to the chocolate batter to get the same delicious minty flavor.
Where can I find this snowflake mini cakelet pan?
This adorable snowflake cakelet pan is made by Nordicware, and can be found at Target or Williams Sonoma! The recipe will work in any of their other styles of mini cake pans as well. These chocolate peppermint mini cakes are so fun and festive for Christmas! Don’t forget to Pin the recipe to save it for later. © Little Sunny Kitchen
