It’s Christmas time again!

Baking cookies, preparing delicious food & bringing the whole family together! Is there any better dessert to bring to your Christmas dinner other than chocolate; especially when it is those cute little fudge cakes?

I have a love-hate relationship with these mini cakes! They are so light, airy & delicious to the extent that I hate baking them because I can eat the whole 12 cakes in a second. In fact calling them cakes is not giving them enough credit; they more of fudgy “gateau” that’s not too annoyingly sweet as their main ingredient is dark chocolate.

No fancy ingredients required, prepared in 10 minutes & baked in another 10 minutes yet you won’t believe the fancy cake you are about to taste!

Ingredients:

Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour & salt. Set aside.
• Place the butter & chocolate in a bowl & microwave on high for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until they totally melt. Stir in vanilla.
•  With an electric hand mixer, mix the dry ingredients into the chocolate.
• Add the eggs one at time, fully incorporating each egg before adding the next.
• Beat at high speed for 4 minutes until the batter becomes creamy & lightens in color. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Once you place the batter in the fridge, preheat oven to 180 C.
• Meanwhile, coat a muffin tray with butter, dust with the cocoa powder & shake out excess. Spoon mixture into the tray using an ice cream scoop.
• Bake for 9 to 11 minutes; the outsides should be cake-like & firm to the touch while the centers should still be wet.
• Let the mini cakes cool slightly in the muffin tray. Run a knife around each muffin to get them out easily.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.
• Store in an airtight container for 3-4 days.

Notes:

• Use dark chocolate NOT baking chocolate.
• DON’T skip the step of beating the batter for 4 minutes as this is crucial for the texture.
• DON’T use muffin papers as the cakes will stick to them.
• The mini cakes are best served with ice cream, whipped cream or dusted with powdered sugar.

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown