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This Mini Chocolate Cake Recipe is made with healthy, simple ingredients in one bowl with less than 30 minutes of your time. It’s the perfect single-serving cake to dive into this Valentine’s Day or at-home date nights.
‘Tis the season for all things chocolatey, so we thought it would be fun to make this cute mini cake recipe for y’all! They’re single serving and make the perfect treat for you and your special someone. If you’re celebrating alone this year, all the more reason to make yourself one of these puppies and indulge a bit.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Coconut oil: We used unrefined coconut oil because we don’t mind a hint of coconut in our chocolate cake. If you do not like the flavor of coconut, we recommend using refined coconut oil. It is odorless and flavorless and bakes up just the same.
- Flaxseed meal: Flax seeds are used to replace eggs and keep this cake fairly allergen friendly and vegan. Either golden or brown flaxseed meal works well. Make sure to use ground flaxseed, not whole flax seeds. If necessary, opt for chia seeds instead!
- Vanilla extract: Adds depth of flavor and another note of sweetness. It’s optional, but highly recommended if you have it!
- Apple cider vinegar: The acidity reacts with the baking soda and helps leaven the cake and make it light and fluffy.
- Flour: All-purpose flour will yield the lightest mini cakes. We have not tested this with another flour, but it may work with an all-purpose flour gluten-free flour blend. Our favorite is Bob’s Red Mill.
- Cacao powder: Either cocoa powder or cacao powder work perfectly here. Just make sure to use an unsweetened cocoa powder – any cocoas with added sugar will make your mini cake recipe too sweet.
- Dark chocolate: We used a 72% dark chocolate. Depending on your personal preference, you may want to use a darker or lighter chocolate bar. Use your favorite or even try our homemade vegan chocolate bars.
- Sugar: In order to keep this mini cake recipe healthier, we opted for turbinado sugar. It is slightly less processed than granulated cane sugar but granulated sugar will work in a pinch!
- Baking powder + baking soda: Both are used to boost the cake into a tall, fluffy cake. Make sure to use fresh baking powder for best results!
Equipment Needed
- Medium mixing bowls
- 2 (4.5-inch) ramekins
- Fine mesh sieve (for sifting)
- Whisk
- Spatula
- Oven
How to Make a Mini Cake
- Mix together the wet ingredients. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix together the water, coconut oil, flaxseed meal, vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar. Set aside for 10 minutes to thicken.
- Prepare the ramekins. Lightly oil the inside of the ramekins and then dust the ramekins with cacao powder using a fine mesh strainer. Shake off and discard any of the excess cacao powder. Refer to our video in the post for a visual!
- Add the dry ingredients. In the same bowl with the wet ingredients, sift in the sugar and cacao powder. Then add in the remaining finely chopped dark chocolate, turbinado sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. The batter will be clumpy due to the dark chocolate – this is okay.
- Divide the batter between the ramekins. Spread smooth with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Bake. Place the ramekins into the oven directly on the oven rack and bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick runs clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes. Remove the healthy mini chocolate cakes from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife or thin metal spatula around the sides of each cake. Invert each ramekin onto a serving plate and gently shake out the cake.
- Serve. Dust the mini cake with powdered sugar if desired and add garnishes of choice. Enjoy!
Serving Suggestions
We love serving this mini cake recipe for holidays like Valentine’s or celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, date nights at home or Mother’s day! Try it topped with powdered sugar, fresh raspberries, blueberries, and strawberries and a dollop of our coconut whipped cream.
This mini cake can also be served as one, 2-layer cake. Stack the cakes on top of each other with raw vegan chocolate avocado frosting in between the layers. Or, If you want to take these cakes to the next level of cuteness, you can even make this mini cake recipe in the shape of a heart! All you’ll need is a mini cake pan like this, and you’ll be winning some serious brownie points with your lover.
If you’re looking for some vegan recipes you can serve for an at-home date night, try our Easy Vegan Cheese Fondue (10 Minutes), 15-Minute One-Pot Pasta and Vegan Garlic Bread. For a healthy vegetable side, try our Simple Roasted Vegetables or Brussels Sprouts Caesar Salad with Easy 5-Ingredient Croutons.
Storage Instructions
This mini cake will keep for up to 4 days when stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
To freeze, wrap cooled mini cakes individually and tightly in plastic wrap, then stick them in a freezer-safe zip-top bag.
Thaw frozen cakes in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours or until soft again, then enjoy as usual!
More Valentine’s Day Recipes You May Enjoy:
- Chocolate Soufflé Cake
- Easy Chocolate Covered Strawberries
- Swirled Chocolate Bark
- Raw Vegan Chocolate Truffles
- Easy Vegan Cinnamon Rolls (Soft & Fluffy)
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!
PrintMini Chocolate Cake Recipe
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 1 thick or two small single serving cakes
Description
This Mini Chocolate Cake Recipe is made with healthy, simple ingredients in one bowl with less than 30 minutes of your time. It’s the perfect single serving cake to dive into this Valentine’s Day or at home date nights.
Ingredients
Wet
- 100ml filtered water
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed meal (or chia seeds)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
Dry
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cacao powder (or cocoa powder)
- 31g 72% dark chocolate, finely chopped (or chocolate of your choice)
- 1/4 cup turbinado sugar*
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Two 4.5-inch ramekins
Garnish with
- Powdered sugar
- Raspberries
- Blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, mix together all of the wet ingredients. Set aside for 10 minutes to thicken.
- In the meantime, prepare the ramekins. Lightly oil the inside of the ramekins and then dust them with cacao powder. You can use a small strainer for the dusting or you can add in about 1 tablespoon of cacao powder into the oiled ramekin and move the ramekin around to coat it. Shake off and discard of any excess cacao powder. Refer to the video in the post.
- Once the wet ingredients have set, add in the dry ingredients. Using a fine mesh strainer, sift in the all-purpose flour and the cacao powder. Add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix everything together with a whisk until uniform. Keep in mind that the batter will be a clumpy due to the chopped dark chocolate.
- Evenly divide the batter into the prepared ramekins. Place into the oven (directly on the rack) and bake for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick runs clean.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife or thin metal spatula around the sides of each cake. Invert each ramekin onto a serving plate and gently shake out the cake. Dust the cakes with powdered sugar if desired and add garnishes of your choice. Enjoy!
Notes
- Regular ol’ sugar or coconut sugar work well in this, too!
- You can either separate the batter into two small ramekins or use all of the batter to make one thick cake in a larger ramekin.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Valentine’s Day
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
This looks delicious, can’t wait to try! Sweet Simple Vegan has always been a great resource to me since going vegan. Thank you for all the amazing recipes throughout all these years!
I will definitely be trying it and as luck would have it I happen to have everything I need. I’m so excited to try it! Thanks for sharing these recipes with us
I loved this! this really is delicious. Thanks for another winner recipe!
This looks like a perfect cake–berries, sugar, everything! For me, a single-serving recipe is VERY MUCH needed because your girl can definitely seize the day and conquer some mean cake. LOL!
HAHAH I love that!
If wanting to make this gluten free, would almond meal work ok with this recipe? Have you tried it?
Hi Trudy! We have not tested this recipe with any gluten-free options so we are not sure. I think that a gluten-free flour blend may be more reliable based on our experience with other recipes we’ve used them for. Our favorite is Bob’s Red Mill 🙂