Mini Chocolate Blackout Cakes
Decadent little nibbles of chocolate cake covered in rich chocolate glaze. This mini blackout chocolate cupcake recipe is fun for all occasions, especially Halloween!
Black Glass Dishes from Villeroy & Boch.
Who loves Halloween?
ME! Me me me me me me me me meeeeee!
The ghastly decorations, elaborate costumes, and inevitable sugar rush always spurs on some fun family memories.
I’ve got two spook-tacular surprises to share with you today, that are sure to make this Halloween frightfully fabulous!
One: Mini Blackout Cakes. This moist and devilishly dark chocolate cupcake recipe will have your little goblins begging for more.
Two: Spooky Halloween Portraits, to frame as Halloween decorations or use on cards and invitations.
The other night I couldn’t sleep.
I sat down to piddle-around on my computer at 3 am, and discovered Pic Monkey’s new Halloween photo editing settings. Pic Monkey is a program I use occasionally for quick edits and simple photo collages. It’s free, with the option of paid upgrades.
I opted to spend the extra few bucks this month to play with the Halloween editing settings.
…because I’m a nerd and that’s what we do when we can’t sleep.
Creepy, right?
The next day (after a lot of coffee) I showed the kids and, of course, they had to monster-fy themselves as well. I asked them to make their scariest face for a quick shot, then sat them down to edit their photos.
Believe it or not, they edited these photos completely on their own. It’s that easy.
This was a fun-find that I know we’ll use again and again.
Back to the chocolate cake…
I’ve made this mini chocolate cupcake recipe dozens of times, for birthday parties, showers, pretty much any occasion, changing only the color of candy melts I use to decorate the tops.
Each little chocolate cake is soft and tender with a deep chocolatey flavor; and just the right size to pop in your mouth one at a time.
Using dark chocolate cocoa powder really takes this chocolate cake recipe to another level for Halloween.
They are so dark.
Blackout dark.
With ever-so-slightly bitter undertones from the addition of coffee.
This is such a great treat to pile on your Halloween table.
Not only are they a chocolate-lovers dream, they are small enough to give your kids, even after a pillowcase full of candy.
Mini Chocolate Cupcake Recipe
Yield: 2 dozen
Prep Time:25 minutes
Cook Time:12 minutes
Ingredients:
For the Chocolate Cake:
- 2/3 cup all-purpose Gold Medal Flour
- 3 Tb. unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 Tb. instant coffee granules
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 Tb. vegetable oil
For the Glaze:
- 2 Tb. unsalted butter
- 2 Tb. unsweetened dark cocoa powder
- 2 Tb. water
- 1/2 tsp. vanilla
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 cup colored candy melts (any color, or smaller portions of multiple colors)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray mini muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix all the dry ingredients for the cakes. Then whisk in the water and oil until smooth. Spoon the batter into 24 muffins tins, filling only 2/3 full.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of each cake comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for 3-5 minutes in the pans, then flip them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cakes are cooling, prepare the glaze. Place the butter, water, and cocoa powder in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave the mixture for 1-2 minutes until warm, them whisk in the vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Allow the glaze to cool a little before dipping. Carefully dip the top of each mini cake into the glaze, then place back on the wire rack to set. If the cakes are so tender they start to crumble when you dip them, hold them sideways and spoon the glaze over the tops.
- Once the glaze has hardened, place the candy melts in a small microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted, usually 60-90 seconds total. Spoon the melted candy melts into a piping bag with a small tip, or a squirt bottle (or a plastic bag with the tip cut off) and pipe lines over the top of each mini cake. Allow the candy melt lines to harden before moving. Store in an air-tight container until ready to serve.
For “traditional” blackout cakes, skip the candy melts and crumble two of the mini cakes into small crumbs. After dipping each cake in glaze, sprinkle cake crumbles over the top and allow to harden.
Making this recipe? Why not take a quick shot and share it on Instagram! Make sure to tag it #ASpicyPerspective so we can see what you're cooking!
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I made this for a holiday party and it was a huge hit. Thank you so much. I really enjoy your recipes!
These minis look so decadently light! I’ll have to give it a go to break in my new mini cupcake pan this weekend, but I’ll top it off with clouds of whipped cream because I have yet to master my frosting techniques :) will comment back to see how it goes! xo
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Those pictures are wonderful! Love the new look, Sommer!
These are just pure fun Sommer – love those photo effects on Pic Monkey!
My daughter told me today that Halloween is her favorite holiday. I should let her play around with halloween settings in Picmonkey!! And these cupcakes? I want one (or two!!)!
How cute are these, love the dark rich color and dripping glaze!
heck yes! loving some chocolate blackout cupcakes
YUM!! These are so perfect, I bet they taste divine :)
Oh man, these look delicious! And those pictures are so creepy, I love them ;)
Great looking cupcakes!!
These are so cute!
Those photos are crazy fun! And I’d love a couple of those dark little cakes, yum!
Such fun little cakes!
These are AWESOME, Sommer! Those Halloween pics are pretty spooktacular ;-) too – you still look beautiful in all of them btw.
Awe, sweet girl! You’re making me blush.
Mini means I can eat more right? ; )
Absolutely!
What great little chocolate cakes! Love the fun portraits!
Love those photos! So fun!
Love the little cakes! Yep, the makeovers are creepy :)
Haha! Omg, those pictures are scary but you still are beautiful even if you have green skin :) I could eat a million of these little cupcakes! Ah!
these cakes are OH WOW material!!! and I am obsessed with those settings! Off to pic monkey!
Love all of that dripping chocolate! Nice Halloween makeovers!
You make the best looking zombie lady! xoxo
You had me at chocolate!!! :-) I have to try that pic monkey feature- so much fun! I wonder if I can make Rhett and Reina “scary”- HAHA!
Haha, I bet you could!