This delicious recipe for a Mini Chocolate Sheet Cake is adapted from A Cozy Kitchen’s One Bowl Sheet Cake Recipe. Sheet cakes are all the rage over Instagram and for good reason. They are really easy to make and frost, especially if you are not very good at decorating cakes or you do not have a lot of time. However, sheet cakes can be just as big as regular layer cakes which isn’t necessarily something I want, especially when my family isn’t a big fan of cakes (I know I have mentioned this before, they are monsters!).
Instead, I decided to make a mini chocolate sheet cake. A cake that is half the size of regular ones, but just as tasty! Mini sheet cakes are great because they can also be a great substitute for smash cakes! In fact, mini cakes, in general, are awesome, and I already have a few recipes posted here!
After seeing some many tasty sheet cakes on Instagram, I decided I wasn’t going to wait anymore. I needed to get in the kitchen and start baking! And so now without further ado, here is my recipe for a mini chocolate sheet cake.
PUT EVERYTHING IN ONE BOWL AND MIX IT ALL UP
This cake is super easy to make, because all it requires is placing all the ingredients in one bowl. Hooray! As per usual, I cannot go without adding buttermilk and Greek yogurt to my cakes. It adds moisture to the cake and yields a tender crumb even when there is no butter present in the cake.
That is the other best thing about this recipe. No butter! Well, except for in the buttercream. But I can totally live with only needing butter for buttercream. In fact, sometimes I have leftover buttercream in my freezer so I can whip up an entire cake in about 3 hours all without having to use any butter! Lazy girl hacks for the win!
Another amazing aspect to this cake is that the flavour develops, even more, the next day! That means while the cake is tasty the day it is made, it is even tastier the next day. Is that even possible? It is like the cake that keeps on giving. It just gets tastier and tastier!
I always use espresso in my chocolate cake. It brings out the flavour and makes things taste better. You do not get a coffee taste so non-coffee drinkers shouldn’t worry. Alternatively, you could substitute the coffee for hot water, but I really think you’d be missing out on some tasty things!
MINI CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE
Tasty. Moist. Chocolate-y. And it tastes even better the nexy day!
Mini Chocolate Sheet Cake
Sheet cakes are the easiest cakes to make for all occasions. This mini sheet cake is half the size of a regular one, which means you can have your cake and eat it too. This deliciously moist chocolate sheet cake is topped with a fluffy vanilla buttercream.
Ingredients
- 1 1/8 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup espresso (can use regular drip coffee)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 2 tbsp Greek yogurt
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp chocolate extract (optional)
- 1 tsp coffee extract (optional)
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and line an 8x8-inch cake pan with parchment paper (the smaller half size version of the 9x13 casserole dish!)
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In a large bowl, add the flour, sugars, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
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In a glass measuring cup, add the egg, buttermilk, espresso, Greek yogurt, and the extracts. Whisk until smooth then pour it into the dry ingredients. Using a spatula, fold the ingredients until combined and there are no streaks of flour. In your batter is very thin that is okay, and if it is a little thick (almost like the consistency of whipped mousse) that is alright as well.
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Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 25 to 35 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the cake pan for about 5 minutes and turn the cake onto a cooling rack. You may begin to frost the cake once it is completely cool.
Fluffy Vanilla Buttercream
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See recipe notes for the link to the buttercream frosting I ALWAYS use!
Recipe Notes
Here is the recipe for my basic vanilla buttercream frosting. This is my go to!
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YAY FOR MINI CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE. I MEAN YAY FOR ANYTHING MINI IN GENERAL. I LOVE THAT THIS CAKE HAS A BEAUTIFUL BABY BLUE BUTTERCREAM THAT IS CONTRASTED WITH COLOURFUL PINK AND BLUE SPRINKLES. I FEEL LIKE IS MADE BETTER WITH CAKE BUT IT BECOMES EVEN MORE AMAZING WITH SPRINKLES. HAPPY CAKE EATING!
