THE APRON GAL

For Erin's bridal shower, we had a "little" theme. I recently received this awesome mini bundt cake pan for my birthday [thanks Caroline!]. [if you would like your own, its from Bed Bath & Beyond but its called a "12 Cavity Tube Pan" and you can buy your own here.]

Your final batter should be cakelike. It might be slightly lighter or darker based on your chocolate.

 Meet my new favorite friend. Its a cupcake (or pancake or any kind of batter) pen. You spoon your batter into it and then use it to be precise, fast, and avoid dripping everywhere. It is totally worth it! It may seem unnecessary until you use it and are able to get all your batter into a 24 cupcake pen in 60 seconds. I got mine at TJMaxx for 5.99 but you can buy it at Williams Sonoma here for 9.99.

Look at those little perfectly baked goodies!

Chocolate Mini Bundt Cakes
(adapted from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking From My Home to Yours")
(makes 6 small bundt cakes or 12 mini bundt cakes)

Cake:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 ounces (1 stick/8 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened at room temp
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole milk
7 ounces milk chocolate, melted and cooled


Glaze:
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tsp light corn syrup
butter

To make the cake:
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 6-mold mini bundt pan [the bigger kind] or the mini kind like mine which make 12.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg and beat for 1 minute more, then beat in the vanilla.

On low speed, add half the flour mixture and mix only until it is incorporated. Add in the milk and mix until just blended. Then add the remaining flour mixture and mix only until it is incorporated. Blend in the melted chocolate. {for both melted chocolates I recommend a double boiler on the stove, I had one too many incidents with burned chocolate in the microwave and became a bit frustrated!}

Divide batter evenly among the 6 molds. Bake at 350F until cake tester comes out clean, about 20-22 minutes.

Cool for 5-10 minutes in pan. Then remove the mini bundt cakes from pan and cool to room temperature before glazing.

To make glaze:
Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water or in the microwave on low. Whisk in corn syrup.If too thick, add butter until thinner consistency so you can drizzle with a fork. Spread glaze or drizzle over cakes. Allow glaze to set at room temperature, about 15 minutes.

Note: You can skip the chocolate glaze and just dust the mini bundts with powdered sugar.

Enjoy!