Chocolate Lovers' Mini-Cakes

These are nearly flourless chocolate cakes, the kind that come out of the oven looking like a dessert from a fancy restaurant. Two tablespoons of flour is all the structure they get. The rest is chocolate, butter, and eggs, which is why the texture sits between a brownie and a soufflé.

The heart-shaped mini pan is the styling move that makes these look special. Sprayed with vegetable spray, dusted with cocoa powder (instead of flour, which leaves white streaks on dark cake), and the batter goes in. Twenty minutes later they come out with a domed crackled top.

The glaze is technically a ganache. Half a cup of heavy cream heated just to the boiling point, then poured over 14 ounces of semisweet chocolate. The chocolate melts off the heat into a smooth, glossy coating that sets to a soft shine.

Waste no time once the glaze is ready. Pour it from the center of each cake outward so gravity walks it to the edges. Garnish with fresh raspberries and a mint leaf, and you have a Valentine’s dessert nobody will believe came out of a home kitchen.

Chef Tips

• Cocoa-dust the pan instead of flour-dust. Flour leaves white residue on the dark cake exterior.
• Melt chocolate over low heat, stirring constantly, or use a double boiler. Scorched chocolate is unfixable.
• Heat the cream just to the boiling point, not past. Boiling can break the emulsion of the ganache.
• If the ganache is too thin to coat, wait a few minutes for it to cool and thicken naturally before pouring.

Variations

• Skip the walnuts for a smoother flourless-style cake, or swap for chopped hazelnuts.
• Stuff a single fresh raspberry into the center of each cake before baking for a fruit surprise.
• Use white chocolate in the glaze for a stark visual contrast against the dark cakes.