Samoa Mini Cakes

Samoa Mini Cakes - made June 17, 2018, modified from The Seaside Baker

I was on a bit of a coconut kick, hence the Seven Layer Brownies and now these Samoa Mini Cakes. Unlike the Texas Sheet Cake Bites which I didn't make as bites but as a traditional sheet cake, I did take the time to bake these as minis.

I had a little bit of fail in that I (over)filled the mini muffin tins a little too much and therefore these baked with muffin tops. Which are fine with muffins but not with more delicate cakes. The upshot was when I turned them over to dislodge from the mini muffin cavities, some of the tops fell out while the bottoms remained stubbornly in the cavities. #bakingfail

I did manage to salvage enough whole ones to make most of the recipe yield presentable with the caramel covering, sprinkling of toasted coconut and drizzle of hot fudge, going for that epic Samoa combination.

The cakes were good, light-textured and fluffy. Probably a little too easy to pop in your mouth and chow down in one go. Since they're so small, keep an eagle eye on the bake time as you don't want to bake too long or they'll be dry.

While I did like these, I think this would be even better if, instead of mini cakes, these were mini brownies. Less fragile, more sturdy and can support the toppings better. But that's just my preference.

3.5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I used Valrhona)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
Caramel sauce
Hot fudge sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously spray mini bundt pans or mini muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Melt chocolate over the top half of a double boiler set over hot water; set aside.
3. Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.
4. In the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat melted butter and sugar on medium high speed for 2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.
5. Stir in melted chocolate.
6. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk; stir until just combined.
7. Spoon batter into prepared pans and fill 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
8. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan then invert cakes onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
9. Once cool, heat caramel sauce and hot fudge in separate bowls for 30 seconds.
10. Dip cakes into warm caramel sauce then spinkle with generous amount of toasted coconut. Drizzle cakes with hot fudge sauce.