Tiny Chocolate Tortes

Ok, so I have a confession to make. While cleaning up after hosting brunch this morning for Mother’s Day, I may have picked up one of these babies with my bare hands, plopped a big helping of fresh whipped cream on top and shoved almost the whole thing in my mouth. It took less than ten seconds, but it was undoubtedly ten of the best seconds of my life. These are fantastic. You should probably drop everything you’re doing and go make these, right now.

One of the things I love about brunch is that you get to eat dessert for breakfast! I made three mini-desserts today because I know after eating a big meal it’s best to have little bites of dessert instead of a big, overwhelming portion. These were a quick and easy treat but offered a fancy presentation and just looked so cute on my serving stand. If I’d had some raspberries I might have topped them with those, but the mini-chips worked, too.

I made these the night before and kept them in the refrigerator until 30 minutes prior to serving. The ganache coating does harden up in the fridge but will soften if you let them sit out so they stay gooey and super, super moist. I would recommend the aluminum foil cupcake cups for these because they’ll prevent sticking and save you some headache when they come out of the oven. Also, make sure you have a cooling rack, placed over a large baking sheet for coating.

I hope all of you Moms out there have a fabulous day, and I hope you enjoy these!

Torte Ingredients:
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 stick (8 Tablespoons) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon espresso powder

6 Tablespoons water

1 cup sugar

1 large egg at room temperature

¼ cup buttermilk at room temperature

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-tin cupcake pan with aluminum foil cupcake papers. Spray papers with cooking spray.

In a heavy bottom saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Once melted, whisk in cocoa powder, espresso powder and water, then add sugar and whisk until sugar is completely combined. Remove mixture from heat.

Whisk in the egg, buttermilk and vanilla until well combine.d Add flour, baking soda and salt and stir JUST until combined – don’t over mix here. Using an ice-cream scoop, fill cupcake papers 2/3 full. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a cake-tester comes out clean. Cool on wire rack, in pan for 5 minutes. Then remove from pan and cool 20 minutes. Remove cupcake papers, invert cupcake on a wire rack and cool completely.

Ganache Ingredients:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

2/3 cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

In a medium, microwave-safe bowl, microwave cream until hot and steaming, about 90 seconds. Add chocolate and corn syrup and whisk until chocolate is melted and smooth. Pour warm ganache over tops of inverted, cooled cakes and use a small offset knife to smooth ganache over entire cake. Garnish with mini-chips and refrigerate until 30 minutes prior to serving.

Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart and Annie’s Eats

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