Mini Brownie Cakes

A mini brownie cake on a white plate. A stemmed cherry sits on top of the cake.

These mini brownie cakes are made with rich chocolate brownies topped with creamy buttercream frosting and homemade fudge sauce. Everyone will be delighted when you serve these decadent treats at your next occasion!

Course Dessert

Cuisine North American

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 45

Servings cakes

Calories 1829kcal

Author Nina

Equipment

one 9"x13" pan

Ingredients

Brownies

1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter chopped
1.5 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or baking chocolate
½ cup coffee
1¼ cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Fudge Sauce

1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips or baking chocolate
1 cup cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
6 teaspoons sprinkles optional
6 maraschino cherries

Buttercream Frosting

½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
½ cup vegetable shortening
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk
3-4 drops pink gel food colouring

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Brownies

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 9x13" baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, and salt together.
Add butter, chocolate, coffee, and sugar to a large bowl. Either microwave or use a double broiler to melt everything to a liquid mixture.
Add eggs and vanilla to the liquid mixture and whisk until incorporated. Mix dry ingredients in and mix until combined. The batter will be grainy and that's okay.
Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Bake for 28-35 minutes, or until the edges look set. Let fully cool at room temperature.

Fudge Sauce

Add heavy whipping cream, butter, sugar, and salt to a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until everything is melted, including the sugar. Add chocolate and mix until melted.
Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder and vanilla extract until well combined. If you feel fudge sauce is too thick, add a tablespoon of heavy whipping cream, or more as needed.

Buttercream Frosting

In a large bowl, add butter, shortening, and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add powdered sugar and combine.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of whipping cream until buttercream is pipeable mixture. Add pink food colouring and mix until colour is fully distributed .

To assemble

Remove brownie slab from baking pan. Use a 4" cookie cutter to cut 6 mini cakes out of brownies. Use a plate or bowl of similar size as a cutting guide if you don't have a cookie cutter.
Reserve 6 teaspoons of buttercream frosting for later use. Pipe or spoon remaining frosting on the brownie cakes.
Use a spoon and pour fudge sauce over buttercream on each cake, letting it run down in areas. Scatter sprinkles over top the fudge, if using.
Add 1 teaspoon of reserved buttercream to the very center top of the fudge. Place a maraschino cherry on the buttercream. Place a maraschino cherry on the remaining cakes until all are completed.
Store mini cakes at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 2 days. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Notes

If you don't want to use coffee, use water instead. Coffee helps enhance the chocolate flavour.

If you like a strong butter flavour in buttercream frosting, use full butter instead of half butter, half shortening.

I recommend gel food colouring over liquid food colouring. Gel food colouring has a stronger colour, and it doesn't add liquid to batters.

Short on time? Make the brownie base the day or even 2 days before. The fudge sauce and buttercream can also be made one day ahead.

Nutrition