Mini Almond Cakes With Chocolate or Cherry
- Total Time
- 50 minutes, plus chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:12 cupcakes
- ⅓cup/80 milliliters heavy cream (optional)
- 3ounces/85 grams bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped (optional)
- 6tablespoons/85 grams melted unsalted butter, cooled, plus more for muffin tin
- ¾cup/85 grams almond flour or meal
- ¾cup/94 grams confectioners’ sugar
- ¼teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2large eggs
- Few drops almond extract (optional)
- 3tablespoons/24 grams cornstarch
- 1¼teaspoons/4 grams baking powder
- 2large egg whites
- 2tablespoons/25 grams granulated sugar
- ¼cup/60 milliliters cherry jam (optional)
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)
229 calories; 15 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 23 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 17 grams sugars; 4 grams protein; 102 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Make the chocolate ganache, if using: In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat cream until bubbling (or place the cream in a glass measuring cup and heat it in the microwave). Remove from heat, add chocolate and let sit for 1 minute, then stir until smooth. Transfer chocolate to a small container (preferably metal) and freeze until firm, at least 30 minutes.
- Step 2
Scoop and roll into ¾-inch balls. Note that the ganache is very soft and can be messy to handle, but getting perfectly round balls isn’t necessary. Place in refrigerator until needed. Ganache balls can be prepared up to 1 week ahead.
- Step 3
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a muffin tin.
- Step 4
Using a food processor or blender, mix almond flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt until powdery, about 30 seconds. Add eggs and almond extract and process until smooth, 30 seconds longer. Pulse in butter, cornstarch and baking powder. Scrape mixture into a large bowl.
- Step 5
Using a beaters or an electric mixer, whip egg whites until very foamy. Gradually add granulated sugar while beating eggs until stiff peaks form.
- Step 6
Using a spatula, gently and carefully fold a third of the egg whites into almond mixture to lighten it. Then, fold in the rest of the whites just until no streaks remain.
- Step 7
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. Pull balls of ganache from refrigerator, if using, and place 1 ball in center of each cake, pushing it down halfway into batter. Or spoon 1 teaspoon cherry jam on top of each cake; do not push down. Return to oven and bake until light brown and a toothpick inserted into cake (and not the chocolate or cherry) comes out clean, another 8 to 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature, preferably within 8 hours of baking.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Florence
We made those and they came out perfect. The secret is to line your dish. If you don't line your dish, the batter sticks to the tin and it is just impossible to take them out without doing a sloppy job. Just buy paper cup cake liners.
Florence
I cook often with almond flour and it sounds correct. You need eggs to bound the flour. The 2 egg whites are in addition to add fluff to the batter. I hope it helps. I am going to make those, but will reduce the sugar to half a cup. We don't like dessert too sweet in my family.
Mary
I waited 10 minutes to fill with the cherry preserves which was way too long. The preserves never settled into the cake and just spread on top. Tasted wonderful, looked a mess.
Susan
Melissa: Could potato starch substitute for corn starch? This would make it acceptable for a Passover treat. Has anyone tried this?
Florence
My husband reduced the sugar to 2/3 and the cup cakes were delicious. They came out small and I would double the recipe next time. We are Franco-American and we don't like our dessert too sugary.
dimmerswitch
Delectable flavors & texture. Keeper!
1) Made per recipe for cakes but modified to use neither ganache nor cherry jam for center. Instead used an Amerena cherry.
2) Experience similar to what others shared. At 10 min bake time too firm to push down gently. Would reduce this first bake time to 5 min. next time.
3) Divided perfectly between 12 muffin cups - well buttered first. Cakes released AOK with a little coaxing when still slightly warm.
4) Best day 1 but good day 2.
Danielle
These are delicious! I reduced the confectioner's sugar to 1/2 cup (since I also don't like overly sweet desserts) and used blueberry jam. sooooo goood. Thanks for the great GF recipe, Melissa Clark! You rock.
Diana
Yes, a total of four eggs - two whole in one step and two whites later.
Randy
I just ate one 36 hours after baking and it was fine - not gummy, not dry. Of course, most all baked goods are best fresh, but the "eat within 8 hours" advisement wasn't necessary.
Aastha Gupta
Hi,
Can we use Stevia or Splenda in replacement of confectioner sugar and in what quantity?
Thanks!
Priya
Would these work with a mini-muffin tin for bite sized treats? Maybe then make smaller ganache balls to fill?
Jen the Cook
The video shows her putting the whole eggs in the batter.
Máirín Duffy
Just made these.... used a Nordicware mini cupcake pan because it's all I have. They look gorgeous and I followed the recipe exactly but they taste very eggy. Almost like little sweet quiches - not what i was expecting - the egg flavor overpowers the almond. Maybe I folded in the whites incorrectly? I tried some from different sides of the pan but all taste eggy. I might try again with one whole egg in the batter.
Mischa
Wonderful cake but some notes: -Add a full teaspoon of extract for a more full almond flavor. -Put the muffin tin on a pan. If you notice in the video Melissa does this but doesn’t say to in the recipe. If you don’t, the bottoms get burnt.
Amy Bonanno
made these today - came out great!! made the mistake of using "Texas Muffin" pan which makes 6 large muffins instead of 12 small ones. Still worked but would change it next time. Also used Sour Cherry jam instead of regular cherry jam and it came out great!!
Vanessa C
Has anyone tried using Nutella as a substitute/ shortcut for the chocolate ganache?
Joey
Just made these for a tea with the chocolate, they look great. For those saying they are hard to remove from the tin, instead of butter I used Crisco, then right when they came out of the oven I ran a small offset spatula around the edges to loosen them but left them in the tin for 20 mins to cool. Once cool came back with offset spatula they came right out
Elizabeth
These are delicious! I made them in a mini muffin pan and would not do that again. Great dessert for an afternoon luncheon maybe with a bit of bubbles??
dpcoppola
I made 6 larger cakes in ramekins. I liked them like this. Of course adjust your timing, but it really didn’t take much longer.
Bibi
This lovely recipe adapted beautifully for diabetics. Substitutions: 6 T xylitol (or sweetener of your choice) + cinnamon for all the sugar, incl. 1T added to egg whites; No cornstarch; No almond extract; Ho-made strawberry (or any berry) compote or ChocZero baking chips for the fillings. And, I made a mistake and misread the egg quantity, so used only two eggs. Worked, but my yield was low: only eight mini-cakes. Like others, I added the fillings at the eighth minute. But they are delicious.
Ayc
Delicious I agree w 1 tsp almond extract
AnnP
Doubled recipe adding 1/8 tsp cream of tarter/batch to the egg whites to help the batter stay lifted during batch baking. Added vanilla, omitted almond extract. Changed assembly sequence: Melt butter; whip egg whites w CofT; combine dry ingredients; whip whole eggs; combine subassemblies in order using stand mixer. 1.5 small scoop w paper liner 325 in convection oven Bake 15 minutes; add jam using large chopstick; continue baking for 8 minutes (YMMV) Save yokes for creme brûlée - bonus!
avy
Bake for seven minutes in the beginning and mix the dry ingredients in one bowl whisk the eggs and melted butter in another and combine. No need to use the food processor.
Keith
Excellent dessert for our gluten intolerant guest. Served with berries and crème chantilly. I might make it a little sweeter next time. Just a smidge.
Sfrupe
Used chocolate baking wafers in 1/2 and raspberry jam in 1/2. Both versions were great. Definitely will make again. I don’t know if they are good on day 2 since they didn’t last that long.
L Ran
It would’ve been helpful to know how far to fill up the muffin tins. Mine puffed up over the edges and were therefore impossible to get out. They were a mess and I pretty much had to throw them out.
Kathy B.
I found this to be relatively easy and delicious. I had no trouble getting the tarts out of the pan - I waited 5 minutes after they came out of the oven, loosened the edges with a knife and used a spoon to ease them out. I had filled all of them with chocolate and then put a dollop of raspberry jam on them when I served them.
Tess
I followed the recipe except that after looking at the notes, I did the first bake for only 5 minutes. Not a great suggestion, I now have 10 hidden jam cakes; I used a standard muffin/cupcake tin. They certainly look good, though. I used PAM with flour and they came out easily.
sharon
I accidentally doubled the almond extract and it was AMAZING! Next time I’ll take advice of other reviewers and use a little less sugar. These are delightful and pretty. I’m making some for holiday gift giving
Madeline
Scratch part of my last comment about them being eggy, once they cooled 1 hour the eggy flavor had completely mellowed out and they were great.
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