Sweet creamy indulgent, easy to make, chocolate mini cake recipe made with Lily O'Brien's finest Milk Chocolate and Creamy Caramels with Sea Salt.

For the Cake

• 50g Lily O’Brien’s 70% Dark Belgian Chocolate (roughly broken)
• 115g butter, plus extra for the tins
• 200g plain flour
• 250g caster sugar
• 20g cocoa powder
• 2 medium eggs
• 3/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 120g natural yogurt

For the creamy caramel chocolate buttercream

• 150g Lily O’Brien’s creamy caramel and sea salt chocolate (2 share bags will be enough for both the recipe and the decoration steps)
• 200g butter, softened
• 400g icing sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder

To decorate

• Lily O’Brien’s creamy caramel and sea salt chocolate discs
• Pecans

Method

• Heat your oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 then grease and line the base of 2 x 20cm cake tins. Boil a little water in the kettle.
• Place the butter and 50g dark Belgian chocolate into a small pan and gently heat, stirring, until everything has melted.
• Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder and bicarbonate of soda in a mixing bowl with a pinch of salt .
• Whisk the eggs and yogurt together, then add the melted chocolate mixture and egg mixture into the dry ingredients, adding 60ml boiling water and briefly whisk until the cake batter is lump free.
• Divide the cake mixture between the two tins and bake for 25 mins. Test they're done by pushing in a metal skewer or toothpick and check that it comes out clean.
• Cool the cakes on a rack and once cooled use an 8cm round smooth-edged pastry cutter and cut as many circles of cake as you can – you’ll need to cut 12 circles to make 6 completed mini cakes.
• Break the 150g of creamy caramel chocolate discs in half and then place in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water and stir until just melted.
• Mash the butter and icing sugar together with a fork then use either a wooden spoon or electric whisk to smooth out the mixture further. Sift the cocoa over the buttercream and pour over the melted chocolate then mix again until completely smooth.
• Fill a piping bag with a star nozzle and pipe the buttercream onto 6 of the chocolate cake bases. Use the remaining chocolate cakes as lids and place these on top of each iced cake, then repeat the icing process again on top of each layered cake.
• Once all the cakes are iced, use the leftover creamy caramel and sea salt chocolate discs and pecans to decorate the top of each cake.