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chocolate mini cake shaped as a tiffany box
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Tiffany Gift Box Mini Cake Recipe

How to make mini cakes inspired by Tiffany & Co gift boxes! Moist and decadent chocolate cake paired with light and creamy buttercream frosting, wrapped in Tiffany Blue® fondant, decorated with white fondant ribbons, and topped with a cute matching bow. Follow my tutorial for how to make easy cake squares with a mold (no frosting each cake individually!)
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Freezing Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 25 minutes
Servings 32 2” square mini cakes (the size can vary depending on the size of your molds)
Calories 337kcal

Equipment

Ingredients

Easy Chocolate Cake

  • 10 ounces all-purpose flour
  • 14 ounces granulated sugar
  • 4 ounces natural cocoa powder like HERSHEYS
  • 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs (room temperature)
  • 8 ounces buttermilk (room temperature)
  • 8 ounces hot coffee or hot water (1 cup)
  • 4 ounces vegetable oil
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Easy Buttercream Frosting

  • 24 ounces unsalted butter (room temperature). You can use salted butter, but it will affect the taste and you need to leave out additional salt.
  • 24 ounces powdered sugar sifted if not from a bag
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 6 ounces pasteurized egg whites (room temperature)
  • 1 TINY drop purple food coloring for whiter frosting (optional)

Instructions

Making the Chocolate Cake

  • Preheat the oven to 350ºF and prepare two 9”x 13’ sheet pans with parchment paper and cake goop.
  • Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix everything on low speed for about 5 seconds, or just until everything is combined.
  • Then, add in the room temperature eggs, room temperature buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.
  • Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes and then scrape the bowl.
  • Turn the mixer down to low speed, and then add in the hot coffee and mix it in until it’s just combined.
  • Next, pour the cake batter into the prepared pans about halfway full.
  • Bake the cakes at 335ºF for 15 minutes, or until it is fully baked. While your cake is baking, you can prepare the easy buttercream frosting.

Easy Buttercream Frosting Instructions

  • First, place the egg whites and the powdered sugar in a stand mixer bowl. Attach the whisk and combine the ingredients on low.
  • Whip them on high for 4-5 minutes (until shiny) to dissolve the powdered sugar.
  • Then, add in the salt and the vanilla extract.
  • Next, add in your room temperature butter piece-by-piece, and whip it with the whisk attachment to combine. It will look curdled at first. This is definitely normal. It will also look pretty yellow. Keep whipping.
  • If your buttercream continues to look curdled, remove about 2 cups of buttercream and melt it in the microwave for 10-15 seconds until it is just barely melted. Then, pour it back into the whipping buttercream to bring it all together.
  • Optional: Add in 1 drop of purple food coloring to make the buttercream whiter. You can use any food coloring you want, but if you want my recommendation, I use Chef Master gel food coloring. Use code “SUGARGEEKTEN” to get 10% off your order!
  • Then, whip it on high with the whisk attachment for 8-10 minutes until the buttercream is white, light, and shiny. Taste test the buttercream. If it tastes like sweet ice cream, then it's ready!
  • Ultimately, this step is optional. But, if you want really creamy frosting with no bubbles, then you don't want to skip this final step. Switch to a paddle attachment, and then mix the buttercream at low speed for up to 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream ultra smooth and remove any air bubbles.

Assembling the Chocolate Cake Cubes

  • Once the cakes have finished baking and are fully cooled, place it in the freezer for about an hour so that it is very cold but can still be cut.
  • Trim the dome off the cake so that it is level. I use the cake pan as my guide.
  • Remove the cakes from the pan, and then cut the sheet cake in half. You want to have 2 even pieces of cake because you are going to layer them together.
  • Do the same thing to the other cake. Then, spread buttercream on one half of the cake, and then place the other half of the cake on top.
  • Next, place the prepared cake in the freezer for about an hour.
  • The size of your silicone molds will determine the size of the square you cut from the cake. We are using 2” square silicone molds, so I am cutting my layered cake in 1-½” cubes. Using a metal ruler, I cut down one direction of the cake to make 1-½” strips, and then the other direction to make cubes.
  • Then, place the cut cake cubes in the freezer while you prepare the mold.

Preparing the Mini Cake Molds

  • First, fill a piping bag with buttercream fitted with a medium plain tip.
  • Pipe buttercream into the corners of the square mold to avoid pockets of air trapped in the corners. I gave my mold a little tap to be sure. Then, continue to pipe around the inside of the square mold, leaving the center hollow to place the cake.
  • Then, once your molds are coated with buttercream and your cake cubes are fully chilled, carefully place a cube into the center of the mold and press down until the bottom is flush. Repeat with the remaining cubes.
  • Next, use a spatula to clean off the excess buttercream that may have pushed out. The silicone mold is soft and can bulge out as you push the cake down. Gently reshape the exterior of the cubes so the sides are straight.
  • Place the mold in the freezer for approximately 30 minutes (or overnight is okay, too).
  • When you remove the mold from the freezer, trim off the bottom so that the cake will sit evenly when you flip it over.
  • Gently peel the cake out of the mold. You will want to work quickly so that the buttercream doesn’t have a chance to soften.
  • Place the mini cakes on a single serving board or a platter and finish decorating them with fondant. See my video for the full tutorial. Store them in the refrigerator to keep them cool while you work with your fondant.

Covering the Mini Cakes with Fondant

  • First, add 1 drop of neon bright blue food coloring to your white fondant and 1 drop of teal. This is the food coloring combination I’ve found that is closest to the iconic Tiffany Blue®. You can use any food coloring you have, but if you would like to know what I used for these mini cakes I used Chef Master gel food coloring. Use code “SUGARGEEKTEN” to get 10% off your order!
  • Then, put on a pair of gloves and apply some shortening to your hands.
  • Using your hands, work the food coloring into the fondant. Knead the fondant and pull it like taffy until it is smooth and the color is evenly distributed. If there are still rough spots or the fondant is tearing, you can warm it up in the microwave for 30-40 seconds to make it hot and pull like taffy. Then, with shortening on your hands, you can continue to knead and pull it without it breaking.
  • Sprinkle a little bit of powdered sugar onto your fondant, and then roll your fondant out so that it’s thin (about 1/16th of an inch). The thinner your fondant, the sharper your corners will be!
  • Next, place the fondant over your cake cube. Smooth out the top, and then work your way down by pressing the fondant up against the cake.
  • Once you’re happy with how your fondant looks, trim the excess fondant while leaving about ¼ inch of fondant around the base of the cake.
  • Then, flip the fondant-covered cake upside down.
  • Fold the excess fondant over the bottom.
  • Repeat this process as needed until all of your cake cubes are covered with fondant.

Decorating the Mini Cakes

  • Start by making the fondant bows. Add a little bit of vegetable shortening to your white fondant. Then, sprinkle your bow mold with some powdered sugar.
  • Press the fondant into the mold so that it’s flush to the surface.
  • Next, flip the mold over and then peel off the mold to reveal the bow-shaped fondant.
  • Now you will roll out more white fondant to create your ribbons. Roll out the fondant so that it’s thin and about 1/16th of an inch. Then, cut out long pieces of fondant that are about ¼ inch wide. I like to use this tool to quickly cut strips of fondant. Fun fact: this tool is also used to make croissants! Or, if you don’t have it, you could use a ruler and an x-acto knife to cut out ribbon fondant.
  • Now we are going to wrap our cake cubes to make them look like presents! Start by laying a strip of fondant down on the table horizontally. Then, layer another strip of fondant on top going the other way (vertically) so that it resembles a plus sign.
  • Place the fondant-covered mini cake on top of the fondant ribbons at the center where the ribbons meet with the unfinished bottom facing upwards.
  • Apply a small amount of water onto the strips of ribbon fondant, and then carefully wrap the fondant up around the cake so that it appears to look like a ribbon-wrapped box.
  • Finally, apply a small amount of water onto the bottom of the fondant bow. Place it onto the top of the cake where the two seams of ribbon fondant meet. Repeat these steps as needed to decorate all of your mini cakes.
  • Optional: Next, as an added decoration, you will add some flash dust or edible glitter to the mini cake using a brush. This is totally optional, but it will give your decorated cakes a radiant sparkle detail!

Video

Notes

Important Things To Note Before You Start:
  • Practice Mise en Place (everything in its place). Measure out your ingredients ahead of time and have them ready before you start mixing to reduce the chances of accidentally leaving something out.
  • Bring your butter, milk, and eggs to room temperature. Room temperature ingredients will create an emulsion properly but if any of your ingredients are cold then the batter will not mix together properly and you’ll end up with a wet layer at the bottom of the cake.
  • Make your own pan release (cake goop!) The best pan release ever!
  • Any white fondant will work to decorate these mini cakes, but I highly recommend using my marshmallow fondant recipe.
  • You can use whichever food coloring you have, but if you want a recommendation I would suggest the Chef Master gel food coloring. Use code “SUGARGEEKTEN” to get 10% off your order!

Nutrition

Calories: 337kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 58mg | Sodium: 204mg | Potassium: 103mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 606IU | Calcium: 29mg | Iron: 1mg