Overfilling a donut pan usually means batter spilling over the center and ruining the familiar ring shape. Most recipes warn against it, recommending enough room for the cake to rise without closing the hole. But for these chocolate mini cakes, that apparent mistake creates the space needed for a thick swirl of peanut butter frosting.
The idea comes from Lemons for Lulu’s Buckeye Mini Cakes, which turn baked chocolate donuts into a version of the classic peanut butter and chocolate candy. Instead of rolling, chilling, and dipping individual Buckeye balls, the recipe uses a donut pan to build the dessert.
Each donut gets turned upside down, coated with melted chocolate, and filled with peanut butter frosting. The result looks like a miniature chocolate cake with a creamy center rather than a conventional donut.
Fill the donut cavities higher than usual
Most baked donut recipes recommend filling the pan about two-thirds full, leaving room for the batter to expand.
Here, the cavities are filled three-quarters full.
As the chocolate batter rises, it spreads over the center post of the mold. Once baked and inverted, that extra cake forms a base beneath the opening where the frosting will sit.
The batter combines cake flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, buttermilk, eggs, espresso powder, vanilla, and vegetable oil.
Bake at 350°F for 12–15 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the donuts rest in the pan for one minute before transferring them to a rack to cool.
The recipe makes approximately 12 mini cakes.
Turn the donuts over before adding chocolate
Once the donuts have cooled, melt a 10-ounce package of chocolate melting wafers according to the package directions.
Dip the bottom of each donut into the melted chocolate, then place it dipped-side up on a cooling rack.
This reverses the usual donut presentation. The glazed underside becomes the top of the miniature cake, surrounding the center reserved for frosting.
Chocolate melting wafers set into a smooth coating, creating a firmer exterior around the soft baked cake.
Peanut butter frosting fills the center
The filling uses ¼ cup softened butter, ½ cup creamy peanut butter, 1½ cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon vanilla, a pinch of salt, and up to ¼ cup heavy cream.
Beat the butter and peanut butter together, then incorporate the powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt.
Add heavy cream one tablespoon at a time until the frosting can pass through a piping bag but remains firm enough to hold its shape.
Pipe the mixture into the center of each glazed donut. A zip-top bag with one corner cut off works if you don’t have a piping bag.
The frosting sits above the chocolate coating, creating the familiar peanut butter and chocolate combination without forming individual candy balls.
A dusting of powdered sugar can finish the cakes before serving.
The unusual pan-filling step is what makes the dessert possible. Leaving the donut centers open would create traditional rings, but allowing the batter to rise across them gives the peanut butter frosting a place to sit.
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