After my grandmother passed away a couple years ago, I went to her house to see if there was anything I wanted to keep. I grew up going to that house almost every week, and still, some of the things I found there were a complete mystery to me. See: a cast-iron mini bundt pan. My grandmother did not like to bake, and I can’t remember her ever taking out a bundt pan and making cakes. The pan was in perfect condition and looked like it had never been used, which added to my hypothesis that she had probably never touched it. I guess it was destined for me. I took it home and didn’t use it for a year.

Then, I found a recipe for something called “Les tigrés.” In France, there are little cakes made in molds called “volcans,” or volcanoes, which are essentially the equivalent of bundt cake molds. The cakes are sweet, soft, and light because they’re made out of a combination of almond powder, flour, and powdered sugar. You make variations of this cake, but if you want to make “les tigrés,” you should use chocolate chips. As you might have guessed, “tigré” means “tiger” in French, and these cakes are named for how a tiger looks (orange-yellow base with black markings throughout).

You can probably make these cakes with ingredients you already have on hand, but the one thing you might have to look for at a specialty store or online is “amandes en poudre,” or almond powder. I found a bag of it on Amazon. The powder is part of what gives the cakes their nutty flavor and moistness. For reference, I used a whole bag for this recipe, so it’s not like you’ll order some, use a little, and then have it sitting in the pantry forever until you remember to make bundt cakes again.

A finishing touch on these cakes is Nocciolata, or Italian chocolate hazelnut spread. You don’t need to add it, but I would highly recommend putting a small dollop in the middle of each cake for some extra sweetness. You can easily find Nocciolata at Whole Foods. If you have Nutella at home, that will work well, too.

Here is a song to get you started on your mini bundt cake journey.

Chocolate Chip Mini Bundt Cakes (Les tigrés)

Ingredients:
160g salted butter
100g poudre d’amande (almond powder)
200g powdered sugar
110g all-purpose flour
4g baking powder
egg whites from 10 eggs, at room temperature
1 bag of dark chocolate chips (I used Guittard)
Nocciolata

Recipe:

Grease and flour a mini bundt cake pan and set aside. Preheat the oven to 347 degrees F.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Let it brown, then remove it from the heat and pour it in a bowl to cool.

Whisk the almond powder, powdered sugar, and baking powder in the bowl of a stand mixer until combined. When the butter is cool, add it and the eggs to the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. Mix in the dark chocolate chips. Give the batter a few turns with a spatula, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure nothing is sticking.

Fill the prepared bundt cake pan with the batter so each mold is full. Place it in the oven to bake for about 20 minutes, or until the cakes look light brown on top and spring back slightly to the touch. Keep an eye on things; they might bake faster in a different oven. I would check around 15 minutes and go from there.

When the cakes are done baking, remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool slightly for a few minutes. Use a butter knife to carefully release any parts of the cakes from the pan that look stuck. Then, invert the pan and tap it lightly to release the cakes onto a counter or wire rack. Turn the cakes right-side up and allow them to cool on a wire rack. When they are cool, add a small dollop of Nocciolata in the middle. Enjoy!