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6-Inch Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Need a small birthday cake or a delicious dessert for just a few people? This 6-inch yellow cake with chocolate frosting is sure to please!

6-Inch Yellow Cake with chocolate frosting on a blue cake stand

Small Batch Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

There are days when you need a big sheet cake for a crowd. And then there are days when you’re looking for a sweet treat that serves a small group. This recipe for yellow cake with chocolate frosting is perfect for the latter.

It’s soft and moist and fluffy and really delicious; just the right size for two people to enjoy over a couple days or to share with a few more dessert lovers. Basically, this yellow cake with chocolate frosting is everything you love about the original, in a convenient scaled down form.

You can never go wrong with the classic pairing of yellow cake and chocolate frosting, but you can, of course, change the frosting if you like. This frosting is a very simple chocolate buttercream that has a rich chocolate flavor, but you can lean into the vanilla flavor of the cake with vanilla frosting, or use strawberry buttercream for a lovely pink color and bright berry flavor. 

And of course, don’t forget the sprinkles!

For more 6-inch cake recipes, try my Hummingbird Cake, Chocolate Cake with Marshmallow Frosting, and Spice Cake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting.

Overhead view of mini yellow cake with chocolate frosting

What You’ll Need

Scroll down to the recipe card to find the ingredient quantities and recipe instructions.

For the cake:

For the frosting:

  • Unsalted butter – It’s important to let this soften so it can be whipped into a creamy frosting.
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder – Sift this to prevent powdery lumps in your buttercream.
  • Vanilla extract
  • Milk – Any kind you have on hand will work.
  • Confectioners’ sugar – Sift the sugar, too.
  • Sprinkles

What Makes Yellow Cake Taste So Good?

The ingredients that set yellow cake apart from white cake are the butter and whole eggs. Both ingredients create that golden yellow hue, and they also give yellow cake a richer flavor. White cake typically uses egg whites only to preserve that pristine white color, and it’s made with oil instead of butter. 

In other words, if you try to lighten up this recipe by using oil instead of butter and egg whites instead of whole eggs, you’ll end up with white cake!

overhead view of a 6-Inch Yellow Cake on a blue cake stand and a slice of 6-Inch Yellow Cake on a blue plate

How to Make a Mini Yellow Cake With Chocolate Frosting

You won’t find many surprises along the way while making this cake. It’s a fairly straightforward recipe that will likely feel familiar if you’ve baked your share of yellow cakes with chocolate frosting over the years. 

Prepare. Preheat your oven to 350°F, then grease and flour a 6-inch round cake pan, tapping out the excess. (As an alternative, you can line the pan with parchment paper and grease the paper.)

Mix the dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix the wet ingredients. Use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat the butter and sugar in a separate mixing bowl. Once the butter and sugar mixture is light and fluffy, beat in the egg and vanilla.

Finish the batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in 3 portions, alternating with 2 portions of buttermilk, mixing until just combined.

Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then carefully turn out the cake onto the rack and let it finish cooling before adding the frosting. (Learn more: Why Every Baker Needs Wire Cooling Racks)

Make the frosting. Use an electric mixer on medium speed to beat together the butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk in a mixing bowl. Slowly beat in the confectioners’ sugar. Add more milk if needed to reach your desired consistency.

Frost the cake. Spread the chocolate frosting over the top of the cooled yellow cake. Garnish with sprinkles, if desired.

Tips for Success

Read over my tips for beginning bakers before getting started; they’ll help you tackle the basics. Here are a few more pointers specific to this yellow cake with chocolate frosting:

  • Soften the butter. Soft butter blends with the rest of the cake ingredients more easily, and it also results in a creamier frosting. In addition, softened butter and room temperature eggs help a cake rise higher because they hold more air when beaten.
  • Use the right pan. This cake is fairly tall, so be sure your pan is 2 inches deep. If you’re a fan of small batch recipes, then a 6-inch cake pan is a great addition to your baking pan collection. If you don’t have one, this recipe will not work as written; you’ll need to double it for a 9-inch round or 8-inch square pan. 
  • Frost like a pro. You don’t need to fuss with elaborate piping for a professional looking cake. An offset spatula will go a long way towards perfectly smooth frosting, and if you have a turntable or lazy Susan, that will help too, as you can slowly turn the cake as you frost along the sides. (Or leave the sides unfrosted, as I did here!)
Slice of mini yellow cake with chocolate frosting on plate, with remaining cake on stand

Variations

If you’re feeling ambitious, you can take a long serrated knife and cut the yellow cake into two layers so you can add a middle layer of chocolate frosting or another filling like jam or Bavarian cream. 

For a more elegant cake, swap the sprinkles for whole ripe strawberries or raspberries.

How to Store

Yellow cake with chocolate frosting can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 to 3 days. While it will last longer in the refrigerator, it will dry out more quickly that way, so room temperature is best.

Can This Recipe Be Frozen?

Yes, if you’d like to make this recipe in advance, you can freeze the yellow cake and add the chocolate frosting after you thaw it.

If your cake is already frosted, I recommend setting it on a parchment-lined baking sheet and placing it in the freezer. Once the frosting is frozen solid, wrap the cake tightly in plastic wrap and place it in a freezer bag, airtight container, or wrap it in a layer of foil. Freeze for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature.

two slices of 6-Inch Yellow Cake on colorful plates

More Scaled-Down Dessert Recipes

6-Inch Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Yield 4 to 6 servings
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Scale down dessert with this 6-Inch Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting!

6-Inch Yellow Cake with chocolate frosting on a blue cake stand

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (97g) all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon (74ml) buttermilk

For the frosting:

  • 6 tablespoons (85g) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (26g) unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons milk
  • 1 cup (110g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
  • sprinkles, for garnish

Instructions

To make the cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 6-inch round cake pan*. If you like, line with parchment paper and grease the paper.
  2. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
  3. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix well.
  4. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add the flour mixture in 3 portions, alternating with 2 portions of buttermilk. Mix just until combined.
  5. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan, and spread evenly. Bake 30-35 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a pick inserted into the center comes out clean.
  6. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Then transfer the cake from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting:

  1. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, cocoa powder, vanilla, and 2 tablespoons of milk until thoroughly combined.
  2. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, and mix well. Add more milk if needed to attain the desired consistency.
  3. Spread the frosting over the top of the cooled cake. If you like, garnish with sprinkles.

Notes

*This cake is fairly tall, so be sure your pan is 2 inches deep.

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    15 Comments on “6-Inch Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting”

  1. Really Pretty cake! I loooove frosting, I’d like to take my fingers and eat it all off your cake Jennifer – yum yum. Thanks for sharing your recipe.

  2. Might see how many cupcakes this will make as i don’t have a 6′ cake pan.

  3. To make this a white cake, would just using the white of the egg do it or should other changes be made?
    Also, would adding cocoa make it chocolate? Other changes? Thanks for your help!

    • Hi, Shelby. For a white cake, I would change more than the eggs. They usually are made with some differences in the ingredients versus a yellow cake. If you add cocoa powder, you’d also need to make some other adjustments, too. Stay tuned because I plan to post other versions! In the meantime, you can pretty easily adapt a single layer 9-inch round cake recipe to a 6-inch round by halving it, or a 9×13 cake by quartering it. That will work most of the time.

  4. Tha is for this recipe. As it’s just me and my husband, no kids yet, I’m always looking for small batch desserts. I really appreciate your posting this! I hope to see more 🙂

  5. I would like to divide this batter into 2-4″ inch springform pans so that I can make a mini 2-layer cake. Your thoughts?

  6. why buttereemik? can i use skimmilk instead?

  7. Is this a quarter recipe of a regular sized cake?  I want a good recipe for this and I just need it to be a regular 2 layer cake.  

  8. Can I use cake flour instead of regular flour?

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