Mini vanilla cake for two for celebrating anniversaries, date night, or just for fun. This small cake recipe is perfect for a small party or just two people!
As a die hard vanilla lover, this cake is a love letter to myself. It's not that I have anything against chocolate, but vanilla holds my heart. When I set out to make a vanilla cake recipe, I hit it hard with a full tablespoon of vanilla extract. After one bite of this cake, you'll agree it's the best recipe for vanilla cake out there!
Incidentally, if you need a mini chocolate cake for two, I've already written you that love letter.
Vanilla cake best recipe easy:
Making a small cake is almost the same as making a regular-size cake, but you do need a specific pan.
To make a mini cake for two people, you will need a 6" round cake pan. The one I like is here.
You're looking for a 6" cake pan with 2" high sides. I've tested 6" cake pans with 3" high sides, and I've found that the extra inch radiates more heat in the oven and the cakes can sink after baking.
I find my 6" round cake pans at Michael's or Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating section.
The easy part about my small cake recipes is that they only require one bowl, since we're using such few ingredients! First, mix the wet ingredients thoroughly with a hand mixer, sprinkle the dry ingredients evenly on top, and then fold together.
Vanilla 6 inch cake:
This cake makes 4 small slices of cake, which I love, because then I can eat two slices of cake in one day! It's perfect for celebrating an anniversary (side note: have you seen my wedding cake cupcakes?), or for having a fun date-night at home.
This recipe comes from my latest cookbook, Sweet & Simple: Desserts for Two, and I decorated it with chamomile flowers in the book.
Today, we did easy buttercream roses, which are so simple if you have the right tip. I use an open-star tip, and make a circle that starts in the center and moves outward.
All you need is a Wilton 1M piping tip to make pretty circles around the outside edge of the cake. Since this is a mini vanilla cake for two, we only have room for one row of roses. However, next time you're decorating a big cake, try making several lines of them. Buttercream roses look difficult, but they are so easy to do!
Just cut the cake into 4 equal slices, and serve it!
If you love 6 inch cakes, check out my other recipes! They're perfect for small parties, date night, or for gifting to friends on their special day!
Recipe from: Sweet & Simple: Desserts for Two, my third cookbook, full of EASY desserts that have less than 10 ingredients.
More Favorites from Dessert for Two
Vanilla Small Cake (6" cake)
Mini vanilla cake for two people with vanilla buttercream roses.
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 6 tablespoons whole milk
- ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar*
For the vanilla buttercream recipe:
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350, and spray a 6" round cake pan with 2" sides with cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper.
- In a medium-size bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer. Beat very well, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well-combined, about 15 seconds.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. Add half of the this to the batter and beat for just a few seconds before stirring in half of the milk and vinegar. Continue beating. Add the remaining dry ingredients and beat, and then stir in the remaining milk.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smooth out the top, and bake on a small sheet pan for 37-39 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool on a wire rack in the pan. Carefully remove it from the pan, pulling away the parchment paper once it has cooled.
- To make the buttercream, beat the butter in a medium-size bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and heavy cream, and beat until light and fluffy. If the mixture seems too stiff, add a splash more heavy cream.
- Use a little more than half of the buttercream to frost the cake. If you made the cake ahead of time and frozen it, it's best to apply a crumb coat of buttercream before applying a second layer.
- Place the remaining ¼ of the buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a 1M tip, and pipe roses along the outside edge of the cake. To make a rose, pipe a spiral shape, starting inside of moving around the center.
Notes
*Instead of whole milk and apple cider vinegar, you can use 6 tablespoons of buttermilk.
The cake may be baked and frozen, tightly wrapped for up to 1 month. Defrost before frosting.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 542Total Fat: 29gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 107mgSodium: 119mgCarbohydrates: 66gFiber: 0gSugar: 54gProtein: 3g
Diana Enriquez says
Hi what can I do to prevent sinking if I have a 3" high cake pan?
Christina Lane says
There's not much you can do, sorry. The extra inch of metal provides excess heat and makes the cake bake differently than intended for this recipe. I would google for a recipe that specifically uses that pan, and I'm sure you'll have success. This recipe is written for a 6x2" pan, sorry.
Anna Jaye says
This cake was perfect! I used the pan you recommended. Wouldn’t change a thing. We will be making this for years to come. Thank you for the brilliant recipe
Vanessa says
Oh my god! I love love love vanilla cake and I’ve been trying to find an excuse to bake this cake for weeks now. I have finally bought the right baking tin, made this today and this must be the best vanilla cake ever. I can’t stop smelling it ahahaha. So small, so easy so it’s dangerous but I don’t care. I’ll now have to try the cookie dough, red velvet and chocolate! Thanks Christina
Jeannette Villalobos says
just discovered your site, love it and loved this cake!
Annieka Sanhye says
Hello , I love vanilla cake and I tried your recipe ❤️ absolutely perfect 😍everyone loved it
Susan Catlett says
Having just purchased 6 inch cake pans, in an effort to put some portion-control on my Poundemic baking spree, I was eager to try out some recipes. This, the first mini cake recipe I've tried is a keeper.
My only variations from the recipe as written: I added the dry ingredients all at once (just an "Oops") and I used whole milk in the frosting because I was out of heavy cream. I did wrap the sides of the cake pan with a strip several layers thick of aluminum foil to ward off the dreaded cake dome. The cake is moist, buttery and flavorful. Normally, I'm a chocolate kinda gal, but this cake could convert me! Thank you!
Christina Lane says
I'm so glad, Susan! :) Thanks for writing!
Fisayo says
Hi, thank you for this amazing recipe but can I use Cake flour instead with no issues?
Christina Lane says
Your cake might sink with cake flour. Cake flour has a fine crumb and cornstarch in it. This changes the overall structure of the cake batter, and I don't know if it would hold up like a normal cake. Your best bet is to look for recipes that use cake flour. It's not a 1-1 substitution.
Laura says
I made two small changes to the recipe. I made this in a 6 inch spring form since that is what I had on hand. Instead of using vinager I used lemon juice to sour the milk.
This cake is so good! Moist, very vanilla forward, I am so happy I made this for my special birthday treat. I also made some tart lemon curd to serve with it, so so good!
Laura says
This cake is the best!!! I have baked a cake for my daughter's birthday every year. Her 18th birthday was going to be no different however, we were going out to dinner on her actual birthday (and having dessert at the restaurant) and she was leaving for college the next morning. This was the perfect size cake to mark the day without the extra work (and calories) of too many leftovers. It was delicious! Thank you!!
Eva Navarro says
Hii! I have been searching forever for a cake recipe small enough to bring to work for a coworker (and a few others) to indulge in. I'm going to make two of these and layer them. This is my first time baking a cake from scratch so I'm really excited. To freeze them, should we wrap them in tin foil? Or would putting them in zip lock ads work just as well?