Looking to recreate your favorite yellow cake mix from scratch? This Small 6 Inch Yellow Cake For Two with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting is the perfect size if you’re looking for cake portion control.
Did you grow up eating cake mix? I did.
There are 4 of us – me, my brother, and my parents. Mom would often make each family member a cake for his or her birthday, usually devil’s food but sometimes yellow or even funfetti.
When I learned how to bake, I insisted on making homemade cakes. I even make my own birthday cake now (although I will not object to someone buying me an ice cream cake).
For awhile I made layer cakes on the blog, but I’m now I’m focusing on small batch sizes with 6 inch cakes. Whether you’re looking for dessert for two or you’re looking for portion control, I got you covered.
After making my small 6 inch chocolate cake for two, I started thinking about what flavors to make next. Soon I started thinking about yellow cake, the kind you see as a cake mix. Of course I’m all about baking cakes from scratch, so I set out to make this Small 6 Inch Yellow Cake For Two.
What’s funny is yellow isn’t a flavor. You have chocolate cake, vanilla cake, strawberry cake. Then you have yellow cake. What does yellow taste like exactly?
Yellow cake gets its name from using butter and whole eggs (compared to white cake where you use only egg whites). Quite frankly, it’s a vanilla cake made with whole eggs. In other words, yellow cake and vanilla cake are the same. It depends on whether you want the richness from the yolks or stick with all whites.
I tested this recipe probably 8 times. The cakes started out too thin. Then some kept doming in the middle while others did the opposite and sunk. I ended up adding baking soda to neutralize the acidity in the buttermilk while the baking powder helped the cake rise to the desired thickness.
For baking equipment, you need a 6 inch round cake pan (affiliate link). If you’re having trouble finding one, check out the cake decorating section of your local craft store.
If you make dessert for two on a regular basis, you should invest in at least one pan, two if you want to make a small layer cake like my Cherry Vanilla Layer Cake.
For the frosting, I used my Small Batch Chocolate Frosting, which makes enough to frost the top and outside. Don’t forget the sprinkles!
Small 6 Inch Yellow Cake For Two
Looking to recreate your favorite yellow cake mix from scratch? This Small 6 Inch Yellow Cake For Two with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting is the perfect size if you’re looking for cake portion control.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
- Small Batch Chocolate Frosting - get the recipe here
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease one 6-inch round cake pan then line the bottom with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla (it will look curdled).
- Add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, adding the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions (begin and end with dry ingredients).
- Transfer the batter to the pan. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with a few crumbs (no wet batter). Cool for about 15 minutes, run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen, and invert onto a cooling rack. Cool right-side-up.
- Frost with Small Batch Chocolate Frosting (get recipe here).
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Sandy says
Thank you – another small cake for me to bake! :-) I am so loving these small 6″ cakes – they are so quick to mix, bake and do not last long in the fridge – another bonus!
Carla says
So happy to hear you’re enjoying them! I have a few more flavors planned throughout the year.
Ashley says
If I wanted to use cake flour, would I need to change anything else in the recipe?
Carla says
Instead of writing the recipe to use cake flour, I used all purpose flour plus cornstarch. However, if you do have cake flour handy, you can use 3/4 cup cake flour and omit the cornstarch.
Jeanie says
Do you have a recipe for a 6-in chocolate cake?
Carla says
Yes I do! I linked to it in the post, but here it is again: https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/2018/01/29/small-chocolate-cake-for-two/
Sonya C. says
This cake was fabulous, so moist and delish. The frosting is to die for!! The cake is just the right size for everyone in house (it’s 3 of us) to enjoy a nice small slice after one great dinner. I like not having cake in the house that I will eat on for a week…adding a thousand calories that I don’t need!! I can’t wait to try the chocolate cake. Thanks so much for the small batch recipes. I have been trying to eat better, but like dessert every now and then and this cake fits the bill.
Carla says
Thank you for the positive feedback! Glad everyone enjoyed the cake.
Barbara says
Wow, thank you for the I recipe! The cake and frosting are absolutely delicious. I was looking for a recipe for a single layer cake; I’m so glad I found this one. I will definitely be making the cake and frosting again. Thank you!
Barbara says
I meant to add that I needed a recipe that didn’t require a lot of milk as I didn’t have very much. I made the “buttermilk” myself by adding some lemon juice to whole milk. And, for the first time ever, I made a cake that didn’t dome! Finally, I made a cake that looks – and tastes – like it came from a bakery! Woo hoo!
Carla says
Thank you for the positive feedback! I tested this cake multiple times to ensure there wasn’t a domed top. Great idea with the buttermilk substitute too.
David Plekkenpol says
Gave the yellow cake recipe a go today. It turned out amazing! I triple the batch to make three 6″ cakes for a three-layer raspberry filled cake. The texture is perfect. The cake is moist. The flavor is excellent. My wife is a total dessert snob, especially when it comes to cake. This yellow cake recipe got a definite vote of approval from her. Thank you for posting your yellow cake recipe.
Carla says
Good to know this recipe can easily be tripled! Sounds like a really delicious layer cake. Glad you and your wife enjoyed it!
Anaïs says
Great cake, nice vanilla taste and very moist. Mine didn’t turn out dense enough and the sides fell apart. Could it be because I didn’t have buttermilk and that I made my own (whole milk + lemon juice)? It probably wasn’t thick enough, I’ll try this again!
Carla says
Hmm the buttermilk is used for the acid to neutralize the baking soda, so the substitute of milk + lemon juice shouldn’t affect the cake falling apart. If your sides were falling apart, it either stuck to the cake pan or your batter wasn’t made properly. What size egg did you use? What flour did you use? Did you forget the extra 3 tablespoons? How do you measure your flour (scoop and pack or spoon gently)? How long did you cream your butter and sugar (and did you actually time it or did you guess)? What did the batter look like when you poured it into the pan? Do you use an oven thermometer and what was the temperature reading when you put in the cake?
Anaïs says
I used flour with incorporated baking powder + the batter remained very curdled. My 6 inch pan is higher than yours, and I always struggle a bit to unmold these cakes.On the other hand I’ve made your strawberry & chocolate little cakes with success :) I’ll try this again and I’ll keep you posted! Thanks for your “little batch” recipes, we love them.
Carla says
What do you mean by “flour with incorporated baking powder”? Is that self rising flour? Did you use all-purpose flour or something else? Was the batter curdled after you added the flour? It will curdle when you add the egg, but it should smooth itself out when you mix in the flour and milk. If it was still chunky when you transferred the batter to the cake pan, something went wrong while making it. Wish I could be there with you to observe what happened!
Anaïs says
Sorry, I live in France and we don’t always have the same ingredients. It was self rising flour. And yes it was curdled with the flour & milk so something went wrong. I’ll try again!
David says
This is the best white (actually yellow) cake I’ve made. Thank you so much! I know I will continue to make it. While I can double it to make a larger cake, I’m wondering if you have a more full size recipe for the cake.
Thanks again-David
Carla says
Glad you enjoyed the cake, David! I only have the yellow cake recipe as written.
Dana says
Hello! I plan on making this into a 3-layer 6-inch cake, however I am wondering if I could replace the buttermilk with sour cream as I’ve seen some yellow cake recipes call for sour cream?
Thank you!
Dana
Carla says
The problem with substituting sour cream for buttermilk is the batter will be much thicker because you’re losing the liquid element that helps thin out the batter. Although it is possible, you’ll have to adjust for the other ingredients.
Dana says
Okay, thank you!
Carla says
If you’re looking to not buy buttermilk, you can use 1/3 cup whole milk + 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white distilled vinegar. The acid is needed for the baking soda.
Delilah Gugin says
I wanted a cake with unsalted butter and this cake has unsalted butter in it.
Carla says
Glad it fit your needs!
Joe B. says
Every year for more than 30 years, I’ve made a boxed cake for my wife for her birthday. This year was a special birthday (50th) so I decided to attempt to bake from scratch. I like to think I’m a pretty good cook, but a lousy baker so I was searching for a fairly easy recipe and for small cakes (we always have leftovers). I found this one and couldn’t be happier, wish I could post a pic here. It didn’t come together the way I had hoped but finished so wonderfully. I think my butter was still too cold so it didn’t blend with the sugar as I expected It too – oh, I used sugar in the raw too, not traditional white granulated. Also, I think my oven may be dying because it wound up taking 35 min. In the end though, the cake was super moist, very flavorful and more importantly, my wife LOVED it. Thank you for doing the work and sharing this with all of us. I’m going to have to try some of the others you’ve shared.
Carla says
I’m glad the cake still turned out delicious for your wife! How thoughtful of you to bake her a cake. For future reference, I recommend buying an oven thermometer to see how accurate the temperature is. My gas oven bakes 25F degrees hotter than the knob says, so I have to adjust the knob so I don’t overbake it. For you, if you oven is X degrees below what it says, you’ll want to adjust accordingly.