Looking for small cake recipes? Here is the ultimate guide to baking 6 Inch Cake Recipes for two made from scratch for beginners.

Baking a small cake for two is one of the hardest things to do.

Most cake recipes require an 8 inch pan or larger. Some are even two or three layers.

I love cake but my waistline certainly doesn’t. And I feel really guilty over food waste if I can’t find people to eat the leftovers.

There aren’t many small cake recipes for a 6 inch cake pan, which is why I wrote this ultimate dessert for two guide about 6 Inch Cake Recipes.

I rounded up all of my small cake recipes so you don’t have to go digging through my archives, ranging from my small chocolate cake and small vanilla cake to my small yellow cake and small red velvet cake.

Now my 6 inch cake recipes may not be literally two servings, but they’re catered for two people because they make a small amount.

That means you can eat your cake now then eat a little more later without having to throw away stale cake. Cake for dessert, cake for breakfast.

Bookmark this guide for birthdays, anniversaries, celebrations, holidays, and any time you’re in the mood for cake!

Homemade Small Chocolate Cake For Two is a moist and delicious one layer chocolate cake you can make from scratch without a cake mix.

Buying A 6 Inch Round Cake Pan

In order to make a 6 inch cake, you need to buy a 6 inch round cake pan. Easy enough, right?

A 6 x 2 inch round cake pan has a volume of 3 cups and can hold about 2 cups of batter to give it room to rise. You can buy one online from Amazon (affiliate link) or from your local craft store in the cake decorating aisle.

Although my recipes are mostly for one layer cakes, I highly recommend buying two pans. That way you’re ready for a double layer cake.

Plus if your current pan is in use, you have another one ready to go.

Bonus – Did you know you can make chicken pot pie for two and shepherd’s pie for two in a 6 inch pan?

Now you can make both dinner and dessert!

What if I don’t have a 6 inch pan?

If you don’t have a 6 inch pan, some readers have successfully made the cakes in 8 inch pans. The cake will be a lot thinner, so you may want to reduce the baking time by 5 minutes and check for doneness.

If the toothpick has wet batter on it, then you can continue with the normal baking time.

Sometimes you can multiply the ingredients by 1.5 and get a thicker 8 inch cake.

Don’t have that either? Check out my Small Batch Cupcake Recipes for more small cake options.

Small Batch 6 Inch Yellow Cake with chocolate frosting

How To Make a 6 Inch Cake

Most cake for two recipes follow the same steps: Cream together the butter and sugar, add the egg and any flavorings, then gradually add your dry ingredients.

My small carrot cake recipe is made a little bit differently as it uses vegetable oil instead of butter, so you beat the oil, sugar, buttermilk, and egg together.

Then you transfer the batter to a greased 6 inch round cake pan lined with some parchment paper. This ensures your cake won’t stick when you invert it after cooling.

How long should you bake a 6 inch cake?

Depending on the batter, you bake a 6 inch cake at 350F for about 20-25 minutes. Some recipes require 30-35 minutes. Always follow what the recipe tells you.

To tell if your cake is done, insert a toothpick in the center. If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. A few crumbs are ok, but you definitely don’t want wet batter.

Small 6 Inch Pumpkin Cake with cream cheese frosting

How many servings will a 6 inch cake feed?

Serving sizes are subjective, especially if you only want a small bite of cake. Generally 6 inch cakes can be sliced into 4-6 slices, making it about 4-6 servings per 6 inch cake.

However, if you slice the cake small enough, you can push for 8 slices, equaling 8 servings. That way you can serve my Small Funfetti Cake for someone’s birthday and have enough slices for everyone (plus a few extras).

Hosting a small Thanksgiving or Christmas for two? Serve my Small Pumpkin Cake or Small Gingerbread Cake for dessert. There will be enough food at dinner that a small 6 inch cake will be plenty of dessert.

Feeling a bit fruity? Check out my Small Strawberry Cake, Small Lemon Cake, and Small Coconut Cake.

Want cake for breakfast? I got you covered with my Small Coffee Cake recipe.

Ultimately serving size is up to you depending on how small you cut your 6 inch cake.

Small 6 Inch Strawberry Cake made from scratch using fresh strawberries. No cake mix and no strawberry jello!

How much buttercream do I need for a 6 inch cake?

You can’t serve 6 inch cake recipes without frosting! That’s why I also have small batch frosting recipes and ganache so you’re not stuck with leftovers.

You’ll need roughly 1 cup buttercream for your small cake recipes. Some popular frosting recipes are my Small Batch Chocolate Frosting, Small Batch Vanilla Buttercream, Peanut Butter Buttercream, Strawberry Buttercream, and Lemon Buttercream.

Is buttercream too sweet for you? Go for a bit of tang with Small Batch Cream Cheese Frosting, Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting, and Raspberry Cream Cheese Frosting.

Finally, for specialty cakes I have German Chocolate Frosting and Coconut Frosting.

Equipment You Will Need

6 Inch Cake Recipes

Looking for small cake recipes? Here is the ultimate guide to baking 6 Inch Cake Recipes for two made from scratch for beginners.

Comments

Denise says
April 15, 2019 at 7:51 AM
I have made the chocolate cake recipe twice. It has a nice chocolate taste and is moist. Also frosted cake with the cream cheese frosting, and it’s very good. My family of three lines cake so your recipes are perfect. Thank you.
- Carla says
  April 15, 2019 at 10:38 AM
  Thank you for sharing, Denise! Glad you and your family are enjoying the chocolate cake.
Kacie Morgan says
April 19, 2019 at 10:32 AM
I love the idea of a smaller, 6″ cake. I live alone and if I make a regular-sized cake, some of it will often go to waste.
- Carla says
  April 22, 2019 at 9:51 AM
  Yes I hate that! And sometimes I simply don’t see anybody to take it off my hands before it dries out. Let me know if you try anything!
- Margaret says
  August 28, 2019 at 12:15 AM
  My family loved the 6″ chocolate cake that I made following the recipe. I am a big fan of chocolate+orange combination so tried replacing the hot water with some orange juice and added some orange zest. The result was fabulous! Frosted with raspberry buttercream that I had ready in my fridge-awesome! Am making this again.. And again! Thank you!
  - Carla says
    August 29, 2019 at 9:23 AM
    Oh using OJ instead of water is genius. Loving the sound of chocolate, orange, and raspberry together. Thanks for sharing your version!
Tawnie K Kroll says
April 19, 2019 at 11:01 AM
Dessert for 2 is perfect! I always feel so bad making a beautiful cake and seeing it go to waste!
- Carla says
  April 22, 2019 at 9:52 AM
  Ditto. Throwing away cake is the worst. Let me know if you make any of the recipes!
Barbara C Dorfman says
February 27, 2020 at 4:20 PM
I have six inch square pans. Do they use the same amount of ingredients and bake time?
- Carla says
  February 27, 2020 at 4:32 PM
  A 6 inch round pan holds 3 cups volume. I don’t have a 6 inch square pan to measure for you. The easiest way to measure is to fill it to the top with water then measuring how much water it holds. If it’s also 3 cups, then it’ll be roughly the same. If not, you’ll have to adjust for the difference.
Wendy Swedean says
May 2, 2020 at 4:01 PM
To make a two-layer 6-inch cake, can you just double the recipe? Or isn’t it that simple?
- Carla says
  May 2, 2020 at 11:10 PM
  Yes, you can double the recipe.
Julie says
May 28, 2020 at 12:41 PM
I made the chocolate cake last night and it was fantastic! So rich and chocolatey and the perfect size for my family of 5 to each have a small piece. It scratched the sweet tooth itch without overindulging. Because I never seem to have time or the motivations to make frosting, I instead spread a thin layer of peanut butter on top and drizzled a little chocolate sauce. So pretty and decadent! I’ll try it again with strawberry preserves on top next time.
- Carla says
  May 28, 2020 at 3:45 PM
  Hey as long as you enjoyed the “frosting”, that always work! Glad everyone enjoyed the cake.
Eleanor Steward says
June 1, 2020 at 5:18 PM
recipe for 6 inch coconut cake please
- Carla says
  June 2, 2020 at 11:34 AM
  I’ll add it to my list!
  - Eleanor Steward says
    June 2, 2020 at 1:12 PM
    Thank You. Hard finding single layer 6 inch cake recipes. Also looking for 6 or 7 inch pie recipes.
    - Carla says
      June 2, 2020 at 5:26 PM
      I’ve gotten multiple requests for 6 inch pies, so I need to buy a pan and work on some recipes. Thanks for the feedback!
Deborah says
June 16, 2021 at 6:44 AM
Hi Carla
Hope you are well.
I was overjoyed to find your website and see your 6 inch cake recipes. However, the ingredients are all given in US cup sizes. Is it possible for these to be shown in metric or please could you advise of the amounts for the 6 inch cakes you have in either grams or ounces. (preferably grams).
I would be sincerely grateful to you if this was possible. Please drop me an email in due course.
Kindest regards.
Deborah
- Carla says
  June 16, 2021 at 11:50 AM
  I don’t have the metric measurements at this time. However, you can use this handy conversion chart https://www.allrecipes.com/article/cup-to-gram-conversions/
Carol Siembida says
August 29, 2021 at 5:11 PM
Please I’d love a 6 inch prune cake recipe. It’s delish!
- Carla says
  August 30, 2021 at 9:56 AM
  I’ll add it to my list!