Small Lemon Cake Recipe
This Small Lemon Cake recipe is a 6 inch lemon cake for two from scratch then decorated with homemade lemon buttercream frosting.
Yesterday I brought you my lemon buttercream frosting. Today I’m bringing you part 2 of that recipe – my Small Lemon Cake recipe!
After all, you can’t have frosting without a cake to go with it.
I’ve had a 6 inch lemon cake on my recipe to-do list for several years. Besides chocolate, lemon is one of my favorite dessert flavors.
I also had this vintage lemon tray I’ve been dying to use as a prop. You’ll see it later in the post. I bought it sometime between 2014-2017 when I lived at a previous apartment.
Every food stylist will tell you there’s always that one prop waiting for its day to shine, even if it has to wait a few years on the shelf.
Anyway, back to the cake. Spring always reminds me of lemon, so that was the inspiration behind this lemon cake recipe.
It’s a buttery small lemon cake paired with a lemon buttercream frosting. Definitely a burst of lemon in every bite!
I made 4 times in order to get it perfect. It should’ve been correct on the third round, but I made a dumb baking mistake.
Hint – make sure your oven is ready to go and don’t let the batter sit around before it bakes. Otherwise it’ll sink in the middle.
My easy small lemon cake recipe also makes a great spring dessert to go with your Easter Dinner For Two.
Want to impress on presentation? Go for two layers with my lemon raspberry cake.
What pan do I need to bake this small lemon cake recipe?
To make the best lemon cake recipe, you will need a 6 inch round cake pan (affiliate link).
You can also check out the cake decorating section of your local craft store.
Don’t have a 6 inch pan? Check out my small batch Lemon Cupcakes.
How many servings are in a 6 inch cake?
Generally 6 inch cakes can be sliced into 4-6 slices, making about 4-6 servings per 6 inch cake.
Sometimes if you slice the cake small enough, you can push for 8 slices, equaling 8 servings.
Ultimately serving size is up to you depending on how small you cut your small lemon cake recipe.
How To Make A Moist Lemon Cake From Scratch
Like most small cake recipes, first you beat together the butter and sugar. Then you beat in the egg.
The first time I made this small lemon cake recipe, I made it with 4 tablespoons butter. However, the cake was thinner than I’d like, so I bumped it up to 6 tablespoons. Much better!
Next, you want to alternate adding your dry ingredients with the buttermilk. This method is important.
Adding the milk all at once could cause the batter to split from oversaturation.
However, adding all of the dry ingredients at once will thicken the batter greatly and will likely overmix, causing a tough cake.
Add the dry ingredients in three additions while adding the buttermilk in two additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
Transfer your batter to a 6 inch round cake pan and bake until done.
Can you substitute milk for the buttermilk?
Buttermilk is used so its acidity can react with the baking soda.
However, if you don’t have any, you can substitute whole milk as long as you add acid to it. Otherwise, the cake won’t rise properly.
Add 1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar to 1/4 cup whole milk. Let sit for 5 minutes or until the milk curdles.
Can I add lemon extract to lemon cake?
Most people don’t have lemon extract, so I didn’t use it. However, if you do have some in your pantry you can add 1 teaspoon lemon extract with the egg.
Although lemon extract isn’t required, it does add an extra lemony kick.
Please leave the lemon juice in the recipe. Baking is a science, so your cake may not bake properly if you take it out.
Can I use bottled lemon juice for lemon cake?
I highly recommend using fresh lemon juice for this small lemon cake recipe. Bottled lemon juice will never be as fresh as the real deal, especially when baking.
Plus it contains preservatives, which may or may not affect baking.
What is the best frosting for lemon cake?
What better frosting to pair with my small lemon cake recipe than lemon buttercream frosting?
It makes enough to frost a 6 inch cake without leftovers.
You can also use my strawberry buttercream, coconut frosting, small batch cream cheese frosting, strawberry cream cheese frosting, or raspberry cream cheese frosting.
Want another flavor? Check out my full list of small batch frosting recipes.
Equipment You Will Need
More Small Cake Recipes
Looking for more small cake recipes? Check out my full list of 6 inch Cake Recipes. Some favorites are:
Small Lemon Cake Recipe
This Small Lemon Cake recipe is a 6 inch lemon cake for two from scratch then decorated with homemade lemon buttercream frosting.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (*see Note about using cake flour)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/4 cup buttermilk, room temperature (or substitute 1/4 cup whole milk + 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white distilled vinegar)
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (not bottled)
Frosting Options (Pick One)
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 and cornstarch then stir in baking soda and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl (with the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer), beat together the butter, sugar, and lemon zest until light and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Scrape down the bowl then beat in the egg for 1 minute.
- 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). Add the lemon juice.
- Transfer the batter to the pan. Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 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.
- Decorate with frosting of choice.
Cover and store the frosted cake at room temperature for up to 2 days (buttercream only) or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week (buttercream and cream cheese). For best results, let the refrigerated cake sit at room temperature 15-30 minutes before serving.
Notes
- To substitute cake flour, use 3/4 cup cake flour and omit the cornstarch.
- Enjoyed this recipe? Check out my full list of Small Cake Recipes
- Want to make cupcakes? Check out my Small Batch Lemon Cupcakes.
- Making this for Easter? Check out my Easter Dinner For Two menu for more recipe ideas
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This looks delicious! My husband’s birthday is Monday. This might just be the cake I make for him :-). I made. your. Irish Soda Bread recipe…see here…https://twoadorablelabs.com/irish-soda-bread/ and it turned out so good. I made some small adjustments . My husband loved it.
Happy early birthday to him! Also thanks for making my bread! I’ve used cranberries before – great choice.
Thank you for these small recipes! I live alone. I never used to bake cakes because what am I going to do with ALL that cake? With these recipes I am able to treat myself and not worry about too much leftovers. I appreciate these recipes more than most can know.
You’re welcome! I also live alone so I find it hard to bake without feeling guilty about throwing away leftovers during the pandemic (normally I give stuff away at a coworking space but…) and there’s only so much I can store in my freezer.
I used this recipe and the lemon butter cream recipe to make cupcakes for Easter dinner. It turned out really well. The lemon flavoring is delicious, and the cake is light and not too sweet. I would definitely make it again and may invest in a six-inch cake pan for the full effect.
Glad you enjoyed the flavors! If you plan on making cakes often, I think a 6 inch pan is a great investment. I also use it for a few savory recipes, like chicken pot pie and shepherd’s pie. Here’s what I have for the pan so far: https://www.chocolatemoosey.com/tag/6-inch-pan/
When I saw your selection of small cakes a few days ago, I immediately ordered a couple of 6-inch cake pans. I made this Lemon Cake with your Lemon Buttercream frosting today. It is perfect! Now that the kids are grown and I am just cooking for us, full-sized cakes just don’t work for us. I am thrilled to be baking again. Thank You!
Oh wonderful! Glad you’re back into baking cakes again.
This is my go to cake for small get togethers or even just for my husband and I to snack on throughout the week. I make the recipe as listed, a bit heavy handed on the lemon zest and serve it with the cream cheese icing shared on this link as well. Really just a great cake to end any meal… or a punch of sugar for breakfast!
Never too much lemon zest, right? Glad you love the cake!
Can you swap the lemon for orange and have a small batch orange cake? Would the measurements be the same? Thank you!
It should work and be the same.
Happy to report that the lemon/orange swap was a great success… I did straight substitution, and it was delicious. I’m sure I will love the lemon as well, but I just had oranges, so, there you go. It was delicious…. thank you for your fabulous recipes …
Thanks for reporting back! Great to know you can successfully swap orange for lemon. I had a feeling it would be a simple swap but it’s good to get confirmation.
Ohhh, this, is, PERFECT !
Even with reconstituted buttermilk powder.
Made some lemon buttercream frosting with cream cheese powder – sooo much better than that frozen lemon cake I almost went to buy! And one medium lemon was enough to give it a good strong lemon flavor.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hi, Can you please provide the cups measurement in metric system? I make cakes in kitchen scale and it would be a major help if you could say how much do you take as 1/2 cup in here?
I don’t have them, but you can look them up online: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/learn/ingredient-weight-chart
I made this tonight, and had to use an 8″cake pan. Of course it was thinner around the edges, but it was still really good and moist. Can I double this recipe, and if so would it only make the one layer for an 8″ pan? IF doubling, I wasn’t sure if every item should be doubled. Thank you…
If you want to make it in an 8 inch pan round pan, you would multiply everything by 1.5x. Doubling it might be too much batter. For the egg, you can do 1 egg + 1 egg yolk.
I have 2 6” pans. Wanted to do a layer cake. How much does the ingredient measurements change. Thanks
Double the ingredients.
Can I substitute a 6 inch Bundt pan for a regular pan?
Yes! Same ingredients and roughly same bake time.
No clue why but when we’ve made this lemon cake and also orange cake just substituting lemon zest and juice with orange, the center is raw, not cooked through. Oven temp is right, following instructions to the T as far as we can tell. Any ideas or tips? The flavor is great and we’ve cut around the raw to enjoy the cooked portion, but not sure why that’s happening.
Hmm the only things I can come up with is your ingredients may have been colder (like did you take the orange directly from the fridge?) or perhaps your oven didn’t preheat enough. Next time do the toothpick test so you can see if it needs a few more minutes.