6 inch Vanilla Cake

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This 6 inch vanilla cake is perfect for smaller groups, smash cakes and so much more! Make a moist, delicious vanilla cake and learn how to adapt many of my cake recipes for use as 6 inch cakes!

Small Batch Cakes

Over the years, I’ve found that one of the most common questions I get is about turning my cakes into smaller 6 inch cakes. The smaller cakes are usually great for small family occasions, smash cakes, etc. They could even be great if you wanted to have a couple cake flavors at an event without ending up with too much cake. There are really endless reasons for 6 inch cakes.

So I finally got around to testing them a bit so that I could answer these questions. What really is the best way to adapt an 8 inch cake recipe to 6 inch pans? Should you reduce the ingredients and get a shorter cake, or keep it the same and get a taller cake? My personal preference is to reduce it. So how much?

Reduce Cake Batter by Half

Fortunately, the answer was far simpler than I expected! All you need to do is reduce the cake batter by half and you have the perfect amount for three 6 inch pans. Each cake layer should bake up to be about an inch tall. When you add frosting between the layers and frost the cake, it should end up being roughly 3 1/2 inches tall or so. Perfection!

And guess what this means?! Not only can you easily convert cake recipes to 6 inch pans by cutting them in half, you can also easily use my cupcake recipes for 6 inch cake pans. The majority of my cupcake recipes are made using half of my cake recipe, giving you about 12-14 cupcakes. So, any cupcake recipe that produces 12-14 cupcakes (or so) should be perfect for 6 inchs pan too. Yay!

Endless 6 inch Cake Options

So armed with that information, this gives you endless 6 inch cake options to try. I have this vanilla cake written out for you below, but you’ll notice that it’s the same as half of my Moist Vanilla Layer Cake and exactly the same as my Easy Homemade Vanilla Cupcakes recipe. So here are some other classics that would be great to try, but you really could really try most any on this site.

• Chocolate Cake
• Strawberry Cake or try these Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes in cake form
• Carrot Cake
• Pumpkin Cake
• Peanut Butter Cake
• Coconut Cake
• Lemon Cake
• Hummingbird Cake
• Yellow Cake
• Italian Cream Cake
• Strawberry Shortcake Cake
• Gingerbread Cake
• Spice Cake
• Champagne Cake

Most non-chocolate cakes should take about 15-20 minutes to bake. My chocolate cakes that are based on my Best Moist Chocolate Cake will take closer to 20-25 minutes. It’s a slow bake cake, so the smaller version is as well and it just takes a little longer.

How Much Buttercream Do I Need?

When making this 6 inch vanilla cake, I used half the amount of buttercream that I used for the 8 inch cake and it was just the right amount. Generally speaking, about half should work well. Some people like more or less frosting though, so feel free to adjust to your liking. I tend to use a fair amount of frosting.

How to Make a 6 inch Cake

The process for a 6 inch cake is really no different than any other. You’re just working with less of each ingredient and smaller cake pans.

• Prep your equipment: Prepare three 6 inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).
• Mix dry ingredients: Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
• Cream butter and sugar: Add the butter, sugar, oil and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.
• Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
• Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.
• Slowly add the milk and mix until well combined. The batter may look a touch curdled, but that’s ok.
• Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.
• Bake: Divide the batter evenly between the cakes pans and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.
• Cool: Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

To make the buttercream

• Cream: Beat the butter until smooth.
• Add sugar: Slowly add half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
• Add vanilla: Add the vanilla extract and 4-5 tablespoons of water or cream and mix until smooth.
• Add rest of the sugar: Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
• Adjust as needed: Add additional water or milk, as needed to get the right consistency of frosting.

To build the cake

I have a several helpful posts that show you the process of building cakes – from how to level cakes, to how to fill and stack them, to how to frost a smooth cake, so be sure to check those out too. The process is the same, just a little easier with smaller 6 inch layers to work with.

Easy 6 inch Vanilla Cake

If you love the ease and lesser portions of small 6 inch cakes, then this vanilla cake is for you! As mentioned, there are lots of options for great 6 inch cake flavors. With only the need to cut the recipe in half (or use one of my cupcakes recipes), there’s immediately an endless number of cakes to try. Try your favorites and let me know what you think!

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