Small Chocolate Cake Recipe

Small cakes are certainly convenient for small celebrations. This 1-layer 6-inch chocolate cake serves 4, so it’s perfect for date night, a Valentine’s Day dessert, a small family birthday celebration, or for whenever you need a scaled-down cake. We all love it with chocolate ganache on top. You can also use this chocolate cake batter to make a small batch of cupcakes.

This Is a 1-Layer 6-Inch Chocolate Cake

Over the past year, I’ve received many requests for smaller variations of normally large desserts. My team and I have directed a lot of bakers to our 6-inch cake recipes blog post, where I teach you how to turn cupcake batter into a 6-inch layer cake. But what if you don’t need 3 layers?

Here’s my 1-layer 6 inch chocolate cake recipe. I worked on this recipe with Valentine’s Day on my mind. Wouldn’t it be nice to make a tiny cake without a ton of leftover slices? But even beyond Valentine’s Day dessert recipes, it’s massively convenient to have a dessert option for small gatherings or celebrations, as part of your Mother’s Day recipes or Father’s Day recipes, or just an at-home date night.

If you need a chocolate cake recipe that’s just a smidge larger, this mint chocolate cake will give you one 9-inch round cake.

Small Chocolate Cake Details

• Flavor: This cake is sweet with divine chocolate flavor, especially when you pair it with deep dark chocolate ganache (recipe included below). Wait for the cake to cool completely before digging in. I find its chocolate flavor develops after a few hours.
• Texture: If it’s not over-baked, this cake is soft, rich, and indulgently moist. Have you ever made the sour cream version of my larger layered chocolate cake? The texture is pretty much identical. Any unfrosted edges become delicately crisp (not in a bad way!), which adds a little textural dimension to each slice.
• Ease: Since the cake is so small and there’s no elaborate decorating required, this is a very manageable dessert recipe for beginner bakers. The ingredient list is pretty straightforward and you don’t even need to use a mixer.
• Time: Set aside a few hours to complete this cake recipe. The cake is pretty thick, so it takes close to 30 minutes to bake through. The longest stretch of time, however, is waiting for the cake to cool.
• Equipment: Nothing special except for a 6-inch cake pan (affiliate link to the exact cake pans I use and love).

Overview of the Ingredients & Process

Though you can find the full printable recipe below, let me walk you through a couple steps and answer some possible questions that may arise.

The batter comes together in 2 mixing bowls. Whisk flour, unsweetened natural cocoa powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt together in one bowl. The espresso powder is optional, but definitely use it if you have it. You can find it in the coffee aisle at the grocery store or online. Espresso powder accentuates and deepens the chocolate flavor, just like it does in this chocolate cake roll. In another bowl, whisk oil, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and buttermilk. Buttermilk is our acidic ingredient and crucial for this cake’s rise. If you don’t have buttermilk, use the DIY buttermilk substitute detailed in the notes below.

Expect a semi-thick cake batter.

Like I recommend with all my 6-inch cakes, use a parchment paper round. Trace the bottom of your 6-inch cake pan on a piece of parchment paper. Cut out the parchment circle. Very lightly grease the cake pan. Place the parchment round inside. Grease the parchment round too. Yes, grease the pan AND the parchment (I use nonstick spray). This promises an ultra-nonstick environment for your small chocolate cake.

Though its diameter is small, this is a thick chocolate cake. It’s pretty moist, too. Because of its thickness and delicious moisture, the cake may sink a little in the very center. Don’t fret over that. (Cover it up with ganache!) As long as a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, it’s done.

Toppings

You can top this small chocolate cake with chocolate ganache (recipe included below), buttercream, or whipped cream. For a thick layer of buttercream, I recommend halving this chocolate buttercream, this strawberry buttercream, this peanut butter frosting, or this vanilla buttercream. For a lightly sweetened whipped cream topping, you could halve the mocha whipped cream paired with my flourless chocolate cake or halve this vanilla whipped cream recipe.

. (Affiliate link.) And I bought this adorable pink cake stand from Home Goods a few years ago.

Use This Batter for 6 Chocolate Cupcakes

So what if you want a smaller batch of chocolate cupcakes? Yes, you can absolutely use this recipe. This chocolate cake batter yields about 1 and 1/2 cups of batter total, which makes 6 standard size cupcakes. How does it weigh up against my standard chocolate cupcakes recipe? Well, this batter is a little thicker so the cupcakes aren’t quite as light, delicate, and spongy. They’re soft and moist, but have a slightly heavier crumb.

• For a cupcake topping, use any of the topping options listed above.. After the ganache cools completely, you can beat it with an electric mixer for about 3–4 minutes to make whipped ganache. Tastes like chocolate mousse! You can read more about it in the recipe below or in my chocolate ganache post.

What About a Vanilla Version?

I don’t have a vanilla version of this recipe at this time. Though I haven’t tested it, I’m confident you could halve this 1-layer sprinkle cake recipe to yield a 1-layer 6-inch vanilla cake or 6 vanilla cupcakes. Feel free to omit the sprinkles for a plain vanilla cake.