Mini Vanilla

Cake Recipe
Published: April 16, 2020 ·
By: Chelsweets
Cakes

I love making cakes, but it’s a

lot harder to share them with
my friends and family right
now. To avoid waste and
continue to get my baking fix,
I decided to work on a mini
vanilla cake recipe.

This recipe is based on my

vanilla layer cake recipe, but
has a few modifications that
allow you to make it by hand!

Styles You'll Love

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I wanted this recipe to be

easy peasy, so that you have
no excuse not to get busy in
the kitchen if you’re bored!

How Much Batter Does

this Recipe Make?
One batch of this mini cake
recipe makes enough batter
to make 3, 4-inch cake
layers, or 2 6-inch cake
layers.

I like to make cute little 4-

inch cake layers, but I know
that’s an odd pan size that
not everyone has on hand.

Mini Vanilla Cake Recipe

- Simple 4 Inch Layer
Cake

This small batch cake recipe

can also be used to make
cupcakes! One batch makes
enough batter to make about
8-10 cupcakes.

Bake the cupcake versions of

these in a preheated 350
degree Fahrenheit oven for
18-19 minutes.

Decorating This Mini

Vanilla Cake
I challenged myself to
decorate this mini vanilla
cake without a spinning cake
stand! I wanted to see what
styles and decorations are
doable if you don’t have tons
of baking tools on hand.

The easiest style was a

textured look with a small
offset spatula or the back of
a spoon.

Red Velvet Oreo Cake

Or if you’re after a more

classic look, you can smooth
with a bench scraper and
add some buttercream swirls.

I also topped my cake with

some nonpareil sprinkles. I
figured a mini cake should
have some mini sprinkles.
They give this cake a nice
pop of color that makes it
perfect to celebrate any
occasion.

Ingredient Swaps /
Variations
While I love making this mini
vanilla cake recipe exactly
like the recipe calls for below,
I know that some of you
might want to make
substitutions or not have all
these ingredients on hand.

Buttermilk

You can use full fat yogurt or

sour cream in place of the
buttermilk in this recipe.

Or if you want to make your

own buttermilk, you can use
whole milk plus a bit of
vinegar or lemon juice! Add 1
1/2 tsp vinegar or lemon juice
into a 1/2 cup measure then
fill the rest up with whole
milk.

Vegetable Oil

If you don’t have vegetable

oil on hand, you can use any
flavorless oil in its place!
Canola or grapeseed oil
would work great. You could
even use olive oil if that’s all
you have on hand.

Butter can also be used in

place of the oil, but the
texture of the cake will be
less fluffy! It will still taste
great though.

Unsalted Butter

The reason why most recipes

including this one call for
unsalted butter is that
different brands of butter use
different amounts of salt.

There’s no way to know how

much salt is added to a
recipe unless you use
unsalted butter, then add in
salt separately.

To ensure your frosting

tastes just right, it’s best to
use unsalted butter!

However, if you only have

salted butter on hand you
can use it. The frosting will
taste a tiny bit saltier, but it
will still taste great. Just be
sure to omit the salt that this
frosting recipe calls for.

Making This Mini Cake

Gluten Free
You can swap in your favorite
gluten free flour blend cup for
cup in this recipe!

I personally prefer King

Arthur’s gluten free flour
blend, and find that 1 cup of
GF flour weighs about 120
grams.

In addition to swapping the

flour, there are two additional
steps you need to take when
making this mini cake gluten
free.

Gluten Free Baking Tip #1:

Overmix Your Batter

The first step is to vigorously

whisk your batter for a few
minutes once it’s made. This
helps give your cake layers
structure.

I know this goes against

everything you’ve ever heard
about baking, but over mixing
your batter is key when
making anything gluten free.

It helps the cake layers rise

better as they bake, and
gives the cake a more tender
crumb.

Gluten Free Baking Tip #2: Let

Your Batter Rest

The second step I

recommend is letting your
batter rest for about 30
minutes before baking your
cake layers.

Gluten free flour blends can

have a hard time absorbing
moisture and fats. Letting the
batter sit before baking it
gives the flour more time to
absorb all that goodness.

This helps thicken the batter,

and prevents your cake
layers from having a gritty
texture.