Print
a small slice of vanilla cake with sprinkles on a pink glass plate with a cake stand in the background

Mini Vanilla Cake

  • Author: Julianne Dell
  • Prep Time: 45 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
  • Yield: 6 slices

Description

Fluffy & moist, and easy to throw together, you’ll love this Mini 6-Inch Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream.

Ingredients

For the cake:

  • 1 cup (190g) granulated sugar
  • ¼ cup (59 ml) vegetable oil
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
  • ¼ cup(49g) sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1 ¼ cups (175 g) all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 1 ½ teaspoon (6 g) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2/3 cup (158 ml) milk, at room temperature

For the frosting:

  • 1 1/2 cup (339 g) unsalted butter, cold
  • 6 cups (780g) powdered sugar
  • 2 ½ (12 ml) tablespoons heavy whipping cream or milk
  • 2 teaspoons (10ml) pure vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt

Instructions

For the cake

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare two 6-inch round pans, line the bottom with parchment paper and grease the sides. Prepare bake even stripes if desired.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until well incorporated. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Next mix in the sour cream and beat until well combined.
  3. In a separate bowl combine the remaining dry ingredients and sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add half the dry ingredients, and half the milk, and beat on low speed just until the flour starts to incorporate. Repeat until all ingredients are added and combined. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir the batter from the bottom to the top to ensure it’s well mixed.
  4. Divide the batter evenly between the two pans, about 1 ¼ cups of batter per pan. Bake at 350°F for 20-23 minutes. Rotate your pans in the oven halfway through baking. Test the cake for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, the cake is done. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

For the frosting: 

  1. Cut butter into pieces. Using the paddle attachment, whip the butter for 5-7 minutes, scraping down the bowl occasionally. Beat until the butter looks light in color.
  2. Alternate adding 2 cups of powdered sugar at a time with the liquid ingredients: vanilla extract & heavy cream. Ensure the powdered sugar is well combined, then and whip for 1-2 minutes before adding more powdered sugar.
  3. Once all the powdered sugar has been added, increase speed to medium-high and beat for another 3-5 minutes to whip additional air into the frosting.

To assemble the cake:

  1. Use a cake leveler to cut the domes off the top of the cake. Place a dollop of frosting on your cake board and place the bottom layer of cake on top of that.
  2. Set aside 1 cup of frosting to decorate the top of the cake. Place about 2 cups of frosting in a large piping bag fitted with a large open round tip, or simply cut off the end of the piping bag. Pipe a layer of frosting on top of the cake, starting at the outside edge and working your way into the middle. Spread evenly with an offset spatula then place your second layer inverted on top.
  3. Use your piping bag to fill in any gaps between your layer of frosting using the piping bag, pipe around the outside edge of the cake from the bottom to the top. Once the sides of the cake are roughly covered, use your icing smoother to even out and remove any excess frosting and smooth out.

To decorate this cake: 

  1. Pipe a border along the top of the cake using a large Frech Star tip or something similar.
  2. Use your hands to press the sprinkles into the sides of the cake. It’s best to do this over a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, allowing you to easily capture and reuse the sprinkles that fall off the cake.
Nutrition Information:
1 slice
781
35g
246mg
59g
57g
.8g
6.9g
191mg
  • Category: Cake
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American