6-inch cakes are my favorite size cake. These small cake recipes make double layered cakes and are perfect for one or two families.

Most cake recipes out there are for 8 inch cake pans with double and sometimes even triple layers. That’s way too much cake to make without having a party of say 20 people or more!

Sometimes you just want a SMALL cake for yourself, right? Well, and maybe just 1 or 2 others. 

I stopped making 8 inch cakes when I discovered that the 6 inch cake recipes work perfectly for us.

In my quest to make small cake recipes, I found these awesome 6 inch cake pans from Fat Daddio.

I own three of them in this size but most of the time, I'm just baking with two.

These cake tins are 6 inches wide and 2 inches tall. When two baked cakes are stacked together with frosting, you will get a cake that is about 3 inches tall for most of these recipes.

That also usually fits just perfectly in my largest rectangular Rubbermaid plastic container. Easy storage is another reason to love this size.

How to Bake Small Cakes

In general, you should always butter and flour your pans before baking. See my post on how to prepare cake pans for more complete tips.

Unless otherwise noted, most 6 inch cakes will bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

If you know your oven runs warm, I would bake at 325F for longer. I can't say exactly how much longer, you just have to keep an eye on it after 20 minutes and do the toothpick test.

Also, do not use a convection setting for these small cakes especially if you like nice flat rounds.

Higher temperatures combined with convection often lead to domed cakes. (It's not a complete disaster because you can always cut off the dome and eat those cake scraps!)

Small cheesecakes are another favorite! You just need a six inch springform pan.

I find the best way to make small cheesecakes like the Irish cream cheesecake shown above is in my Instant Pot. Instant Pot Cheesecakes are a no fail for me.

How Much Frosting Do You Need For A Six Inch Cake?

You will need about 2-2.5 cups to do a basic covering of frosting for any of these double layer 6 inch cakes. These cakes are only two layers of about 1 inch height.

Other six inch cake recipes you may come across are three layered and would need closer to 3 cups of frosting. You will also need extra frosting if you plan to pipe lots of flowers or other decorations on top. 

How Many Servings Can You Get From 6 inch Cakes?

• Generously Portioned… 6-8 servings
• Modestly Portioned...10-12 servings
• Small Portioned...14 servings 

As you can see, the number of portions you get from this cake totally varies with how much cake you eat. I find that most of the time I get 10-12 portions since no one in my family eats really large slices.

When wedding caterers cut round cakes, they tend to cut much smaller pieces and can get up to 14 servings from a small six inch round cake.

Here's a list of some of my favorite six inch cake recipes. My number one favorite is the six inch chocolate cake. No wait, it's the sweet potato cake...oh but that carrot cake...actually I can't decide! You tell me.