Are you looking for a small chocolate cake recipe from scratch?
This 9 inch chocolate cake recipe is absolutely amazing. It’s a very soft, moist cake that can be served with chocolate frosting or without frosting. You can decorate this small cake by simply dusting the top with powdered sugar if you want to forgo making the frosting.
With just my son and I in the the house I feel like it’s such a waste to make a 13×9 inch cake that we will only end up eating half of. The rest will go to neighbours, and that’s not a bad thing, we love sharing, but sometimes all you want is a good small chocolate cake. This cake is a small cake perfect for intimate small celebrations.
When to Use A Small Chocolate Cake Recipe:
- Small Anniversary Celebrations
- Valentines Day
- Small Birthday Parties
- Small dinner parties
- And the best reason of all: a just because cake
Let’s gather the ingredients for this 9 inch chocolate cake recipe and make it together.
Ingredients to Make a small chocolate cake recipe from scratch:
Cake Batter Ingredients:
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 3 Tablespoons cocoa
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 Teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 Teaspoon salt
- 1 Teaspoon baking soda
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla
Chocolate Frosting Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (one stick) butter
- 2/3 cup cocoa
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
We start our Small Chocolate Cake recipe by placing the boiled water and softened butter in a large bowl, beat the two ingredients together until the butter has melted. Add the egg and vanilla to the bowl and beat until the ingredients are well combined.
Place the flour, sugar. cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium size bowl. Stir the dry ingredients together to combine them. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl with the wet ingredients in it and beat them together with an electric mixer for 2 minutes.
Pour the cake batter into a greased 9 inch baking pan. If you don’t have a 9-inch baking pan for a small chocolate cake, check out any of the ones below!
Bake the cake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 25 – 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven to a cooling rack to cool completely. While we’re waiting for the cake to cool, let’s make the frosting.
We start the frosting by melting 1/2 cup butter in a medium saucepan. After the butter has melted, stir the cocoa into the butter.
Alternately, add the powdered sugar and milk to the cocoa mixture in the bowl, beating the ingredients together to a spreading consistency. Add additional milk if needed to achieve the spreading consistency you desire. Stir the vanilla into the frosting.
Frost your completely cooled small chocolate cake with the homemade chocolate frosting.
Small Chocolate Cake recipe, it’s what’s for dessert for the two of you and it’s delicious!
PIN IT FOR LATER
Looking For More Delicious Recipes From Bunny’s Warm Oven, Try These!
Homemade Chocolate Pudding…Homemade Vanilla Pudding…Chocolate Bavarian Pie...Homemade Blueberry Custard Pie…Creamy Blueberry Pie
Afraid that you are missing items for the chocolate cake recipe? Check out the necessary items below!
Small Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Cake Batter:
- 1 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 egg room temperature
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 Tablespoons cocoa
- 1 Teaspoon baking powder
- 1 Teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 Teaspoon salt
Chocolate Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter
- 2/3 cup cocoa
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- For The Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Place the water and butter in a medium bowl. Beat the ingredients together with an electric mixer until the butter is melted.Add the egg and vanilla to the bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg and vanilla into the ingredients in the bowl until well incorporated. Place the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in another medium bowl, stir the ingredients to combine them. Add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and beat for 2 minutes.Pour the batter into a greased 9 inch baking pan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.
- For The Frosting
- Melt the butter in a medium size saucepan. Stir in the cocoa. Alternately add the powdered sugar and milk to the bowl, beating to a spreading consistency. Add a small amount of milk if necessary to achieve the spreading consistency you want. Stir in the vanilla.
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Looking for more cake recipes , try these from other bloggers…Small Red Velvet Cake...Carrot Cake for One
This is the BEST chocolate cake I’ve ever made. So moist and chocolately and delicate! The batter is very thin but baked up perfectly. Absolute perfection!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the small chocolate cake, thanks for letting me know!
Hello,
Should I use unslated or salted butter for your
Small chocolate cake recipe?
Thank you!
There’s a 1/4 teaspoon of salt in the recipe, if you don’t want the salt in the butter because you’re cutting back on salt, just use unsalted butter Shanta.
Your 9 inch pan is in round or square shape? I am using a 8 inch square pan, is it ok?
9 inch square pan is what I used for the recipe Lorinner. An 8 inch square pan will make it a higher cake in the pan. I’d put a baking sheet underneath the pan it case it rises up past the rim of the pan.
Just wandering what type of chocolate cocoa, sweet or unsweetened. Thanks
Unsweetened cocoa Lisa for baking. Hershey’s sells it in a metal can in the baking isle.
Thank you
This is my go to for a small chocolate cake. The first time I made it I thought I did something wrong the batter is very thin, but it baked up beautifully! My husband doesn’t like frosting (I know…what?!?) anyway I leave it off and it’s still perfect!
Wonderful Melissa! Men don’t understand the chocolate thing do they, it’s ok though WE DO!
I can’t wait to try this! It’s just me and my husband now, so I rarely bake anymore, I have a question, though. Do you keep the heat on while making the frosting? Or just long enough to melt the butter?
The absolute best! So glad I found it. Perfect every time and everyone loves it!
WONDERFUL LINDA!! Thank you for coming back to tell me, I appreciate you!
Wonderful Linda, beats making a big cake when it’s just the 2 of you isn’t it?
This is a delicious little cake. I live right at sea level, and I find that if I add 2 Tbl spoons more of flour it works better for me. But I love it. It’s the perfect size. Thank you for sharing it.
Wonderful Karen! It is the perfect size isn’t it.I love making small cakes with just the 2 of us in the house. I don’t feel like I have to find neighbors to give 1/2 of a big cakes away. It’s perfect!
Love the idea of a small cake. Just saying tho, I don’t think a 9×13 has ever gone to waste in our house!!
Well Honey if I left a 13×9 inch cake around, I’d eat most of it! So the 9×13 is perfect for us.I hope you get to try it.
Delicious cake & icing. Perfect for our 2 person household.
Thank you Kinsey, they are the perfect way to use fresh peaches this season.
I followed your recipe and I had a perfect cake.Thank you. I stayed away from the topping.
I love hearing people enjoy the small chocolate cake, thank you!
Hi I want to make this tomorrow I just wanted to ask, what would happen if I use 2 eggs instead. And I have a 9×9 inch square pan is that what you’ve used?
Yes, it is a 9×9. I am not sure about the two eggs, I have always made this with one.
This cake is delicious!! Perfect size cake for our small family. I would like to make this recipe but for a 3-layer, 8” round cake (the pans are around 2” high). Is the cake batter amount of this recipe enough, or would I have to double the amount?
Good morning Rose. Honey this recipe makes one nine inch cake. You would have to triple the cake recipe to make 3 cakes. Also, making this in 8 inch baking pans instead of 9 inch baking pans could mean you’ll have batter left over. Here’s an article about cake pans for you to look at..https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-swap-baking-pans-tips-article
I’ve made this several times now. Love it! It’s just the perfect size and easy to make when you want a chocolate cake. Lol. Best frosting ever!💖
It is the perfect size Laura, everything about this little cake is just amazing isn’t it? Thank you sweetie for coming back to tell me you made it and loved it, I appreciate you!
EXCELLENT!!! I will never need bake a traditional 9×13 cake again! It’s just the two of us at home, so this recipe still allowed me to share with neighbors. Except for substituting decaf coffee for the water, I followed all instructions. Came out Purrrrfect. Thank you for the recipe; I will continue to look at Bunnys warm oven in the future! ~H
Wonderful Holly! It’s perfect for just my husband and I too sweetie. Isn’t great that it meets your needs and you can still share if you want too! Thank you for taking the time to comment sweetie , I appreciate you.
Good Day
Delicious cake! And it was perfect for my husband, my daughter and I. I would love to make a 9×13. Would I have to double or triple it?
Thank you in advance!
Nilda
You’d have to double the recipe Nilda, let me know how it turns out for you, it’s be helpful to anyone else wanting to double the recipe and make it into a 13×9 inch pan.
Correction Would I have to double or triple the recipe to make a 13×9.
Nilda
Nilda you would at least have to double the recipe.
Aloha!
I made your cake and it was amazing. I am wondering if the cocoa was left out if it would be a version of a butter or yellow cake or if you think more butter would need to be added? Mahalo, Christine
Christine I’ve tried to look up converting a chocolate cake into a yellow cake and I can’t seem to find any articles on it. I’ve never used this or even tried to make this a yellow cake. I wish I could answer your question but I can’t.
I made this cake and the results were awesome! Very light and moist. My husband who is not a chocolate lover requested a second piece while raving about the results mentioned above. I am trying to reduce sweeteners when possible so the sugar was adjusted to 3/4 cups and turned out perfect! Thanks for sharing this delight!
So glad you (and your husband!!) enjoyed the small chocolate cake, and thanks for letting us know!
I was just wondering if we can use monk fruit sweetener instead of granulated sugar
I have personally never tried it. When I looked it up, this is what I found and where I found it from. I’d love to hear how it works out for you!
“Monk fruit “sugar” has a consistency similar to granulated sugar and is heat stable, so it can be used for both baking and cooking purposes. Monk fruit is commonly used as a substitution for sugar in confections, soups, sauces and beverages. But because it is much sweeter than sugar, a 1-to-1 substitution may be too sweet. Experiment in the kitchen and find the ratio that fits your needs. Consider starting with 1/3 cup monk fruit sugar for 1 cup sugar.”
https://www.bamco.com/blog/buzz-monk-fruit-sugar/#:~:text=Monk%20fruit%20%E2%80%9Csugar%E2%80%9D%20has%20a,%2C%20soups%2C%20sauces%20and%20beverages.