Chocolate 3 layer 6 inch cake
Pretty pink frosted chocolate 3 layer 6 inch cake is delicious and cute easy to prepare. It’s perfect for everyday celebrating. It’s a great cake for after dinner weeknight birthday celebrating and the recipe also gives you 6 cupcakes. Which is perfect for taking as a snack, sharing with a friend, or freeze them and take one out any time your sweet tooth calls.
The best things come in small packages… this cake is a little smaller than a regular 8″ cake, which not only makes it adorable, but easy to manage, and 1 just love getting a 2fer… you know 2 for 1. You bake once and not only get a 3 layer cake but 6 cupcakes! Winner-winner.
I have always liked chocolate cake or cupcakes with pink frosting, you can see some of them here and here, and if you love frosted cookies these are so pretty.
My top 3 tips on baking cakes
- Use baking strips to make sure you have even, flat (not domed cakes).
- Wrap and freeze your cakes before stacking them, they’ll be nice and firm, ensure the cake layers won’t slide and hold in the moisture so you won’t worry about dry cake.
- Have a backup plan, when decorating cakes, hint… sprinkles are a cure-all!
Remember cakes will be eaten, so unless you’re selling them or it’ll be at a wedding… don’t worry about being perfect. The most important thing is that it looks nice and tastes great.
I chose to have minimal frosting on this cake, go right ahead and slather on more frosting if you prefer.
I spread the frosting with a small offset spatula. I used to think all cakes had to have lots of frosting, but I don’t really prefer to eat so much frosting.
I like to keep it simple so even a light coating of frosting is perfect for me. Take a look at this nearly naked vanilla cake. And this cake has 5 layers.
I’ve been playing around with traditional American buttercream which can taste overly sweet and some don’t like the feel of sugar on their tongue.
By mixing the powdered sugar with liquid creating a slurry it’ll blend into the butter and create a lighter feel and smoother texture frosting that I find irresistible. It’s like a faux swiss meringue frosting and it’s really no fuss. Just be sure to mix it for a few minutes until it’s fully smooth and creamy and whipped to a light silky texture.
I’m so happy you’re here, if this is your first visit, take a look here.
My opinion on frosting cake when making them for your family is have fun!
Make the cake the way you want to, no need to fuss, if you mess up on the frosting, add sprinkles. Sprinkle them on or pile them on to cover more.
When making a cake, be sure it’s completely cooled, and then wrapped in plastic wrap. Freeze the cake, this will make it easier to work with. The cakes will stack easier and more level. It’ll retain moisture and won’t break down and crumble when sliced.
If you find the cakes you make at home to be crumbly, soft, fall apart easily, and don’t stack well. It’s all due to usually one thing. You are not freezing your cakes. Freezing cakes ensure they will have a nice delicate moist crumb, they won’t crumble and fall apart, layer cakes stack well. You might even get the reaction of “Did you buy this at a bakery” Really… freezing makes all the difference.
I just placed frosting in between the layers and on top. You can certainly spread frosting all around the cake if you prefer. Pipe more frosting on the sides or top to make it look just how you imagine. Be sure to prepare plenty of frosting if that is the case.
When you’re done layering the cake, no matter how you frost it, place the cake in the fridge. You can to chill the cake and frosting so it’ll stay exactly as you prepared it. Be sure it’s completely cold, at least a few hours. Then you’ll want to take the cake out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to serve it.
The cake is smaller in diameter giving it the ultimate cuteness factor and the recipe will also give you six cupcakes, so many options of what to do with them. I love hiding frosted cupcakes away in the freezer for a midnight snack! If you bake this recipe making them all cupcakes you’ll get about 18 cupcakes.
I used THIS FROSTING RECIPE for the cake and added a couple of drops of soft pink food coloring, for the frosting I added 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 2 tablespoons of dark chocolate chips melted, whipped the frosting well, and then applied it with a star-shaped piping tip and added sprinkles.
More frosting recipes can be found here.
Chocolate 3 layer 6 inch cake plus 6 cupcakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa
- 2 cups boiling water or coffee
- 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup butter or 8 oz
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare 3, 6-inch round cake pans with a baking spray, and line 6 cupcake portions with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, combine the cocoa and water/coffee and whisk until smooth. Allow this mixture to cool.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk flour with baking soda, salt, and baking powder.
- In the bowl of a mixer beat the butter on high until smooth, add in the sugar, and mix on medium to combine, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium-low for a few minutes until nice and smooth.
- Add in the cocoa mixture and mix on low to incorporate, then turn to a medium-low speed and mix to combine (don't whip)
- Pour the cake batter dividing it into the 3 pans and 6 cupcakes, fill the cake pans 2/3 full, and 3 tablespoons for each cupcake.
- place the cake and cupcake pans in the center of the oven and bake until a toothpick comes out clean. About 25 minutes. Test 2 minutes prior to ensure you don't overbake.
- Once baked remove pans from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes, then turn out cakes onto a cooling rack and remove cupcakes so they don't continue sitting in a warm pan. Allow the cake to completely cool. Wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and refrigerate or freeze to set the cake so it will stack nicely, if you're baking this recipe in a 13x9 pan, no need to remove or wrap in plastic, once cooled just place the pan in the fridge.
- Frost cakes once they are completely cooled or chilled whichever is your preference. Check this post for frosting recipes. I prefer my cakes chilled especially when stacking them. Frost and place the cake back in the fridge to set up. Remove 30 minutes to 1 hour prior to serving.