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How to Make MINI CAKES
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Jun 17, 2025
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View Video Transcript
0:00
from baking the layers to making
0:02
delicious fillings and frostings all the
0:04
way to decorating storing and serving
0:06
here are all my tips and tricks for how
0:08
to make a mini cake first let's look at
0:10
how to make a mini cake with cake or
0:12
cupcakes if you're using cupcakes my
0:15
recipes with one egg typically make six
0:17
cupcakes which will make two three or
0:19
four mini cakes depending on how you use
0:21
them unwrap the cupcakes if you bake
0:23
them in wrappers and then decide how
0:25
tall you want your mini cake to be if
0:27
you cut the cupcakes in half across the
0:29
middle like this you'll divide them into
0:31
wider layers and smaller layers which
0:34
you can stack to make bigger and smaller
0:36
mini cakes or if you use a bit too much
0:39
batter in your cupcakes and they
0:40
overflow like this trim the bulges off
0:42
and use only the bottom parts of the
0:44
cupcakes you can freeze leftover
0:46
cupcakes in an airtight container like a
0:48
Tupperware or a Ziploc bag for a month
0:51
to use them another time to make a mini
0:53
cake with cake layers it's even easier i
0:55
use a 6-in cake layer for each mini cake
0:58
and my one egg recipes make two very
1:00
thin 6-in layers to make two mini cakes
1:04
use a cookie cutter to cut out your mini
1:06
layers this cutter is 6 cm wide about 2
1:08
and 1/2 in for level layers trim them
1:11
now or you can trim the entire cake
1:13
layer before you cut out the layers this
1:15
is my very vanilla recipe which I used
1:17
for the cupcakes too this cookie cutter
1:20
method will make neater looking mini
1:22
cake layers but you'll see that after
1:23
frosting the mini cake you won't notice
1:25
the difference between these and the
1:27
cupcake layers to fill and frost a mini
1:30
cake I'll show you lots of options and
1:31
for all of them I use my 4-minute
1:33
buttercream a small batch with one stick
1:35
or half a cup of butter and I actually
1:37
prefer using a hand mixer because a
1:39
stand mixer struggles to mix such small
1:41
quantities of ingredients this is icing
1:44
sugar or powdered sugar the microwave
1:46
hack is really useful here because the
1:48
consistency of buttercream can't be too
1:50
stiff for a mini cake because you'll
1:52
really struggle to spread and smooth it
1:53
on scoop up a third of the buttercream
1:55
and microwave it for 10 seconds and then
1:58
stir this melted buttercream back into
2:00
the rest and as it mixes together you'll
2:02
feel it become much easier to stir and
2:04
it will look much smoother and softer if
2:06
your buttercream looks yellow you can
2:08
add a tiny bit of violet food coloring
2:10
by dipping a toothpick into the bottle
2:12
and then dragging that through the
2:13
buttercream the violet takes away the
2:16
yellow tinge and makes the buttercream a
2:17
much brighter white you can add flavor
2:20
to buttercream with freeze-dried
2:21
strawberries crushed into a powder or
2:24
doulce de leche or caramel or jam or
2:26
lemon curd or melted chocolate any
2:29
ingredient that isn't very runny will
2:31
add lots of flavor without making the
2:33
buttercream too runny now let's put
2:35
everything together i'll show you next
2:37
how the steps are different if you use a
2:39
filling that isn't buttercream but if
2:41
you are using buttercream as a filling
2:43
for a mini cake you can spread it
2:44
straight on like this or you can pipe it
2:47
on but the most important thing however
2:48
you do the filling is to spread or pipe
2:50
a bit of buttercream onto the middle of
2:52
a cake board before pressing your first
2:54
cake layer down onto it now you can move
2:56
the board around and even flip it upside
2:58
down and the cake will stay stuck in
3:00
place the buttercream will act as glue
3:02
to attach the cake so it doesn't slide
3:04
around as you frost and decorate it the
3:06
buttercream gets firmer when it's cold
3:08
so it gets even more secure which you'll
3:10
see in a minute now for fillings like
3:12
dulce de leche or jam or lemon curd
3:15
which aren't as thick or stiff as
3:17
buttercream there's an extra step you'll
3:19
need a piping bag with a little piece
3:21
cut off the end to make a hole about the
3:23
width of a finger and the easiest way to
3:25
fill a piping bag is to fold it over a
3:27
glass to hold it open spoon some
3:29
buttercream into it but don't fill it
3:30
more than 3/4 full or it will be
3:32
difficult to grip and squeeze unfold the
3:35
piping bag and pull it up out of the
3:37
glass and then twist it to push down on
3:39
the buttercream so it's tight after
3:41
attaching your cake to the cakeboard
3:42
with that dot of buttercream squeeze the
3:45
piping bag to make a ring of buttercream
3:46
around each cake layer called a
3:48
buttercream dam which acts as a wall to
3:51
hold runny fillings in spoon your
3:53
filling in and continue layering the
3:55
cake and this way the weight of the
3:56
upper layers will be held up by the
3:58
buttercream so the filling won't ooze
4:00
out from between the cake layers and
4:02
cause bulges in the frosting on the
4:04
sides of the cake next very important
4:07
put your assembled mini cake into the
4:08
fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for
4:10
15 minutes to chill before you frost it
4:13
to frost a mini cake the first layer is
4:16
called a crumb coat and it's just what
4:17
it sounds like a coat of buttercream to
4:19
trap any crumbs that come off the cake
4:21
you can spread this on or pipe it i
4:24
prefer piping for mini cakes because it
4:25
means there's less friction between your
4:27
offset spatula or angled pallet knife
4:29
when you're spreading the frosting since
4:31
the piped buttercream is already
4:32
attached to the cake notice that I'm
4:35
pressing down on the cakeboard as I
4:37
spread and that's because mini cakes are
4:39
so lightweight that the pressure as you
4:41
spread can push the cakeboard around on
4:43
the turntable even with a non-slip mat
4:45
underneath like I have here so pressing
4:47
down on the cakeboard as you spread will
4:49
hold it still this is a cake comb or
4:51
icing scraper or frosting smoother and
4:53
by pressing the bottom edge down on the
4:55
cakeboard you'll line it up straight as
4:57
you scrape around the cake to smooth the
4:59
buttercream you can press down on the
5:01
cakeboard with your other hand to hold
5:03
it still this crumb coat doesn't need to
5:05
be perfect but if you're using cookie
5:07
cutter layers you'll notice the neat
5:09
straight sides which look very different
5:11
on a mini cake made with cupcake layers
5:13
and I'll show you in a moment why that
5:15
doesn't matter to flatten the top edge
5:17
swipe sideways and then scrape the
5:19
buttercream from your offset spatula
5:21
into a little bowl since this will have
5:22
crumbs in it so you don't want to scrape
5:24
it back into your main bowl of
5:26
buttercream i want to show you quickly
5:28
that if you're using cupcakes as the
5:30
layers for your mini cake you won't have
5:32
a neat straight outline yet but that's
5:34
going to be covered up with frosting
5:36
soon so although you could trim the
5:38
cupcake layers to make the sides
5:39
straight it's an extra step that I
5:41
wouldn't say is necessary unless you're
5:43
making mini cakes for a very formal
5:45
occasion and you want a perfect
5:47
cross-section when you cut into each one
5:49
i usually use white for my crumb coat to
5:51
avoid any coloring bleeding into the
5:53
cake layers and then I tint the leftover
5:56
buttercream to be whatever color I want
5:58
for my final coat of frosting the cake
6:00
needs to go back into the fridge or
6:02
freezer for 15 to 30 minutes to set the
6:04
crumb coat and meanwhile check the
6:06
consistency of the buttercream for your
6:08
final coat it should be easy to stir and
6:10
smooth like this when the crumb coat has
6:13
set and it's firm not sticky spoon some
6:15
buttercream onto the top and spread it
6:17
to cover the top and stick out over the
6:19
edges to make sharp edges from the sides
6:21
to the top of the cake later spin the
6:24
cake while holding your offset spatula
6:26
at a 45° angle to smooth and flatten the
6:29
top and then spread buttercream around
6:30
the sides notice that I'm pushing the
6:32
buttercream up to form a wall or lip
6:35
around the top of the cake which is also
6:38
to make a neat top edge later you'll
6:40
need to scrape several times to get the
6:42
frosting smooth using very very light
6:45
pressure against the cake because
6:46
pushing too hard against it can dislodge
6:48
it from that dot of buttercream at the
6:50
bottom the one you spread or piped onto
6:52
the middle of the cakeboard before
6:54
layering the cake as you spin the cake
6:56
your cake comb will scrape off the
6:57
excess buttercream from the cake and
6:59
drag it around the cake and especially
7:02
for mini cakes keep an eye on your cake
7:04
comb and swipe the cake comb away before
7:06
you get too much buildup on it because
7:08
that buildup of buttercream will put
7:10
pressure on the cake and that can also
7:12
dislodge it from the dot of buttercream
7:14
after a few scrapes spread more
7:15
buttercream to fill in any indents or
7:18
gaps in the frosting where it's
7:19
shallower than on the rest of the cake
7:21
and then scrape again to get the
7:23
frosting super smooth I like to use a
7:25
metal cake comb instead of a plastic one
7:28
because the straight edge of a plastic
7:30
comb gets dinged really easily when you
7:32
wash or drop it whereas metal is much
7:34
stronger and will stay smooth for longer
7:37
you can warm up the edge of a metal comb
7:39
with hot water or a haird dryer or a
7:41
blowtorrch and the warm metal will get
7:43
your frosting even smoother tidy up the
7:46
top edge of the cake by swiping sideways
7:48
with your offset spatula and by
7:49
spreading the buttercream onto the top
7:51
of the cake so generously at the
7:53
beginning and spreading that lip or wall
7:55
of buttercream up around the top of the
7:57
sides you'll make a neat straight edge
8:00
around the top of the cake now make sure
8:02
you wipe the blade clean on a towel or
8:04
paper towel after each swipe so you
8:06
don't drag drags of buttercream back
8:08
onto the top of the cake okay
8:10
decorations to pipe onto a mini cake
8:13
it's best to chill the cake first so
8:15
that the frosting sets otherwise the
8:17
weight of the piping can cause the
8:18
frosting to sink or droop or bulge
8:21
choose a small piping tip so your piping
8:23
doesn't dwarf your cake you'll only need
8:25
a small amount of buttercream for a mini
8:27
cake compared to a larger cake but it's
8:29
best to fill the piping bag up at least
8:31
a third full to make it easier to grip
8:33
the bag and squeeze the buttercream out
8:35
which will make your piping neater as
8:37
well as borders around the top and
8:39
bottom of the cake you can pipe onto the
8:41
sides of a mini cake again choose a
8:44
small piping tip like this number 16
8:46
star tip so that the decorations are in
8:48
proportion to the cake stencils are a
8:51
quick way to add neat designs to mini
8:53
cakes buy cake stencils or make your own
8:55
by drawing shapes onto parchment or wax
8:58
paper and cutting them out the
8:59
buttercream frosting has to be cold and
9:02
firm for stenciling so that the stencil
9:04
doesn't leave texture behind on the
9:05
frosting when you peel it away messages
9:08
can be tricky on mini cakes because you
9:10
have such a small space for the letters
9:12
sweet stamp letters are a great option
9:14
you can buy them in cupcake size sets
9:16
which are perfect for mini cakes chill
9:18
the cake for an hour first and then
9:20
leave it out at room temperature for 30
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minutes so that the frosting is firm but
9:24
not cold and this will give you the
9:26
neatest results you can paint into the
9:29
imprints using edible paints or make
9:31
your own by mixing edible gold or silver
9:33
luster dust with vodka or a clear flavor
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extract like clear vanilla or lemon
9:39
buttercream transfers are one of my
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favorite ways to decorate cakes and
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they're really useful for mini cakes
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where the details have to be so tiny
9:47
pipe a design onto parchment or wax
9:49
paper or microwave the buttercream for
9:51
about 5 seconds to soften it and then
9:53
you can brush it onto the paper the
9:55
piece of paper should be as small as
9:57
possible just bigger than the design so
9:59
that it can be transferred onto the cake
10:01
without the excess paper getting in the
10:03
way press the design gently against the
10:06
cake and then put it into the fridge for
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30 minutes to an hour then peel the
10:10
paper off to leave the design on the
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cake you can store mini cakes in a
10:13
Tupperware or a sealed box in the fridge
10:16
for a few days it's best to transport
10:18
them straight from the fridge while
10:20
they're still cold because they'll
10:21
withstand car vibrations and movements
10:24
much better than when they're at room
10:25
temperature if you want to transfer a
10:28
mini cake from its cake board onto a
10:30
plate or platter or cake stand do that
10:32
when it's cold too so that you don't
10:34
damage the frosting or the decorations
10:36
cakes taste best when they're at room
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temperature when the cake and filling
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and frosting are soft not cold and hard
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so let them sit at room temperature for
10:45
an hour or two before you serve them
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this way they'll taste the best you
10:49
could cut a mini cake into tiny slices
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but they're so tiny you can eat them
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with a fork and they're the perfect size
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for an individual portion or for a
10:57
couple to share i hope this tutorial has
10:59
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