A Great Mini Birthday Cake Recipe

A miniature 4-inch birthday cake filled with lemon curd and topped with Italian meringue icing. This mini cake is decadent and delicious despite its diminutive size!

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The perfect birthday relies on a few key ingredients. First my Mum calls me at least once, probably twice and maybe even three times.

Second birthday breakfasts are important. They don’t necessarily have to involve spectacular food, but all those in attendance must recognize that it’s a Birthday Breakfast. Finally, there has to be cake and candles.

This year (Covid Birthday Number Two) I decided to bake a miniature cake (of course) in my super cute 4-inch cake pan. I filled it with lemon curd (because why not) and almond Swiss meringue buttercream. 

Why I love this mini birthday cake recipe:

• The lemon flavor: thanks to the lemon curd in this recipe the cake really delivers on citrus-y flavor that nicely balances out the sweetness of the buttercream.
• The size: this is a 4-inch mini birthday cake which is ideal for a covid birthday or just any time you want to celebrate with just a couple other people. (This* is the type of mini cake pan I use)
• The icing: It might feel al little intimidating to make a meringue based icing but it really is worth it!

How to make this cake:

1) Start with the lemon curd**

I always start my curds by rubbing the zest into the sugar to really release those citrus oils. From there just whisk everything except the butter together in a bowl and set the bowl over a pan of simmering water.  

In order to avoid lumps you want to stir constantly with a heat proof spatula until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula. At this point pull it off the heat and stir in the butter. You can the refrigerate it until you’re ready to use it.

** You could also use this Grapefruit curd and grapefruit zest in the cake instead if you prefer!

2) Make the mini birthday cake

This is an incredibly easy lemon cake recipe that is one of my go to cake recipes! You start by creaming together lemon zest, butter and sugar. Then add in an egg and whisk to combine. Finally add the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt. At this point you just pour it into a buttered 4-inch cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 F.

3) Make the Buttercream

While the cake is baking you can work on the buttercream! If you’ve never made Swiss meringue buttercream let me take a moment to say that it’s 100% worth it.

It’s not the easiest thing to make because you need to use a pan, a standing mixer, the paddle attachment, the whisk attachment and just a normal whisk which is ridiculous. But also the result is light and fluffy and so much better than American Buttercream in my humble opinion. 

How do you make small batch Swiss meringue buttercream?

The recipe starts with a Swiss meringue (shocker I know) which you make by whisking egg whites and sugar over a pan of simmering water. Once the sugar is dissolved and the mixture has reached 145 F you place the bowl on your standing mixer and beat with the whisk attachment.

At this point you want the meringue to get nice and fluffy and cool down to room temperature, which should take at least 5 minutes on medium high speed.

Once the meringue is cool, switch to the paddle attachment and beat in soft butter, a tablespoon at a time. Finally, beat in the almond extract and salt.

Troubleshooting your Swiss meringue buttercream:

Curdled Buttercream: If the mixture looks like it’s slightly separated, then the butter was probably too cold. To remedy this, take your bowl of buttercream and place it over a pan of simmering water until the edges are melting. Return the bowl to the standing mixer and beat on medium high speed for a minute. If it’s still separated then the butter might still be too cold, so just repeat the process again.

Runny Buttercream: If the buttercream is runny or soupy then the meringue or the butter was probably too warm so the butter has just melted. To fix this just place your buttercream in the fridge for 10 minutes and then return it to the mixer and beat on medium high for a minute or two. Again you might need to repeat this process depending on how soupy your buttercream was!

If you want to learn more (or troubleshoot more!) I highly recommend this post from Sally’s Baking Addiction!

4) Assemble the cake

Start by slicing the cake into three layers using a bread knife. If you’re finding it hard to get three layers you can definitely do 2 instead!

Starting with what was the top of your cake place the cake round cut sized up on a piece of parchment paper or a cake board. Pipe a ring of buttercream in a circle around the edge of the cake and then pipe a nice blob in the center.

Next fill in the space between the buttercream with lemon curd (look at the photos if this doesn’t make sense). 

Layer on the middle slice of cake and repeat the buttercream and lemon curd steps. Finally layer on your last piece of cake cut side down (to give you a smooth top).

You can now cover the rest of the cake with as little or as much buttercream as you like. I normally go for a little less icing but you should have enough to fully coat it if you would like to!

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Mini Lemon Cake Recipe

The perfect mini birthday cake for 2! This lemon cake recipe is a little more involved, you make a lemon curd, buttercream and the cake itself, but the flavor is fantastic and well worth the extra effort!

5 from 11 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Equipment

• Standing Mixer
• Candy thermometer (optional)
• 4 inch cake pan

Ingredients

  

Lemon curd*:

• 1/4 cup of lemon juice
• zest from 1 lemon
• 40 g sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 40 g unsalted butter at room temperature

Lemon Cake:

• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 oz butter at room temperature
• 2 oz sugar
• 1 whole egg
• 2 oz flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

• 65 g egg white about two eggs
• 115 g sugar
• 100 g butter at room temperature
• 1/4 tsp almond extract or more to taste
• big pinch salt or more to taste

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and prep a 4-inch pan by buttering it and dusting it with flour.

Lemon Curd

• Rub the lemon zest and sugar together in a medium heat proof bowl.
• Whisk in the lemon juice, egg and egg yolk (reserve the egg white for the buttercream)
• Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir constantly with a heat proof spatula until the mixture is thick enough to coat the spatula.
• Remove from heat and stir in the butter.
• Pour into a jar or small bowl, cover and refrigerate.

Cake

• Cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest.
• Whisk in the egg followed by the dry ingredients.
• pour it into the cake pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean

Buttercream

• Whisk together the sugar and egg whites in the bowl of your standing mixer then place the bowl over a pan of simmering water.
• Continue to whisk until the mixture reaches 145°vF or is warm to the touch and the sugar has all dissolved.
• Place the bowl on your standing mixer and whisk on medium-high until the meringue is fluffy and has cooled to room temperature.
• Switch to the paddle attachment and beat in the butter one tablespoon at a time on medium-high speed.
• Scrape down the bowl then add the almond extract and salt and beat to combine. Taste and adjust the almond and salt to your own preference.

Assemble

• Slice the cake into 2 or 3 layers (I prefer 3).
• Starting with the top layer place it cut side up and pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge as well as a blob of buttercream in the center. Fill in the gap with lemon curd. Continue with the middle slice of cake repeating the buttercream and curd steps.
• Top with the final layer of cake cut side down. Finish coating the cake in icing and decorate with sprinkles if desired!
• You can refrigerate the cake but be sure to bring it back to room temperature before serving.

Notes

* This Lemon curd recipe is honestly delicious as is and can (and should!) be used in other recipes as well. Maybe have it with scones for breakfast, sandwiched between macarons or with meringues, berries and whipped cream as a summery dessert!

Keyword birthday cake, lemon cake, lemon curd, Small Batch, swiss meringue buttercream