Nearly botching small cake (6)
I believe the answer is:
muffin
'small cake' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'nearly botching' is the wordplay.
'nearly' means to remove the last letter.
'botching' becomes 'muffing' ('muff' can be a synonym of 'botch').
'muffing' with its last letter taken off is 'MUFFIN'.
(Other definitions for muffin that I've seen before include "Tea cake" , "Flat round cake, eaten toasted and buttered (6)" , "Thick roll, usually toasted" , "Yeast roll for toasting" , "Round raised cake, often split and toasted" .)