Make a deliciously moist and fluffy yellow cake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting. Classic homemade dessert recipe!
Growing up in the 80's, yellow cake was one of the desserts of choice. I'm not sure if it was because we always used a cake mix or because it was so delicious with chocolate frosting.
this recipe
Either way, I grew up kinda loving this yummy dessert. So, I decided to give it a go making a yellow cake from scratch.
This is a really easy yellow cake recipe, and I'll give you a few tips below on how to make a cake moist and fluffy. While making my chocolate cupcakes, I learned a few tips and tricks to getting that perfect soft texture.
Top this cake with chocolate buttercream frosting, and you've got the perfect classic dessert. It's so simple yet so delicious!
WHERE CAN I FIND THE RECIPE FOR YELLOW CAKE?
If you’d rather skip all of my baking tips, important baking info for this recipe, and similar recipe ideas – and get straight to thescrumptious yellow cake recipe – just scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a printable recipe card.
HOW TO MAKE CAKE MOIST
You can ask my family. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with homemade cake recipes in the past.
I've even gotten confused while trying to make recipes from my grandma's handwritten recipe cards, and I've totally messed up the simplest of recipes. There've been times I got them right, and other times they've been total flops.
I'm learning as I go, though. And I love to share with you what I've learned through my own trial and error process of learning how to be a better cake maker.
There are a few steps I took to ensure that our yellow cake would be very light, soft, fluffy, and moist. These are the same steps I took to make these deliciously moist and fluffy chocolate cupcakes.
The steps I take to make a moist yellow cake actually work.
- Use a mixture of butter and oil to make a moist cake.
- When you cream the butter and sugar (or mix the butter and sugar), do so for a good 5 to 8 minutes.
- When mixing the other wet ingredients in with your creamed mixture, only add the yolks of the eggs. Wait to fold the egg whites in after all the other ingredients have been added and mixed.
- Use buttermilk instead of regular milk. In fact, you can make your own buttermilk; I’ll show you how if you keep reading. What buttermilk does is break down the gluten, which makes your cake softer.
- Use cake flour to make a lighter, softer cake. It really does make a difference.
- Sift your flour and dry ingredients together at least 3 times. My grandma would’ve said 7; she was a real stickler about sifting.
- Don’t mix the cake batter too long after adding the flour. Mix it just until it’s mixed. You can even alternate the flour mixture with the milk to be more aware of how long you’re mixing. Over mixing can make a cake more dense.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BUTTERMILK
Why buy buttermilk when you can make it yourself? My mom taught me this little trick back when I was a budding baker in our old farmhouse kitchen.
All you're really doing is souring the milk with a little bit of vinegar.
Just add about a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to a cup or two of milk; I usually use a tablespoon for every 1 to 2 cups of milk. Stir and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
So I have the right amount of liquid, I'll usually pour my vinegar into the measuring cup first; then add the milk to my desired level or measurement.
And that's it! Before you know it, your milk will be perfectly soured like buttermilk.
CAN I FREEZE HOMEMADE YELLOW CAKE?
You can. In fact, The Bearfoot Baker has a really helpful tutorial for How to Freeze a Cake Before Frosting It.
HOW DO I GET THAT YELLOW COLOR TO MY CAKE?
The yellow color really comes from the natural ingredients you're going to use, no artificial colors whatsoever.
You'll be using butter and eggs. And the butter extract will give the cake a buttery flavor, kinda like a butter recipe yellow cake mix.
TIPS FOR HOW TO MAKE THIS YELLOW CAKE RECIPE
Start by making your buttermilk and setting it aside so it can do its thing.
Then cream (ormix) the butter and sugar together for a good 5 to 8 minutes.You can cream the oil, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and butter extract in with the sugar mixture if you want, or you can wait and mix it in after the butter and sugar have been creamed together.
Siftyour dry ingredients together at least 3 times.Then alternate adding the dry ingredients with the buttermilk to your creamed mixture, mixing after each addition.
Finally, when everything is mixed together, fold in the egg whites and mix together, being careful not to over-mix.
Pour the cake batter into a well-greased 9″x13″ cake pan, and bake at 350° for about 20 minutes, or until atoothpickorcake testercomes out clean. You can also make 2 round cakes or cupcakes, but keep in mind, baking times may differ.
When the cake is fully baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to fully cool before attempting to frost it. If you're making round cakes or cupcakes, let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Once the cake has fully cooled, you're ready to top it off with delectable chocolate frosting and enjoy every bite, along with acup of coffee. Can’t forget a warm mug of coffee to bring all the flavors full circle!
More Cake Recipes You'll Love
- Lemon Poke Cake with Glaze
- Carrot Cake Sheet Cake
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake from Scratch
- Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Chocolate Cake
Stand MixerorHand Mixer– You can absolutely mixup a yellow cake by hand, but a mixer enables you to get a really smooth cake batter.
Measuring Spoons and Measuring Cups
Egg Yolky Separator– Who doesn’t love a cute egg yolk separator?
Coffee MakerwithCoffee– Some of my favorite memories are dessert with my grandmother. She always loved a hot cup of coffee with her dessert.
YELLOW CAKE RECIPE
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Classic Yellow Cake Recipe
Make a deliciously moist and fluffy yellow cake topped with chocolate buttercream frosting. Classic homemade dessert recipe!
4.43 from 7 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Cakes & Cupcakes
Cuisine: American
Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes
Cooling Time: 1 hour hour
Total Time: 2 hours hours 5 minutes minutes
Servings: 24 servings
Calories: 186kcal
Author: Mel Lockcuff
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 cups pure cane sugar
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 2 large eggs separated*
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter extract
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- 2 1/2 cups unbleached cake flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
Pre-heat the oven to 350°.
If you're making buttermilk, make it first and set aside.**
Cream (or mix) the butter and sugar together for a good 5 to 8 minutes.
You can also cream the oil, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and butter extract in with the sugar mixture if you want, or you can add them in after the butter and sugar mixture is already creamed.
Meanwhile, sift the dry ingredients together at least 3 times.
Then alternate adding the dry ingredients with the buttermilk to your creamed mixture, mixing after each addition.
Finally, when everything is mixed together, fold in the egg whites and mix together, being careful not to over-mix.
Pour the cake batter into a well-greased 9″x13″ cake pan.
Bake at 350° for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
When the cake is fully baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to fully cool before attempting to frost it. If you’re making round cakes or cupcakes***, let the cakes cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Once the cake has fully cooled, top it with delectable chocolate buttercream frosting****, slice, and serve.
Notes
*When mixing the other liquid ingredients in with your creamed mixture, only add the yolks of the eggs. Wait to fold the egg whites in after all the other ingredients have been added and mixed.
**You can make your own buttermilk or sour milk.Just add about a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar to a cup or two of milk; I usually use a tablespoon for every 1 to 2 cups of milk. Stir and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
***Keep in mind, if you're making round cake or cupcakes, cooking times may differ.
****Icing not included in nutritional facts. See nutritional info for chocolate buttercream frosting at the link above, included in the recipe instructions.
Nutrition
Serving: 24servings | Calories: 186kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 2g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 27mg | Sodium: 187mg | Sugar: 13g
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