How to Make the BEST Homemade Yellow Cake Recipe

Classic Yellow Cake Recipe Ingredients:

• Bleached cake flour – avoid using all-purpose flour or DIY cake flour substitutions. They simply don’t work as well. Check out my Cake Flour 101 article here to understand why. The best thing to use in this recipe is bleached cake flour (like the Swans Down brand).
• Baking powder & baking soda – these leavening agents help the cake rise properly. Learn more about the differences between baking soda and powder here.
• Fine salt – just enough to balance out the sweetness of this yellow cake.
• Butter – use unsalted butter to control the amount of salt used in the batter.
• Granulated sugar – sweetens and moistens the cake.
• Eggs – 2 large eggs and 2 large egg yolks add richness and moisture.
• Pure vanilla extract – it’s not yellow cake without the aroma and flavor that vanilla provides!
• Sour cream or plain full fat yogurt – tenderizes and adds flavor.
• Whole milk – using whole milk will help to create a tender and moist cake as well. Whatever you do, don’t use skim milk.

How do I make MOIST & TENDER cake?

I highly advise weighing your flour when making cake. I always use my digital kitchen scale to weigh flour, but if you don’t have one use the “spoon and level” method to measure with measuring cups.

Avoid any baking substitutions! The cake flour and whole milk help create a moist and tender cake. All the whole eggs + egg yolks add richness and moisture. The sour cream also tenderizes as well as adding more flavor.

How to Properly Mix Cake Batter

1. A stand mixer fitted with a regular paddle attachment is definitely the easiest way to mix up this batter, though you could use a hand mixer if you prefer. Start by creaming the butter + sugar together. There are two keys here: use butter at COOL room temperature and scrape down the bowl and paddle often (even if you’re using an attachment that “scrapes” as it blends).
2. This batter is very rich. It uses a lot of eggs and yolks, as well as whole cream and a touch of sour cream. That means you may need to beat slightly longer after each group of ingredients to really make sure it’s all incorporated. It’s very important your refrigerated ingredients are all at room temperature.
3. When you beat in the last ingredient which is the sour cream, it may look a little curdled. Just scrape down the bowl and continue beating on low speed until it comes together like the batter photo above.

How Long to Cream Butter & Sugar:

Every minute matters when it comes to creaming butter and sugar for baking. Creaming butter and sugar can mean the difference between a heavy, leaden cake or a light, tender, and fluffy cake!

Perfectly creamed butter and sugar has lightened in color and has peaks and valleys in its texture, giving it that ‘fluffy’ appearance. The sugar appears to be dissolved, but when you rub the mixture between your fingers you’ll still feel the sugar granules. I’ve found perfectly creamed butter to be around 3 minutes for me and my mixer in my kitchen, but this will vary for every baker. Check out my How to Cream Butter & Sugar article for more.

What are the best cake baking pans?

Never use dark colored cake pans. They tend to overcook the edges, making them too brown and dry.

My favorite cake pans are definitely my Fat Daddio’s pans. They bake evenly and clean up easily!

Can I use a 9-inch pan instead?

This recipe calls for 8-inch pans, which is what will work best. You can also use 9-inch if that’s what you have. Your cake layers will be thinner. Just shave about 5 minutes to the baking time.

Can I make cupcakes with this recipe?

Yes, this recipe will make about 24 standard cupcakes. Bake in lined cupcake pans for about 17 to 20 minutes. Check out my full guide for how to convert cake into cupcakes!

Are there high altitude adjustments for baking cake?

If you’re baking at a high altitude, you’ll probably want to make some adjustments to this recipe. Since I live at sea level, I can only recommend following the advice in King Arthur Flour’s guide here.

BEST Frosting for Yellow Cake Recipe: Chocolate Buttercream Frosting!

For this recipe I absolutely ADORE using my Best Ever Chocolate Buttercream recipe. It’s American buttercream that literally tastes, feels, and looks as close to the more difficult Swiss Meringue Buttercream that I’ve ever experienced. It uses two secret ingredients and 1 unusual technique to get those results, so I highly recommend you check out that Chocolate Buttercream recipe post here.

You can also use my Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe to frost this cake instead.

Or use my Best Buttercream Guide to make any flavor or variation you want to accompany this yellow cake!

How can I make cake ahead of time?

Wrap unfrosted cooled cake layers completely in several layers of plastic wrap. Place inside a freezer bag. Store at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge. Don’t defrost at room temperature or you will end up with mushy sticky cake.

How to store cake:

Cover with a cake keeper and store at room temperature for up to 8 hours then refrigerate. The buttercream acts as a kind of protective barrier to keep the cake inside soft and fresh. The sugar in the buttercream acts as a preservative to prevent the dairy from spoiling at room temperature. But after 8 hours I typically like to refrigerate layer cakes just to keep it safe. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

My Favorite Yellow Layer Cake Tools:

• Fat Daddio 8-inch cake pans – my FAVORITE cake pans because they release easily and are quick to clean.
• Pre-Cut Parchment Rounds with Flaps (these make such easy work of ensuring your cake won’t stick!!)
• Large offset spatula – perfect for spreading frosting on for a beautiful cake.
• An oven thermometer and kitchen scale are the most important tools in any baker’s kitchen!