Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Rich and sweet!
Texture: Perfectly moist, fluffy, and tender with luscious chocolate frosting.
Ease: Pretty quick & easy for a homemade cake. I won’t use box mix again with this recipe!
Pros: My new go-to cake recipe. Perfect cake for any birthday!
Cons: None, really.
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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I have fond memories of my dad making yellow cake recipes with chocolate fudge frosting for special occasions.
That’s definitely where I get my sweet tooth from, but my dad isn’t much of a scratch baker. Those cakes were always box mixes paired with the little tub of premade frosting with who-knows-what added in to keep it shelf stable.
Still, as a kid, I loved those yellow cakes.
Now as an adult… I find them shockingly sweet and artificial tasting.
But I will say, I still like the fluffy, moist texture of those box yellow cake mixes. I wanted to create a classic yellow cake recipe that felt like those cakes I grew up with but with much better flavor. I think I’ve finally discovered it!
Honestly, it took about 7 tries to get this yellow cake recipe right over the course of 6 months. Layer cake is a hard recipe to want to test repeatedly in a short period of time. What are you supposed to do with all those mediocre leftover cake slices?!
So I went back to the drawing board and decided to start with my Best Birthday Cake as the base since that recipe is so well received. Where that cake texture is tighter and more delicate, I wanted this yellow cake to be a little looser and more moist like box mix.
I got rid of the egg separation method from that recipe, which involves whipping the egg whites, to get a richer texture and an easier process. More eggs + yolks, more butter, and a touch of sour cream help round everything out in this recipe. And of course, there is lots of chocolate frosting on top.
I hope you love it!
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
- 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).
- 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.
- 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 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!
More Cake Recipes:
- Best Chocolate Cake Recipe
- Best Birthday Cake Recipe (features a more delicate white cake base)
- Banana Chocolate Chip Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting
- Angel Food Cake Recipe
- Funfetti Sheet Cake
Science of Baking Articles:
- How to Prevent Cakes & Cupcakes From Sinking
- Everything You Need to Know About Sugar in Baking
- How to Measure Flour
- How to Convert Cake into Cupcakes (and Cupcakes into Cake!)
- Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda
Best Yellow Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (254 grams) bleached cake flour, measured correctly
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1 3/4 cups (350 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (57 grams) sour cream or plain full fat yogurt, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 1 Batch Best Chocolate American Buttercream
Instructions
Make the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter, flour, and line two 8-inch cake pans with parchment circles.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 3 to 4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, egg yolks, and the vanilla one at a time, beating well between additions until combined. If the mixture looks separated, just keeping beating until emulsified. Beat in the sour cream until combined.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the whole milk, beginning and ending with the flour, mixing just until combined. Do not overmix.
- Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for 20 minutes in pans before turning out onto a cooling rack.
Assemble the cake:
- Place one cake layer on a cake turntable or cake stand. Spread about a third of the frosting in an even layer all over, pushing it out over the edge just slightly. Place the other cake layer upside-down onto the frosting so that the top of the cake is nice and flat. With an offset spatula, spread the remaining frosting evenly all over the cake, smoothing the edges. Serve or cover and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Let come to room temperature for an hour before serving.
Recipe Notes
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
How does this change if I only have all purpose flour?
Hi Giselle! Please check out the pink tip box above this recipe, we discuss the importance of using cake flour 🙂
Hi. How do I adjust the ingredients for 2 x 6 inch round pan?
Hi Valerie! We haven’t tried that but recommend using Wilton’s Cake Serving Guide. Let us know how it goes! You’re always welcome to use a 2 x 6 inch round pan but then make cupcakes with the leftover batter as an option as well. Check out the pink tip box above the recipe for more details 🙂
Followed the directions exactly, weighed everything. Had a crumb or two sticking to the toothpick, so I know it wasn’t overbaked, 25 minutes. Looks amazing, wrapped it up and refrigerated it to frost on Father’s Day. Just cut into it…dry! So bummed, at least I know my frosting is delicious.
I’m sorry to hear your cake was dry! As you said you weighed your ingredients accurately (too much flour can cause a dry cake) and I’m assuming didn’t substitute anything, dry cakes can come from overcreaming your butter and sugar or overmixing your ingredients in general. The biggest reasons though are overbaking or using a dark colored cake pan. I wish I could help more! It’d be so much easier if I could transport myself to your kitchen lol!
Hi,
I tried your cake full recipe today and divided the batter into 4 equal 4inches round tin along with some leftover batter which I further put into muffin pan.
My cake sunk in very badly, all the four tins along with the cupcakes. I am not sure what went so terribly wrong though I am a home baker and keeps baking basic vanilla sponge. Not sure if the moisture was too much in the batter or the fact that I filled my tins a little extra because it also over flowed. I am terribly disappointed as I was planning to bake these small 4 cakes and then frost them. I did everything carefully from the oven temp to avoid not over mixing the batter. This has happened with me for the first time! Very very disappointed !!!
This recipe calls for two 8-inch cake pans. I would recommend finding a recipe that specifically calls for smaller tins as that can drastically alter the outcome of any recipe. I’d love for you to try this recipe again, but with the recommended size pans, and I’m sure you’ll love it! 🙂
Delicious cake, but I wish you’d included the height of the 8″ pans you used — mine rose past the edges and made a huge mess. 🙁
I’m surprised that this recipe has so many five star ratings. I followed the recipe to the T. Mine only rose on the sides while the center did not. It crumbles when I cut into it this is going to be a problem when I frost it. It is also too greasy. I had high hopes for this. I hate when recipes don’t turn out as the blog writer says it will.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had issues with your cake, Marty! Crumbly cakes can happen from a variety of reasons like over mixing the batter or not using a digital scale to measure your ingredients, especially the flour. Did you substitute any ingredients? As for the issue with the center not rising, that could be from the same reasons I already discussed. It could also be from expired leavening agents or accidentally over measured leavening agents. If you’re baking at high altitude and didn’t adjust the recipe, that could also be the issue. Hope this helps!
I’m having a hard time with the measurements I’m using a scale and I used the 254g of cake flour but just to make sure I did the measuring cups n leveled 2 1/4 c. Of cake flour and got different grams when I put it on the scale what’s going on??
It is very easy for people to measure flour inaccurately, which is why it’s so incredibly important to measure with a digital scale 🙂 If you’re ever without a digital scale to measure, I highly recommend measuring your flour by using the Spoon & Level Method, which I talk about in my article all about How to Measure Flour. Hope this helps 🙂
nice buttery taste…Even though I can eat Irish butter, I had to substitute out the other dairy…and it still turned out great. Nice crumb texture & taste. Thank you.
I used almond/coconut milk and then 1/4 cup mayo
With the 2 egg whites left over, I made a 7-minute frosting…good as well.
Sadly I made this and it exploded EVERYWHERE. I’m thinking that maybe 3 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp baking soda was too much, but honestly I’m not sure. Bummed but glad it worked for other people!
Oh no, Mae, how incredibly frustrating! I haven’t heard of this issue yet, although I’m thinking it could be a couple different things. Did you substitute any ingredients, like using self-rising flour instead of cake flour? Do you measure ingredients with a digital scale? Also, how deep of a pan were you using? I’m wondering if your pan was too small or too shallow. Let me know, I’d love to help you figure out what went wrong!
Just made this cake – used 8” pans. The batter rose up and over the edge of the pans, and then collapsed. Total disaster. I’m super disappointed. I followed the recipe to the LETTER.
Oh no, Peggy, how frustrating! There are so many reasons why a cake can collapse, but it definitely shouldn’t rise over the pan! I’m glad you were using 8″ pans…how deep are they? I don’t recommend going less than 2 1/2 inches deep, I always use a 3″ for more flexibility and just to be safe. I’d also make sure you’re only filling the pans 3/4 full with batter. As for the collapse, these are the most common reasons: expired baking powder/baking soda (I have an article here on how to check), incorrect measurement of ingredients, overbeating the batter in the last stage, incorrect/inconsistent oven temperature, underbaking the cake, opening the oven door too early, etc… I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer to verify that your oven temperature is accurate (most home ovens aren’t–it’s very surprising!) as well as using a digital scale to measure your ingredients if you don’t already use one. I know this is a lot of information, but hopefully if one of these is tweaked, it’ll help next time. I really hope you give this recipe another try as it’s so delicious when it turns out!
Hi – is “bleached” cake flour necessary? I hate to use any bleached flour. I’d like to try this for a friend’s birthday cake, but not sure if that is detrimental to the recipe. Thanks!
Hi Toni! I would definitely recommend bleached cake flour. You can use unbleached cake flour, but your cake might not be as soft and tender. More info on Cake Flour here: https://handletheheat.com/cake-flour-101/
I made this recipe exactly as written. Fresh ingredients, oven thermometer for accurate temp, etc. Not a single substitution. Placed the rack in the middle. It burned on the top and was undercooked in the middle. Cooked it a bit longer but it was a little hollow in the middle. Ended up quite dense, not fluffy which is what I was going for. But the flavor was good.
Hi Chris, I’m sorry your cake didn’t turn out! What kind of cake pan did you bake in? Were all of your refrigerated ingredients at room temperature?
Hi and thanks for the help. Yes they were room temp with the butter slightly cool to the touch, like you’ve taught us. Used anodized pans. Had to cook a bit longer for toothpick to come clean. My son and I love boxed cake mixes but noticed the white cake tastes so much like chemicals. If you ever have a white cake, I’ll be the first to try, lol. I really am trying to decipher what went wrong. PS, love your red velvet crinkle cookies.
Hi again – were your cake pans dark or light colored?
Helllllo, they were just plain old fashioned pans, no color or finish. You’re very sweet to help me get to the bottom of this.
Okay got it! I think the type of pans used may have something to do with what went wrong. I’d recommend using the cake pans I linked to under the “best caking pans” in the pink box above the recipe!