The Best Yellow Cake Recipe, Homemade from Scratch
The Best Yellow Cake Recipe, Homemade from Scratch. A moist, delicious, beautifully textured cake, paired in a classic combination with chocolate frosting.
Originally published April 2015.
A great yellow cake recipe is one of the most searched for among dedicated baking enthusiasts. I'm no different and have been experimenting with different recipes that I've found online for years.
For some reason that's probably stuck in my psyche since childhood, I always envision yellow cake as in an impressive three layers that just looks like one of the simplest but most inviting cakes ever.
It's part of the reason that I was never quite satisfied with a lot of recipes I'd tried. Many of the firmer textured cakes that were suitable for stacking were too dry.
A couple of the moister recipes were too soft and became too compressed under the weight. In developing this recipe I believe that I have finally struck the proper balance.
What makes a great yellow cake?
Butter and egg yolks are what gives a good yellow cake it's colour. The fresher your eggs the better the colour.
If you can buy free range organic eggs, you will see that the colour of the yolks is quite different. They are much more intense than commercially produced eggs from chickens that are raised indoors.
Finally, you should note that although it is shown in 3 layers in the photo, this recipe is written for a two layer cake, baked in 8 inch round pans.
If you want a 3 layer 8 inch cake, multiply the ingredients by 1 ½. If you want a 3 layer nine inch cake, which is a perfect birthday cake for large parties, double the recipe.
Frosting the cake.
Use your favourite fudge frosting on the cake or you can use the silky smooth chocolate buttercream frosting from this recipe or a simpler icing sugar based chocolate frosting found here.
Larger cakes will need about 1 ½ to 2 times times the frosting.
Love Scratch Cake Recipes?
If you love homemade cakes from scratch we have a great selection of soft textured, moist cakes ion our Velvet Cake Collection.
Note:
My son Noah, makes this cake all the time but his favourite is to make these as cupcakes with chocolate frosting. That's a great idea for parties and get togethers. Everyone loves homemade cupcakes!
In paper lined cupcake pans, thes should take 13-15 minutes to bake at 325 degrees F. Again, always let the toothpick test be your guide.
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The Best Yellow Cake Recipe, Homemade from Scratch
The Best Yellow Cake Recipe, Homemade from Scratch - a moist, delicious, beautifully textured cake, paired in a classic combination with chocolate frosting.
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour, sifted
- 1½ cups cake flour, sifted
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1½ cups sugar
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup butter
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract, good quality
- 2 extra large eggs
- 2 extra large egg yolks
- 1½ cups buttermilk, or soured milk
Instructions
- Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Grease and flour 2 eight inch round cake pans and line the bottom with 2 circles of parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the sugar, vegetable oil, butter and vanilla. Beat well at high speed with whisk attachment until light and fluffy
- Beat the eggs in one at a time, then beat in the 2 egg yolks.
- Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.
- I always add dry ingredients in three divisions and liquid ingredients in 2 divisions. It is very important to begin and end the additions with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. As soon as it has no lumps in the batter, pour into the two prepared 8 inch cake pans.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
Notes
NOTE that although it is shown in 3 layers in the photo, this recipe is written for a two layer cake, baked in 8 inch round pans. If you want a 3 layer 8 inch cake, multiply the ingredients by 1 ½ and if you want a 3 layer nine inch cake (which is a perfect birthday cake for large parties) double the recipe.
NOTE: If you don't have buttermilk and want to use soured milk instead, just add a tablespoon or two of lemon juice or white vinegar to the measuring cup and top up to the 1 ½ cups mark with regular milk.
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Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 303Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 6gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 81mgSodium 349mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 0gSugar 20gProtein 5g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Hello,
I would like to confirm that the recipe calls for all purpose flour as well as cake flour. Can I use all cake flour?
I wouldn't. The balance of flours is geo get the right balance between softness and firmness. You may fond the cake will collapse using all cake flour.
Being a retired baker (scratch) of over 40yrs, it was a pleasure making this cake. Very moist cake, and great texture.
Thanks for the recipe. Do you have the ecact measurements and baking time for a 12 inch round cake?
No but I always calculate the area of the pans when converting a recipe. I always rely on the toothpick test to tell me when it's done.
Hi, I see good reviews and want to make this for my granddaughters birthday party but need it to be moist it will be baked in 12 inch pans could you please tell me how I will adjust this for those pans .. thank you
Those are very large pans. I don't know that I'd recommend this recipe for the required time it would take to bake.
Please what if one does not have the eletric bowl for mixing, what could be alternate ? Thanks, its a nice job.
Do you have a hand mixer?
How much do I need to increase this recipe if using two 9'' pans?
That's where your high school geometry comes in handy. 😉 Calculate the area of the pan and compare. 9 inch round pans are about 25% larger than 8 inch pans.
8 inch pans by what thickness? The picture looks like 2 inch but I'm not sure.
2 inches. I don't think many people would have thicker than 2 inch pans.
Cool, thanks! I'm using some rather irregular rectangular pans so I was trying to convert the volumes.
You can always extend the sides with parchment paper.
i have tried about a million different yellow cake recipes only to be disapointed. I was about to give up when i saw this and gave myself one last try. This is exactly what i have been searching for!!! It was delicious! And light! And fluffy! And moist! And actually yellow!! thank you so much- its perfect!
Thans for the great review! A good yellow cake is hard to find. That's why I cam e up with this one.
Hello Barry, super excited about fixing this recipe this weekend, have a quick question..I am using a stand mixer, would I still use the whisk attachment or can I use the paddle attachment?
I'd make sure my butter was soft and use the whisk attachment for the first sage. You can use the paddle attachment to fold in the dry ingredients if you want.
By the way, I always find it funny when Americans use the term "fixing" for preparing food. I always think, why?....is it broken? LOL! Are you from the south? I love travelling the southern states and of course, eating all that great food. I may be heading down later this summer for another road trip.
Thanks Barry! lol, I am actually from DC, it is sometimes considered the south! lol lol.
One last question, can this recipe be baked in a 9 x 13? Also, can this recipe be doubled?
Should be ok in a 9x13 and yes it can be doubled.
Yes, that what some of us in the South say. I say I'm making a cake, but I might say I'm fixing dinner.
Should I sift cake and all purpose flour first, then measure and sift again? Or just measure and sift?
I spoon into measuring cups and level with the back of a knife. I almost never sift flour before measuring.
Have you baked this recipe in a bundt pan? And, have you ever added things to the batter? I have a "recipe" for a box cake mix that you add pudding mix into to make a very very moist, yet fairly light double chocolate chip bundt cake. We love it, but I don't like using mixes - all those chemicals. Anyway, I think I'll try your recipe in place of the box mixes....
I think the normal recipe for two layers should be ok for a bundt pan. Did you try it?
What if you want to make a smaller version with one layer?
Half the recipe?
Excited to try this recipe! Do you think would this work in a 12x18 pan if i doubled the recipe?
Wow that's a big pan. 1 1/2 times the recipe might be a better option.
I am glad that I saw your comment! Did the 1.5 recipe work for the 12x18 pan? I am using two of these pans to make a giant kit-kat cake for my husbands birthday.
I realize this is REALLY LATE... I used 4 times the batter of the “velvet” chocolate recipe. (Pretty much the same) I couldn’t find my original pan so I had to buy a new dark, non-stick Wilton 12x18. I used 4 batches of batter (the second one I left about 1 cup out since the first had a lot of spillage). Per time I baked (3 total). The first I did at 325°F with 1 flower nail for 2 hours. It was burnt. (I forgot about it and was in a different room). The second one I used 3 flower nails and baked it at 300°F for 95 minutes. Toothpick came out clean! It was amazing! I would rather have used 2 heating cores but my Walmart doesn’t carry them, and it was middle of the night. Anyway, hope this helps. I was able to use the burnt cake to make a hill and used the centers to make cake pops! My husband said I have to up my icing game now that I’ve found the perfect cake recipe! (I’ve always just used mixes! The horror!)
Wow! Finally a moist cake. Its as moist as a box cake but tastes better. Thanks!!! I just made Cupcakes.
Glad you liked it!
Do you use the extra yolks primarily for color or do you find them necessary for the taste/texture. I have a standard recipe that I use that everyone seems to love ( I really don't care for cake much ironically); but I notice that when people get cakes from bakeries, (not supermarkets in particular), they are always very light in color-would omitting the egg yolks ruin the dexterity of your recipe? I only use 3 (whole) and mine is fairly yellow...I just wonder every time I see one that is substantially whiter than mine, and still good (not lacking). Is this recipe sturdy for stacking and fondant?
Thanks!
I did it for the colour. You can use whole eggs if you prefer.
Would you recommend 4?
The white velvet cake recipe would lend itself to the lighter color you desire!