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.
One of the best cakes I have ever made. I baked in 9 inch pans, I multiplied by 1 1/2 and made three layers. I used an icing recipe that was mostly melted bittersweet and semisweet chocolate, I highly recommend.
So glad it was such a success. People love this cake!
Hi This looks like a great recipe! Thanks for posting.
The recipe calls for sifted all purpose and sifted cake flour. Doesn't this mean the flour should be sifted before it is measured?
Thanks.
Pete
I sift and measure.
Hi I've been looking for a from scratch yellow cake recipe that tastes like a box cake mix. Is this the recipe I've been searching years for? Thanks in advance!
To make a pineapple upside down cake can i just add pineapple juice instead of some of the buttermilk and pour the batter into pan lined with sugar and pineapple? would it work? would it be good? Because I seen a recipe where you use a yellow box cake and add pineapple juice, but i want to make it from scratch. 🙂
Hard to tell exactly what you mean here. Did you search our site for Pineapple Upside down cake? Try that recipe.
Thank you for the recipe. It was easy to follow. I'm not sure what I did wrong because my cake turned out more crumbly than I expected. It was still delicious and I made the chocolate butter cream frosting with it, also delicious. Please help me so next time it's not so fall apart crumbly. It made it a little difficult to frost.
Hmmm, sounds over-baked. Utry turning down the oven by 25 degrees and check the toothpick test earlier. You want this cake to be just at the point where the toothpick comes out perfectly clean.
Barry, Barry, Barry!!!!! I have really struck gold with your yellow cake recipe! I have tried (and discarded) so many other recipes I've tried on line and I am FINALLY proud to say that I can make a truly delicious homemade yellow cake using your recipe. It pairs really well with my chocolate ganache frosting. You are such a blessing. Thanks so much for sharing!
I don't expect this cake to be as good as my family recipe, but I have to say , very delicious, moist, just excellent, words alone can't describe, my family was really amazed, they gave great remarks, thanks
Will definitely be making this again
I didn't expect this cake to be as good as my family recipe, but I have to say , very delicious, moist, just excellent, words alone can't describe, my family was really amazed, they gave great remarks, thanks
Its been years of using the family recipe for yellow cake that I've always used, I was very hesitant on making this because I didn't expect it to taste so amazing, I had to put my foot in my mouth, I'm not suppose to eat cake but I had to taste it to see how it was, if I had five thumbs I would put them up, very moist, exquisite taste, firm, I was just blown away, everyone gave excellent comments, I will be using this recipe again, thank you for sharing.
I am excited to make this cake. Should my eggs and egg yolks be at room temperature before I start?
I always use them straight from the fridge, but your choice.
I've tried many yellow cake recipes and I've found most of them to be too similar to a pound cake. So I didn't want to get my hopes up with this cake. BUT, I was pleasantly surprised. It was the perfect yellow cake! It's moist, not too dense, and has great flavour. This'll be my go-to yellow cake from now on. Thanks!
I have been reading all the comments on here and I have a question.......a couple people asked about sifting the flour before or after you measure. I noticed you answered one by saying that you almost never sift before measuring the flour, then another you answered “I sift and measure”. Can you please clarify if you sift and then measure or vise versa? Thank you so much!
I use cps for dry measures. I spoon the flour into the cup until heaped over, then level with the back of a knife.
Do you fold in the dry and wet ingredients to the sugar mixture by hand or do you continue to use the whisk attachment on your mixer? I haven't tasted yet...tonight for a friend's birthday but I did like how it looked after baking!
I'm a hand folder by habit.
I made the cake and it's really good can I use a 9x3.8 cm for 3 layers without it being double?.
Assuming your pans are the same height, you can always calculate total area of the pans to compare.
This was the best yellow cake I have ever had, and I’ve tried a lot! I need to make cupcakes this weekend and am hoping to use this recipe. Will that work? What kind of adjustments need to be made? Baking time? Any idea how many it will make? Thanks in advance!
This recipe can be made as cupcakes. Depending on your pan size 15 to 20 minutes bake time. Let the toothpick test be the ultimate judge of when they are fully baked. Watch carefully and don't overbake. Record your baking time for next time.