Moist Yellow Cake Recipe (Old Fashioned)
Why does yellow cakes give folks such a hard time? It’s one of those cakes that if you find a great yellow cake recipe, you stick with it! I’ve been testing out yellow cake recipes off and on for awhile now.
The problem with homemade yellow cake is:
1.) It’s hard to find a from scratch yellow cake recipe that has the texture of a fluffy box yellow cake but that buttery, homemade taste of a scratch-made yellow cake. I can’t tell you how many dry, crumbly and/or eggy tasting yellow cakes I’ve had in the past.
2.) Um…I can’t think of anything else right now.
I’m here to tell you that YES YOU CAN have a scratch made fluffy, moist, yellow cake with a beautiful crumb texture. YES YOU CAN have that classic buttery-vanilla taste of a homemade yellow cake WITH simple ingredients. YES. YOU.CAN!!! YES. YOU. CAN!!! Sorry I’m literally sitting on the couch watching Nutty Professor while I write this blog post. Remember that part?
Anyways, I’ve been fortunate to come across some really good yellow cake recipes, but something in me just can’t seem to stop searching, kinda like with macaroni and cheese. Never satisfied even when you’re satisfied. Well today I want to share the homemade yellow cake recipe I’ve been making for years.
It’s that classic, old fashioned yellow cake recipe with simple pure ingredients. No butter flavored shortening (which I normally put in cakes) or sour cream or yogurt (which I also love to put in cakes). It’s the kind of yellow cake I grew up eating, with homemade chocolate butter cream frosting, sprinkles and candles (yes yellow cake taste best with candles. I don’t know why but it just does!)
This yellow cake recipe is the stuff old school birthdays were made of. You know, when most moms actually made every birthday cake from scratch. Wait, am I telling my age?? I digress…
This yellow cake recipe bakes up super moist, fluffy and velvety soft without the eggy taste that really irks me. My grandmother occasionally adds in butter flavoring to take the buttery taste over the edge, but I never seem to have that stuff on hand so I don’t add it in. I think it taste great without it. Although, if you really like the taste of boxed yellow cake, you may want to add that butter-flavored extract to replicate the taste.
Watch me make this moist, homemade yellow cake from start to finish!
Get the Recipe: Fluffy, Moist Homemade Yellow Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened, room temperature (do not microwave)
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 eggs, separated, room temperature
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325. F.
- Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar.
- Add in egg yolks and vanilla, mixing until fully incorporated. Set aside.
- In a seperate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk.
- Mix until batter is fluffy but be careful not to over mix.
- Beat egg whites until stiff and thick. (holds a nice peak)
- Very gently fold egg whites into batter and mix JUST until incorporated.
- Pour batter into prepared pans and spread into even layers.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let cake cool in pans until pans are warm to the touch.
- Carefully remove cakes from pan and place on a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- When cakes are completely cooled frost with chocolate buttercream frosting.
Video
Did This Yellow Cake Sink In the Middle?
*NOTE** Hey guys!! I see ya down there in the comments section (waving) and I see this cake is giving a lot of you a hard time with sinking in the middle (so sorry). Yellow cakes are notorious for giving folks a hard time and I was so sure this one would be a breeze for everyone. Ok let’s look into this.
I’ve tried to troubleshoot this cake so many times to see what could be causing the sinking but it comes out great for me each time. Go figure! I thought about removing the recipe and adding another in it’s place but so many have equally told me that it’s the best yellow cake recipe they’ve ever had.
It really is a GREAT cake and I’d love for you to experience it so I’ve listed some tips below that may help. Meanwhile I’ll also post my grandmothers yellow cake recipe as well (although I prefer this one).
What causes a yellow cake to sink in the middle:
1.) BEAT EGG WHITES CORRECTLY AND GENTLY FOLD THEM IN THOROUGHLY. I’m not yelling at you, I just want you to understand the importance of beating those whites until they are thick AND gently folding them in completely. It’s crucial for any cake that requires this method. If not, it could cause the cake to sink in the middle.
2.) Fresh baking powder. Make sure your baking powder is not expired. No seriously go check right now, you might be surprised.
3.) Don’t open the oven while the cake it cooking. Use the oven light if you want to peek at the cake.
4.) Don’t overbeat. Once you add in the flour be very careful about mixing to long. You just want the flour incorporated. I think this is the main reason cakes tend to sink.
5.) Increase baking time. If your cake looks like it’s still uncooked in the center let it cook a bit longer until the top springs back when touched. Keep a close eye on it.
This is the most amazing cake I have ever tried. And I love baking. I made this with a lemon glaze and it is so moist and mouthwatering. i also made this into a 9×13. It was gone very quickly!!! I had no issues with this cake at all. I followed ur directions and plan on making this for Easter as well as about every other day lol. It’s kindof bittersweet for me. Thanks but now I have found something I love and will have to workout even harder so I can eat this often lol. Thanks again!!!
OMG! This was my 1st time EVER making a cake from scratch and I followed your steps & followed your warnings. Let me tell yall, this cake is simply DIVINE! It is so fluffy and yummy! I had FUN making this cake, too. My cake did NOT sink in. I did not plan on using all the batter for two cakes, instead I made 12 cupcakes and a 1 layer cake. I gave my cupcakes to some of my friends when we went out & they were asking for more! I topped my cake with store bough Vanilla whipped icing b/c i didn’t feel like making homemade icing. Also, the cake was a a little on the too sweet side for me, next time I may use only 1 or 1 & a half cups of sugar. Still delicious! I’ll be making your homemade cookies next! 🙂 Thanks, girl, you have been a lifesaver in my kitchen 🙂
I made this cake with a strawberry cream cheese frosting , and it was DELICIOUS! It was really easy to make and came out perfect , I will be making it again 🙂
This was the first homemade cake I have ever made. It came out delicious! I followed your warning about not over beating and being extra gentle with the egg whites and it really came out great. The only thing I would change next time is use cake flour. I didn’t realize there was a difference and I used all purpose flour.
Otherwise, see some recipe! Thank you!
Hey there! I have tried these recipes and they always come out great! I am just really bad with measurements! I need to make 2 14-inch red velvet cakes and 2 12-inch yellow cake and 2 10-inch chocolate cake. Would it be the same amount of ingredients for each cake, or how do I know how much more to increase? It would?mean a lot if you could assist me!(:,
Hi Ana,
Don’t know if you have made these yet or not, but just double or triple your recipes for larger cake sizes. And if you have any leftover batter just bake it and save it for later use. Hope this helps you. 🙂
I tried this recipe today and OMG I’m glad I did. This cake is so delicious and moist. The cake is certainly delicate to say the least. You have to be very careful when taking it out of the pan. I let my cake sit in the pan for about 20 minutes before removing and you have to be gentle. As far as whipping the egg whites (whip until their medium peaks) you don’t want firm peaks because it’ll be too hard to fold in to your batter. DO NOT OPEN YOUR OVEN WHEN YOUR CAKE IS BAKING. I checked my cake at the 25 minute mark (my oven tends to run a little hotter than normal) and it was ready. Opening the oven door can sink your cake, it has happened to me too many times long ago. I topped with diva’s chocolate whipped buttercream and it was the BOMB! Thank you diva! I would love to see your version of a strawberry cake from scratch!