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.) Â 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.
O.M.G this cake IS THE BOMB! I made it and I’m eating some now..it came out perfect. No issues with sinking in the middle, very moist and light!
Do i have to make any alterations to the recipe if i want to make them as cupcakes instead of just a regular cake?
I saw fit to post a comment, as it is not my norm to do so, but this cake was fantastic! This was the lightest cake I have ever made. I decided to use butter flavor vegetable shortening in place of butter and the results were fantastic. I only used 1.5 c sugar, hit the filled cake pans on the counter a few times to release air bubbles and also used parchment to help with the release. I didn’t have any issues with the cake rising or releasing. I will make this cake again but use butter and experiment with different flavors.
This is my go to yellow cake recipe. I have made it with a homemade strawberry filling, pineapple-coconut filling, coconut, chocolate cream cheese and plain cream cheese icing filling. I AM the Cake Woman amongst my family and friends. I have never had a cake to fall, probably because my ingredients are at room temperature, and I mix everything before the egg whites only enough to combine. The same with the whites. The instructions are accurate. Waiting for the family reunion bake off. I am gonna kick arse. Hats off to the Diva who came up with this one! Got 2 cooling right now (Christmas cakes by popular demand, as it fancies up sooo well.)
I am a die hard “from-scratch” kind of gal, but there is something I can’t resist when it comes to boxed yellow cake mix. I made this recipe tonight and it is the closest I have ever come to recreating the box. Recipe as written made 26 regular-sized cupcakes for me, which should have been stretched to 28 (they overflowed and made a mess–my fault for being greedy!) Plan to make this my go-to yellow cake recipe, although I may try reducing the sugar by 1/4 cup. Thanks so much!
Hi guys!!! Ok so even though I absolutely ADORE this cake I’ve notice that it’s a hit and miss with others. It can definitely be a delicate process when dealing with egg white and the possibility of over mixing. So I’ll be listing another yellow cake recipe that has room for error.
I have not tried this recipe yet. Do you have anything that shows “How to fold in the egg whites”? Also how can you tell if you have overmixed the batter?
Thanks,
W.T
My yellow cake did not sink, I added 1/3 cup more of buttermilk and I added 3 tspns of butter extract. I also baked mine at 350 for 45-50 ( basically until it was golden)