There are some days when only a BIG slice of buttery homemade Yellow Cake will do. Preferably, slathered in a generous coat of rich chocolate buttercream, but I’m not picky!
If you’ve been searching for the perfect scratch Yellow Cake recipe, look no further. Today we’re excited to share a perfectly fluffy, moist and flavor-packed scratch Yellow Cake recipe with you.
Just look at this beautiful Yellow Cake!! Ahhhhh….
Everyone needs a go-to homemade Yellow Cake recipe, and this one deserves a place in your recipe file of favorites. It’s our go-to. This recipe is not only delicious, but it’s so versatile!
This moist scratch yellow cake recipe also works perfectly for yellow cupcakes! The cake layers are very moist and soft, but sturdy enough for fondant, and it makes a great base cake recipe for adding extracts and flavorings.
When we created our popular homemade Marble Cake recipe, we just had to base it on this satisfying yellow cake recipe. So on days when you need a little extra chocolate with your yellow cake, don’t miss our delicious Marble Cake recipe (pictured towards the bottom of this post).
Yellow cake layers are often used in Coconut Cakes as well! This is the yellow cake recipe that we use for our coconut cakes, (plus a little coconut extract.) Heavenly!
Mmmmmm…..
Now let’s talk about frosting.
I can’t think of a frosting that doesn’t taste fantastic with yellow cake, but chocolate buttercream is my personal favorite.
Homemade yellow cake with chocolate buttercream is such a classic combination! I loved scratch yellow cake with chocolate frosting growing up, and still do. We’ve shared our FAVORITE classic chocolate buttercream recipe below.
Like several of our scratch cake recipes from our Recipes Section, this yellow cake recipe uses the reverse creaming method of mixing. If you are unfamiliar with this mixing method, the ingredients are added in a different order than you may be used to.
The result is a tighter crumb, and velvety melt-in-your-mouth texture. The instructions are listed in our recipe below, but if you would like more information on the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing, you may be interested in watching our video!: Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing
We hope that you enjoy this moist and delicious scratch yellow cake as much as we have!
*Special thanks to my Aunt Kay for sharing her mother’s recipe with us that we have all fallen in love with over the years!
Yellow Cake {Scratch Recipe}
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup (242 g) milk
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract (If making a coconut cake, add an additional 1 teaspoon coconut extract)
- 2 Tablespoons (18 g) vegetable oil
- 2 1/2 cups (285 g) cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (6 g) salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons (12 g) baking powder
- 1 1/2 sticks (12 T) (169 g) unsalted butter, softened (do not soften in the microwave) I cut into 1/2 inch slices onto waxed paper to soften slightly, it should remain cool for good results. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate for 5 minutes
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 8 inch pans.
- *This recipe uses the Reverse Creaming Method
- In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, flavorings (if making a coconut cake, add an additional teaspoon of coconut), and vegetable oil.
- In the bowl of your mixer, combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.
- Whisk the dry ingredients for 30 seconds to combine. With your mixer on low to medium speed, slowly add the pieces of butter, a few pieces at a time. Beat until the dry ingredients are moistened by the butter and look like crumbly coarse sand. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there is no dry flour. SLOWLY with the mixer on low speed add approximately 1/2 of the egg mixture to the dry ingredients increasing to medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes, the batter will be thick and fluffy. Scrape the bowl and add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings, scraping the bowl and beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pans 10 minutes then turn out.
- Makes 6 1/2 cups batter
As mentioned above, we are also sharing our FAVORITE Classic Chocolate Buttercream Frosting Recipe! Don’t even think about canned chocolate frosting. I promise, this creamy chocolate buttercream tastes a million times better and is SO easy to make!
Here’s a link to this chocolatey, flavorful, pipeable frosting: Classic Chocolate Buttercream
We love to use this homemade yellow cake recipe as a base of our marble cake. When you can’t decide if you’d rather have yellow cake or chocolate cake, marble cake is the answer!
Find the deliciousness here: Marble Cake Recipe!
Don’t miss our full collection of favorite cake, filling, and frosting recipes in our Recipes Section, and tons of free step by step cake and video tutorials in our Free Cake Tutorials section!
Finally, if you would like to become a member of MyCakeSchool.com, we would love to have you!! Members have access to our entire cake video tutorial library, which includes hundreds of cake video tutorials!
No matter what your cake decorating skill level, there is always something exciting and new to learn! You can find all of the information here: Join MyCakeSchool.com!
Happy Baking!
Hi Velda, We are so happy that you like the chocolate cake recipe. As for the yellow cake, it is called a yellow cake because of the whole eggs in the recipe giving it a yellow tint. Your vanilla cake could definitely be very similar.
Could you please clarify …In the video on the reverse creaming method, the wet ingredients are just poured in and then the mixer is turned on. In your description above it says “SLOWLY” add in egg mixture while mixer is on low speed. Which is the prope way of adding the egg mixture ? Should you have mixture off as in the video and once egg mixture is added in, you then turned the mixture on or have mixer running on low while you ate slowly pouring/adding egg mixture in ? Thank you.
Hi Steph, Go with the recipe directions to slowly add 1/2 of the liquid, and then increasing the speed to medium.
Hi Steph- Thanks for catching that! It’s been a while since we’ve watched this how-to video on the reverse creaming since we use this method so often and over the years we’ve slightly adjusted that step. Although it would probably be okay if you forget to slowly pour the first addition, (and of course our cake came out just fine in the video), we do prefer to add that first addition of the egg mixture slowly now as the mixer is running based on some troubleshooting we did in another recipe. Looks like we need to make an update for our video! ;0) I hope that you enjoy the cake!
Thank you Bebe and Melissa for responding so quickly! I have made several of your cakes and have been very happy with the results! Thanks again.
Can I make this cake the usual way, instead of reverse creaming? Every time I reverse cream a cake it fails to rise. I have fresh ingredients and follow the process to the letter. I just don’t like doing it this way but I do want my cakes to turn out.
Hi Tracey, Yes, you can make this recipe using the conventional mixing method. Scroll up to the post on Feb. 19th. Another member wanted to use the conventional method and I posted the recipe written that way in my answer.
BeBe,
Thank you so much!!
Have a great holiday weekend,
Tracey
Your recipe calls for oil, but the instructions say add in the “butter”. Please explain.
Hi Cee, this recipe calls for both oil & butter.
I love your recipes. They turn out awesome, delicious and very moist. I’m just wondering why my yellow cake don’t look yellow like in the picture. I follow the recipe exactly.
Hi Rena, the photo may have a slightly more yellow appearance just from the lighting..but the yellow in a yellow cake comes from the butter and whole eggs in the recipe. You may have noticed that some brands of butter are a deeper shade of yellow than others. This also plays a role in how yellow the cake appears.
Hi! Melissa, Thankyou!!! for giving us my cake school. Please! I need help with doubling the recipe.
I have 13 1/2 x 10 3/4 x 3 inch deep pan. Planning to double the yellow cake recipe, should I just go ahead and double all the ingredients or do I need to adjust leavening agents accordingly. If so, can you please! tell how many tsp. baking powder to use.
Thankyou!
Hi Swati, You should double all the ingredients. Do you have experience with baking in 3 inch deep pans? Some bakers have trouble with deep pans because the outside of the cake becomes over baked because it bakes more quickly than the center of the cake. It is often best to lower the oven temperature by 25 degrees. Adding bake even strips to the pans also helps with more even baking.
Thankyou! for replying immediately. This is my first time baking with 3inch deep pan, I appreciate your advice and will follow them. I don’t have even baking strips but I’ll bake at 325 degree. Can one or two flower nails placing in the center as heating core will help with even baking of the cake?
Hi Swati, Yes, using 2 flower nails in the center will be helpful. Below is a link to a youtube video of making your own bake even strips, if you want to give it a try. Also, I am not sure how much longer you will need to bake your cake with the temperature reduced to 325. Don’t check too early with a toothpick in the center or it could cause the cake to sink in the middle. I hope all goes well.
link to youtube.com
Had great success baking double batch of yellow cake at 325 degree for 68mins. Used 13 3/4 x 10 3/4 x 3 inch pan with 2 flower nails.
Thankyou! Very much for your tips & guidelines.
That is great, I’m glad all went well. Thanks for much for letting me know.