Yellow Birthday Cake

4.52 from 25 votes

This moist yellow cake has a fine crumb and wonderful flavor. We love it with chocolate buttercream but it would pair perfectly with countless fillings and frosting flavors!

Course: Cakes and Cupcakes

Servings:

Author: Melissa and Bebe

Ingredients

For the Yellow Cake Layers

2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
2 cups sugar (400g)
3 large eggs, room temperature (if in a hurry, place the eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes)
3 additional egg yolks room temperature
1 cup sour cream (we use full fat) (242g)
½ cup milk (we use whole milk) (120g)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (8g)
3 cups cake flour *See substitution below (342g)
3 teaspoons baking powder (12g)
½ teaspoon salt (4g)
¼ cup vegetable oil (we use canola oil) (54g)

For the Rich Chocolate Buttercream

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened 226g) unsalted butter
1 ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (108g)
6 cups powdered sugar (690g)
½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk or cream ( add more milk if needed or more powdered sugar if too thin) (Add additional milk in small amounts as needed for desired consistency. )
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (8g)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 3 (8x2) inch or 2 (9x2) inch round cake pans. We like having 3 layers because we like more filling.
In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to blend for 30 seconds. Set aside.
In another bowl or measuring cup, combine the sour cream, milk, oil, and vanilla extract
In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until fluffy and lightened in color.
Add the 3 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients, 2 of wet). Mix until combined and smooth- approximately 20-30 seconds after last addition.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool 5-10 minutes, then turn out.

For the Rich Chocolate Buttercream

In a saucepan over low heat, melt the butter. Take off the heat and stir in cocoa powder. Stir until well combined and smooth.
Pour the mixture into the mixing bowl, allow to cool a bit. With the mixer on low speed, add the powdered sugar and milk, alternating the two.
Add the vanilla. Mix on medium speed for 4 to 5 minutes until frosting is smooth and creamy. If the frosting is too thick, add a tablespoon or two more until you reach desired creaminess.
Makes 5 ½ cups frosting

Decorating the Cake

Place the first cake layer on the cake plate or pedestal and spread with frosting. Repeat for the next two layers and crumb coat (thin coat of frosting).
At this point I like to chill the cake 10 minutes in the freezer (or longer in the refrigerator) to firm things up before applying the final coat of frosting.
Add the final coat of frosting. If you are going with a smooth finish, you can run a bench scraper or spatula around the sides of the cake as you rotate it. (I heat my bench scraper under hot water & dry it before smoothing) Clean up the top edge as needed, removing excess frosting.
I added a piped design of shells using a large 2D star tip and a smaller tip 21 star tip.

Notes

Substitution for Cake Flour:

If you have no cake flour, here is a substitution: For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.