Best Homemade Yellow Cake Recipe Ever
A tried-and-true recipe for a classic yellow cake recipe that really is the best yellow cake! Made from scratch, it is tender and so fluffy and moist!
Well, the day is finally here. As many of you know, I’ve been on a quest to perfect the best yellow cake on the planet.
And this is it.
While this post is a bit involved (I couldn’t help but share the testing results with you!), the truth is, the actual best yellow cake recipe is super simple so don’t let the explanations scare you.
If you follow the recommendations thoroughly, you’ll end up with the fluffiest, most delicious yellow cake ever.
The Evolution of Testing the Perfect Yellow Cake
When I first set out to perfect the best yellow cake, I started with three recipes popular online (David’s Yellow Cake from allrecipes.com, Deb’s yellow birthday cake from smittenkitchen.com and Cook’s Illustrated Yellow Layer Cake).
I made each of them as is. While I am a fan of each of these sites and resources, respectively, the cakes were all lacking to me.
David’s Yellow Cake was a little dry with kind of a weird, spongy texture, the cake from Smitten Kitchen was reminiscent of cornbread and the Cook’s Illustrated yellow cake was by far the driest of them all.
I set about modifying ingredients and amounts and methods and while someone smarter than I probably could have pared the testing down to just a couple of cakes, what can I say, it took me a while.
Ok, let’s talk…
I’ve jotted down all the details of why the type of ingredients/method matters for this cake. Read on, read on!
The Butter
- I’ve mentioned it before, but I rarely use unsalted butter.
- I tested this cake with both unsalted and salted and adjusted the salt amount accordingly. In the end, there wasn’t a difference in outcome, so I stuck with my go-to: salted butter.
- I use the Land o’ Lakes brand mostly (sometimes the Sam’s Club brand). If you want to use unsalted butter, increase the salt to 1 teaspoon.
- Also, butter temperature really matters. It should be soft enough to gently slide a finger through with a bit of pressure but not sludgy, greasy or overly soft.
- The time I accidentally used overly soft butter (uh, it somehow stayed on the counter for, like, 12 hours because even though I love baking, my five kids still take precedence over making a yellow cake), it resulted in a greasy, weirdly spongy cake.
- I did not test this cake with margarine, coconut oil, shortening or the like so you’ll have to experiment with those if desired.
- Also, whipping that butter for a good 1-2 minutes is extra important. And beating the heck out of it and the sugar for another 4-5 is non-negotiable. Doing this creates air which helps create fluffiness in the baked cake.
- The cake(s) that I tested where the butter was minimally whipped were not nearly as fluffy. And fluffy = greatness.
The Eggs
I know, I know. Using room temperature eggs is a total pain in the behind.
I’m right there with you! I hate recipes that require it. And so when I first started testing cakes, I refused to do it.
And my cakes were looking like this:
- So I crumbled, no pun intended, and used room temperature eggs the next time I made a cake and the difference was remarkable.
- Light and fluffy…where before the cake was slightly dense and a bit crumbly.
- There may have been other factors at play, but as I messed around with the recipe, it was very, very clear that room temperature eggs are important.
- If you are like me and often forget to plan in advance, don’t fret – place those chilled eggs in a bowl or liquid measure filled with very slightly warm water for 15-ish minutes and you’ll be good to go.
- Speaking of the eggs, in my testing, I ended up scaling down the whole eggs from four to three and adding an egg yolk or two to replace the missing whole egg – two egg yolks managed to be the perfect answer.
- Egg whites add structure but can take away moisture from baked goods, hence the three whole eggs + two egg yolks in the recipe.
- Don’t be like me and get tempted to sub a whole egg for the two egg yolks. You’ll get a pretty decent cake but not a fantastic, best-ever cake.
- However, when I used all egg yolks and no whites, the cake was slightly gummy and not as fluffer-fluffy as I wanted.
The Milk + Sour Cream
- I was sure that plain old milk was the only liquid I needed in my cake.
- At about cake #10, I was fairly positive it needed to be one cup of whole milk, even though the thought made me cringe since I never have whole milk on hand.
- I was befuddled why I was getting a really, really good cake that was still just so, very slightly dry.
- In the end, it wasn’t necessarily dryness but a lack of tenderness I was noticing.
- And the adjustment of sour cream to compensate for the reduced milk did just the trick (plus adding baking soda in for the acidity in combination with the already present baking powder, which took a couple rounds because I misjudged the amount of baking soda at first and there was so much leavening power in the cake that it sank in the middle…badly…however, once the baking powder and soda were adjusted accordingly, the cake was magnificent).
- The real plus was that after I added sour cream, I used 1% milk instead of whole without sacrificing any moisture or tenderness.
The Flour
- As much as my heart wanted a fabulous yellow cake without having to use cake flour, it didn’t happen.
- The cakes I made with all-purpose flour were dry and dense with a much coarser crumb, slightly reminiscent of dry cornbread.
- Cake flour is lower protein than all-purpose flour and also has a finer texture (thanks to the starch in it) which results in a much finer crumb in a baked cake. The good news is that even though the recipe requires cake flour, you can make your own (my kitchen tip from yesterday gives you two super easy methods).
- If you have a kitchen scale, use it. You’ll get very precise results.
- If you don’t have a kitchen scale, buy one. Ok, just joking. Kind of. I know not everyone can do that (but you should really put it on your wish list). If you are measuring using cups, measure with a light hand. Spoon the cake flour into the cup and gently level off with a flat edge.
- For this recipe, if you are making your own cake flour, don’t mess with making one cup at a time, instead, I’ve done the math for you: you’ll need 210 grams of all-purpose flour and 45 grams of cornstarch. Sift it twice. Then add the baking powder, baking soda, salt and sift once more. Make sense?
- Also, for high altitude, I’ve got your back. Ok, actually, my friend, Lisa, has your back. She tested this recipe for me – she lives at 5,400 feet elevation.
- She made the cake twice, the first time it fell significantly. She added an additional 2 1/2 tablespoons cake flour (if using a homemade cake flour substitute, that would be about 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch) and the cake baked up perfectly (along with a slight increase in baking time and buttering the heck out of the pans).
Sifting
- This sifting action, called for in the recipe, is in addition to any sifting you may have done if you are making your own cake flour.
- You don’t need to sift twice, just give the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda a quick sift through a fine mesh strainer.
- This was one of the last variables to add to the best yellow cake recipe. The last few cakes I made were so good. But just not quite there.
- Once I sifted the dry ingredients prior to incorporating into the batter, the results were far superior – lighter and fluffier (let’s see how many times I can use those two descriptors in this post).
The Batter
- Ah, the gorgeous batter. It may look just slightly curdled and that’s ok.
- Spread it evenly in the pan, and give it a quick tap or light drop on the counter.
- When I didn’t do this, there were significant air bubbles in the baked cake. You don’t want to drop it from the rooftop like a crazy egg-drop challenge and you don’t need to tap more than once, just a quick light drop will suffice.
- I only ever baked the cake in two 9-inch pans to keep testing criteria similar, however, I think it could also be made in three 8-inch pans.
- Cupcakes and sheet cakes will have to be an experiment until someone reports back. I have them on my radar also, but it may be a little while before I actually try them.
- As for the cake pans, significant greasing (with butter and cooking spray and possibly flour, too) is needed for the cake not to stick. I also line the bottom of the greased pan with a parchment round that I’ve cut out and then grease the top of it.
- My magic number for baking was right at 27 minutes; however, keep in mind that all ovens vary slightly.
- Lisa, my awesome friend who tested high altitude baking for me, needed more like 30 minutes for her cakes (she made the recipe twice).
One Year Ago: Six Recipes the World Forgot {Part 3}
Two Years Ago: Paprika Chicken Stroganoff
Three Years Ago: Naan – Indian Flatbread
Perfected Yellow Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup (227 g) butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (371 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 ¼ cups (255 g) cake flour, lightly measured, see note for high altitude adjustments
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda, see note
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk, 1% or above, room temperature
- ½ cup sour cream, light or regular, room temperature
Instructions
- To prep, whisk together the milk and sour cream together in a liquid measure and let come to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and make sure an oven rack is placed in the middle of the oven.
- In a large bowl of an electric stand mixer or with a handheld electric mixer, whip the butter on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Add the granulated sugar and beat for 4-5 minutes on medium speed. Mix in the vanilla.
- One at a time, add the eggs and egg yolks, mixing just until combined in between additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Combine the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift them together through a fine mesh strainer.
- Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add 1/2 of the milk/sour cream mixture and mix. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, mixing just until combined. Add the last 1/2 of the milk/sour cream mixture and beat until just combined. Add the final 1/3 of the dry ingredients and mix just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary. Give the batter one good, final stir with the rubber spatula.
- Grease the cake pans and line the bottoms with a parchment round. Grease the parchment and sides of the pan again very well. I use regular cooking spray but you can also use butter or cooking spray with flour. If your cake pans tend to cause sticking, consider also flouring the pans.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two pans. Drop each pan from about 3-inches onto the counter to minimize air bubbles while baking.
- Bake for 25-28 minutes (high altitude: 28-30 minutes) until lightly golden around the edges and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs. Resist the urge to open and close the oven to check on the cake – this can cause the center of the cake to fall and never recover. And as with all cakes, don’t overbake or the cake will be dry.
- Let the cakes rest in the pans for 5-10 minutes before gently turning them onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Recipe Source: Mel’s Kitchen Cafe
Special Thanks To…
A special, super, huge thank you to two very important people (I kind of feel like I’m giving an acceptance speech at The National Convention for Best Yellow Cakes here):
Nicole, a wonderful friend of mine, was the one who finally gave me the insight I needed for the last step in perfecting this cake (a huge blessing because I didn’t know if I honestly had another yellow cake in me and her advice resulted in the.perfect.cake) and Lisa, sweetest sweetie ever, who willingly tested this cake for me (multiple times) in order to provide all you high altitude dwellers with essential tips for success.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I baked this yesterday as a trial run for my friend’s 25th birthday. I followed every instruction, except I baked it in a large copper heart pan (her birthday is also Valentine’s day). The texture was lovely, though a bit dry. I think that may have something to do with the large copper pan and possibly a minute too long in the oven. However, the taste was lacking depth. It somehow fell short of expectations. Maybe it needs more vanilla? I’m not sure. The batter was scrumptious, but once baked it lost some of its character. Perhaps it was the pan, but it was a lot of trouble to go through for my friend to declare it tastes like box mix.
This is the best yellow cake recipe! I have tried several recipes and was thinking that a from scratch yellow cake, that tasted good and was not dry, wasn’t possible. Thank you Mel.
Would it be ok for me to make in a 9×13 instead of the cake pans? Have you tried it?
Many people up in the comment thread have made it in a 9X13 with great results.
hello ,Mel I made the yellow cake and everyone loved it.But my guestion is why after 3days the cake start to get a litter dry and it was kept under a cake doom?
I think most cakes tend to dry out after a few days – that’s my best guess as to why your cake dried out after several days.
Mel – thank you for a great recipe. I’ve tried cook’s illustrated’s and smitten’s yellow layer cake as well and this one is clearly the best. do you prefer this chocolate frosting or your magical chocolate frosting? I used magical (with 5 oz of chocolate) and it was great but still not a perfect 10/10. The vanilla magical frosting is perfect, but the chocolate, in my book, can be better. I find the flavor of both vanilla and chocolate magical frosting to be similar to swiss buttercream. have you ever tried that?
Hi Johnny – yes, I’ve tried Swiss buttercream and I agree that the magical frosting is similar in taste. I actually prefer the whipped chocolate frosting on my site for this yellow cake. It’s perfection (in my book).
I made this cake today for my birthday. My brother literally licked his plate clean of the whipped chocolate buttercream. Turned out great! Thank you for the wonderful directions!
I made this cake yesterday for my granddaughter’s 23rd birthday. We had a small dinner party of six. It came out very nicely (baked for 33 minutes in an 8 inch round pan) and I iced it with chocolate creamed cheese butter frosting. Rick, tall, delicious, nice looking presentation. Thanks for the recipe and mixing instructions.
Made as directed but hafted recipe and put into 12 cupcake tins. Cooked 20 minutes. Turned out absolutely perfect. I covered with a cream cheese icing and sprinkles. Husband was so impressed.
This is an amzaing recpie. i have tried so many cake recpies and htis is by far the best
thank you for doing so much reasearch and saving us the pain!
i never write on these things either so it realy left an imprint
I just made this cake for my son’s birthday and I can’t say enough about this recipe! This cake was absolutely delicious! The texture was perfect and it was moist and wonderful! This is the first yellow cake I found that is so delicious I would eat it without frosting. Thank you for this amazing recipe!
I never comment on blogs but because your recipes absolutely ROCK I felt compelled to say thank you! I am trying to limit the amount of gmos and pesticides my family is exposed to in food at home and your cake recipe absolutely eliminates the need for Duncan Hines or any other boxed cake mix! I am able to use all organic products and the cake taste absolutely awesome! I have mad it two days in a row and they demolished it both days…..thanks for your hard work and creativity! Yo are appreciated!
I forgot to add that I added a couple of teaspoons of sprinkles to half of the batter for confetti cupcakes. Those turned out great, too!
Thanks for all the work you put in to this recipe. I used it to make cupcakes for my son’s birthday. I made the recipe EXACTLY like it reads (making my own cake flour as directed). It turned out so great that one the adults who got to have one wrote me a thank you note! She said that it was the most moist cupcake she could remember having in her 75 years. She asked for the recipe and I sent her to your website. Thanks again!
So delicious!!! I made it as a sheet cake and it worked out great. It smelled so yummy while baking I had to eat a corner when it broke off lol. Thank you for sharing!!!
Thank you so much for working so hard and sharing your results. I have made this cake twice now, using 3 8-inch pans. The cake is so moist and very tasty. I have a question about the texture though. I’ve made other cakes that have a very small crumb, and they tend to be a little dry. Each time I’ve made this cake, the texture is similar to corn bread – a little heavy, with larger holes than I’d see in a yellow cake. Have you every had this result? Wondering if its the amount of baking powder? thanks for any advice you can give!
Hi Alison – that’s a good question, I experimented greatly with the amount of leavening when I was working on this recipe and so I’d hate to mess around with it – having said that, you could certainly try playing with the baking powder amount to see if it gets a finer crumb.
Hi, I made this for my birthday and it was divine! I’m wondering if anyone has made this as a bundt cake? If so, how did it go? My in-laws are in town this week and I have a beautiful new bundt pan that I’d like to use so I thought I’d try this recipe with it.
If anyone has any advice (updates to recipe, baking time, etc.), would love to hear them.
Thank you!
Amy
I haven’t made it in a bundt pan, Amy – good luck if you try it!
My cake collapsed. Now I am panicked to find time to make a cake for my 2 year old daughter’s birthday. This is the first negative thing I have ever written online but I have to warn others and save them from late night tears. Should have known seeing all the other comments and disclaimers.
Hi Jessica – I’m really sorry your cake didn’t work out. I know how frustrating that can be when you are down to the wire! I’m not sure what you mean by all the other comments and disclaimers – there are hundreds of unsolicited reviews for this recipe from people that have made it with great success (I’ve also made it dozens of times). I’m very sorry it didn’t work out for you!
This came out just as you said – moist, light and fluffy. My search for the perfect yellow cake is finally over – thank you SO much. I was wondering if you have ever tried storing or refrigerating this cake in the fridge? And does it keep it’s texture? Thank you again!
Hi Meredith – yes, I’ve stored the cake in the refrigerator. I think it does best served at room temperature so I try and take it out several hours before I want to serve it. As long as it is well-covered it does fine in the refrigerator.
I’ve made this cake at least 5 times with great results! Thank you so much for putting all that time into perfecting the cake so the rest of us can reap the benefits of it. Have you ever used this recipe as a base-recipe for a lemon cake? It seems like it would be wonderful but I’m not quite sure how to approach it .
I haven’t tried it as a lemon version, Margaret – but it sounds delightful. Let me know if you experiment!
This is indeed the perfect, moist, fluffy, yellow cake recipe I have ever tried baking. This is my go to cake now for my mocha nougat cake: yellow cake, creme patissiere, mocha italian meringue butter cream, and chopped peanut brittle. Thank you for going to the eleventh mile to figure it out!
I made this recipe and was struck stupid by how good it was! Thank you for putting the dedication into perfecting it, and sharing it with the world! I had to make a sheet cake bc that was the only pan I had on hand, and so it had to bake closer to 40 minutes. But the results were fantastic! You have made me a yellow cake lover 🙂
I made this cake yesterday for a friend’s birthday and it was absolutely delicious! I took it out at 25 minutes, but I should have checked it a couple minutes earlier because it think it would have been done around 23 minutes.
I want to say thank you. I have made 4 yellow cakes with different recipes from different websites and they all turn out, well, different. From dry, to dense, to cornbread, to just plain yucky. The last one I made was good and fluffy but was still a little dry. I will deff be trying yours when this new cake is gone. I had almost given up but that doesn’t get you anywhere. Thanks again.
I just stumbled across your yellow cake recipe. You are a lady after my own heart! I can’t wait to read your blogs!
I tried this cake and it was a huge FAIL – I tried to follow the instructions as closely as possible, and it came out an inedible MESS! The center totally collapsed, and the rest fell apart when I tried to frost it! (But it was starting to burn, so it wasn’t that I just didn’t bake it long enough?!) Trying to follow the directions so closely also caused it to take like 2 hours to make…biggest waste of time ever!
Attempting this has possibly put me off baking for good!
Thank you thank you thank you! My husband is the most possible person to impress. He’s not rude or critical whatsoever, he is just stone faced like a throwback from a bygone era of men, and/or slightly high functioning on the autism spectrum (seriously I consider this a possibility, not being insensitive)…he would make an incredible spy because he is impossible to crack or excite. It was his birthday yesterday. I wanted to make him a cake from scratch, and a baker I am not, so of course his favorite cake would be the most challenging to conquer: yellow cake. I have major ADD, baking has always been a challenge for me as I tend to accidentally skip key directions and lose track of time. But I was determined to double up on my meds and take on this challenge once I found your magnum opus of a recipe.
I made sure everything was good and room temped, although I see now you specifies not to leave the butter out overnight which I did do because I needed it that way for the buttercream recipe I used. Also, I mid read the directions just a little and added the dry ingredients before the milk/sour cream mixture, and I’m also not sure if I was supposed to be beating the batter with an electric mixer or only using a spatula ( I did the former ) but other than that I followed your instructions better than any in my life and although I haven’t naked a cake from scratch since I was 18 (11 yrs ago) my yellow birthday cake was a success! It was fluffy and even, moist yet airy, very cooperative as i stacked it into a 4 layer, 2 tier. I have a photo I don’t know how to show you. Thanks so much for all your hard work, you definitely perfected this recipe. I have a regular gas oven and live in Indiana, I ended up having to remove my cakes (I did one layer at a time) at the 22 min mark.
Thanks again !
First, I want to say a huge thanks for your efforts on this recipe…#NailedIt!
Made my wife this for her birthday this week and she (and the kids) were blown away. Made me look like I knew what I was doing, once I started sifting. I made the chocolate buttercream frosting as well, but doubled it to make sure the cake was sufficiently over the top, which it was.
Looking forward to experimenting with some of your other recipes!
How long would you bake 2 8×8 square pans? I’ve previously followed the Wilton guide, and it suggests 40-45 minutes at 350. Thanks!
I’d probably start checking after about 32-34 minutes.
Thanks! The first time I made this recipe, I made cupcakes, which were honestly the best cupcakes I’ve ever eaten. I made the square cake, and it was perfect. This will be a great birthday cake for my daughter. (I’m having a piece of my “test cake” for breakfast – after two days in a covered cake stand, it’s still very moist.) Great recipe!
I too have tried my hand at baking some yellow cakes and I have to say yours has turned out the absolute best. I don’t normally comment but I had to say a big thank you for sharing your recipe with us! Thank you too for all the time and effort that you invested in perfecting it! I have to agree that using weight measurements made a tremendous difference! Your recipe was the answer to my prayer for a delicious yellow cake!
This really is perfect. It’s the perfect combination of fluffy but substantive, flavorful but not greasy. I followed your weight measurements instead of cup measurements, then I did a side by side comparison to see how close I was just measuring with the spoon and level off method and it was rather significant. If anyone has problems with this recipe, I would venture 90% of the time it’s due to inaccurate measuring. Kitchen scales for the win!
This cake is perfection. It was the first successful yellow cake I’ve ever made, after many that were like cornbread with frosting. I recently tried another from a blogger that I really trust (so I won’t name them), and it came out dry and sticking to the pans. Yellow cake is no joke! Making yours for the second time today–can’t wait to have it again. Thanks for making sixteen of these so we don’t have to!
By the way, I made 1.5 times this recipe for two 9×13″ pans. Here are changed measurements for anyone who would like to do the same.
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
2 1/2 cups + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
3 1/4 cups + 2 tablespoons cake flour (6 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch + 3 cups (minus 1/2 tablespoon) all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
3/4 cup whole milk, room temperature
3/4 cup sour cream, room temperature
Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350F. Mine were done at exactly 27 minutes.
I just baked this cake yesterday and it came out great! The only thing I tweaked in the recipe was that I doubled the amount of vanilla in the batter. If I do it next time, I might try to make the cake flour with the combination of AP flour and cornstarch to try to avoid that somewhat metallic aftertaste of cake flour. Other than that (which didn’t seem to bother anyone but me), it was awesome!
I frosted the cake with the Cook’s Illustrated Foolproof Chocolate Frosting (I used a combo of semi-sweet and dark chocolate). If you haven’t used that frosting before, I highly recommend it 🙂 .
This is a great recipe! Typically I am a terrible baker but I followed your steps and it actually came out great…a total first for me
I love this cake yummm
This was the first time I ever baked a cake from scratch and it turned out delicious…I made cupcakes with the recipe and I followed the directions to the T. On my first batch of cupcakes, I filled the cupcakes with too much batter, the middle sank in, and the edges were sugary/crystalized, sort of like creme brulee — “which was actually a yummy twist”. They were still yummy and my fiance loved it.The second batch, I filled perfectly with batter, the middle didnt sink in, and I haven’t tasted them to know if the edges are crystalized – it doesnt look like it though! . The next time I use this recipe, I will bake it in a cake pan. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this cake today and boy! They were spetacular! The only thing i changed was that i used half butter and half oil, because a cake that dry out too fast after cutting is the biggest peeve of mine, and i understand that butter cakes tend to dry out too quickly after a cut. But other than that, your recipe is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge with novice bakers such as myself. I love yellow cake, but had such a hard time getting soft, fluffy tender crumb and one that rise well too. And your recipe and techniques definitely made that possible. Too bad i made it just for trying it out without anh occasion to share it wih, i already ate half of the pan in less than an hour. goodness!
Hi! I am hoping to use this recipe for my Sister in Law’s Baby shower..! “Diner cake” is her all-time fav 🙂 I am making it into a taller layer cake, so I wanted to make sure you think it can handle the weight? It’ll probably be 5 layers tall (obviously I’ll need to make extra batter for this). I plan on making this on Thursday for her party on Saturday.
What are your thoughts? Thank you!!
Sounds like a fun plan! I haven’t made it at quite that scale but I think the cake is sturdy enough to handle the layers.
Awesome! Thank you!! And thank you for doing all the testing of cakes to find the perfect one! I’ll have to let you know how it turns out! 😀 -Bryce
I’ve made this cake twice (I’m fourteen btw) and the first time it had amazing texture, but not quite that yellow cake favor I was going for. The second time I added about 2 teaspoons butter extract and it was fantastic, my family loved it. In case anyone was wondering plain Greek yogurt works great as a substitute for the sour cream (we didn’t have any).
I appreciate the time and effort put into this cake. However, mine fell and was extremely greasy. I followed the recipe exactly and even added the recommended extra baking soda. Kind of disappointed, but I appreciate you sharing the recipe. Hope it works for others.
Thank you for all the time you spent testing yellow cake recipes! My son and I are researching yellow cake recipes, and we are anxious to begin trying a few, though we would like to limit the number, and your research will probably help us to do that. You said that you had tried Cook’s Illustrated…Cook’s Illustrated has two recipes:
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/4142-fluffy-yellow-layer-cake
http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/652-yellow-layer-cake
The first one listed has you fold in beaten egg whites, whereas the second one does not–it follows the “high ratio”/”two step” mixing method of coating all the dry ingredients with the fat, then adding the liquid in two stages . Which recipe did you try? (We’d like to stir clear of it since you said it was dry!) 🙂
Also, with your recipe, did you every try buttermilk instead of the milk? (So that you were using buttermilk AND sour cream?) And did you ever experiment with beating the egg whites in separately? Or using the high-ratio method of mixing?
Thanks!
Peach cobbler
I love this post and I cannot wait to try this recipe today for my Mother-In-Law’s birthday! I was wondering, do you find it makes a difference when you use Cane vs. Beet Granulated Sugar? I know in my cookie recipe Beet Sugar gives me the desired texture where as Cane make it more crispy… What about with cakes? Thank you!!!
Hi Shannon – I haven’t experimented with the differences between the two sugars. Generally I stick with regular, every day cane sugar.
I made this yesterday and it was wonderful! I did not change a thing. I frosted it with sweetened whipped cream and Fresh strawberries between the Layers and on top…perfect! Thanks Mel. 🙂
I’ve made this cake many times and it’s always a delicious yellow cake. When I did bake this cake in a 10 inch round, it turned spongy and the texture was strange. I tried it 3 times and the texture was the same…? I wish I knew why the texture was spongy…maybe I need a heating core? Even thought the texture was off, just adding a little frosting and this cake is still the BEST! Love your recipes Mel!
That’s definitely odd, Julie. I haven’t baked it in larger pans but I’m guessing it has something to do with that and maybe if it’s baking unevenly. Sorry I’m not more help! If I ever get a chance to bake it in a larger pan, I’ll check back in with my results.
Hi,
I am going to bake the cake for my son’s first cake smash and yes it didn’t get time to try it out beforehand. Fingers crossed!!! No retrys have to get it right.
Couple of questions:
I need a small cake so can I bake it in Pyrex glass. Any tips?
I have brown granulated sugar. Will that make a difference to the color or texture of the cake?
Previously when bake the sugar didnt melt or dissolve when whipped with butter. Is that expected? Will it make a difference.
Thank you so much!
Hi Roopa – I wouldn’t recommend a glass pan as they bake differently (usually the temperature needs to be decreased by 25 degrees). Also, brown sugar will completely affect the texture of the cake and I haven’t tested the cake with that type of sugar (it has more moisture) so I’d recommend following the recipe as written. Good luck!
I want to ask if the sour cream in this cake makes it taste tangy. I’ve tried sour cream before and it makes the cake taste tangy which I don’t like. But I’m going to try it anyway. Just wondering. Thank you!
I don’t notice a definite tangy taste – but I like sour cream/buttermilk in my baked goods so I might not be looking for that type of taste difference.
I have the exact same question.
Can you bake and freeze this cake ahead of time? Also can I make it into 12″ layers? I’m baking my brother’s wedding cake and I think he would really enjoy this!
Yes, you can bake and freeze the cake and I think it would work well as 12-inch layers but if you want more than one, you’ll need to increase the batter. Good luck!
You have never failed me Mel so I’m going to say I screwed up somewhere. I have an oven thermometer which read 350 but it took close to 40 minutes to cook. It didn’t sink and looked great but it was pretty dry. I used room temp everything and beat the heck out of the butter and eggs. I checked them at 20 min and the middle was no where near done so I rotated them. Maybe should I just cook one at a time ? I really want this to work haha.
Hmmm, Gigi, not sure why it was so dry! It is pretty important to not mix too much at the end (after adding the dry ingredients). You could try baking one at a time and see how it goes – even a few extra minutes of baking can dry out the cakes – any chance they would have been done around 36 or 37 minutes?
At 20 I checked them and they were far from done so I let them go another 5. I was confident they were set enough they wouldn’t sink at that point so I kept checking every two minutes or so. I’m always cautious about over cooking. The outer part of the cake looked done while the middle was still so jiggly. I just wish I knew why so I could fix it next time
It truly was perfect. Best yellow cake I’ve ever tasted! Thanks for working so hard to perfect it for us!!