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!
Crumb cake!!!!
I live in NY. A bakery Ebingers, closed 20 years ago, there are still blogs lamenting the loss of that crumb cake!!
Barbra Streisand , a woman who could afford anything! Was on tv twice talking about Ebingers!!!
CRUMB CAKE
Yeast dough
PLEASE!!
Can I bake them ahead of time and freeze ? Does anyone have any experience with this?
I know you can freeze your chocolate cake recipe with amazing results … any chance this one can fair as well in the freezer?
Yes, this cake freezes well.
Thank you so much!
This comment is about some of the comments you received regarding your yellow cake. If you read dozens and dozens of comments as most of us have, and you are the only one that found the pans over -flowed, you did something wrong. If you bake on rare occasion, you know that oven temps differ, humidity while baking differs, different butters have different amounts of water, sugar crystal size differs between brands, etc, etc..
Well done on this cake recipe! Thanks for going to the time and trouble.
Thanks so much, Bob!
This recipe sounds amazing! Could I make this into a marble cake? Have you tried that? If so how would you recommend doing it?
I haven’t tried that – sorry! Good luck if i you experiment!
Do you use the whisk or paddle attachment on your mixer?
I use the paddle attachment.
Thank you!
This is my go-to cake recipe. I feel absolutely delighted when everybody who tries it gives me the highest praise as a baker and I wanted to pass that back along to the real genius who tested this until it was perfect. I learned so much about the consequences of my actions in the kitchen the first time I made this (I’ve made it at least 4 times now.) Thank you for the wonderful detailed ingredient explanations that accompany this recipe. My next challenge will be to find the perfect vegan and gluten free substitutes for this cake. I’m thinking xanthan gum and egg replacer powder.
Thanks so much, Haley!
Best yellow cake ever! I didn’t weigh anything, I measured instead. I fluffed up the cake flour before I measured it, Then sifted it together with the rest of the dry ingredients. I microwaved the butter, a stick at a time, for ten seconds each, to get it to room temp. The cake was done in about 20 minutes. Light and moist. I frosted it with the recipe on the hershey cocoa can, but I used a TB of instant expresso powder, dissolved in a TB of hot water, with the milk.
Everything came out perfect. It looked just like yours! Thank you!
Worst recipe I have ever tried. A waste of time
what problems did you have?
It would be helpful if you would give specific reasons for your negative review.
This is really by far the tastiest cake I have ever tried. Thank you for perfecting it! I will use this recipe for many years to come.
Do you think its sturdy enough for fondant it would be a 2 layer with fondant? im just scared it ill crumble on the drive
I think others have used this cake with fondant with good results (I haven’t, though, so I can’t say for sure).
I’m planning to make this Friday for a party, but question — is it too tender to halve each cake layer, for four layers, to put some raspberry curd as a filling? It looks so fluffy it might just crumble apart if I take a serrated knife to it, and I don’t want to mess the perfect cake layers up.
I think it is sturdy enough to handle that – but I haven’t tried it personally. It is light and fluffy but it has a more sturdy crumb than a boxed cake mix.
Hi Mel,
I’m very excited to make this cake tonight for my husband’s birthday! Yellow cake w chocolate frosting is his absolute favorite. Do you have a chocolate frosting recipe that you recommended?? Thank you so much!
Heather
I love this one: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/whipped-chocolate-buttercream-frosting/
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday and received such nice compliments. “Best cake they had eaten in a long time!” I love all the background information Mel supplies. Especially loved the explanation on the role of each ingredient and how to adjust for any misbehavior we might experience.
I’ve baked this cake 3 times this week, for a layer cake I’m making for a church event. Two more to go. Using a 9×13 pan, recipe as is, comes out exactly right at 38 minutes.
Hi! I just made this cake. I doubled the recipe so I could make a 2-tier cake – 3 later 8” and 3 layer 6”. When I pulled the first batch of cakes out, I thought it smelled eggy. After pulling out the second batch, a little bit of cake stuck to the pan, so I sampled it. It’s definitely eggy tasting. What am I doing wrong? Thanks!
Never double recipe for cakes. I really can’t tell you why, but it never works. So take the time and make each recipe it is in your best interest.
I was reading the notes section and you mentioned a part about overly greasy butter, So I was wondering what kind and brand of better do you recommend ?
Hey Amanda, I use the Kirkland brand of butter.
This cake is so freaking incredible. By far, the best yellow cake I have ever eaten.
Thank you so much.
Ok so I’m back…cake turned out beautifully. Everyone said the cake was delicious.
So happy to hear that!
I’m currently making the cake and I added the 1/3 c flour, 1\2 c milk mixture, 1\3 flour, 1\2 milk mixture, and 1\3 flour. However, I have a lot of dry ingredients (flour mixture) leftover. Is that normal or was I supposed to use that all? That’s what I was left with after I followed the directions!
It’s not 1/3 of a cup, you split the entire amount of dry ingredients into 3rds. Hope this helps
The 1/3 means to split all the dry ingredients into thirds and add 1/3 of the mixture at each addition. Does that make sense?
How could this recipe fail with a name like Mel’s Kitchen…My business name as well. Well, my husband asked me to make a cake for a friend’s birthday…called me at work asking if I had energy to do this..Ha…energy is somethi g I had very little of. Ever the dutiful wife we trudged to the store to get a few ingredients and home. Very easy to make. Smelled
absolutely fabulous baking. The cake is now cooling on the rack and I will wrap and put in the fridge until tomorrow morni g when I get up before dawn and frost the cake. I’ll let you know how everyone enjoyed it. I might add I thought of adding a drop of yellow food coloring to give a slightly more yellow color.
This cake recipe is awesome and easy to make. The cake is so moist and a great Texture and the favor its ready Delicious. For sure it’s a Perfect recipe for a yellow cake can’t beat it! I’ll be making this cake recipe often and it a keeps!
Thanks for the awesome detail and for going through the teething problems, so the rest of us kitchen nerds don’t have to! I was wondering if there is a frosting recipe you would like to suggest or should I go with my old and favorite one?
I love this frosting: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/whipped-chocolate-buttercream-frosting/
Hi Mel,
After trying over a dozen yellow cake recipes this summer, I can honestly say my search is over. I have finally found the perfect yellow cake recipe!!
Thank You Thank You Thank You !!!
Yay! This makes me so happy. 🙂
I would love to see more tips on making g cakes as well as fresh breads! Thanks!
I have not made your cake yet but am planning on doing it. My question is about multiplying the recipe. I would like to make one 16 inch layer which would take two full recipes. Have you made larger ones and if so did you have any problems? roy
I’ve doubled this recipe before with great results but I haven’t baked all the batter in a larger pan (like the 16-inch layer cake you are wanting to make). It’s often hard to get that size of cake to bake evenly but craft/baking stores sell metal utensils (sometimes a cone shape) you can place in the center of the cake before it’s baked that ensures the larger cakes will bake more evenly. That might be a good idea for a cake that large.
Hey there Mel! This cake is fabulous. After making it so much I began to only use 2 cups of cake flour sifted due to cakes being dry. When doing that it worked perfectly. Recently I made a half sheet cake with this recipe and cut the flour to 2 again, however I quadrupled the batter. It cake out very dry. I cooked it on 325 for an hour. Any ideas of what I could be doing wrong with this half sheet? Why would it come out so dry and pound cake like when my cupcakes and other cakes are fine?
Hi Terri – I’m not really sure other than super specific/fine-tuned cake recipes like this sometimes don’t take well to being increased at that level. The most I’ve ever increased this cake is to double it. I think the over mixing required for a quadruple batch may have caused the dry texture but I’m not sure.
I just got finished making this cake, following your instructions to a T, and I have got to say- this is the BEST yellow cake I have ever made or dare I even say ever eaten. When you say over and over “fluffiest, lightest”, that is exactly what it is. I am so blown away. The only “issue” I had was using 9 inch pans at 350 did get it quite browned on the outside waiting until the minute the middle was set enough. I’m wondering if I should try baking it on a lower heat next time like 325 for longer. Have you tried this before?
Thank you so much for this recipe, its magical and tastes like the lightest ever sugar pillow in my mouth! Also, it BLOWS AWAY the “best ever white cake” pinned all over pinterest, which is way too sweet, crusty, and uses shortening which I absolutely hate using. Well done, thank you for taking the time to test this until its perfect, because it truly is!!
I’m so glad you loved it! Ovens vary so much, so while mine browns just right at 350, it might be worth trying it in your oven at 325 for longer. Let me know how it turns out if you try it again like that.
Just made this delicious cake again- this time I baked it at 325 for 45 mins exactly and it came out perfectly springy, not too browned like my other layers cooked at 350!
Thank you again for this amazing recipe!
Out of curiosity, have you made the classic yellow cake recipe from the KAF baking companion? I know it wasn’t part of the recipe development you listed, so I’m wondering if you’ve tried it and how it compares to this one. I am debating which to make for a birthday this weekend.
Hi Megan – I think I made that recipe a long time ago, but I don’t remember. If I did, it didn’t leave an impression (good or bad). 🙂
These were so stinking good!!! The only thing I changed was using one cup of buttermilk instead of milk and sour cream because I needed to use it up. Oh my goodness, the best homemade cake I’ve made so far. I made cupcakes and they were perfect for me at 17 minutes in the oven. Thanks so much for posting this recipe!!
This recipe seemed so fussy while I was making it (at 10pm, so there would be less chance of toddler distractions). I was sort of hoping that it wouldn’t actually be the best cake ever, because then I could just go blissfully back to the box mixes. However, when I took the cakes out of the pans, my first thought was “Aw crap!” because they smelled so delicious. I knew right then that all the sifting and room-temperaturing and creaming and egg separating and dirtying 4 bowls-ing was going to be worth it, and my cake making life would be forever changed. Thanks Mel, you truly crafted the best yellow cake recipe ever!
Hi – Unless I have missed it, what temp is this baked at? I am assuming 350, but it does not say. Thanks!
350 (it’s in step #2)
Must use 3 pans. I used 2 9inch and it overflowed and took forever to bake. It was a real mess.
Let me first say thank you for taking the time to perfect this recipe! It was a great! My husband has been begging for this and I promised him Father’s Day after school got out. All the other comments for other recipes had me discouraged and quite frankly scared to try…and I’m a chemist! But I’m glad I tried with your recipe because it turned out great with the perfect amount of crumble and moistness!
Mel
This recipe was awesome!!! My favorite of all I’ve ever baked.
Unfortunately, I had more batter in one pan than the other and that cake (I think because it had too much batter in it) baked funny on the top. Any suggestions for the correct amount of batter in each pan? This was so delicious. Thank you for sharing.
I usually pull out my kitchen scale and weigh the batter in each pan. Otherwise, you can scoop in a cup of batter alternating pans so you make sure an equal amount gets into each pan.
Looks amazing! Thanks for posting! I was wondering if I can use buttermilk instead of sour cream?
Thanks
Someone above commented that she used buttermilk ainstead of the milk/sour cream and that it still came out fantastic. I say go for it! Worst that’ll happen is you make another cake ♀️ (And still eat the sad one )
I just wanted to take the time to let you know my experience with your recipe. This is hands down the best cake recipe of all time…. I have made a wedding cake, a birthday cake, even turned the batter into a coffee bundt cake with streusel. Incredible. Today in the midst of dealing with a cranky toddler, I messed up and poured the 1/3 flour in before the eggs! In a panic, I immediately added all eggs at once, mixed sloowwly, then followed the rest of the recipe exactly. I was sure they would end up splotchy or eggy tasting, but no. They came out perfectly (in 3 8″ pans) I still don’t even really know how that’s possible. Anyway i just wanted to thank you for the hard work you put into perfecting this recipe. It shows. And the whole blog post is super informative. Deeeeelish!
Thank you so much, Rebecca!
My go to yellow cake…we all love it! For summer fun, I add strawberries or blueberries!
Hi,
I was wondering g if this would be enough batter for a 3 tier cake using 8 inch pans?
I’m not sure, how deep are the pans? The cake layers would probably be on the thin side so you might 1 1/2 the recipe.
Thank you so so much for this. I’m a mom of 3 that like you could make a mean chocolate cake but yellow was like rocket science to a kindergartener. I need all of these thoroughly laid out details explained. I would hug you if I could. I’m trying this and I know it will be 100 times better than any yellow cake I’ve ever made from scratch. So much I was doing wrong. xoxo
I hope it worked out for you, Jasmine!
It did! Thank you so much! I made it for my sons 5th birthday. It had the same moist fluffy crumb of my chocolate cake. I was thrilled.
I would like to add that I used 1/2 tsp baking soda and cooked it in a bundt pan for 40ish minutes. I used my food processor to cream the sugar and butter. And this might be a good tip for others so I’ll add it here, I made sure that once I mixed the wet ingredients with the dry that it was in the preheated oven within 10 minutes so that the first half of the double acting rise baking powder would still be in effect.
Did you use 2 eight inch or 2 nine inch pans?
I usually use 9-inch pans.
Where is the recipe for the Chocolate Frosting?
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/whipped-chocolate-buttercream-frosting/
Will this recipe work for cup cakes? I have tried a few and haven’t found any that would work. The cup cakes always turned out where I had to trim off the side and that’s never fun.
Many people in the comments have made cupcakes and I think it’s worked great!
I am using this recipe for a 6-layer rainbow birthday cake. When should I add food coloring?
You don’t want to overmix the batter, so I’d probably try to do it before adding the flour.
Hi there!
I was looking for a yellow cake recipe I could convert into gluten free. I had some criteria: It had to be a butter cake (because the reverse creaming method works best with GF cakes); I had to be able to sub some of the white sugar for brown sugar; and I had to be able to add some spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg.
I made my own cake flour with a GF AP flour (and your tips), used the reverse creaming method and then… filled the mini cupcake cups too full and left them in about 90 seconds too long. lol I would say 14 minutes at 350*F would probably do it.
I did manage a sheet cake. I think I put it in for 26 minutes total but it should have come out at 25, it was slightly crispy at the edges.
So, I used your yellow cake recipe to make a spice cake, which turned out amazing. Then I used someone else’s salted caramel buttercream. I probably should have used yours, their recipe was …not right. It ended up needing milk in the final stage and came out tasting like those molasses candies you get at Halloween.
It’s a great recipe, worked well for the conversion!
Thanks so much for your detailed review – this will be so helpful for others wanting a gluten-free version!
Oh Mel, I am very new to baking. Like a month new. My first project was a cheesecake and it came out perfect the first time. (I still can’t explain that!) My hisband’s favorite cake is yello cake. I read your whole story and it was so funny and entertaining. I did everything like you said and it came out so dry. I need all the help I can get! Could this simply be that I overbaked it or did I miss something crucial? The flavor and color were fantastic but it was so dry that it was not edible. Help!! As I said I am a complete virgin to making cakes. Any feedback would be appreciated.
Hey Heather – sorry the cake came out dry! Did you use a scale to weigh the ingredients? What kind of oven do you have? Gas/electric? Convection? So many factors could play into this, but generally if a cake is as dry as you explained it was overbaked quite a bit or overfloured.
Hi Mel, do you think it is possible to make this into a lemon cake? Maybe with lemon zest or lemon flavoring?
You could definitely try! I don’t know how strong the lemon flavor would be, but you could try pure lemon extract and lemon zest in the batter.
Just came upon this recipe and am now on my second rum cake using it as the yellow cake base. It’s perfect. I have hunted forever for a suitable replacement for the yellow boxed cake most recipes ask for. I use bakers joy to coat my bundt pan as I find it the easiest way to ensure a seamless release each time. Baked for about 42 min and it’s perfect both times.
Thank you!!
I baked this cake last week for a friend’s birthday, and it was FABULOUS! Thanks for all the time and work you spent fine-tuning this recipe.
Have you tried layering this cake with your Unbelievable Chocolate Cake? Are their density similar?
Also, how do both cakes hold up when layered with fruits in between layers? Thanks!
I haven’t, but I think if you wanted a fruit flavoring, the best way to get that (based on my experience with other frostings) is to pulverize freeze-dried fruit and add it to the whipped frosting.
I haven’t tried layering the two cakes. I do think the texture of the two cakes is a bit different, but it would probably work ok.
It looks delicious… would you try to make a RUM CAKE with this recipe? (Not for your five kids) I was looking and looking for a recipe made from scratch and I could only find a recipe made with boxed yellow cake and vanilla pudding. I tried a few times and ended up putting twice the glaze amount among a few other changes. And it is really tasty and fluffy and moist… but i can’t help to wonder what on earth they put in the box.. i wanted a more natural cake… whole wheat flour and brown sugar maybe in my future trials… i love homemade cakes but I also would love to have something a little bit healthier whenever possible.