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You’re going to love this Homemade Yellow Cake recipe! Perfect for Birthdays, it comes out moist, tender, and fluffy every time!
Top it off with my Easy Chocolate Frosting or Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting for a treat the whole family will adore.
There is nothing better than a delicious buttery yellow cake. It’s a classic cake that I think everyone should know how to make from scratch. Once you see how easy it is to do, you’ll be making it homemade every time!
The photos are a sheet cake, but I’ve made this cake as a layer cake and cupcakes too. This recipe comes out moist and soft, with the perfect amount of density and fluffiness! Frost with your favorite frosting and enjoy every last bite.
Why This Recipe Works
- Using a combination of butter and oil adds moisture as well as a buttery taste.
- Extra egg yolks give this cake its signature “yellow” hue.
- Buttermilk adds moisture and a little tanginess that’s simply delicious.
- The easy no-fuss method yields a wonderfully fluffy sponge cake that can’t be beat!
Ingredients Notes
- Flour: For this recipe, I use all-purpose flour (AKA plain flour).
- Buttermilk: Full fat or low-fat buttermilk work equally well. If you don’t have it, you can make your own. Just add 1 teaspoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 3/4 cups of milk. Full-fat milk is best, but it still works with low-fat or skimmed milk. Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes. The mixture may look a little curdled, but that’s fine.
- Eggs: Use large eggs. I use brown eggs as their yolks are deeper in color.
- Vanilla: The recipe calls for vanilla extract, but have also used vanilla bean paste and vanilla flavoring works fine if that’s what you have on hand.
How To Make Your Own Buttermilk
To make your own buttermilk at home, add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Full-fat milk is best, low-fat or skimmed milk will still work. Stir and let stand for 5 minutes. The mixture may look a little curdled, but that’s fine.
For this recipe: 3/4 cup buttermilk = 3/4 cup milk + 2 1/4 teaspoons vinegar
How to Tell when Your Cake Is Done
- The toothpick test: Simply Insert a toothpick or cake tester into the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. The cake tester should be relatively clean. It could have a few crumbs stuck to it but shouldn’t be smeared with batter.
- The press test: When the cake is done, if you press gently on the surface of the cake, it will spring back quickly without leaving a dent.
Achieving The Yellow Color
For this recipe, I use the yolks of brown eggs to get the deepest yellow cake without using food coloring. White eggs will still produce a yellow cake, but the shade will be a paler yellow.
How To Make Homemade Yellow Cake
- Mix wet ingredients.
- Combine dry ingredients.
- Mix wet and dry ingredients together.
- Pour into a pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
- Top off with your choice of frosting.
- Serve and enjoy!
Step By Step Instructions
Add the dry ingredients to a bowl.
Mix well to combine. Then in a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, oil, buttermilk, and eggs.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.
Mix the batter until just combined (a few lumps are just fine).
Pour into a greased sheet cake pan.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes.
Frost and decorate. Serve and enjoy!
Pan Sizes
This recipe makes a 9×13 in cake, a 10 cup bundt cake, two 8-inch rounds, two 9-inch rounds, or 24-36 cupcakes. See the recipe notes for baking times.
Erren’s Top Tips
- It’s always best to use room-temperature ingredients. Cake batter mixes more evenly when all the ingredients are of a similar temperature. Set your ingredients out around 1 hour before you make the cake and allow the melted butter to cool slightly before using it.
- For homemade buttermilk, full-fat buttermilk works best, it produces a more moist cake. That said, low-fat milk works too.
- Cool the cake completely before frosting. If you frost a warm cake it will cause the frosting to become runny.
- Need a simple frosting recipe to top this cake? Try my Easy Buttercream or Chocolate Ganache Frosting.
Other Great Cakes
FAQs
What is the flavor of yellow cake?
Yellow cake is famous for its vanilla/custardy flavor created using butter and vanilla.
What is the difference between white cake and yellow cake?
White cake uses fewer eggs giving it a more pale appearance. Yellow cake uses more eggs (extra egg yolk) to create the gorgeous yellow cake.
Rate This Recipe
Recipe
Homemade Yellow Cake
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- ¾ cups buttermilk
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 8 tbsp butter (melted and cooled)
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2½ cup flour (all purpose )
- 2 cups sugar
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/175C and grease a 9×13 inch pan (see recipe notes for more pan sizes)
- Melt the butter (in a microwave in short intervals so as not to boil it), set aside to cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate small mixing bowl, add the wet ingredients and mix well to combine.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry and mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Allow to cool and decorate with the frosting of your choice.
Tips
- Baking Times For Different Pan Sizes:
For two 8-inch round pans, 30-35 minutes.
For two 9-inch round pans, 25-30 minutes.
For 24-36 cupcakes, 15-20 minutes - For a bundt cake 35-40 minutes
- It’s always best to use room-temperature ingredients. Cake batter mixes more evenly when all the ingredients are of a similar temperature. Set your ingredients out around 1 hour before you make the cake and allow the melted butter to cool slightly before using it.
- For homemade buttermilk, full-fat milk works best, it produces more moist cake. That said, low-fat milk works too.
- Cool the cake completely before frosting. If you frost a warm cake it will cause the frosting to become runny.
- Need a simple frosting recipe to top this cake? Try my Easy Buttercream or Chocolate Ganache Frosting.
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