Yellow Cake

Yellow cake is a nostalgic birthday favorite, but you might be wondering—what makes this classic different from vanilla cake? It’s simple: yellow cake is essentially vanilla cake, but with added egg yolks. The result is a perfectly dense, easy-to-make cake with a super-rich flavor. It’s the perfect simple upgrade to classic vanilla cake, and goes perfectly with the fudgy chocolate frosting included here (it’s the greatest combo since peanut butter and jelly). Here’s what you need to know:

What People Are Saying:
"Made this 3 times so far! Really good with chocolate frosting!" - OliveFan

"Thanks for a great recipe that can easily be halved. Yellow cake is so hard to find and your recipe brought it back." - GreenCocktail

How To Make Yellow Cake

INGREDIENTS

Cake

• Flour: All-purpose flour is a classic for a reason, and has enough protein to produce a tall, structured cake that still is tender and soft.
• Cornstarch: Cornstarch contributes to the light, fluffy, and tender texture of this cake.
• Baking Powder: This will aid in helping our cake rise, creating that tall and fluffy texture.
• Butter: Before incorporating, make sure that you have softened your butter so that it is easy to combine with the rest of your ingredients. Use your favorite butter brand, or check out our taste test of the best butter brands for every baking project.
• Granulated Sugar & Brown Sugar: I’m using a combination of granulated and brown sugar for this cake. Granulated sugar is wonderful on its own, but adding some brown sugar will also impart a warming, slight molasses flavor that makes this cake even more flavorful. Use light brown sugar; dark brown sugar will darken the cake too much.
• Eggs: As said before, yellow cake gets its color and signature flavor from more egg yolks. While our classic vanilla cake recipe requires 6 large eggs, this recipe uses 2 eggs and 6 egg yolks.
• Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract will add that necessary floral and sweet vanilla flavor to our cake.
• Milk: Our batter will need some moisture, and I’m using regular milk here. You can use half-and-half, like we do in our vanilla cake recipe, but I opted for just milk in this recipe—it will still provide plenty of moisture.
  

Frosting

• Melted Butter: While we’re using softened butter in our cake, make sure the butter is melted for your frosting—it’s essential for the correct texture.
• Powdered Sugar: If you’ve run out of powdered sugar—good news! You can easily make powdered sugar at home using only two pantry-staple ingredients.
• Cocoa Powder: This is a recipe for chocolate frosting, so we’ll be incorporating unsweetened cocoa powder.
• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream will make the frosting light, fluffy, and very rich in flavor.
• Vanilla Extract: Vanilla extract won’t make this frosting vanilla flavored necessarily, but it will amplify our chocolate flavor and add more depth.

Recipe Tips

• The frosting. While I love this easy chocolate frosting, you can switch it up for whatever you prefer! Buttercream frosting or cream cheese frosting would both be great options.
• Decorating your cake. Depending on the occasion, you can decorate this cake however you please. Top with sprinkles, make a design with your frosting, or even your favorite crushed candy or fruit.

Storage

Without the frosting, this cake can be stored at room temperature for 4-5 days. Once it has been frosted, place in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.