This yellow cake recipe is my take on the classic birthday cake flavor combination. The yellow cake layers have a moist and fluffy texture, and the yellow color comes from adding additional egg yolks to the batter. The cake is frosted in creamy chocolate buttercream frosting for the perfect touch.
Ingredients for Yellow Cake
Yellow Cake
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Unsalted butter – Room temperature.
- Vegetable oil – Use your preferred neutral baking oil.
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs – Large eggs, room temperature.
- Egg yolks – Additional egg yolks create the yellow color for the cake.
- Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract adds amazing vanilla flavor to the cake layers.
- Buttermilk – Room temperature. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make buttermilk substitute.
Creamy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Semisweet chocolate chips – Melted and cooled.
- Unsalted butter – Room temperature.
- Powdered sugar – Confectioners’ sugar or icing sugar.
- Dark cocoa powder – I prefer to use a dark cocoa powder for rich chocolate flavor.
- Vanilla extract – Pure vanilla extract enhances the flavor of the chocolate.
- Salt – A pinch of salt provides some contrast to the sweetness.
- Heavy cream – Heavy cream or heavy whipping cream.
Tools & Supplies for Making the Yellow Cake
How to Make the Components for the Yellow Cake
- Preheat and prep: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare three 7-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and parchment circles.
- Make the cake batter: Whisk the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Cream the unsalted butter, vegetable oil, and granulated sugar. Add the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Bake the cake layers: Portion the cake batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake the cake for about 28 to 30 minutes until the cake layers bounce back when gently touched. Cool the cake layers in the pan for 15 minutes and then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Make the creamy chocolate buttercream frosting: Melt and cool the semisweet chocolate chips. Whip the butter until it is pale and creamy. Add the powdered sugar, melted chocolate, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and salt and mix to combine. Pour in the heavy cream and whip for 2 to 3 minutes until smooth and creamy.
Assembling the Yellow Cake
- Stack the cake layers: Place one cake layer on a round cake board. Add desired amount of chocolate buttercream frosting to the top of the layer and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Add the second cake layer, more chocolate buttercream, and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Add the final cake layer, bottom facing up, to the top of the cake.
- Add a crumb coat and chill: With an offset spatula, add a crumb coat, a thin layer of frosting, to the top and sides of the cake. Use a cake scraper to remove excess frosting to smooth the sides. Chill the cake for 20 minutes to firm up the frosting.
- Frost the cake: Add a generous layer of the chocolate frosting to the chilled cake with an offset spatula. Use a cake scraper to remove excess frosting and smooth the sides of the cake. Chill for an additional 20 minutes.
- Decorate the cake: Gently press colorful sprinkles along the bottom of the cake. Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip with the chocolate buttercream frosting. Pipe swirls of buttercream around the top edge of the cake to create a border and decorate with additional colorful sprinkles.
Recipe Tips
- Check out my baking tips blog posts to learn how to bake up the best cake layers and to make the perfect chocolate buttercream frosting.
- Learn how to frost a basic layer cake in this blog post.
- Use a kitchen scale to weigh out the cake batter to make even layers.
- Level the cake layers with a serrated knife before frosting and stacking the cake to get even layers of cake with a flat top.
- Store the cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. Cover any exposed cake with plastic wrap to prevent the cake from drying out. Serve the cake at room temperature for the best results.
Click here to see a quick video on how to make the yellow cake and click here to see how to decorate the cake! Follow Cake Me Home Tonight on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube for more recipe videos and baking tutorials!
Yellow Cake
Equipment
- 3 7-inch round cake pans
- Stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or electric hand mixer
Ingredients
Yellow Cake
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 egg yolks room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
Creamy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 5 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup dark cocoa powder
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup heavy cream
Additional Ingredients
- ½ cup colorful sprinkles
Instructions
Yellow Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 7-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray and parchment paper circles.Â
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream the granulated sugar, unsalted butter, and vegetable oil until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, and mixing in between each addition. (Add ⅓ flour mixture, ½ buttermilk, ⅓ flour mixture, ½ buttermilk, ⅓ flour mixture). Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix the batter until it is smooth.
- Divide the cake batter evenly into the prepared cake pans. Bake the cake layers for approximately 28 to 30 minutes, until the tops of the cakes bounce back when gently touched. Remove the cake pans from the oven and cool the cake layers for 15 minutes. Remove the cake layers from the pan and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Creamy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the semisweet chocolate chips in 15 second intervals, stirring in between each interval, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter for 5 minutes until it is pale and creamy. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and mix on low until combined. Add the remaining half of the powdered sugar and mix well. Add the cooled melted chocolate, dark cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and salt and continue to mix on low until combined. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl periodically.
- Drizzle in the heavy cream. Turn the mixer to medium speed and whip the chocolate buttercream frosting for 2 to 3 minutes until it is smooth and creamy.
Assembling the Yellow Cake
- Use a serrated knife to level the cake layers. Place one cake layer on a round cake board. Add desired amount of chocolate buttercream frosting to the top of the layer and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Add the second cake layer, more frosting, and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Add the final cake layer to the top of the cake. Be sure the bottom of the cake layer is facing up.
- With an offset spatula, add a crumb coat, a thin layer of frosting, to the top and sides of the cake. Use a cake scraper to remove excess frosting to smooth the sides. Chill the cake for 20 minutes to firm the frosting.
- Add a generous layer of the chocolate buttercream to the chilled cake with an offset spatula and use a cake scraper to smooth out the frosting along the sides and top of the cake.
- Gently press colorful sprinkles along the bottom of the cake. Fill a piping bag fitted with a Wilton 1M piping tip with the remaining chocolate buttercream frosting. Pipe swirls of buttercream around the top edge of the cake to create a border and decorate with additional colorful sprinkles.
Notes
Made This Recipe?
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Comments & Reviews
Andrea Hofstede says
Beautiful cake! I’d like to make this cake for my daughter’s birthday. I only have 8″ pans. Any recommendations on altering the recipe?
Courtney says
Hi Andrea! You can definitely use 8 inch pans. You can either make 3 thinner layers or 2 thicker layers. The bake times for the 3 layer would be a bit shorter and for 2 layers would be a bit longer. The best way to check is to gently touch the top of the cakes – if they bounce back and don’t indent you are good to go!
Lori Geiser says
Hi Courtney, can I take any of your cake recipes and turn them into a sheet cake?
Thank you
Courtney says
Hi Lori! Yes you can! You can bake up my cake recipes in a 9×13 pan. The baking time will vary so keep your eyes on the oven. I’m hoping to share some sheet cake recipes this year!