This rich, buttery, super tender yellow cake recipe is made entirely from scratch and is the best I’ve had. Its made up of moist vanilla cake layers that have extra egg yolks (for a richer flavor and color), followed by a super smooth, creamy and not-too-sweet chocolate buttercream. Perfect for celebrations!
What is a Yellow Cake?
A yellow cake is a classic vanilla-flavored cake known for its characteristic golden hue (it has more of a yellow color compared to a traditional vanilla cake or white cake). This is usually achieved by using whole eggs and butter in the batter, and some recipes (like mine) also use extra egg yolks to add extra flavor, richness and color to the batter.
Yellow cakes have a wonderful moist and fluffy texture and are often paired with chocolate frosting. They’re a popular choice for birthday cakes and other celebrations!
Why You’ll Love This Yellow Cake
When I say this homemade yellow cake recipe is one of the best I’ve tried, I honestly mean it. It is so much better than boxed cake mixes, trust me! Here are a few things about it that I think you’ll love 🙂
Moist & Fluffy
This yellow cake is SUPER moist and fluffy. When recipe testing, some of my taste testers said that it almost tasted like a sponge cake because of how soft it was!
This recipe uses a combination of butter and oil for a super moist crumb (oil is liquid at room temperature so adds more moisture to the cake), and buttermilk for a fluffy texture. I also use vinegar in this recipe to provide extra lift (when reacting with the baking soda), which contributes to how fluffy the cake is as well. For more info on the benefits of using vinegar in baking, click here.
I also opted to use cornstarch in this recipe for a softer texture. When paired with all purpose flour, it helps to mimic cake flour. For more information on this, check out this blog post.
Ingredients
The base yellow cake recipe uses common household ingredients that you probably already have on hand, besides maybe the buttermilk! No stress though, as you can make a homemade buttermilk substitute if you don’t have any buttermilk on hand 🙂
Chocolate Frosting
When experimenting with this recipe, I tried a few different chocolate frostings. I recently released a chocolate sheet cake recipe that has a easy chocolate fudge frosting and I initially paired the yellow cake with that frosting. I felt the frosting was a bit strong though and overpowered the flavor of the yellow cake.
I then decided to experiment with something a bit more light and fluffy, and decided to turn my silky smooth buttercream frosting recipe into a chocolate frosting by adding in some melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder. This created a wonderful chocolate frosting that had good chocolate flavor, but still allowed the cake to shine as well!
How to Make Yellow Cake
This section will run you through the process of making the yellow cake with pictures. For the full written recipe and ingredient quantities, head to the recipe card at the bottom of the blog post (or click the ‘jump to recipe’ button at the top of the page).
Yellow Cake
Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) conventional and grease and/or line two 8-inch cake pans (I use my homemade cake release). If using a convection oven, decrease the temperature to 160°C (320°F).
In a bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
In a large bowl, add in butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
Add in egg yolks and mix until well combined.
Add in vanilla, vinegar and buttermilk and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Finish off by adding the flour mixture to your wet mixture, and gently fold with a spatula until just combined. Avoid overmixing (only mix until you can’t see anymore streaks of unmixed flour and the batter is uniform).
Pour the cake batter evenly into the two prepared pans. Drop the 8-inch pans lightly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles and bake for 38-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for 20 minutes, before turning them out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
In a microwave safe bowl add in chocolate (break into smaller pieces if using a chocolate block), and melt in the microwave for 30 second bursts at a time, mixing in between each burst until the chocolate is almost melted (be careful not to overheat it otherwise the chocolate can burn – you can use a bain marie/double boiler if you prefer). Let the chocolate sit for a few minutes and then mix until smooth. Set aside to cool.
In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), add in butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and heavy cream. Mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined, and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix for a full 10 minutes. Scrape the bowl down half way through. The frosting should be fluffy and smooth.
Add in the cocoa powder and cooled melted chocolate. Mix until well combined and smooth.
Assembly (see video for demonstration)
Trim off the tops of the cake layers with a serrated knife so that they’re nice and flat. I like to trim the edges too but this is optional.
Place the first cake layer onto a serving plate/cake stand and spread out a generous amount of frosting. I like to use my offset spatula for this.
Place the next cake layer on top and spread out more frosting on the top and a thin layer on the sides of the cake.
Using a 1M piping tip, pipe some cupcake swirls on the top of the cake (or any piping you like). Slice and enjoy!
How to Store Yellow Cake
This yellow cake can be kept at room temperature in an airtight container for a few days, after which it’s best to place in the fridge for up to a week.
Moist Yellow Cake Recipe
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Yellow Cake
- 2⅓ cups (295 g) all purpose flour
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ½ cup (105 g) unflavored vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 1⅔ cups (332 g) white granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs - room temperature
- 3 large egg yolks - room temperature
- 1¼ tbsp vanilla extract/essence
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 1¼ cups (285 g) buttermilk - room temperature
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- 1¼ cups (215 g) dark chocolate - I use 50% dark chocolate, but any good quality semi-sweet chocolate will work (I don't recommend using compound chocolate, stick with couverture)
- 1½ cups (340 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 3 cups (375 g) powdered sugar - also known as icing/confectioners sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract/essence
- ⅓ cup (80 g) heavy cream - room temperature
- ½ cup (50 g) natural cocoa powder - you can use Dutch processed too, but it will make the frosting more dark as opposed to light brown
Instructions
- IMPORTANT: For this yellow cake recipe I would highly recommend using gram measurements, especially for the flour for accurate results. It has a high fat/liquid ratio so slight adjustments to the quantities can throw off the balance of the cake 🙂
Yellow Cake
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) conventional (see note 1 if using a convection oven with a fan) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
- In a bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add in butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 2), cream together for 2 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in eggs one by one, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between eggs).
- Add in egg yolks and mix until well combined.
- Add in vanilla, vinegar and buttermilk and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Finish off by adding in your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold with a spatula until just combined. Avoid overmixing (only mix until you can't see anymore streaks of unmixed flour and the batter is uniform).
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins. Drop the cake tins lightly on the counter to remove any large air bubbles and bake for 38-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs on it.
- Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for 20 minutes, before turning them out onto a wire rack to completely cool.
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- In a microwave safe bowl add in chocolate (break into smaller pieces if using a chocolate block), and melt in the microwave for 30 second bursts at a time, mixing in between each burst until the chocolate is almost melted (be careful not to overheat it otherwise the chocolate can burn - you can use a bain marie/double boiler if you prefer). Let the chocolate sit for a few minutes and then mix until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In a large bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), add in butter, powdered sugar, vanilla and heavy cream. Mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined, and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix for a full 10 minutes. Scrape the bowl down half way through. The frosting should be fluffy and smooth (see note 3 if it's not).
- Add in the cocoa powder and cooled melted chocolate. Mix until well combined and smooth.
Assembly (see video for demonstration)
- Trim off the tops of the cake layers with a serrated knife so that they're nice and flat. I like to trim the edges too but this is optional.
- Place the first cake layer onto a serving plate/cake stand and spread out a generous amount of frosting.
- Place the next cake layer on top and spread out more frosting on the top and sides of the cake.
- Using a 1M piping tip, pipe some cupcake swirls on the top of the cake (or any piping you like). Slice and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
55 Comments
In a previous post, you said doubling the recipe would make 2 thick layers in 10 inch pans. Would doubling the recipe be too much for 2 9 inch pans? And also, is the reason you add corn starch because you don’t have bleached cake flour in NZ?
P.S. Would adding bleached cake flour instead of all purpose and corn starch still make the cake as soft as your written recipe?
Sorry for all the questions.
Albert
Hi Albert 🙂 No need to apologise at all!
Yes I think doubling the recipe may be too much for two 9 inch pans – ideally 1.5x the recipe would be good for two 9 inch pans. You could always double the recipe for ease and then use the extra batter for cupcakes on the side 🙂
Yes the reason I use cornstarch is because we don’t have cake flour here in NZ. Yes using cake flour in replacement of the all purpose flour and cornstarch should give you a nice soft cake 🙂
Hope that helps Albert and hope you enjoy the recipe!
The minute I added the buttercream, the mixture seemed to curdle. I just kept powering through. But how do you make sure that doesn’t happen in the future?
Hi Sara! 🙂
The batter usually curdles when one or more of the ingredients are too cold. I’d recommend ensuring all ingredients are at room temperature (you may even need to slightly heat up the buttermilk if it’s very cold where you are) and this should help reduce the curdling 🙂
Hope that helps for next time!
Hi MK, If I want to use 2 9 inch cake pans will this recipe work, or will it need adjusting? thanks
Hi Cassie! 🙂
Two 9-inch pans will work, the cake layers will just be slightly thinner and you will need to reduce the cook time as the cake layers will bake up faster 🙂
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
This cake is the BEST CAKE I’VE EVER PUT IN MY MOUTH!!!! It’s SUPER MOIST, soft and very flavorful. I added some almond flavoring to it with the vanilla. I frosted it with my Vanilla Buttercream. I’m a baker and have had a baking business and I’ve baked thousands of cakes in my life time. This one is THE BEST EVER!!!!! This sweet lady knows how to make a killer recipe! Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
Aww thanks so much for the wonderful feedback Robin! So so happy to hear you loved the recipe and I’m honored that it’s the best you’ve ever had!! 😀
thankyou i will try and make this beautull yellow
cake
My family andI today (01/01/25), love, love this yellow cake. The chocolate frosting was fantastic. I had to put a pat of butter in the chocolate chips , because alone it wasn’t melting fast enough in microwave. But all in all that cake and frosting stupendous. I’m gonna continue trying your other recipes, so far this cake and your confetti cake are the ones I’d tried.
Yay! So so happy to hear you and your family are loving the yellow cake Armanette 😀
And good idea adding a bit of butter to the chocolate chips 🙂
So glad you enjoyed the confetti cake too – hope you enjoy the other ones you try just as much 😀
Can I put this recipe into a bunt cake form, if so do I need to change the cook time?
Hi Debra! 🙂
I haven’t tried that myself, but I think if the bundt pan is greased well it should work okay! You will likely need to bake the cake for longer. Would love to hear how it goes if you decide to try it out as a bundt cake 🙂
Need a 9×13 cake how do I change this recipe for this
Hi Cynthia! 🙂
1x this recipe should work well for a 9×13 inch cake – you’ll just need to adjust the cook time slightly (it will likely bake up a little faster as a 9×13 inch cake).
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
Perfectly tender & a hit with kids. I did chocolate cream cheese frosting. Substituted buttermilk with equal weight of 1% kefir. Half of the batter made about three batches of mini cupcakes (72 in total) and the other half a dozen regular cupcakes.
Awesome! So glad you and the kids loved the recipe V 😀
Really appreciate the wonderful feedback 🙂
I need to bake this for a large group. Can it be increased to make a double or triple layer 10” round cake?
Heya! 🙂 Yes you should be able to increase the recipe without any problems. For a two layer 10 inch cake (with thick layers) you would want to double the recipe, and for a triple layer, triple the recipe 🙂
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
I’ve done this cake 3 times in the past week, my husband dropped the second one I made! It’s been such a hit. But every time my batter seems to have clumps, is that supposed to happen?
So happy to hear you’re loving the recipe Denise! 😀 And ohh noo! Kitchen mishaps can be quite the frustration sometimes (I have had many!!) – hope the clean up wasn’t too bad 🙂
When it comes to the clumps, as long as there aren’t large bits/clumps of unmixed flour it’s fine 🙂
Because we don’t use a mixer for the dry ingredients, sometimes there can be little lumps at the end – as long as you’ve mixed the batter enough it’s all good!