Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting (From Scratch!)
This fluffy vanilla cake recipe is the absolute best yellow cake from scratch and paired with the silky smooth chocolate frosting, you can’t beat it for a classic birthday cake or any other celebration!
Are you a box mix yellow cake person? Or a from-scratch yellow cake person?
Truth be told, it’s REALLY hard to replicate that always-moist-and-fluffy texture that everyone loves about a box cake mix, but at the same time, we also love homemade, right?!
It took me a LONG time to find a homemade yellow cake that I really, really loved. Box cake mixes seem to always bake up perfectly fluffy and moist yellow cakes, and the ones I’ve had from bakeries have been great as well, but I just couldn’t seem to replicate it at home no matter how many recipes I tried. (Consequently, I haven’t had the same issue with chocolate cakes! See: Snickers Cake – the base recipe for all of my chocolate cakes!)
Many were too dense, too dry, too chiffon-like, too fussy in their preparation. I just wanted a fantastic yellow cake recipe I could use for birthday cakes that was easy to make and turned out delicious. I came across this recipe from Joy while I was on the hunt for yet another recipe to test out for Joseph’s birthday.
This was IT. The recipe that had eluded me for years!
I love that this can easily be mixed together in one bowl using my hand mixer; there’s nothing fussy about the ingredients or preparation, and it produces an absolutely perfect yellow cake. The layers are light but sturdy, buttery and moist, and the ideal base for your very favorite chocolate frosting.
I used the chocolate frosting recipe from my ultimate chocolate cupcakes, and it was a wonderful companion to this cake. The frosting is more buttery than sugary, satiny smooth and full of rich chocolate flavor. It glides on like a dream!
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Yellow cake tends to be the elusive unicorn of homemade baking; so many cakes can turn out too dry, too crumbly, too dense, too cornbread-like, and I have one major piece of advice for ensuring yellow cake perfection:
Make sure all of the ingredients listed “at room temperature” ARE ACTUALLY AT ROOM TEMPERATURE.
I’ve totally been there and have used still-cool butter, eggs or dairy in a recipe when I’m in a hurry, but it’s actually vitally important here. Having all of those ingredients at room temperature ensures that they emulsify, which traps air in the batter and, once in the oven, that air expands and produces a fluffy cake.
Room temperature ingredients also ensure that the batter comes together well and is ultra-smooth, which keeps the resulting cake from being crumbly or cornbread-like.
Every recipe binder needs a fabulous recipe to make yellow cake from scratch; a recipe that can be transformed into the most special birthday cake, and this is definitely the recipe. It got rave reviews at Joseph’s party, and I’ve since made it again and again to countless rounds of huge applause.
This is the only yellow cake recipe you need!
Five years ago: Morning Buns
Six years ago: Greek Lamb Gyros with Tzatziki Sauce
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting (From Scratch!)
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2¼ cups (281.25 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ cups (300 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
For the Frosting:
- 20 tablespoons unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- ¾ cup (64.5 g) Dutch-processed cocoa
- Pinch of salt
- ¾ cup (255.75 ml) light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 ounces (226.8 ml) milk or semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly
Equipment Used:
Instructions
- Make the Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans; set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
- Using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition. Beat in vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients all at once and beat on low speed until just combined. Add the buttermilk and beat on low for 1 minute, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 3 additional minutes.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 33 to 38 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto wire racks and cool completely before frosting.
- Make the Frosting: In a food processor, process the butter, powdered sugar, cocoa powdered, and salt until smooth, about 30 seconds, stopping once to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add the corn syrup and vanilla and process until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Scrape the sides of bowl, then add the melted chocolate and pulse until smooth and creamy, 10 to 15 seconds.
- Assemble the Cake: Place one of the cake layers on a serving platter and spread 1 cup of the frosting evenly over the surface. Place the second cake layer on top. Use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. The cake can be kept at room temperature for up to 1 day before serving. Once cut, leftovers should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
Notes
- You can make this cake in 9-inch pans, you will just need to reduce the baking time slightly. It can also be made in a 9x13-inch pan (again, reduce baking time).
- The only substitution I'm aware of for the corn syrup is Lyle's golden syrup, which has a more pronounced flavor. If you cannot find (or do not want to use) corn syrup, I would recommend using The Best Chocolate Frosting.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Update Notes: This recipe was originally published in February 2016; updated in September 2019 with new photos and extra recipe tips.
[photos by Ari of Well Seasoned]
Is it possible to make the frosting without a food processor? Blender? Stand mixer with whisk?
Hi Kimberly, I’ve never tried to, but I would think of the two, the blender would be your better bet.
Hi Kimberly. I made this cake over the weekend. I don’t have a food processor so made the icing in my stand mixer and it turned out great. I beat the butter first for a few minutes then added the corn syrup, cocoa, salt and powdered sugar. I beat that for a bit then added the melted chocolate and vanilla. I got so many compliment on the cake and especially the icing. It was great! Hope this helps.
I can also say that using a handheld mixer (with the normal beaters) works well. I initially tried a blender, but that didn’t work (might be my blender). I scraped it out of the blender and into a bowl and basically followed the same process at Genola (I had added everything but the melted chocolate and vanilla to the blender before abandoning it).
Hi Genoa,
In using your stand mixer, which blade did you use for the frosting? Regular beater as used for cakes or the whisk? Thanks for your help.
I just made the frosting with a stand mixer and the paddle on it, seems to have worked well! Did what was suggested above (mix the butter alone first). Tasted good at least ;)
Hi, I am a huge fan of your cakes especially the cup cakes and they always turn out so well. Thanks a lot.
I tried this cake and it looks and tastes really good. But I am not sure what I did wrong with the frosting. It came out very oily and looked darker than the one in the pictures above. And I think it was the corn syrup -it kept oozing out of the mixture. Help!!!
But I kept it in the fridge so it was ok. Everyone said it tasted great.
Hi Karen, So weird about the frosting – I’ve made it multiple times and I’ve never had it come out oily. The color may just be from different brands of cocoa powder/chocolate. I would make sure you are not overprocessing the frosting; other than that I can’t think of why it would be oily!
Karen – I had the EXACT same thing happen! I did not over process. As soon as the melted chocolate went in it turned into a weird oily mess.
I made this for my bros bday it was a hit! My cousin actually sent a recipe she adapted from natashaskithen.com that was originally a marble cake recipe that she only did the yellow part. It uses vanilla pudding mix and literally tastes like box cake. It’s worth trying out!?
You know, sometimes the simplest things in life are the best. Sure, we can all spend our time making cakes such as an “Brown Butter Hazelnut Shortbread Cake with Chocolate Mocha Caramel Fleur De Sel Frosting” or some such thing. You get the idea. I doubt in my entire life I have ever come across any human being (allergies aside) that didn’t like a nice yellow cake with a good lickable chocolate frosting. I’m actually very anxious to try the entire cake but especially the frosting. As crazy as it sounds considering how many cakes I’ve baked in my 50+ years I don’t ever remember making a frosting that takes light corn syrup. I’m ALWAYS on the lookout for a good yellow cake to use when I do a cake order for other people. For a tier cake quite often a pound cake works the best as you need a fairly solid and firm cake for structure. However, for some of the shaped Wilton cake pans such as the flat cupcake pan, the flat teddy bear and many others that don’t have to “stand up” a nice cake like this if the customer wants a yellow cake is great. I look forward to giving this combination a try soon.
I love your blog and have been following it for years. I was curious if you have a Snapchat for BEB to follow?
Hi Autumn, I don’t have Snapchat. I guess I might need to check it out!
I’ve used the Betty Crocker standard yellow cake recipe for years and years, but I’ll definitely try out this version. I’ll call it a scientific excuse to bake another cake. ;)
My problem lately is in finding 8″ round cake pans. It seems like every bakeware company has decided to forego 8″ in favor of 9″, and it just does NOT turn out right. The cake ends up entirely too thin and over-baked. Does anybody have a favorite 8″ round pan brand that they’d like to recommend?
Hi Julia, I do! I actually included a link to my favorite pans above under “equipment used” – they are Nordic Ware 8″ pans: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ESYMUMK/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00ESYMUMK&linkCode=as2&tag=broeyebak-20&linkId=AUU2UEFGW4QKKAAG
Oh that is fabulous! I’ve used Nordic Ware baking sheets for years, and I never thought to look and see if they had 8″ cake pans. Thanks a bunch!
I tried this cake last night and it is exactly what Michelle described.Thank you very much for this recipe and the many others including your red velvet cupcake recipe.God bless you. Continue this good job. I am a better baker.
Oh I’m so glad you loved it as much as I did! Thanks so much for sharing your feedback!
One question. Everything always says not to hardly beat at all once you add the flour or the gluten will develop and the cake may end up tough. I notice your recipe is different. Your thoughts on this?? Thank you!
Hi Robin, I know, it sounds totally counterintuitive, but it just works perfectly with this particular recipe! When you think about it, box cake mixes have you mix everything on medium speed for a few minutes and those usually turn out good, as well.
Thanks for the recipe but more importantly thankyou sooooo much for including metric measurements. I’m a fan from Sydney Australia and can never get the conversions exactly right which is so important in baking. Hope this continues in future recipes.
For the frosting, what kind of chocolate did you use for this yellow cake.
Thanks.
Hi Kake, I actually had one 4 ounce bar of milk chocolate, so I did half milk chocolate, half semisweet chocolate.
Great recipe. These weights in grams makes me so so happy. Thanks
Hey Michelle… Your cake is so gorgeous. And you’re right a good yellow cake is Not easy to find. I’ll definitely give it a try. Do you think it’s sturdy enough to hold the fondant?
Hi Mareeha, Yes, I think this would be sturdy enough for fondant. Enjoy!
i was looking for a yellow cake recipe for years that has these qualities. I hope this is the end of my search. I will try it later.
Oops…never mind. I just found the button; recipe pinned to try later!
This cake looks absolutely delicious…and it’s beautiful, too! I want to pin it, but can’t figure out how…help?!
What IS it about the combination of yellow cake and chocolate frosting? It’s just the best.
This reminds me of my grandpa. It was his favorite cake! I love it, too. I’ll have to give it a try.
That cake is beautiful! Personally, I don’t like actually eating cake that much (too sweet for my liking), but I love baking cakes for my family and friends. I think cakes are so pretty to look at and many times, the simpler they are, the prettier! This classic yellow cake is just that, sort of has a simple elegance to it – not extravagant, but beautiful nonetheless. My mom and my husband both love yellow cake with chocolate frosting so I can’t wait to make this for them! :)
That chocolate buttercream recipe has become my go-to chocolate frosting. I was very loyal to the Swiss meringue method, but this is so quick and easy it can’t be beat….and tastes just as wonderful.
It looks delicious! My favorite cake:-)))
This is such a gorgeous cake, Michelle! Such a classic.
Does this work in a 9×13 sheet pan?
Note 1 says it does.
Hi Joe, Yes, see note #1 below the recipe!
This is THE birthday cake in my family. I’m not sure what it is about this classic combo, but it makes me want to put on my party hat!
Thank you for this! I made a yellow cake recently that was too dry and almost tasted like cornbread even though I did not mix it too much at all! I am searching for a moist cake and this appears to be it!
While mine didn’t come out dry, everyone that tasted it agreed that it tasted like very cakey cornbread.
I followed the directions and it’s crunchy! I truly hate to waste ingredients and time to end up with a yucky cake! Mine is gross! Idk what went wrong!
Classic yellow cake is the best!! Yours really looks perfect.
Thank you! Can’t wait to try this. I too have had a problem with homemade yellow cake – they just don’t turn out well. Your cake looks great and I’m hoping its the answer to the homemade yellow cake mystery.
Love that you added the measurements in weight (grams, etc.) to this recipe, since I’ve been trying to bake using my scale more whenever possible…thanks!
I too have the same problem with trying to find a perfect yellow cake recipe,defiantly going to try this! Also thank you so much for giving the gram equlivilents, living in the UK and growing up using that saves me a job of converting it myself : )
I echo Faye’s comments – thank you so much for adding the weight in grams for us Brits in the UK. I tried this cake and it worked out brilliantly!
This is such a beautiful cake
It looks like an amazing yellow cake! Something that’s not fussy but that bakes up perfectly! And the chocolate frosting is a must-have!