This Yellow Butter Cake is a gem, so moist and buttery, and a perfect recipe to make anytime you crave it! If you love this recipe, you will also love this Hot Milk Cake.
Find my UPDATED YELLOW CAKE RECIPE WITH CHOCOLATE FROSTING IN MY NEW COOKBOOK GRANDBABY CAKES!
YELLOW BUTTER CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE FROSTING – A TRUE CLASSIC
I’ve been told I’m high maintenance. This yellow cake recipe with chocolate frosting was created to prove that notion dead wrong. I’m a simple gal with simple wants and needs. Do I love shopping for new clothes and shoes? Sure! What girl doesn’t. Do I sometimes have a tendency to order the most expensive thing on the menu? Yep, but it really is because I enjoy quality food. It has nothing to do with pricing.
I may be guilty of enjoying lovely (yet high maintenance) things from time to time but I love classic and easy going things as well, like this cake. This yellow cake recipe with chocolate frosting is a traditional plain jane cake that I grew up on but adore. I need no other cake in the world. This satisfies me each and every time.
What makes this cake so special is its traditional flavors and staying power. This is indeed a classic in every possible way. As a child, if I ever had homemade cake on my birthday, it was a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. My husband and many of my friends told me they grew up on this cake, as well. Regardless of race, class or religion, this cake recipe with my homemade chocolate frosting recipe has been around for years and will continue to be made for many years in the future!
YELLOW CAKE RECIPE
The yellow cake recipe yields a simple yet delicious yellow cake which is moist and flavorful with the richness of fresh butter and vanilla. It is the perfect sponge for a fluffy yet smooth chocolate buttercream or chocolate frosting or chocolate icing, whichever you like saying. It has all the traditional ingredients: unsalted butter, eggs (at room temperature), cake flour, a tiny bit of salt, baking soda and powder, sugar, vanilla and my secret: butter extract (among other things).
CHOCOLATE FROSTING RECIPE
I love making (and eating) homemade chocolate frosting! The key to the best homemade chocolate frosting is making sure it is as fluffy as possible. Once you’ve mixed all your ingredients (unsalted butter, cocoa powder and confectioner’s sugar) on high with your electric mixer, add your heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract to the mixer and continue to mix until the frosting is fluffy and smooth!
While there are tons of classic yellow cake recipes with chocolate frosting recipes out there (most starting with a box mix), this one brings home that nostalgic homemade flavor you remember with the payoffs only yellow cake from scratch can sometimes give.
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 7 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups cake flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream room temperature
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon butter extract
For the Frosting:
- 2 sticks unsalted butter room temperature
- 4 cups confectioner's sugar
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Prepare 3 9" round baking pans with non-stick baking spray and put aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat butter, vegetable oil, salt and sugar on high until fluffy and smooth (about 5 minutes).
- Next, add eggs one at a time to the bowl and beat on medium until well incorporated.
- In a separate large bowl, sift cake flour, baking powder and baking soda together.
- Turn the mixer to low and add half of flour mixture to the mixer and fully incorporate.
- Next add sour cream to mixer and blend well and lastly finish with remaining flour mixture and mix well.
- Finally add vanilla extract and butter extract to mixer and finish beating on low until everything is well mixed.
- Make sure to scrap the bottom of the bowl as well.
- Evenly add cake mixture into prepared baking pans and place in oven to bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean but don't overbake (crucial not to overbake this cake)!!
- Remove cakes and oven and rest in pans for 10 minutes.
- Next remove layers from pans and place on cooling racks for one hour.
- Wrap each layer in plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1 hour to make it easier to work with when assembling the cake.
For the Frosting
- Add butter, confectioner's sugar and cocoa powder to bowl of mixer and mix on high speed until smooth.
- Lastly add in heavy whipping cream and vanilla extract until frosting is fluffy and smooth.
- Frost each layer of cake with frosting then frost the end.
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This is my go-to recipe for an occasion requiring a layered cake; the crumb is perfect. I have a party coming up and I’d like to use this for 2 layers of a cake with the bottom layer chocolate espresso. Which of your chocolate cakes has the closest crumb? I was looking at devils food, but wasn’t sure:
The Chocolate Birthday Cake or Devil’s Food cake would be awesome.
Have been making this recipe since 2020
My family and friends loved it.
Can you use this recipe for a Bundt Cake
I would honestly suggest making this sour cream recipe if you need a bundt cake that has already been tested as this: https://grandbaby-cakes.com/sour-cream-pound-cake-recipe/
Could you make this to be cupcakes ?
This recipe actually makes better cupcakes: https://grandbaby-cakes.com/yellow-cake/
This is the absolute BEST yellow cake (and I’ve made a lot)! I use 4-8″ cake pans with about 15 oz. batter each since I only have 8″ pans. This gives me another 2 years to use another time! Very moist and delicious! I just use an extra teaspoon of vanilla since I don’t have butter flavoring for cake. Thanks so much for a great recipe!
Is this a really moist cake? What brand of cake pans do you use? Do you prefer unsalted butter over salted butter in your cakes? I’m going to follow this recipe to the letter. I pray it turns out well. Your texture looks amazing. I pray mine turns out the same. I will report back.
I have used your recipe before, and I love it. I need to make a half sheet cake for a birthday. How much batter would I need to use for a half sheet pan?
Can I uses salted butter and still use the salt without it making the cake or icing taste too salty?
I would not use both. Either use the salted butter and take out the salt or use the unsalted butter and add the salt in.
What brand of cocoa for the frosting?