Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting is the recipe that Maria makes every most beloved birthday and every classic celebration when she wants to create the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely nostalgic individual from-scratch yellow cake that delivers the most beautifully golden and the most deeply buttery individual crumb through the most brilliantly effective technique of using both whole eggs AND extra egg yolks — the most additional individual yolk fats and emulsifiers contributing the most beautifully rich golden color, the most essential additional moisture.
And the most properly tender individual crumb that whole-egg-only yellow cakes never quite achieve — paired with the most beautifully rich and the most deeply chocolate-flavored individual buttercream that provides the most classically perfect and the most completely nostalgic yellow-cake-with-chocolate-frosting individual flavor contrast that every single birthday cake should deliver. She creams the most perfectly softened butter, adds the most generously measured eggs and extra yolks, alternates flour and buttermilk for the most beautifully tender crumb, and frosts with the most deeply chocolatey and the most gorgeously fluffy individual buttercream.
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting is the most easy and deeply extraordinary 1-hour 20-minute nostalgic birthday celebration cake made by creaming butter and sugar adding eggs yolks vanilla and alternating flour and buttermilk baking at 350°F for 28 to 32 minutes and frosting with butter cocoa powdered sugar cream and vanilla chocolate buttercream. Come follow us on Pinterest where we share beautiful cake recipes and easy celebration favorites from our kitchen every single week.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting recipe is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely perfect individual from-scratch birthday cake that delivers the most beautifully moist and the most properly golden individual yellow cake crumb through the most brilliantly effective egg-yolk-enriched batter — the most traditional and the most completely irreplaceable individual technique for the most authentically yellow and the most properly rich individual birthday cake.
The buttermilk in the batter is the most essential and the most completely transformative individual ingredient that simultaneously provides the most gentle acid-leavening reaction with the baking powder and soda for the most beautifully even individual rise, the most essential additional moisture for the most properly tender crumb, and the most subtly tangy individual flavor that balances the most naturally sweet richness of the most generously measured butter and egg yolks. Our Homemade Vanilla Cake makes a beautifully equally moist and equally celebration-worthy companion for a complete and wonderful birthday cake collection.
Ingredients Needed for This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
For the Yellow Cake:
- 3 cups (360g) All-Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- ½ tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 cup (226g) Unsalted Butter, softened
- 2 cups (400g) Granulated Sugar
- 4 large Eggs, room temperature
- 2 large Egg Yolks, room temperature
- 1½ tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup (240ml) Buttermilk, room temperature
For the Chocolate Frosting:
- 1½ cups (339g) Unsalted Butter, room temperature
- 1 cup (100g) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 5 to 6 cups (600 to 720g) Powdered Sugar, sifted
- ½ cup (120ml) Heavy Cream, plus more as needed
- 2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
- ¼ tsp Salt
How to Make This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
In a large bowl using a stand or hand mixer, beat the softened butter on medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes until the most pale and the most creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat for 2 full minutes until the most light and the most beautifully fluffy. Add the eggs and extra egg yolks one at a time, beating the most thoroughly after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and mix until combined, cara mia.
With the mixer on low speed, add one-third of the flour mixture. Then add half the buttermilk. Repeat — one-third flour, remaining buttermilk, final one-third flour. Mix on low between each addition just until combined.
Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and bake for 28 to 32 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes then invert onto wire racks to cool completely.
For the chocolate frosting, beat the room-temperature butter until the most pale and fluffy — approximately 3 minutes. Add the cocoa powder and beat until incorporated. Add the sifted powdered sugar gradually, alternating with the heavy cream. Add vanilla and salt. Beat on medium-high for 3 minutes until the most incredibly fluffy. Add additional cream if too thick.
Assemble the layers with a generous individual layer of chocolate frosting between and frost the exterior.
How to Serve This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Serve at room temperature for the most properly softened and the most beautifully creamy individual chocolate frosting texture. Garnish with chocolate sprinkles, shaved chocolate, or the most classic childhood birthday candles for the most completely nostalgic and the most genuinely celebratory individual birthday cake presentation.
For the most extraordinary individual serving experience, warm each individual slice in the microwave for 10 seconds for the most beautifully softened and the most properly warm individual crumb that most closely resembles the most freshly baked individual birthday cake slice experience. Our Homemade Vanilla Cake makes a beautifully equally moist buttery and equally birthday-perfect companion for a complete and wonderful classic birthday cake collection.
How to Store This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or refrigerate for up to one week. Allow refrigerated cake to come to room temperature before serving for the most properly soft individual crumb and the most beautifully creamy individual frosting. Freeze individual cake layers wrapped tightly for up to 3 months — make fresh frosting on the day of assembling for the most properly fresh individual chocolate frosting character.
Tips to Make This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Bring all ingredients — butter, eggs, extra egg yolks, and buttermilk — fully to room temperature before beginning. Room-temperature dairy and eggs produce the most completely smooth and the most properly emulsified individual batter that bakes into the most beautifully even and the most finely crumbed individual yellow cake layer. Cold ingredients produce lumpy and unevenly mixed individual batter.
The alternating flour-buttermilk addition method is the most essential technique for the most tender and the most beautifully moist individual crumb. Adding all flour at once develops too much gluten for the most tender result — the alternating method produces the most delicate and the most properly fine individual crumb.
Helpful Notes for This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
The extra two egg yolks beyond the four whole eggs is the single most specific and the most completely transformative technique decision in this recipe. Egg yolks contain the most concentrated fat and the most natural emulsifiers that produce the most beautifully rich golden color, the most additional individual moisture, and the most properly tender crumb that defines the most authentic individually yellow birthday cake character.
For the most beautifully clean individual slice, refrigerate the assembled and frosted cake for 30 minutes before cutting — the cold frosting holds the most beautifully defined individual cross-section through each clean cut.
Variation of This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Maria made a version adding one cup of rainbow sprinkles to the batter before dividing between pans for the most completely extraordinary and the most beautifully colorful individual funfetti yellow birthday cake with chocolate frosting. Teresa tried a salted caramel drizzle over the chocolate frosting for the most completely extraordinary and the most deeply sophisticated individual salted caramel chocolate frosted yellow birthday cake.
For a three-layer version, bake the batter in three 8-inch pans for approximately 24 to 26 minutes and assemble with the same most generous chocolate frosting for the most dramatically tall and the most completely extraordinary individual classic yellow birthday layer cake. Our Black Forest Cake makes a beautifully equally layered and equally celebration-worthy companion for a complete and wonderful classic layer cake collection.
FAQs About This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Why do we add extra egg yolks?
The two extra individual egg yolks beyond the four whole eggs contribute the most concentrated individual fat and the most natural individual lecithin emulsifiers that produce the most beautifully rich golden color, the most additional individual moisture, and the most properly tender individual crumb character that is the most specifically defining characteristic of an authentically yellow birthday cake. Without the extra individual yolks, the cake is the most noticeably less golden, the most less rich, and the most less tenderly moist individual crumb.
Can I use regular milk instead of buttermilk?
Buttermilk is the most strongly recommended for the most properly tender and the most beautifully moist individual yellow cake crumb. Make a quick buttermilk substitute by adding one tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to one cup of whole milk and allowing to sit for 5 minutes until the most properly curdled. This substitute produces the most similarly effective acid-leavening reaction and the most comparable individual individual moistness.
Why does my yellow cake turn out dense?
Dense yellow cake is the most commonly caused by overmixing the batter once the flour is added — developing excess gluten that toughens the crumb — or by inaccurately measured flour that has been scooped and packed. Use the spoon-and-level flour measurement method and mix only until just combined after each flour addition for the most beautifully light and the most properly tender individual yellow cake crumb.
Conclusion
This Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting is the most completely extraordinary and the most genuinely nostalgic from-scratch birthday celebration cake that makes every birthday and every gathering feel genuinely and completely magnificent through the most beautifully golden buttery egg-yolk-enriched crumb and the most fluffy deeply chocolate buttercream frosting in every single perfectly layered and completely irresistible yellow cake with chocolate frosting slice.
We hope it brings the same deeply joyful classic birthday cake nostalgia and the same completely delighted celebration table to your kitchen that it has always brought to ours. Make it, share it, and come back to tell us all about it. With all our love, Maria, Lucia, and Teresa.
Print
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting The Most Easy Moist Buttery Vanilla Egg Yolk Yellow Cake Fluffy Chocolate Frosting Celebration
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes including cooling
- Yield: 12 to 14 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The most extraordinary moist Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting made by preheating oven to 350°F greasing and lining two 9-inch pans whisking 3 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/2 tsp salt beating 1 cup softened butter 1 to 2 minutes until pale adding 2 cups sugar beating 2 minutes light and fluffy adding 4 eggs and 2 extra egg yolks one at a time beating thoroughly after each adding vanilla on low alternating flour mixture and 1 cup buttermilk in three additions beginning and ending with flour dividing evenly baking 28 to 32 minutes until toothpick clean cooling 10 minutes then on racks completely then beating 1 1/2 cups room temperature butter 3 minutes adding 1 cup cocoa then 5 to 6 cups sifted powdered sugar alternating with 1/2 cup heavy cream adding vanilla and salt beating medium-high 3 minutes until fluffy assembling with generous frosting between and over layers. A completely perfect nostalgic egg yolk yellow birthday cake recipe.
Ingredients
3 cups 360g All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup 226g Unsalted Butter softened
2 cups 400g Granulated Sugar
4 large Eggs room temperature
2 large Egg Yolks room temperature
1 1/2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract
1 cup 240ml Buttermilk room temperature
1 1/2 cups 339g Unsalted Butter room temperature for frosting
1 cup 100g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
5 to 6 cups 600 to 720g Powdered Sugar sifted
1/2 cup 120ml Heavy Cream plus more as needed
2 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract for frosting
1/4 tsp Salt for frosting
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F 175°C. Grease flour and line two 9-inch pans.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat softened butter medium-high 1 to 2 minutes until pale and creamy.
4. Add sugar gradually. Beat 2 minutes light and fluffy.
5. Add eggs and extra yolks one at a time. Beat thoroughly after each. Add vanilla.
6. On low add 1/3 flour. Add half buttermilk. Add 1/3 flour. Add remaining buttermilk. Add final flour. Mix just combined between each.
7. Divide evenly between pans. Bake 28 to 32 minutes until toothpick clean.
8. Cool 10 minutes in pans. Invert on wire racks. Cool completely.
9. Beat room temperature butter 3 minutes until pale and fluffy.
10. Add cocoa. Beat incorporated. Add sifted powdered sugar alternating with cream.
11. Add vanilla and salt. Beat medium-high 3 minutes until fluffy.
12. Assemble layers with generous frosting between and frost exterior.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cake, Birthday, Celebration
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 680
- Sugar: 72g
- Sodium: 300mg
- Fat: 36g
- Saturated Fat: 22g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12g
- Trans Fat: 1g
- Carbohydrates: 88g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 165mg
Keywords: yellow cake with chocolate frosting, easy moist yellow cake with chocolate frosting recipe butter egg yolk vanilla, best classic birthday yellow cake chocolate buttercream, moist buttery egg yolk yellow birthday cake chocolate frosting
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