A moist yellow cake recipe. (Actually, I asked for it.) I have been on the hunt for a moist yellow scratch cake recipe since I started this site. I’ve tried several in the past, like the Butter Cake recipe from The Cake Bible
(a great baking resource, by the way). And, while the taste was really good, I’ve been having a time trying to get the recipe to come out as moist as I like. I finally came to the conclusion that it must be my gas oven that’s the problem. At least, that’s what I’ve been telling myself.
So, the hunt was on. It was a short search that began and ended with my friend’s mom. She used to own a bakery and made the yummiest cakes. So, I thought I would ask the pro for help. And, I’m so glad I did. It was yellow and moist, but mostly delicious. Thanks for the recipe, Shirley! I guess I’ll have to come up with another reason to trade my gas oven in for an electric one. Here’s the recipe:
Moist Yellow Layer Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup (2 sticks) of butter (room temperature)
- 2 cups of sugar
- 4 eggs (room temperature)
- 3 cups of sifted self-rising flour (White Lily)
- 1 cup of whole milk (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (McCormicks)
- 1/2 teaspoon butter flavoring
Easy Buttercream Frosting
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter (room temperature)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1b. 10X powdered sugar
- 1-3 teaspoons milk, half and half or cream
Instructions
- Cake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Grease and flour (3) 8-inch cake pans.
- Using a mixer, cream butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to cream for about 7 minutes.
- Add eggs one at a time. Beat well after each egg is added.
- Add flour and milk (alternating to creamed mixture), beginning and ending with flour.
Add vanilla and butter flavoring to mix; until just mixed. - Divide batter equally into three cake pans.
- Hold each layer about 3 inches above your counter and carefully drop the pans flat onto counter several times to ensure release of any air bubbles. This will help you have a more level cake.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes (depending on your oven) until done.
- Cool in pans for 5 - 10 minutes.
- Remove and immediately wrap each layer in plastic wrap to seal in moisture. Cool completely on wire racks.
- Buttercream: Using a mixer, cream softened butter and vanilla until smooth.
- Add sugar gradually, allowing butter and sugar to cream together before adding more.
- If you want your frosting a little creamier, add a teaspoon of milk at a time and beat on high until you get the right consistency.
- Then, just use icing colors to tint the frosting the color of your choice.
- This is usually just enough for a 2-layer cake, so I would recommend doubling this for a three-layer. But, I like a lot of frosting.
- Cake assembly: Unwrap first layer and using a serrated knife, level off the top of your cake. Place layer onto your dish. Take a straw and poke holes into the layer.
- Using your spray bottle, spray top of layer several times with simple syrup**; enough to give it a little moisture. Be careful – don’t add too much.
- Add a layer of frosting to your bottom layer. Repeat on second and third layers.
Frost the sides.
Notes
**Simple Syrup: a little trick to add moisture to your layers:
Combine 1 cup of sugar and 2 cups of water.
Bring to boil and boil for approximately 3 minutes. Let cool.
Pour liquid into a spray bottle or pouring bottle.
P.S. I’ve been using aluminum cake pans instead of the dark coated kinds you find in the grocery store. They also come in many different sizes.
Is there a way to make a chocolate cake from this recipe?
P.s. I have always used this recipe ever since i discovered it four years ago. Always got excellent comments from friends :) thanks!
I would like to be able to print the Sugar Water Spray
Can you use a 9 by 13 pan?
alyssa v – did you use self-rising flour? It calls for this one in the recipe so you wouldn’t need the baking powder.
But also these layers bake pretty evenly, so there isn’t really a mounded top.
I just made this cake for my grandmas bday and divided it into two nine inch pans and I found that the cakes didn’t rise enough. So I’m gonna have to make another batch to give me the hight that I’m looking for. Sadly, I was disappointed with this, I haven’t tried the cake yet so I’m hoping it tastes good and stays moist. I did add a tbs of imitation vanilla cause I love the taste and one tsp of butter flavoring. I also noticed you didn’t add salt, baking powder, or soda. I had thought about adding it but wasn’t too sure.
Hello! This looks awesome! Was wondering how you think it will come out if I made it as cupcakes instead??
Most of the cakes in The Cake Bible are meant to be eaten the day they are baked to enjoy them at their full moistness. I don’t think your gas oven is the problem. Simple syrup spray is a great idea. I have been doing that for a while. You lost me on the butter flavor? Why use it? It’s a great cake from scratch and the artificial flavoring just kills it, in my honest opinion. I would also recommend a different recipe for icing. Powder sugar buttercream is grainy because of the powder sugar itself. Try Swiss or Italian Meringue Buttercream and you’ll think you died and went to heaven.
These cakes are currently in the oven and the timer just went off at 25 mins….. and all of a sudden I can smell burning. The cakes have totally overflowed. I used the Wilton guide on how many cups batter to use per cake pan size. I did a 6″ (2 1/4 cups) and 8″ (4 cups). I am so disappointed. The batter looked lovely and tasted awesome. Can you recommend the correct amount of batter that should go into these size pans?
I know this is an old post, but, how can I alter this recipe to make 24 cupcakes? Thanks
In the oven as of right now! Hope it’s good!
Ohhh your moist yellow cake is wonderfull and seems like soufle , i’ll do it on my son’s birthday party. Thanks.
My Calorie Blog,
http://www.caloriesabout.com
Can I use this recipe for cupcakes? First time from scratch cake baker…. Your red velvet was the first one I’ve done and it was so amazing my 7 year old is requesting it for her birthday party for the family :) she wants cupcakes for her friends birthday party so I thought to try this. Thanks for your awesome recipes.
Is there any way to increase the shelf life of these moist cakes coz i’ve heard the use of the SUGAR SYRUP in layers decrease the shelf life.
Just made the cake and came out really good thanks
I found this cake to be a standard yellow cake, slightly on the sweet side. I paired it with a (tried and tested) swiss meringue buttercream and found it to be too sweet. I did a taste test with the following combos: 1. Lemon and passion fruit curd SMBC (wonderful), 2. Vanilla SMBC (too sweet), 3. Strawberry SMBC (OK), 4. Vanilla custard (yummy!). I did not add the simple syrup as written on the blog because most cakes don’t need extra sugar added.
Hi
First time I have heard of using sugar spray. Been in this industry for 18 years. If I can suggest an alternative, fruit sugar syrups add tasty moisture to cakes. Adds another flavour, not just sweetness. As they are thicker than sugar spray, they are best put onto cakes when syrup is hot or both cake and syrup are hot.
Love what you do.
Kind Regards.
Miz Gooz Berry
South Africa
Can this be made in a 9×13 cake pan??
what can i substitute for butter flavoring?
I made this cake last night for my fiancé. He loves it!!! I made two 9in rounds and they turned out great. Middle layer is cream cheese frosting, top layer is a pumpkin spice buttercream. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Hi, I just have a question about the cake. did you use unsalted butter or salted butter. My cake had a slight saltiness to it and i’m wondering if it was because I used salted butter along with the butter flavoring. The texture was fine it’s just the taste that was slight salty. I also omitted the simple syrup.Would this have taken away the saltiness?
Made a yellow cake with chocolate fudge frosting. Very good however cake a little dry. Red your tips. Will try next time. Thanks
Hi, I love all your recipes, Im you fan Nº 1… !!! Yesss !!!! Tahnks for share all your recipes.
I have a question: Can I use this cake to to a fondant cake and floor cake? is a bag cake to my sister, Thanks you.
Hi, can you please tell me if i should use my mixer on slow speed when i add flour n milk? And also how many times should i add flour n milk, so like, flour then milk once, flour than milk twicw, then final flour, or can i keep adding more times(therfore litlle four n milk,then repeat only once or twice?
I absolutely love this cake. It is now my go to anytime I want a vanilla cake! Love love love
As someone who does a LOT and I mean a LOT of baking the one thing that made me the happiest of everything in this posting was that Bakerella is now using aluminum cake pans. Trust me, despite ANYTHING the manufacturer of those dark pans tell you, they aren’t wonderful and magnificant and incredible. Mostly, they are a burning hazard as in unless you make certain changes to a recipe you WILL burn the item you’re baking, that you worked hard to make and spent LOTS of good money on ingredients. The worst is “Baker’s Secret”. I spent good and very dear money in college on a set of Baker’s Secret baking pans. WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY! Within several years I had toss every one in the trash can. For one thing, I was VERY tired of burning things. This had never happened to me before as I had been baking for years and I didn’t know about lowering the temperature and worst of all, they ALL ended up rusting no matter how I cared for them. The one exception to my feeling on dark pans are the NordicWare Bundt Cake Pans. This is an OUTSTANDING company and using their pans I’ve made some incredibly beautiful cakes with their incredible pans. I just can’t keep up with all the beautiful designs they have. You still need to lower the temperature, but it’s worth the extra time. Personally, even though I’ve been forced to own some other dark pans but only because a particular pan can only be found in the dark metal, I avoid them like the plague if I can. ANYTIME you use dark metal you MUST reduce your temperature by 25 degrees, often to 325 and keep a close eye on it the last 10 minutes as it might finish faster than in an aluminum pan. (usually with cookies) I’ve lost count at the moment of how many tubs of cake pans I own, I think I’m up to about 12 to 14, 98% aluminum, maybe 10 dark and a few silicon ones. I only have one MAJOR complaint about aluminum pans, they can’t go in the dishwasher and I REALLY detest washing dishes by hand. This is one reason I just LOVE a new line of muffin/cupcake pans from Wilton. They’re more of the lighter color of aluminum although not completely but YET (hurrah) they are dishwasher safe. I’ve mostly found these at my local AC Moore store. As a single person it’s shocking how many loads of dishes I do in the dishwasher, I guess it’s all the baking as I tend to use a lot of bowls and even though I really do TRY, I tend to be a sloppy baker. Just ask my cleaning lady after she deals with my kitchen floor. I would do ALMOST (I do have a few limits) anything if dishwashing manufacturers would create a detergent safe for aluminum. I’ve written to several companies of all types and NO ONE will answer me back telling me just WHAT it is in the dishwasher that darkens the pans. It has to be the detergents, it can’t be the heat, after all, they’ve just been in a hot oven, it has to be the detergent. If the day ever arrives when they have aluminum safe dishwashing detergents think about me, I will be one of the HAPPIEST people on the planet. And Bakerella, trust me, overall you should have must better results and be happier with your regular aluminum pans. This is why all professional cake pans are the light aluminum. You NEVER see professional bakeries using these dark pans, espcially on layer cakes.
It’s in the oven!
I tried this with cupcakes and a small cake. It tasted like a coffee cake to me. :/ The cupcakes didn’t turn out fluffy, but dense.
I have tried this recipe and I love it. I want to make a white cake so would I just substitute the whole eggs for egg whites or what should I do?
I am an avid cook and baker. All too often, people post recipes that look and sound good, but they just don’t quite come together. This is one of them. It’s obvious this poster has never had a good, moist, homemade cake. This is more like a cornbread. Very heavy. Not recommended!
I made this cake yesterday for my sister’s birthday… soooo good! I used 2 – 9″ pans and frosted it with a Hershey’s chocolate frosting recipe I found. Everyone loved it. I will definitely make this again. My sister asked me for the recipe! :)
I’m attempting to make this cake for my daughters first birthday. Just one question for you. How far down do you go with the straw when making the holes?
I just made this cake and it came out hard. The top is hard. What did i do wrong?
Does it have to be 3 8 in pans?
How many grams is that n the buttercream please?
This is an awesome recipe. I’ve tried it and love it. So yummy any icing can go on it!
I have this cake in the oven as we speak. Loved the batter, loved how it was only one bowl. My issue is, I’m baking it at 350 (per the recipe) and the top is really brown, but the inside is still not done at all. Should I try lowering the temperature? I usually bake at 325, but I read that baking at lower temperatures causes cakes to sink in the middle. Any suggestions?
Your extra tip sound GREAT! I’m totally going to try this. I might put some extract in the sugar spray.
Hello,
Can you please tell me how much is 1 1b. 10X powdered sugar in cups or spoon measurement in the Easy Buttercream Frosting please? I could not understand it.
Thanks
CAN’T WAIT !!!
Baked this into cupcakes yesterday for my friends. they loved it! First time baking from scratch. Had a great time making it from start to finish. Cupcakes came out perfect and moist. Thank you!
I just across your website. I am really interested to bake this cake. As i am a new baker i a question to ask you.
In this recipe i have seen no baking powder or baking soda used. Is it required or not?
Thank you in advance.
Regards
Mary
you really are amazing. will try this soon. thanks for keep on sharing. God bless.
Hi. New to baking.
How would I convert this to a sheet cake and still use the spray sugar water ?
totally making this now! will let you know how i go – thanks for the post xx
I too am curious about needing to use all purpose flour and also freezing. Also, any high altitude recommendations?
Baked this in a three layer it was so good!!! It didn’t last an hour at barbecue…I used cream cheese icing instead though…but it was so delicious I’m making it again today!!!
tried this recipe today….it is on point….light,fluffy,moist…I used almond essence (which I get from the Caribbean) as the flavouring…very tasty.I also pre-cooked some some sliced apples in sugar,and butter and flavored with cinnamon and nutmeg and used it as a base for an upside down cake….what yummy goodness.
This question has already been posed, but, since I didn’t see a response…how to increase this recipe if you wanted to do a tier cake? Thanks, T
P.S. I’ve used this recipe for cupcakes for my college age children and now all of their friends and roommates request them too!
Love your side!! your are a genius!! do you think that I can use this recipe for a big cupcake mold? thanks!!
This cake is amazing, so soft and fluffy. I’ve tried so many yellow cakes and none of them have come out as I liked, but this one comes out amazing. I won’t look for any other.
Hello there,
This cake looks AWESOME!!! I can not wait to try it! I am also looking for a pure white moist cake recipe, made from scratch, any tips? It’s either the butter or egg yokes (or both) that would have to be substituted to get the pure white color. I gave looked for years with no luck! Thank you in advance for any tips.
I needed a very moist and delicious cake and I thought to try this recipe. I have to thank you for sharing this recipe because it was better than the boxed cake mix and I love them. It was awesome.
Great tip. I do this but with a pastry brush and my cakes are always super moist. I usually like to pour some Amaretto, Rum, Kahlua, or Gran Marnier to my simple syrup and everyone absolutely loves it!
I see this is an old post, but I just saw it on Pin. In my experience as a professional, you do NOT have to spray a sugar syrup, which I consider an extra and messy step. Just pour it slowly onto each side of each layer. Let it soak in for about 15 min before turning over to do the other side.Instructions for this are in The Cake Bible.
Absolutely LUV this recipe…I’ll be making it again tomorrow!
I am a newbie at cake decorating. I too was not happy with cake recipes I found on books or the internet. But this recipe, was out of the park. My class mates love it. Thanks for sharing it.
Did NOT like this cake. Tried making it exactly as instructed three different times, all three times it came out a touch dry with crusty edges, crusty top and an almost burnt bottom. In order to bake the middle through, it over baked the outsides of the cake. I finally give up on this recipe :(
The cake fell apart very easily and was to sweet for me. 1 1/2 cups of sugar would have been much better. In the end the cake wasn’t very moist either. I was fairly disappointed because it looked delicious!
This is the worst cake ever. I had been baking cakes for almost 30 years and I was excited when i found this recipe. I followed the recipe exactly like you described and it turned out terrible. First of all the cake fell in middle and I couldn’t get it out of the pan. This is the worst recipe!!!
H
Update: this cake came out wrong when i made it =[ i was so excited, the cake was very dense and not light,soft and airy. What did i do wrong? i made this for my best friends birthday but even though she liked it i was disappointed in myself. I must have done something wrong, what makes a cake like this? i’ll appreciate your help, thank you
Would it still work and be moist if lets say i used one stick of butter and replaced the second with sour cream instead? or chobani greek yogurt? great recipe btw!
thank you!
This is my new basic cake recipe. It’s the best. I made cupcakes for my daughters baby shower. Delicious! I used almond flavor. I was wondering of I could add peanut butter or chocolate?
I used this cake recipe to make cupcakes for my daughter’s baby shower. This is the best recipe ever. It is now my basic recipe. I was wonder if fruit,chocolate, or peanut butter could be added?
I just wanted to say that this is my go-to recipe for vanilla cake!! Thank you Angie!
loved this tutorial! i want to make it for my daughter’s upcoming birthday but was wondering if i could make it 2 days ahead of time (due to time constraints). is it ok to freeze the cakes & refrigerate the frosting? what would you recommend? also, if I wanted to make a tiered cake (a two-layer 6-inch cake above a two-layer 10-inch cake), should I double/ triple/or quadruple the cake recipe and the frosting recipe? thanks in advance!
Just made this cake and it tastes delicious… only I used very old pans and the cake didn’t come out of the pans clean. I pieced it back together, hoping to salvage the past hour of my time spent baking.
Regardless, if you have the light gray, non-stick pans, this cake will turn out golden. I only had one, and that cake came out clean while the other two were in shambles.
Lesson learned!
awesome recipe, Bakerella!
Hello! I just have a question about the yellow cake recipe ingredients. I live in Mexico, and here we don´t have self rising flour.. so I was wondering if instead I add plain flour and baking powder for the rising.. what quantity of baking powder and flour should I use?? Thankyou!
Yummmmmmm
Perfect!!
Hey i tried this cake to take for my Wilton course 1. This is sooo moist and yummy!! Couldn’t resist so tried one layer. Me and my 2 kids finished one layer in less than 30 mins :) now 2 layers r left to be stacked and frosted:). Thanks for sharing thi perfect recipe . Ill definately try more of ur recipes. May GOD bless u!!
I too have been searching for a moist from scratch vanilla cake (who would have thought it would be so difficult?) so thank you for the post! To eliminate the trimming of your cakes try taking an old towel and cutting it into strips the width of the side of your cake pans. When you bake a cake next time, while prepping your pans take the towel strip get it wet and ring it out then wrap it around the outside of each cake pan, securing with a safety pin, and bake. It cools the sides of the pan helping it to bake evenly and almost completely eliminating the need to trim! Thanks for the recipe I’m off to bake!
I made this today it is yummy
i LOVE POTATOES
reuben what are you talking about u freak!!!! this is delicious
disgusting
Thank you for this! Do you happen to know if it freezes well?
Hi, ive been using ur technique of wrapping the cake and its just awesome. ALl the cakes turn out so moist.
I so want to try this cake of urz…Please tell me can i make this batter as a sheet cake???…how long do i need to bake…..
looking fwd to you reply
THanks
Can I use oil instead of butter and get the same taste/moisture results?
Hiya,
I love your cakes! The ideas are amazing!
I have one question, when you say butter, is it unsalted or regular salted butter? Recipes never mention it, and it makes a difference in the taste and consistency.
Thanks a lot.
;)
OK…my sister-in-law is the baker in the family…I’m the cook. But, we both have been looking for a great yellow cake recipe. Probably more so me than her! She’s friggin’ awesome! Now that I have time, it’s Spring Break, I can’t wait to try this. It looks fabulously moist and declicious. Wouldn’t it be awesome to surprise her over Easter with this cake? Thanks for sharing!
Is there a substitute for White Lily flour since it is not available in our area?
Do you think this recipe would work with cake flour?
I doubled this recipe and made 16 cupcakes and a birthday cake in a pan that measures 11×15. The flavor was delicious and everyone else raved about the cake, but I thought it was a little dry. I know I have to cook it longer in the bigger pan, and maybe that’s the problem. Do you have any tips on adjusting the recipe slightly? I would really like to follow your recipe as closely as possible because it does have such a nice flavor. Thanks.
I have to comment on this again!!! I just made this for the second time…and it is WONDERFUL!!!! The first time I made them…I made cupcakes. This time I made a cake. Texture is great! Light, fluffy and moist. Anyone that doesn’t get the same result is doing something wrong. Follow the directions exactly and you will get a perfect vanilla cake! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING!
I was in love with the pink icing, then I saw that you blog xx
So I have been on a search for a really yummy vanilla cake/cupcake! THIS IS IT!!! I have tried recipe after recipe and have failed. There were a few that were ok…just ok! This will be my ‘GO-TO’ vanilla recipe. The only thing that I will change is the amount of sugar. I think I’m gonna cut it back by 1/2c. I found it to be a little on the sweet side for me. That’s just my preference. Other than that…IT’S PERFECT!!!
made this last night.. definitely perfect.. my go to cake recipe. plus your photo is delicious.
would it be okay if i added peanut butter to the cake batter?
amazing photo! I can’t wait to try this! Love your website.
I had an epic fail. :( Hoping it will taste good but it looks like the diamond head crater & the leaning tower of Pisa combined. The weight of the top layer bulged the sides of the bottom layer so they aren’t the same size either. And pieces came off trying to wrap it fresh from the pans so my whole cake is a ‘crumb layer’. I’m new at scratch layer cakes obviously. Why did mine fall? And should it be that hard to wrap them fresh from the oven? Mine does NOT look like yours. We’ll taste it after my son’s bday dinner tonight…. Help!
You are such an inspiration. I have been reading you for years now and I love going rhrough your old posts. I’m making this this week.
You make it look so good, but when I tried it it was a little dry and crumbly. I don’t know what I did wrong. I have this problem when I use recipe that uses butter instead of oil for the fat. Any suggestions?
Hi =D
I have made alot of your recipes on this website and they have all turned out fantastically except for one D=
I made this cake but in two 8 inch pans and they are super heavy and dense…is it because I might of overbeat the batter or the fact i put alot of batter in two baking tins I’m not sure
Help would be gladly received thanks =D
So I just made this cake for my daughters’ bday party. While the cake is very moist it’s also quite flavorless. Where’s the salt, baking powder for the recipe. It will work for my girls bc it primarily tastes like a giant pancake, but next time I would use salt and baking powder.
oh, i wanted to add that that european butter is closer to oil in my opinion than regular american butter because of the higher fat content ( which is what lends to a moister cake), and melting the butter and using at room temp helps to incorporate into the batter more like oil would :)
As an avid baker, I’m still on the search for an AMAZING vanilla butter cake recipe ( i feel the flavor of buttery cakes is far superior to those that use oil), so I’m glad i came across this and I will be sure to try it! :) A couple of tips that have significantly helped me to make moister, less crumbly, cakes and cupcakes in the past:
– using full fat buttermilk or sour cream instead of milk
– subbing european butter for regular butter – it has a higher fat content and traps more of the water/ moisture into the cake instead of it escaping while baking
– melting the butter, letting it cool to room temperature, and THEN adding it to the batter and chilling the batter for AT LEAST 4 hours! This is one of my favorite things to do, I do this for cookies and cakes and I ALWAYS get compliments about how moist my desserts are when I do this… it has many benefits doing it this way… One is that you can incorporate the butter into the mix more evenly, so it has a uniformly buttery taste throughout. Secondly, you eliminate lumps and you can mix it more quickly so you don’t end up overbeating the mix, which can lead to dry cakes. Thirdly, chilling the batter reduces the risk of the batter overheating and drying out while in the oven.
– adding vanilla pudding mix to the batter can also help. i don’t add more than half of a small box because i don’t want it to overpower the homeade flavor of the cake, but this is enough to add some moisture.
Hope this helps!
Omg! Looks delish!! Can’t wait to try this! I have concerns though… Can I use all purpose flour instead of self rising flour since I couldn’t find any? Is there any substitute with butter flavoring? I’m afraid it’s not available here… :(
Going to try this can’t wait:-)
As the good witch would say….you’ve had the answer all along….in The Cake Bible. Rose recommends using sugar syrup to keep cakes moist.
I made this yesterday and it came out amazing i poured the batter into two round 9in pans and it was perfect. make sure you butter and flour the pan like the recipe asks for. The tips were wonderful and the buttercream icing was fantastic thankyou so much!!
Hi, so i want to make cake in 10″ pans how much of everthing i need to add.I am making Topsy Turvy cake so first tier it is going to be 3 pans 10″ cakes.And second tier is going to be 3 pans 8″ cakes.What do you think is this going to be ok.
Made this cake for a family get together. It was so good. Loved it and shared. Thanks so much for sharing.
This recipe is pretty good but I adjusted it and used 2 3/4 cups flour and 1 3/4 cup sugar with A 1/2 cup sour cream 3 egg yolks and 2 whole eggs. This is truly the most moist vanilla cake I have ever made and I bake all the time.
Could you tell me when I would spray the sugar syrup if I freeze the butter cake…before or after freezing??? Thanks so much in advance!
I baked this cake yesterday. I bake a great deal as I’m retired but have always been a baker of good things to eat. This cake in my opinion is not it,,it’s dry,,I went by the recipe even to the point of poking holes with the spray sugar water and wrapping it right after it came out of the oven. I have made several wedding cakes for people and thought if this recipe was moist and good I would use it..Was disappointed ..the cake is dry..and not at all light or airy,,,it’s quite heavy,,
This cake was a waste of time, no flavor at all! Beautiful pic but lacks major flavor, sorry its the truth.
This cake was so delicious. Very moist, buttery and light! Everything you look for in a perfect cake. Thanks for this recipe!
if I do not have self rising flour what would I use to make this recipe?
looks awsome.. thanks.
I just tried this, it came out GREEEEAAAATTTT!!!!! This recipe is definitely a keeper! This is only my second time baking a homemade cake, so I’m impressed that it came out so good. It was a LOT of work, but it was worth it! : )
I followed the recipe and my cake was extremely dense and heavy, almost like a pound cake. It was moist, but not very fluffy. Is there anything that I could have done wrong, or is the cake supposed to be dense?
This is delicious. I made an almond and Meyer Lemon version with cream cheese frosting for my blog, http://gour-maybe.blogspot.com and will be posting the recipe with credits of course this week. The additional beating of the sugar and butter is key.
WOW.. i am excited to try out this cake. I am a bit frustrated that I am on holiday and my regular kitchen is in another continent. But I look forward to trying the cake and letting you know how it goes.
I am impressed about sugar spray, brilliant idea..
P.S i am on holiday but started having baking withdrawals and hence i stumbled on your blog. and I love it !!!!!!
Hi,
I am new at baking. I Just gave this recipe a try and unfortunately my cake didn’t seem to rise properly(it still tasted yummy though).
I am trying to figure out what went wrong?
1. I dropped the pan several times to get the batter flat? Do you think that caused the cake from rising
2. I couldn’t find the self rise flour. So, I used the flour that was recommended for cake. Should I have used baking powder in this case?
Thanks for your advice in advance,
Steven
I made this cake and frosting this weekend to welcome home my husband. This is the best cake I have ever made! While mine turn out very moist, I did have mine kept in the fridge (twice wrapped) for a day before I iced it. I can’t wait to try my own variation! Thank you!
I made this cake last week for my nephews wedding, it was a huge hit! I had never made a cake from scratch before and this was super easy. It was so moist and delicious everyone loved it! I’m making it again this week. Thanks for the recipe! :)
Recipe
I made your cake yesterday for a birthday, using a different frosting, a light chocolate. The cake came out great. I think wrapping the layers in plastic while they cooled and the sugar water spray made a really good cake just that much better. Thank you and thanks to your friend’s mom.
1 1b. 10X powdered sugar i dont understand what it means… can you please exmplaine or tell me how many cups pls
What do you use for grease? Just crisco? Or what? (:
Your work is really amazing, I tried out this recipe for a vanilla cake. Thank you so much for sharing all these lovely recipes and tricks. Here’s the blog post about it http://tanadeidolci.blogspot.it/2012/10/torta-di-compleanno-alla-vaniglia.html
buttercream frosting!
Is that 3 cups of siftted flour…or 3 cups of flour then sifted?
I tried the easy buttercream recipe, and it came out too watery…. was there something I should have added to it, or did I just do something different? :/
WOW..!! I just made this cake and is super moist and the taste is great…!!!!! Thanks for sharing
Hello! I will be baking my son’s 1st bday cake and would like to try this recipe, do you think it would work with a carmel filling and wrapped in fondant? Will it be sturdy enough for the fondant weight on it? Thanks!
The cake was delicious. I used regular flour and put baking powder in it to make it self rising. It was fluffy and had a great taste.
I have used the sugar water trick in the past, I use a fantastic recipe from bbcgoodfood which is super moist! I’l have to compare the two and see which one comes out best!
I just tried this cake last night and it came out very moist, but it has NO TASTE. My husband compared it to eating fluffy air. Any thoughts on how to get that classic yellow cake flavor?
Also for all of you that are having issues getting the cake out of the pan you must try Cake Release by Wilton. You can get it at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or even at some Wal-Marts in the Party/Cake makings section (not the grocery box cake section).
I love this recipe! Instead of 2 sticks of butter, I did one stick and a half cup of vegetable oil. SUPER moist, with out spraying the cake with simple syrup.
Wow! My family loved, loved, loved this cake. I was really surprised how moist it was. I used a cake flour substitute because I had no cake flour on hand. I also altered the recipe some to make only 2 layers which I thought would be sufficient for our family. Maybe the cake was so moist because the butter and sugar were creamed so long? I did have a little trouble getting it out of the pan, the cake was very delicate and thus a little crumbly but the end result was delicious. For the icing I used only 1/4 cup of butter and I also added in an ounce of leftover cream cheese just because. Because I used less butter I had to add a lot more milk- I used around 2-3 tablespoons. Overall- yum, best yellow cake I ever tasted. Defiantly a keeper. Thank you bakerella!
I just want to say thank you so much. This has become my base recipe. I’ve made it just how you directed and it was amazing, but I’ve also made lemon, coconut, and coffee cakes from this. Thank you so much!!!
Yep, that’s the trick that most bakeries use – we call it simple syrup and pour it into spray bottles OR use a pastry brush to soak the cake.
I’ve been a pastry chef for over 6 years and this is a long-time secret :)
I have made this cake and it’s the best I have made in my 20 years of cooking I love it and so does everyone else who eats it! The frosting it’s also great!
I just read some of the earlier comments and I wanted to say I used this for a fondant cake and it worked perfectly. For those having trouble with the cake sticking in the pan, I greased the tin, placed a baking paper circle in the bottom, and floured the sides. Once out of the oven I ran a knife around the edges and the cakes came out very easy even when still quite hot.
Part of the yummy cake texture is it will be a bit crumbly, so I wouldn’t recommend it for a sculpted cake, but for a round/square cake it works a treat under fondant.
Thankyou Bakerella this cake is so moist, yummy and has a beautiful tender crumb. Last week I trialled 3 vanilla cake recipes and this one was the clear winner. I used it to make a quilted fondant cake for my sisters birthday last weekend and it was so good everyone loved it!
I hope you don’t mind that I posted this recipe on my latest blog post with quantities converted for my Australian readers. The only thing I changed was to omit the butter flavouring – it is a perfect recipe, so tasty and moist for a scratch cake!
I can’t bake and all my scratch cakes come out dry, too wet, crumbly, fried, crusty, etc. any cake disaster you name, i’ve dealt with it. i hope and pray this works because it looks so delicious and i love cake and hate box mixes. i’ll be back to tell you if it works for me. i sure hope it does.
I made this cake for my sons, BUT IT CAME OUT TASTING LIKE CORNBREAD?
Can I ask where do you purchase that flour? Can I substitute regular flour- if so should I use cake flour or an all purpose flour. I found that flour on Amazon but it was upwards of $20 and I don’t wnat to spend that on flour
Just sent my husband the link so he can make this for my birthday tomorrow… can’t wait to eat it!
I tried this yesterday….REALLY MOIST…I even did the next day test with the outside leftover piece! Every last bite was moist! DELICIOUS!!!
I made your vanilla cake yesterday. It was great. The only thing I did was add a little more vanilla, and I didn’t have the butter flavoring. Some said it was the best they ever had. Is there any way to make it a lighter and fluffier, it’s a little on the heavy side. Thanks for the great recipe.
Sue
you made this very easy to follow, you rule!
what does 10x mean for the powdered sugar?
Could you use this recipe for cupcakes and if so what changes need to be made?
This cake is AMAZING…the search is over, its moist and fluffy, I would use have to sugar because i found it a bit too sweet especially with butter cream but I LOVE THIS.
Thank you :)
Joanne,
Love from Edinburgh, Scotland
This is the same recipe that I use. and the ONLY recipe i’ll ever use EVER. Tastes like the best sugar cookie ever in the form of a cake. the texture is perfecto. check my blog to see how my same recipe turned out (: anickh(dot)blogspot(dot)com
best cake ever
made these twice as cupcakes and couldn’t get them to rise either time! Taste great, really moiste, but no rising action
I wanted to know if the sugar and water mixture can be refridgerated? That seems like a lot for a couple of layers. Or I guess the recipe can be scaled down as well correct?
OMGGGG!! i have tried a million vanilla cakes…this one is the winner…This cake is super moist, hold great shape with fondant and is delicious!! trust me when i say this! excellent cake!
My search for the best yellow cake is over. This recipe is just what I was looking for. I made a 10 inch round, 3 layers for Easter and we ate the cake in 2 days. Could not stop eating it. I used swiss buttercream instead of your recipe but will try yours soon. Super delicioso! Would you happen to have the perfect royal frosting recipe?
The cake looks AMAZING! I live in South Africa so it is not possible to get Butter Flavouring here (I have never seen or heard of it) Is there an alternative to this or will it be ok if it is excluded from the cake? Thanks so much :)
pastel
Can i Use Cake Flour instead of self rising? Or will it make a HUGE difference?
Thank you so much! I have tried a dozen or so “moist yellow cakes” and they either turn out dry or too heavy. This one turned out fabulous!
mary :)
Based on that recipe I just made sort of a yogurt- lemon cake with lemon frosting. It’s quite amazing.
I love your recipes.
Guess my search for the moist yellow cake ends with your post… I am new to baking so this might seem like a really silly question, but I shall still ask… How do I modify the above recipe or any recipe in general to my desired cake pan size or layers…
I want to make a 2 layer cake of this recipe.. how do I do it?
Hi Bakerella: I´m so happy because I found your site, it is so beautiful!!
I have a question,can I make cupcakes with this recipe?will it work?
Thank you
PILY
I am making my sisters Wedding cake.. would this moist yellow cake make a good base for one?
I also was told you could use pudding Mix in the batter to keep the cake moist
I just made this cake and it was a little bit crumbly, but I made it again but this time I added 1/2 package of vanilla pudding and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise (moisture). This is my go to recipe. Thanks
I just made this and it is TASTY and SUPER Moist! But the top was pretty crumbly. Did I do something wrong? Or is it supposed to be that way?
The cake has a great flavor but falls apart EVERY time i take it out of the pan. I mean, literally just crumbles to pieces….yes, I let it cool completely, yes i’m greasing/flouring/bakers joy-ing correctly….I don’t know what the heck goes wrong, this has never happened to me w any other cake recipe. It’s put me in quite the bind twice now…boo. Everything else has been great though-lol– the icing always turns out divine
To Ally Said: I did try making this cake (unfortunately) for a Mickey Mouse Birthday cake for my grandson. Thank goodness I tried early because I have to go to my usual recipe. The taste was good, not awesome, but good. Do not use this recipe if you need a firm cake for fondant or special decorating. Too crumby!
Although this cake tastes good, it is not a good recipe for molded cakes or cakes meant for decorating. Very crumby & falls apart when trying to take out of the pan.
I’m going to have to try this!
Any tips off the bat for high altitude? I’ve been able to get good cupcakes, but cakes tend to fall pretty badly, even with adding in a bit more flour.
All u goons that commented on how great this cake “looks” no one actually made the damn thing and can comment how it came out? Morons! No one cares that you are visually pleased.
I made this frosting, it was so easy and soooo good. Thanks!
Re: Bake with care in gas oven…middle to upper middle rack…I’d leave the convection fan turned off–it may dry the cake more. Everybody has different ideas about mixing…over-development of glutens will make the cake tougher…under mixing may result in lumps of flour, etc. Be sure the measurements are exact, and batter must be mixed according to directions. Let your good cook’s sense tell you when it is done–toothpick in middle tester, etc. Fill pans evenly, done when “slightly” pulled away from edges of pan. If you use a cheap vanilla, it will not have the great flavors of a finer vanilla.
What wonderful comments on clearly a very wonderful cake. I’ll make it soon. Piercing the cake and injecting or drizzling all manner of flavored simple syrups is an old technique, guaranteed to moisten the dryest cake failure. Try vanilla, rum, butter rum, lemon zests, marachino, pineapple…any and all of the coffee syrups–hazelnut, pina colada….they’re all suitable and good to add raves to your cake. Now I’ve GOT to make this one. Glad to see this post.
Thank God for “Pintrest”! As soon as I came across this recipe..i had to try it! I made it this afternoon….and words can’t even express how much i LOVE this cake! Hands down…the best yellow cake recipe, ever! Thanks! :D
This is by far the best from scratch cake I have ever made. I followed the directions exactly and the cake tasted fantastic. I made this cake for a family birthday party and everyone loved it! I baked it 2 days before the party and wrapped the 2 layers in plastic and kept them in the refridgerator. I also used the sugar water spray. This is definitely my go to cake!
I just made this cake for a version of a bananas foster cake and i have to say, it was super dense…My husband said it reminded him of cornbread….any ideas what the problem was?
This cake was super moist the best cake recipe ever!
Hey there,
I, too, have been searching for a moist yellow cake for ages. I’ve been using The Whimsical Bakehouse’s recipe for a while (used to live near it). But I’m going to have to try this. Do you happen to know how many cups of batter this recipe makes?
Wow, just as I was to my wits end of trying to find the perfect from scratch cake recipe, I tried this recipe. I was very pleased with the texture, moistness, and the taste of the cake. This will be my new go to recipe for scratch cakes. I have one question, how would you modify this recipe for other flavors, such as chocolate, lemon, strawberry, etc. Thanks so much for sharing. PS, I tried the Magnolia recipe and this recipe that you provided is so much better.
I baked this last nite and it tasted great, came out moist but it came out a little too dense. Any idea what I did wrong?
I want to try it again soon!
Could this be my mothers “lost” Sunshine Butter Cake” recipe?
Very excited to try this, but my QUESTION is: can I double or triple the recipe, as is, to fit my 12 in. pans??? Cake Bible is the only book that has recipes for my larger pans, but I’d love to try a recipe (like this one) that has real reviews I can learn from. If you get the chance to reply, I’d SO appreciate it :)
feel like getting a bite of the cake…thankx for sharing all your tricks…getting ready to try it…
Omigosh, thank you SO much for posting. Not only is this cake gorgeous, but I’ve been searching high and low for the ultimate vanilla cake recipe!
I just added this to my list of faves, thanks again!
http://www.skinnyscoop.com/listitem/41103/11982/the-worlds-best-vanilla-cake-recipe
love looking at all your creations. I am wondering whether this recipe can be made into cupcakes. also is the texture dense or fluffy like cake mix or somewhere in the middle. I am looking for a nice cupcake recipe to do for graduation. do u have any new cakeball creations for graduation other than the one in this site
Do u have any plans to visit Desmoines William sonoma. I like about 130 miles away from Des Moines. i will be the first one to show up, . you are so much talented and I love your pose you do for pictures-that signature Bakerella wave.
how could i turn this into cupcakes?
I can’t wait to try this recipe! I’m making this for my very picky sister-in-law. I think it’ll be great even though the 2011 reviews are much harsher than the 2008 reviews. Maybe the recession turned more people into rude, bitchy complainers?
cake
Yellow cake
Buttercake
I MADE this cake. I did not just get excited about the recipe. Unfortunately, this cake is not moist. I am a baker–on a quest for the perfect, yellow cake made-from-scratch–this is NOT it! I did everything perfectly. I did not take any shortcuts. I did not overbake it. It has a wonderful flavor, but is dry. Good try, but not good enough. Duncan Hines is better. I’ll keep searching…
This cake looks yummy and awesome! I was wondering what you suggest I should keep the cake before it’s served. I plan on making it for my nieces birthday and have to transport it (2 1/2 hour car ride). So should it be refrigerated/kepted cool or just leave it out room temperature? Thanks!!!
email to me at leahsandidge@yahoo.com
Looks really Great! Will have to try this. Thanks for sharing
I make cake and have always used the sugar water method, I add brandy or extract to give it a kick very commonly used in Puerto Rico, my country, try it! It’s worth every bite!
Thanks for sharing this AMAZING recipe! I used it to bake my daughters 1st birthday cake, a LADYBUG!
http://the-shiny-side.blogspot.com/2011/12/ladybug-cake.html
Thanks again! I love reading about all of your baking adventures!
Would you share your trick for getting that perfect color of pink? My pink frosting always seems to have an eerie glow to it….
Good cake –
horrible frosting.
hey there bakerella! i love your recipes and as they’re always so accurate! my question for this recipe is what do you mean by this : 1 1b. 10X powdered sugar??email me?
thanks!!
lotsa love xoxo
I made this cake for a friend’s birthday just recently and it was great! it was lovely and moist and there was enough icing for three layers. I did not use the spray for the cake and it was still moist, definitely a keeper!
Hey, I made this cake yesterday, although I tried it as cupcakes. The problem I ran into was the cake was very bland, even with icing there was no flavor. Also I did notice that they were not as moist as my other cakes usually are. I usually add pudding to my cakes and they come out very light and fluffy. I didn’t add any to this just so I could try it out. Just wondering if anyone else had this issue or if it was just me. I love your work by the way!