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.
Do you have a really good strawberry frosting recipe for this cake??
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
This looks so good! What a great combination of flavors !
Can you use butter extract instead of butter flavoring? Or can you use imitation butter flavoring. I can’t find butter flavoring where I live. Thanks
Sounds delicious, but I like my buttercream 1/2 butter and 1/2 shortening. People love it. I have been dying for gas stove and find it interesting you want an electric. Does the oven bake better? I miss gas eyes on my cook top.
I’ve used this recipe for the last 12 years! It’s my go to for a vanilla cake or cupcakes! Do not look elsewhere I swear by this one??
Oh, and I use (3) 9 inch pans.
I have been using this same recipe for over 30 years minus the butter flavoring. My cakes are always moist and I don’t do the plastic wrap or the sugar spray. What I do is I always use White Lily self rising flour that I sift once before measuring, always use real butter and in my oven the layers are always ready in 25 minutes. Cakes are always a success.
Hi
I wanted to ask if you ever made this a 3 layer cake and if so how did you without doubling the recipe. I’ve made the yellow cake multiple times and I absolutely love it and I know people have said it was dry but every time I’ve made it it’s been moist without the simple syrup. Is this cake just as moist?
I always use (3) 9 inch pans and my cake is always moist.
Thank God!!!
Finally Found perfect Recipe For Perfect vanilla Cake
I tried to make this into cupcakes for a wedding and they sunk in the middle. Is there anything I can do to make this recipe into cupcakes? This cake is the best I have ever had and would love the option to make into cupcakes. Thank you.
Mary Howell
Por favor, podrías publicar la receta indicando los ingredientes en gramos
gracias
Buenas noches, podría poner los ingredientes en gramos.
Gracias
Hi, I made my cake with White Lily, from scratch, I found my cake to be grainier ( for the lack of a better word ). Not as soft as a cake mix.
Am I the only one that experienced this?
This cake is delicious. It’s so hard to find the perfect vanilla cake, but this is it!! The flavor is on point and the texture is perfectly moist and fluffy.
This is in old fashioned cake that is called a 1-2-3-4 Cake. My mother loved to bake this all the time! It’s from the 1950s, I think.
it looks so yummy and wonderfuull :))
Thanks so much for this recipe, i made cupcakes with it and used buttermilk instead of whole milk. It resulted in the lightest, softest and crumbiest cupcakes ive ever made. This is now my go to vanilla cake recipe. I always use your red velvet cake recipe, it is just so delicious and moist, never fails! Youre a genious ?
Rose
Can I do this as a 2 layer? Or a 9×13? I don’t have a third pan
I wish there was a way to print this recipe
Cannot save your recipe. Message says description is too long – 1000 characters. Limit is 500 characters. So sorry because your cake looks yummy.
can you make something vegan?
Going to try this recipe today for my husband’s birthday. Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
This cake looks yummyy!! How can i bake this cale if i dont have self risinf flour? XO
This cake looks yummy! If i dont have self-raising flour how can i bake this cake?
I baked the cake in three layers then cooled each and place these seperately in freezer bag and froze these for a few days like I do all of my layers. When I took them out, the were very moist. I made butter cream cheese icing with 2 sticks of butter and 1 bar of cream cheese, vanilla and powered sugar with pink paste coloring. It was wonderful, looked like a tea cake from a high dollar resturant and such a hit!
3709 Iroquois Trail
Hi. Just wondering if the measurements you gave are for a 2-layer or for a 3-layer cake? The directions sound like it’s for 3 layers but at the bottom you state that ingredients should be doubled if making 3 layers. Thanks for clarifying.
The sugar spray is a great way to moisten the cake. Thanks for sharing this with me. This is also good to moisten gluten free cakes and cupcakes. These tend to be dry. I cannot wait to try it out. Thanks once more.
If I make this cake and frost it the night before I need it, is it ok to leave it out on the counter overnight? Thanks!
Would you recommend freezing cake layers after you spray them with the sugar water? I need to make a cake a few days ahead of time. Also, could this be used for cupcakes?
I made this cake yesterday, did double the recipe. It was much too much batter for 3, 8 inch pans so I used 3, 9X2 inch pans, It was such a large cake that I only frosted 2 of the layers and saved the third layer for later. Had I put the third one on it would have been too tall. What did I do wrong? I didn’t have self rising flour so I made my own , 1 cup of all purpose flour added 1 and 1/2 tsp. baking power and 1/4 tsp. salt to each cup of flour sifted together. I am making this again today but I’m not going to double anything. I am also going to make my self rising flour. It’ a delicious cake, I”m not complaining because this is my kind of cake, thanks for the recipe.
Your website is simply incredible, because you show the step by step of all the recipes making our day to day much easier
If I wanted to bake this cake mix into cupcakes, how would that change the baking time if using a dark cupcake pan?
Looks so good!
Nice recipe. I love cakes. Thanks for sharing your Idea.
I made this and my friend who I made it for loved it! I did not spray the cake with sugar water and I couldn’t find 8″ cake pans. I already had two, so I just used those. It took twice as long to bake and the cakes were tougher than I wanted (i’m sure if I used the sugar water spray it would have been fine).
If I make this again – I will go to William-Sonoma or another kitchen store and get the 3rd 8″ cake pan. I think I will also use a skewer to hold the cake together.
I don’t use flavorings except vanilla. Can I use melted butter instead?
I’ve been making this cake for years.
The recipe I use is called a One-Two-Three-Four cake and it’s
always great. I am going to do the spray bottle the next time I make it.
Looks great! Do you think I can use this recipe as the base for a rainbow cake split into 6 colors and layers? Will the batter make a cake that’s tall enough?
Hello, here in Puerto Rico we also like moisty cakes I’ve mean mega moisty cakes. So, we moist our cakes with water, sugar and almond or brandy its so yummy and the taste are great.
Does this cak remain soft in refrigerator? Also if i hv to freeze it shd i do sugar sprayng before freezing nd then wrap it? Thx
I tried this recipe it was soooooo delicious and moist the table couldn’t hold it long enough
This recipe sounds delicious and the pictures are stunning. I have a question…how many cups of batter does this make? 8? I will be making a sheet cake and I’m trying to figure out if I need to double or triple the recipe.
Thank you!
could this recipe be made with skim milk?
Your cake is so beautiful. It looks so yummy!
But I don’t make layer cakes ever. I would like to cut the recipe in half and put it in one 8 in. square cake pan. Do you think that would work?? Do you think the cooking time would be about the same?
I really like your idea of the sugar water. I think I would try to flavor the sugar water as well, perhaps a little bit of cognac or something.
This recipe is perfect. It makes for one big cake if you do not have small cake pans. The cake is soft and springy, truly great birthday cake material. I ran out of vanilla essence, so I added the zest and juice of one lemon to make a lovely lemony cake. This recipe is a true keeper and went down a treat at my best friend’s birthday party. Thank you!