Best Yellow Cake Recipe - I Heart Eating (2024)

Updated on August 7, 2023|By Kate|6 Comments

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Best yellow cake recipe! This homemade yellow cake recipe makes moist and tender yellow cake from scratch. Perfect birthday cake recipe!

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Cake mixes are popular for a reason – they’re quick, easy, and turn out pretty reliable results. However, they just aren’t quite the same as a cake that’s made from scratch.

This yellow cake is a soft and tender yellow cake recipe. It is moist and flavorful without being overly heavy.

Topped with chocolate frosting and sprinkles, this cake makes a fantastic birthday cake.

How to make homemade yellow cake

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Step 1: Begin by beating the butter and oil together with the sugar, baking powder, and salt until well combined. You want it to be mixed well, so beat for about 2-3 minutes.

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Step 2: Add in the eggs and then egg yolks one at a time, and mix well.

Step 3: Add half of the flour, and then all of the milk. The batter may look curdled after you add the milk

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Step 4: Then, add the remaining half of the flour. Mix just until combined, but don’t overmix.

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Step 5: Divide the batter between the prepared pans.

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Step 6: Bake.

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Recipe Tips!

Oil, egg yolks, and milk: Using a combination of oil with the butter, extra egg yolks, and whole milk gives the cake moisture and richness.
Room temperature: It’s important that the eggs and milk be at room temperature. Otherwise, they can cause the butter to clump up as the batter mixes.

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Recipe FAQs

Is this cake moist?

It is! Homemade yellow cake is notoriously dry and bland, but this cake is neither.
The combination of oil and butter give the cake moisture and flavor and the extra egg yolks also add richness to the cake batter.
Using cake flour rather than all-purpose flour also helps to make the cake soft and moist.

What if I don’t have cake flour?

Make your own homemade cake flour with this easy tutorial.

Storage

The cake should keep for 2-3 days at room temperature or 4 days in the fridge. Once frosted, I recommend storing the cake, covered, in the fridge.

Frostings that pair well with yellow cake

Chocolate Buttercream
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting
Vanilla Buttercream
Whipped Buttercream

If you’ve tried this yellow cake cake recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who’ve made my recipes!

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5 from 9 votes

Yellow Cake Recipe

Author Kate @ I Heart Eating

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Total Time 45 minutes minutes

Ingredients

▢ 1/2 cup butter softened
▢ 1/3 cup oil
▢ 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
▢ 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
▢ 4 large eggs room temperature
▢ 2 egg yolks at room temperature
▢ 3 cups cake flour
▢ 1 cup whole milk at room temperature

Instructions

Place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F.
Grease and flour either two 8 or 9-inch round cake pans or two 12-count muffin tins. You can line the muffin cups with paper liners in place of greasing. Set aside.
Beat together the butter, oil, sugar, baking powder, and salt together with a mixer until well-combined, about 3 minutes on medium-high.
Scrape down the sides.
Add the eggs and then egg yolks one at a time, and mix until well-combined.
Scrape down the sides.
Stir in half of the flour, then all of the milk, and then the remaining flour, scraping the bowl after each addition.
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans.
Bake the cake until just golden brown. For cupcakes – 20-30 minutes.For 8-inch and 9-inch round cake pans 35-45 minutes. The cake should have a few moist crumbs attached when a toothpick is inserted in the center but there shouldn't be wet batter.
For round cake pans, cool completely in the pan, then loosen the edges with a knife and gently remove from the pan.
For cupcakes, let cupcakes to cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Notes

Oil: A neutral oil such as canola oil is best.
Flour: Properly measure the flour by aerating, spooning, and then leveling. Check out this tutorial to make a homemade cake flour substitute.
Milk: Anything from skim to whole milk will work. However, whole milk will give you moister, richer cake.
Nutrition values are estimates.

Nutrition

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Created by Kate

Kate got her first cookbook when she was five years old, and she hasn't stopped cooking since then! Her delicious recipes have been featured on Food Network, MSN, Better Homes & Gardens, Buzzfeed, The Huffington Post, and more. When she's not cooking or baking, she can be found on her mini farm with her husband and her five kids.

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