Yellow Butter Cake - the good, the bad, and the ugly
This is the one type of cake that has had me stumped for months. I know, yellow butter cake should be so simple. Its practically a staple at American birthday parties. I, however, have not had much (or any) luck with it.
There's nothing quite like a boxed yellow cake, unfortunately. And while a mix-in-a-box works for some occasions, I just can't bring myself to sell someone a cake from a box. It's just not right. It's just plain wrong! So months ago I set out on a journey to improve the recipes I had, which left me with unbelieveably dry and crumbly cakes. An 8-year girl actually left her piece of cake alone after one bite! Seriously!?!?!
I have pretty much figured out what went wrong before: over mixing (a big no-no in my book) and butter. Butter, you say? Yes, butter. You see, my red velvet cake recipe calls for oil instead of butter and always always always turns out so fluffy and moist with just the right amount of crumblyness (if that's even a word). So I conjured up a yellow butter cake recipe of my own; one with BOTH butter and shortening creamed together and one that is mixed relatively quickly so that it does not end up dry. The recipe that I came up with is below, but first let me tell you and show you my results:
First of all, its not as yellow as the box stuff, which I guess I will have to admit defeat on that issue. I suppose the texture is alright. Its definitely moist! It tastes buttery, but I feel like its lacking something...probably frosting. My husband won't test it out for me because he not only hates cake, but his all-time least favorite is yellow cake. He did tell me at first glance that it looks like cornbread. Is that good, bad, or ugly?
Does anyone have any advice for me and my yellow butter cake problem? Together, we can solve this mystery!
Yellow Butter Cake
*Makes one 9x13 inch sheet cake, or two 9in layers, or 24 cupcakes
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temp
1/2 cup shortening
2 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, plus 2 egg yolks, room temp (put the whites in the freezer and use them for a souffle later)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups milk, room temp
3 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Butter and flour cake pans and set aside. Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer cream together the butter and the shortening until they are completely mixed and pliable. Pour in the sugar and continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes).
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the eggs, yolks, and vanilla and lightly beat. Put the mixer on low speed and add the egg in 3 or 4 installments. Wait until the egg is completely incorporated before added another. When all the eggs are in, scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Alternate adding the flour and milk, beginning and ending with the flour, until everything is in. At this point I just take the batter away from the mixer and stir in the remaining flour (the stuff sticking to the sides of the bowl) by hand. This is where I had been overmixing, I believe.
Bake on the center rack for the following times:
9x13 sheet pan - 45-50 minutes
9in round layers - 25-30 minutes
Test with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, its ready.
Evan Davis
7 Comments
View Printer Friendly Version
Email Article to Friend
Reader Comments (7)
I don't have any tips for you, but some commiseration. Every cake I bake from scratch turns out like cornbread - and tastes awful. Lemme know if you find one that works!
(Joy the Baker sent me over, lovely site!)
Hmmm... try the 1-2-3-4 Yellow Cake in the Joy of Cooking- the ratios are slightly different, and the egg whites are beaten and then folded in, so you might get a better result. Plus I have never made anything bad from that book. If you don't have a copy, let me know and I'll get it to you.
By the way, I like your blog!!
Char
Try the "Classic Yellow Cake" from Crisco:
http://www.crisco.com/Recipes/Details.aspx?recipeID=1851
It's so moist, light, and fluffy!
Hiya Evan,
I too share your frustration about yellow cakes. Although, I did find a really nice recipe not so long ago, but didn't take notes and now I can't find it back!
I've never really had an issue with moistness, but I do find that they're often quite dense. The best results come from the recipes where the yolk and white are separated and the whites are whipped up and folded in at the end. The JoC's 1-2-3-4 Yellow Cake is my stand-by recipe, but I'm still in search of that perfect one.
Yesterday I tried this
recipefrom The Kitchen, but tonight I'm going to give this
one a bang. I don't use any shortening ever, so your recipe wouldn't work for me. Although I'm tempted to try your recipe and swap the shortening out for lard...hee-hee. Just to see what would happen.
Is that a flower nail I see sticking out of your cake batter? A friend of mine just advised me recently that that was the way to go for big cakes, and that it's a better solution then a heating core. Is that your experience too? What are your thoughts on Magi-Strips? I use them, but personally find that the leave a bit of a metallic aroma in the cake, and rather not use them if there was a better option.
Lastly, I wanted to say I like your blog and will be stopping by frequently, fellow Squarespace user!
Mari,
Thanks so much to you and everyone else who commented about the yellow cake. Such great information! I figured outmy problem though. My vanilla (white) cake recipe is so amazing, that I just changed it from 8oz of egg whites to 8 oz of eggs with yolks. Its really yummy. That how I did the shortcake recipe.
Yes, that was a flower nail in my cake. I can't always use a core because I usually use Fat Daddio's 4" deep pans so that I only have to bake one layer and split it up. The trick to baking such a deep cake is "low and slow." So I stick a couple flower nails in there and bake on about 300 degree for an hour to an hour and a half. The product is always moist and yummy. I definitely recommend Fat Daddios.
I tried the Magi-strips a couple of times, but with my low baking temp and flower nails they aren't really necessary. Never noticed the metallic taste though.
Thanks for stopping by! Please keep commenting! They are all wonderful!
Love, Ev
I'm back and I'm here to tell you that recipe number two was a hands down winner, and the best yellow cake recipe that I've ever made or eaten (even w/o frosting)! If I can keep my hands off the last few, then I'll be able to taste test again tomorrow to see how tasty they are on day two.
Thanks for the tip on Fat Daddio's, I'd never heard of them. I've got the Wilton's professional pans, and they're the best that's available as far as American sized baking pans here in the Netherlands where I live. I'll put FD on my list for my next State-side visit, though.
Meanwhile I'm going to have to start practicing with the flower nail, I love learning new techniques!
Mari, thanks for trying out the recipe! So glad it worked out for ya! Maybe I should have tried it with frosting...that was probably what was missing. Haha!
About Fat Daddios, you can buy it online at www.intotheoven.com
Ev