Yesterday was my 33rd birthday! When you have four kids, sometimes a birthday can feel like just another day, but I was lucky enough to have family and friends make me feel very special and loved. Phone calls, text messages, FaceTime calls, and cards and gifts were received all day. I even hired a babysitter to enjoy a kid-free lunch with a couple girlfriends! And a friend came over with her kids for cake in the evening, so all in all it was a very special day. Growing up, we always had yellow cake with chocolate frosting for our birthdays and it will always be the quintessential birthday cake to me. The perfect amount of chocolate for a chocolate-lover like me, and a yellow cake is just pure nostalgia. This recipe below will me my new go-to for birthdays in our house.
Yellow cake has that signature color because it uses both whole eggs and egg yolks. Not only do they make the cake extra rich and moist, but they are essential to making it yellow! I use cake flour in this recipe, which is going to give you the perfect light crumb. Cake flour is finer than all-purpose flour, giving your cake a more “cakey” texture, verses what you might see in a bread or muffin. Cake flour also has a lower protein content, which will give you a lighter crumb. If you substitute all-purpose flour, you will have a denser crumb. The other ingredients that you’ll see in this cake are standard: butter, sugar, eggs, baking powder and soda, vanilla extract, etc. As always, you’ll want to make sure that you are using quality ingredients to yield a quality product.
Let’s talk about the frosting on this cake! Typically you will see chocolate buttercream on a yellow cake like this, but sometime I find buttercream too rich and sweet. Here, I use a chocolate cream cheese frosting. It uses 1 cup of butter and 8 oz. of cream cheese whipped well together with powdered sugar and cocoa powder with a little cream, salt, and vanilla extract for a chocolate frosting that isn’t too rich and is perfectly tangy and delicious. This will absolutely be my new go-to chocolate frosting recipe!
I hope this classic birthday cake recipe becomes the standard in your house like it is in ours!
- 2½ cups cake flour
- 3 tsp. baking powder
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- ½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
- ¾ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
- 4/12 - 5 cups powdered sugar
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 4 tbsp. heavy cream
- ⅛ tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray three 6 inch or two 8-9 inch baking pans with nonstick cooking spray. Use the pans to trace circles in parchment paper and place on the bottoms of the pans to prevent sticking.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or a large bowl and a hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, then egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Add vanilla extract and sour cream and beat until fluffy and combined.
- Add half of the dry ingredients and carefully fold to combine, then add half the buttermilk and gently mix until just combined. Repeat with remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk.
- Evenly distribute the cake batter between your prepared pan. 6 inch pans will bake for 30-35 minutes until done, 8-9 inch pans should be checked starting after 25 minutes of baking. The layers are done cooking when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. If baking the layers on multiple racks in the oven, ensure you switch them halfway between the baking time.
- Allow to cool in pans for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edges of the pan and flipping onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the frosting. Using a stand mixer or a large bowl and hand mixer, cream together butter, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cocoa powder until very light and fluffy. Use as much cream as necessary to reach desired consistency. Add salt and vanilla and beat until well combined and fluffy.
- Place your first cake layer on your cake stand and add frosting to the top of it. Add the remaining layer (or layers) and repeat the process. Frost the sides evenly, add sprinkles and candles, and enjoy!
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