Tender Yellow Cake
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Author Notes: One of my quests has been to find a yellow cake recipe that I love. I have tried what seems like hundreds and although some are really good they were not exactly what I was looking for. I wanted the cake to be tender and light and moist. I was speaking to my Mother on the phone a few months ago, my Mom is an amazing cook and we always discuss food and recipes. I happened to mention my quest and she said she had a recipe for me to try. This recipe is from the 1950's and she made this cake for our family. I remember her cakes were always amazing I just attributed to my mothers culinary prowess.
When I made this cake my search was over. Its light, tender and moist. Holds well with fruit filling as well as a buttercream and any way you make it its delicious. The cake is a combination of a yellow cake and a chiffon cake. It rises beautifully and is very simple to make.
My grand daughter wanted a cake for her birthday with strawberries so I used this recipe and it was wonderful, layering fresh strawberries and topped with whipped cream icing, - sdebrango
Serves 10-12
- 3 large eggs separated and at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 1/4 cups cake flour
- 3 teaspoons Baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup + 1 tbs vegetable oil (I use canola)
- 1 cup whole milk (1 or 2% work also)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Pre-heat oven to 350
- Prepare 2 9 inch round baking pans, butter bottoms and line with parchment rounds, butter again bottoms and sides and dust with flour.
- Beat egg whites until frothy then add 1/2 cup of the sugar (reserving the rest) a tablespoon at a time until egg whiles are stiff and glossy. Set aside.
- Sift flour, remaining 1 cup sugar, baking powder and salt into large mixing bowl if you are using a hand held mixer or into bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Add the oil and 1/2 cup of the milk and the vanilla. Beat for 1 minute on medium speed, mixture will be quite thick. I actually prefer to use a hand held mixer for this recipe.
- Add the egg yolks and remaining milk and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.
- Fold in egg whites and distribute into the baking pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool for 10-20 minutes in the pan then turn out onto cake rack to cool completely.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
Tags: Jennifer Steinhauer, Jenny, Jenny's in the Kitchen, jestei
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3 months ago Regine
John D, the parchment paper is placed only on the bottom. But again, from experience you don't need parchment paper so long as you make sure the pan (both bottom and sides) are greased. You can use either the spray they sell specially for that, or use butter/flour.
3 months ago Regine
John D, I have made this cake several time (although I like to add one more egg for a total of 4) and many times I don't even bother with parchment paper. I only spray the pan; but if you use parchment, to be safe, I would spray both the pan and the parchment paper.
3 months ago John D.
I need help, could you clarify point number two. It reads butter and flour the pans and then line with parchment paper. Do you place the parchment paper on top of the butter & flour? Or, do you place the parchment paper in the pan first then butter and flour the paper? Also do you place parchment paper around the sides of the pan as well as on the bottom? ........Thanks, John.
3 months ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
John, you are exactly right, I will correct the directions it should read butter the bottom of the cake pan, place parchment and then butter bottom and sides again, then dust with flour. Thank you for pointing this out.
4 months ago Jessica Harrod
This cake turned out awsome! It was moist and light! Used it with a fresh strawberry filling. Everyone loved it.
4 months ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
So glad you liked this cake. For me it was a revelation. Thank you so much!
6 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
Oh, I guess I should have been clear - this will be his birthday cake this year :-)
6 months ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Happy Birthday to the Grandson!!
6 months ago TheWimpyVegetarian
I've got it in the oven right now, Suzanne!! One of my grandson's turns 7 on Saturday, and he asked to come up to Tahoe to spend it with us. Because we're at 7000+ feet above sea level, I added a little yogurt (one of my tricks that usually works up here to add moisture). It was pretty liquidy going into the pan, so we'll see if I went a little too overboard. But the batter was so good, I briefly considered stealing some to pour into a glass, and pretend it's a smoothie.
6 months ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
LOL, a smoothie. Thanks Susan, I hope it works out. Good trick to know adding yogurt for extra moisture when you are at a high elevation. Let me know how it turns out and Happy Birthday to the grandson. Thank you so much for letting me know that you are making the cake.
12 months ago rheg18
One last thing, the cake came out a bit dry when I took it out of the oven after 30 mins. I should've started checking at after 25 mins.
12 months ago rheg18
This is such a fabulous recipe! Definitely a keeper! Super easy and I didn't have to buy a thing since I had everything in my pantry. I used my homemade strawberry jam as a filling and topped it with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. A perfect summer dessert. I love that it is so versatile. I can already think of a dozen ways to dress this up.
Thank you sdebrango for sharing this wonderful recipe. I know that I will be using it for years to come.
12 months ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Thank you so much for trying the cake. It really was a revelation for me after trying so many recipes. I see above it seemed a bit dry when you baked for 30 minutes. Ovens vary so widely in temperature so yes a great idea to start checking it after 25 minutes. Thank you so much for trying it and i am beyond thrilled that you liked it. Thank you again,
about 1 year ago Regine
Sdebrango, I love your recipe. I have made is several times. However, the last time I did it, I mistakeny used 4 instead of 3 eggs. And guess what? Cake was still as tender and light as before, but maybe a bit more sturdy (not that it not sturdy in the first place though). Anyhow, I love your recipe and thank you again for sharing it with all of us.
about 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Thank you so much Regine, you can't imagine how thrilled I am that you like the recipe. Sometimes my cake comes out "sturdier" based on the size of the eggs, I have found that they really do vary but like you said the outcome is always a very delicious cake. Thank you again.
about 1 year ago erinely
I don't like to use vegetable oil, is there a better option?
about 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
I am so sorry I didn't see this. I did not see an email notification that there was a comment or question. I am sure it's too late but you can use melted butter and it will be just fine.
about 1 year ago JuliaDJulie
Made this tonight and it was outstanding. . I halved the recipe---making it with that third egg, but I managed to split that, too.
Only thing I changed was increased the oil. I added 1/4 cup to my half recipe (which is very little difference from what the recipe calls for). It wasn't at all greasy and the texture was light and tender, a little spongy, but not so much as an angel food cake. Baked a nice golden brown on top.
We turned it into strawberry shortcake. Very nice recipe. Thanks so much!
about 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Hi Juilia, wonderful that you tried the cake. I am glad to hear it worked well halving the recipe and its great to know that increasing the amount of oil yielded great results. So happy you enjoyed it thank you so much for the feedback and the lovely review.
about 1 year ago JuliaDJulie
Made this tonight and it was outstanding. . I halved the recipe---making it with that third egg, but I managed to split that, too.
Only thing I changed was increased the oil. I added 1/4 cup to my half recipe (which is very little difference from what the recipe calls for). It wasn't at all greasy and the texture was light and tender, a little spongy, but not so much as an angel food cake. Baked a nice golden brown on top.
We turned it into strawberry shortcake. Very nice recipe. Thanks so much!
about 1 year ago chee-lady
I used this recipe for Easter cupcakes, and used a light whipped cream frosting with fresh fruit. I used clarified browned butter instead of oil to bring in some depth of flavor and nuttiness. I was sad to see that the brown butter taste did not come through, but the nutty smell was there.
Even though the brown butter taste didn't translate, the cupcakes were moist and delicious. This recipe is a keeper.
about 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
I am so sorry the brown butter taste didn't come through but VERY happy you liked the cake. Thank you so much for the feedback.
over 1 year ago CarlaCooks
I made this last night and it's a fantastic recipe! I am obsessed with lavender, so I added 1 teaspoon of lavender to the 1 1/2 cups of sugar and let it infuse for 30 minutes. I also added 1 teaspoon lavender to the milk, warmed it, took it off the heat, and let it infuse for 30 minutes. The end results were delicious! And the 30 minute bake time was spot on. I served it with some whipped cream with vanilla sugar and raspberries whipped into the cream. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
over 1 year ago CarlaCooks
I forgot to mention that I didn't have any cake flour, so I used the trick of substituting 1 tablespoon of flour for 1 tablespoon of corn starch for every cup of flour. Worked perfectly!
over 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Thank you so much Carla, so happy you enjoyed the cake and the addition of lavender sounds wonderful. I have done the same thing when I am out of cake flour. So glad it worked out and that you enjoyed the cake and thank you for letting me know.
over 1 year ago emarie
Like many, I've been searching for a great yellow cake recipe, only to be disappointed time after time. Thanks, sdebrango - this is the one!
over 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
I felt the same way, made this and my long search was over. I do hope you enjoy, thank you so much for giving it a try!
over 1 year ago Taylorman
I told you I can be lazy. I used the carrot cake recipe from bettycrocker.com. I added one egg- and some sweetened coconut. If you like raisins I'm sure they would be great too. I basically followed your tender cake recipe from there on out- pretty much ignoring the bettycrocker directions- except I did dust the walnuts (and raisins if you use them) with some of the flour before adding all the dry ingredients together- and then the rest of the wet. This is supposed to help keep the walnuts and raisins suspend in the cake and sink to the bottom. I also used a very healthy 3 cups of grated carrots- it is carrot cake after all- and by following your tender yellow cake method- I bet I could have added even more. The cake came out very fluffy, light yet full of flavor and texture. I think I also added nutmeg since the original recipe only called for cinnamon.
over 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
I have used Nick Malgieri's carrot cake recipe for years, its very good, I use pineapple in the cake and vegetable oil and like you use a lot of carrots. No raisins daughter doesn't like, but I use either walnuts or pecans in the cake. I am going to use the spice brined pecans I added to the banana bread recipe in the cake, besides the cinnamon it adds that subtle oommph of spice. I think betty crocker has some great recipes, still use many of them in my old very well used book. Never knew there is a bettycrocker.com, good to know she has gone hi-tech!!
over 1 year ago Taylorman
If I remember correctly- using silicone pans may require an adjustment in oven temperature. But I was too lazy to look that up and and just went for it with my niece's birthday cake. This may have been why some of the edges were dry on her cake.
So- true to my word- I experimented the next time I baked a cake. I used a basic carrot cake recipe, adding an extra egg, some sweetened coconut and chopped walnuts. Then I prepared the recipe as if I was making the tender yellow cake- by separating the egg whites and preparing them with some of the sugar and a little of the vanilla- then folding that into the already mixed set of dry and other wet ingredients.
I baked this in a 9X13 glass pan and it came out great. Everyone really liked it- and noticed that I had taken a turn for the better as the family cake maker :-)
over 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Yes, I think you are right about adjusting the oven temp when baking in silicone. That could be why the edges were a bit dry. The carrot cake sounds great, you should post the recipe. I am going to be making a carrot cake for a birthday and would love to see your recipe. YAY for the family cake maker. Thanks so much again for making the cake.
over 1 year ago Taylorman
You are welcome. The acknowledgements are deserved.
I forgot to say in my last post that my pans were silicone.
I don't know if it would have worked out as well without parchment paper if they had been metal.
over 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
I have never baked with silicone pans, I have a silicone muffin tin but after one mishap not remembering that its soft and i lost all the batter onto the floor I reitired it. I have never baked it without parchment, its something I always have on hand and never bake without it. My Mother did bake it in metal pans with no parchment all the time and although I never watched her de-pan it the cake was always intact at least as far as I can see. After having many cakes stick parchment is a staple for me. Thank you for trying it and I am glad to know it worked in silicone pans.
over 1 year ago Taylorman
Ok- I FINALLY had a chance to make this cake for my niece's 18th birthday. It was a BIG hit- everyone really liked it. I like the simplicity of the recipe= and look forward to modifying it with different flavors- i.e.- chocolate, almond, lemon etc. I used 9.5" round pans- and was worried they would be too big. That wasn't problem- since these rise so high. I also oiled and floured the pans- but skipped the parchment paper and they both came out perfectly. I probably could have gone about 5 minutes less than the suggested time in my oven - but even with a few dry edges- it was a smash hit. Thanks for giving me my new "go to" cake recipe.
over 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
I am so happy that you liked the cake, and thrilled it came out well for you. Thank you again, It really makes my day when I get a nice note like this! Happy Holidays.
over 1 year ago creamtea
Despite Dr's orders, and feeling a little over-confident, I tried this in a 9" springform. For anyone else who wants to go this route, it would have gone better to either go for a 10" or to reduce the volume in the 9" by putting some of the batter in maybe 2 or 3 cupcake tins. Baking time in my oven was 50-60 minutes. Also I should have given it 15 or 20 mins. cooling off before unlatching the springform. I'm making a Boston Cream Pie (using part of sdb's recipe on-site) for daughter's b-day. Mine is not much of a looker due to these experiments :( but I'm definitely looking forward to tasting it!!
over 1 year ago sdebrango
Suzanne is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Thanks for making the cake, I love boston cream pie, its one of my all time favorites. Must have been really high putting it all in a 9" springform. I am sure it will be delish!