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Easy Yellow Cake Recipe with Chocolate Frosting 780 | Umami Girl
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4.60 from 30 votes

Yellow Cake Recipe with Chocolate Frosting

Craving a simple, classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting that's ready before you know it? I've got you covered.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time19 minutes
Total Time50 minutes
Course: Cakes
Cuisine: American
Keyword: best yellow cake, best yellow cake recipe, homemade yellow cake, yellow cake, yellow cake recipe
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Carolyn Gratzer Cope

Ingredients

For the yellow cake

  • 2 cups (240 grams) cake flour (see notes 1 and 2 below)
  • 2 teaspoons (7 grams) baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon (3 grams) fine sea salt
  • 8 tablespoons (112 grams) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup (177 ml) whole milk

For the chocolate frosting

  • 5 ounces (142 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • ½ cup (120 grams) sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon (15 ml) whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon (5 ml) vanilla extract
  • Pinch of fine sea salt
  • Rainbow sprinkles

Instructions

For the yellow cake

  • Have all ingredients at room temperature.
  • Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9x13-inch baking pan, tapping out any excess flour.
  • Into a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
  • In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle, beat butter and sugar together on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about three minutes.
  • Beat in eggs one at a time and then the vanilla. Once fully incorporated, beat for three more minutes.
  • Reduce mixer speed to low. Alternate between adding the flour mixture (in 3 parts) and the milk (in two parts), starting and ending with flour. Mix just until batter is smooth — do not overmix.
  • Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
  • Bake for about 20 minutes (check at 18), just until a cake tester comes out from the center with a few crumbs clinging to it. Cake will be pale, not brown.
  • Set pan over a wire rack to cool completely before frosting.

For the chocolate frosting

  • Melt the chocolate chips in a double boiler or in short bursts (about 30 seconds each) in the microwave, stirring between bursts.
  • When melted, stir in sour cream, milk, vanilla and salt until smooth and glossy.
  • Spread immediately onto cooled cake.
  • Decorate with sprinkles. Frosting will set over time.

Notes

  1. Use cake flour for this recipe. Cake flour is made from “soft” wheat with a low protein content — usually 7 to 9 percent (vs. the 10 to 12 that you’ll find in all-purpose flour). It’s also more finely milled than all-purpose flour. This combination gives cakes a light tenderness that goes above and beyond. Good choices are Swans Down // Softasilk // King Arthur.
  2. I always recommend weighing your ingredients. If you don't have a scale, use the spoon and level method to measure your flour. I use a relatively low weight per cup in my recipes, and your cakes risk being dry if you pack your flour too densely.
  3. You can make this cake anytime on the day you'd like to serve it.
  4. Keep leftovers tightly sealed at room temperature for up to three days.
Yellow cake adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 483kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 104mg | Sodium: 381mg | Potassium: 216mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 33g | Vitamin A: 578IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 132mg | Iron: 2mg

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