This yellow cake recipe is from the Grandbaby Cakes cookbook, by Jocelyn Delk Adams. A tribute to her heritage, Grandbaby Cakes has snippets from Jocelyn's life as a Chicagoan with family ties in Illinois and Mississippi.
The book has a sweet scrapbook design and is lovely to look at, but don't be fooled by all the warm fuzzies. Behind the cute stories and photos, there's solid baking advice and information useful for bakers of all levels. In what I hope evolves into a series of cookbooks, this Grandbaby Cakes book focuses specifically on cakes -- some classic, others more eclectic.
Grandbaby Cake Cookbook Chapters
Chapters are divided into pound cakes, layer cakes, sheet cakes, baby cakes, celebration and seasonal cakes. Within each chapter are cakes that range from easy to more complex, though even the "hardest" of the bunch is pretty simple. Whatever mood you're in, Jocelyn has a cake for it. I've already bookmarked several. There's the Arnold Palmer Cake made with a lemon cake and iced tea frosting, Blood Orange Mimosa Cake (perfect for using leftover champagne), the Peach Cobbler Shortcake and the cool and refreshing sounding Watermelon-Berry-Lime Icebox Cake.
Classic Yellow Cake
Rather than bake one of the more unusual cakes, the cake I wanted to try first was Jocelyn's Classic Yellow Cake.
This is a very good yellow cake! It calls for a mixture of oil and butter and a low and slow baking temp. In addition to its taste and texture, the yellow cake is tall and stately. It's just the right size to hold all the whipped chocolate frosting.
If you'd like to try the yellow cake, here's the recipe. For the rest of them, buy the book! It's worthy of any good collection.
Here's a link to the book: Grandbaby Cakes: Modern Recipes, Vintage Charm, Soulful Memories
Reprinted with permission from Grandbaby Cakes by Jocelyn Delk Adams, Agate Surrey, 2015.
Recipe
Grandbaby Cakes Cookbook Yellow Cake
Ingredients
CAKE
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 and ½ cups granulated sugar
- 7 large eggs room temperature
- 3 cups sifted cake flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup sour cream room temperature
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
FROSTING
- ¾ cup 1 and ½ sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
- 5 cups confectioners’ sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- Pinch salt
- 1 cup heavy cream cold
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Liberally prepare 3 9-inch round cake pans with the nonstick method of your choice. (I recommend the parchment method described on p. 17.)
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for 2 minutes on high speed. Slowly add the granulated sugar. Cream together for an additional 5 minutes, until very pale yellow and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, combining well after each addition and scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed and slowly add the flour in 2 batches. Add the salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Be careful not to overbeat. Add the sour cream, oil, and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and mix the batter until just combined. Be careful not to overmix. The finished batter should be pale yellow and have a silky texture.
- Evenly pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 27 to 32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a layer comes out clean—but just barely. It is crucial that this cake not be overbaked! The layers should have a rich golden color and a spongy texture.
- Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire racks. Let cool to room temperature. Lightly cover the layers with foil or plastic wrap so they do not dry out.
FOR THE FROSTING
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the butter and beat for 2 minutes on high speed.
- Turn your mixer down to low speed and slowly add the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa powder, and salt.
- Once everything is fully incorporated (the frosting will look crumbly), turn your mixer back up to high speed. Add the heavy cream and vanilla extract. Whip until the frosting is fluffy and smooth.
TO ASSEMBLE
- Once the layers are completely cooled, place 1 layer on a serving plate. Spread just the top of the layer with ⅓ of the frosting (please refer to the Basic Frosting Instructions on p. 18). Add the second layer and spread with another ⅓ of the frosting. Add the final layer, bottom-side up, and spread with the remaining frosting. Frost the top and the side of the cake.
Shirley D says
Picked up the book from the library today -- and enjoyed paging through it. Looks like she has lots of good tips. I hope to make a cake late next week as granddaughter is due to drive up from Virginia. Something chocolate I am sure!
Jocelyn (Grandbaby cakes) says
Thank you so much for sharing the review and this cake from the book! I'm so grateful for the love. This cake is one of my favorites. So timeless. And I love hearing that someone enjoyed the apricot nectar cake!
Anna says
Shirley, I hope you like the book. Also, a reader emailed me to say the apricot nectar cake was incredible, so if you find the book I recommend trying that recipe right away. It's next on my list, but we need to finish this cake first.
Shirley D says
This looks/sounds delicious, Anna. I don't make many cakes anymore but made a note to check our library for it when I next go in. In fact, I'll check on line right now to see if they have it!