The Cook's Illustrated Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake from March 2008 is still one of my all-time favorite yellow cake recipes. I've tried several and have other favorites as well (Shirley Corriher's is one), but this cake is also a winner and very easy to make. It calls for a method called reverse creaming, also known as the two-stage method, which has you mix the dry ingredients first, then gradually add the liquids. At the end, you fold in beaten egg whites.
Cookie Madness Fluffy Yellow Cake
In the past I whipped my egg whites first in the stand mixer bowl, then just scraped them into another bowl and proceeded with the recipe in the same bowl. Now that I'm old and have more equipment, particularly a stand mixer with two bowls, I just whip the egg whites last. Sometimes I just mix the whites with a handheld mixer. So here's a more streamlined version of the recipe.
One thing I found was the the Cook's Illustrated Fluffy Yellow Cake almost always needs more than 22 minutes. Mine takes up to 27 minutes in just about any oven I use.
Recipe
Cook's Illustrated Fluffy Yellow Cake -- Best Yet!
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups cake flour plus extra for dusting pans (280 grams)
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cups sugar (divided use, so watch out!) (350 grams)
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted and cooled slightly (140 grams)
- 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature (230 grams/ml)
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 large egg yolks room temperature
- 3 large egg whites room temperature
Milk Chocolate Frosting
- 8 ounces chopped milk chocolate (dark okay too)
- 2 ½ sticks unsalted butter, cool and cut into small chunks (280 grams)
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120 grams)
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (Dutch or natural)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup light corn syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch-wide by 2-inch-high round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Dust with flour.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and only 1 ½ cups sugar together in large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer. bowl. Reserve the remaining ¼ cup of sugar for the whites.
- Whisk melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and yolks in another bowl (or a 4 cup liquid measure).
- Begin beating dry ingredients at low speed with the mixer. Gradually pour in butter/yolk/oil mixture and mix until almost incorporated (a few streaks of dry flour will remain), about 15 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape whisk and sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium-low speed and beat until smooth and fully incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds.
- Beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add remaining ¼ cup sugar and beat until stiff peaks just barely start to form -- they don't need to be dry.
- Using rubber scraper, stir ⅓ of whites into batter to lighten, then add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans. Lightly tap pans against counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any large air bubbles.
- Bake for 20 to 22 minutes (up to 27) or until cakes appear set and are beginning to pull away from sides of pan. Let cakes cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen cakes and invert.
Milk Chocolate Frosting
- Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave using 50% power and stirring every 30 seconds to 1 minute. Let it cool.
- In the bowl of a food processor, process butter, sugar, cocoa powder and salt until smooth. Add corn syrup and vanilla and pulse until smooth, then scrape sides of the bowl and add chocolate. Process until smooth and creamy. Ice the cake immediately.
Sonya says
I am so tickled to see that you did the same type of taste test with the same results! I baked six kinds of yellow cake about a year and a half ago, and this was our favorite, but I had a close second and palatte fatigue, so yesterday I repeated the top two cakes, adding two more recipes to try, and this one was the CLEAR winner, so delicious in every way!!!!
regine says
I have tried countless number of yellow cake recipes, and the very best is CI's Fully Yellow Cake. It is great for layer cakes, moist, tender, light. Just perfect. The only thing is that I HATE the acidic taste and powdery texture I seem to find in cake flour, so I replace the cake flour SUCCESSFULLY with all purpose flour. I use the formula of 1 cup cake flour is 3/4 cup (12 tbsp) all purpose flour with 2 tbsp cornstarch. Trust me, this formula ALWAYS works and delivers a superior cake.
Anna says
Hi Susan,
I haven't tried that one, but the technique sounds similar to the one used in the chocolate butter cake I posted last week. You mix the dry ingredients, add the softened butter, then drizzle in the eggs which have been mixed with cooled coffee. The chocolate cake has a really tight crumbed, dense texture. I'll bet the vanilla version you use is really good!
susan scarborough says
Hi Anna, I was wondering if you have tried the other CI yellow cake? Does not use melted butter. If you tried them both let me know? If not I may have to try the fluffy version. The CI one I use uses softened butter, and beats the eggs with the milk drizzling into the dry inged. that have had the butter dropped into it a bit at the time (more or less "cut in") Looks easier, but will try "fluffy" one if it is better.
Whitney says
I am a big fan of your blog I have been reading it for the past 6 months. I don't ever comment though. Question: What about trying Williams and Sonoma yellow cake recipe or Dorie Greenspan's yellow cake base for her perfect party cake, or even a doctored up cake mix for your experiment?
Judy says
I feel like our minds have merged together because for the past week I have also been trying out yellow layer cake recipes! How strange. (This seems to happen to more often than you would think...) Anyway: I have tried 1 from Cooks illustrated, 1 from the Cake Bible and today I think I have finally found the best. It is from king Arthur's website. It is their Golden Vanilla cake. It is mixed using the 2 step or reverse creaming method (you know, mix all the dry ingredients first, then add the soft butter- no creaming of butter and sugar etc..) Anyway, this one looks fantastic, the batter was smooth as silk. It is cooling now, haven't tasted it, but I am hopeful this is THE ONE!
Charity Taylor says
I can't wait to see the other two and find out which is the best. I have made dozens of yellow cake recipes and am never satisfied. Lots of luck in locating your 'go to" yellow cake! The house chocolate frosting looks good!
Anna says
Risa, yellow cake is one of those things I never felt I excelled at. Not because I couldn't make a good one, but because I didn't have one perfect recipe. I guess I'm just trying to zero in on a couple of good recipes to use when people request yellow cake with chocolate frosting.
risa says
mmmm, looks delish! sooo, why all the yellow cake (or did I miss something?!)
melissa says
Thanks for posting this, Anna. I have the CI recipe for Rich and Tender Yellow Cake in The Best Recipe cookbook, and it is totally different. So it's nice to have both on hand. I made the RTYellow Cake many years ago for a friend whose favorite cake is Yellow Cake, and it was a big hit. But it was so long ago, I can't even remember how it tasted!
tia @ buttercreambarbie says
ooh that does look fantastic!
Katrina says
Winner, winner, chicken dinner! That's a lot of cake going on at your house!
I made two healthier goodies today that are both just 'meh'. I. want. some. yellow. cake. with. chocolate. frosting!
Louise says
It struck me funny that the poster of the CI recipe at Gardenweb was disappointed with it. Just shows you why one recipe won't satisfy everyone. I think it looks like a great candidate to be the layers of a Boston Cream Pie.