Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream (Classic Birthday Cake Recipe!)

The most classic birthday cake ever! This from-scratch yellow cake recipe has been ultra tested to create the perfect moist and fluffy texture that is reminiscent of the box mix yellow cake I loved as a kid. It’s naturally yellow with extra egg yolks and tastes incredible with my favorite fudgy chocolate frosting. Full recipe here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/yellow-cake-recipe/

YELLOW CAKE:
2 Cups (210g) sifted cake flour* (DIY recipe below)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 Cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 Tbsp (45ml) vegetable oil
1 1/3 Cups (267g) granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
1/3 Cup (80g) sour cream, room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 Cup (180ml) whole milk, room temperature

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C) and prepare three 6-inch or two 8-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with baking spray and fitting a parchment paper circle to the bottom of each pan.
In a medium bowl, add the sifted cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Whisk together and set aside.
2. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or with a handheld mixer and large bowl), beat the butter on high speed until it’s creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the vegetable oil and sugar, then continue to mix on medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, mixing on low speed for 10-15 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the bowl and paddle, then add the vanilla and sour cream and turn the mixer to high speed for one minute. The batter may look curdled at this point but don’t worry – it will come together in the next step!
3. Turn the mixer off and add the dry ingredients all at once. Mix on low speed until the ingredients just start to combine, then add the milk in a steady stream and continue mixing until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no lumps (without over-mixing). The batter will be slightly thick, but pourable.
4. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans and bake for 28-32 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they’re entirely room temperature before applying any frosting.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM:
2 Cups (452g) unsalted butter, room temperature
6 Cups (720g) powdered sugar
1 Cup (90g) unsweetened cocoa powder natural or Dutch-processed
6 Tbsp (90ml) whole milk, room temperature
4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip butter on high speed until creamy and light in color, about 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and paddle and add half of the powdered sugar, half of the cocoa powder, and half of the milk. Mix on low speed until combined, then add the rest of the powdered sugar, the rest of the cocoa powder, the rest of the milk, the vanilla extract, and the salt. Continue mixing on low speed until combined and smooth, 1-2 minutes, scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed.

Full recipe + decorating tutorial is here: https://sugarandsparrow.com/yellow-cake-recipe/

*Homemade cake flour: To make your own cake flour, spoon and level one cup of all-purpose flour and remove 2 Tbsp. Add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch. Repeat per the amount of cake flour you need, then sift the flour and cornstarch mixture 4 times (don’t skip that step!). After sifting, spoon and level to re-measure the amount of cake flour you need. Keep in mind that since store bought cake flour weighs less than homemade cake flour, 2 cups of homemade cake flour will weigh closer to 265g instead of 210g.

Ideas for leftover eggwhites: https://www.seriouseats.com/what-to-do-with-leftover-egg-whites

For more cake recipes and decorating tutorials, check out:
My Blog: https://sugarandsparrow.com/
My Book: https://amzn.to/3sK2A0U
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sugarandsparrowco/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sugarandsparrow

Hi everyone, I’m Whitney from Sugar and Sparrow and today I’m showing you how to make yellow cake with fudgy chocolate frosting, which is the most classic birthday cake in my opinion. I’m super nostalgic for this flavor combination and grew up celebrating my birthdays with the box mix yellow cake. So, I have ultra tested this recipe to make it just as moist and fluffy as the box mix, but it’s 100% homemade and so easy to make. Here are all the ingredients you’ll need. 2 cups or 210 g of sifted cake flour, which keeps the crumbs supremely soft. If you can’t get store-bought cake flour, I have instructions on how to make an easy homemade version in the recipe notes below. 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, plus a/ teaspoon of baking soda. These are the leavenning agents that we use to make the cake rise. A/ teaspoon of salt, 1/2 cup or 113 g of unsalted butter at room temperature, and 3 tablespoons or 45 ml of vegetable oil. The combination of these two as a base keeps this cake rich and moist for days. 1 and a3 cups or 267 g of granulated sugar to sweeten the cake and give it a soft texture. Two large eggs and two large egg yolks. The yolks give this cake that signature yellow color and also add richness to the crumb while building structure. 1/3 of a cup or 80 g of sour cream at room temperature for even more moisture. And this adds an unparalleled rich and tangy flavor. 2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract to add the perfect vanilla flavor and 3/4 of a cup or 180 ml of whole milk at room temperature, which adds just the right amount of protein and fat to bring this batter together and maintains the perfect texture. I always start this recipe by separating two of the eggs so we end up with two whole eggs and two egg yolks. It’s easiest to do this when the eggs are cold and you can save the egg whites for another recipe or discard them. I have recipe ideas for the egg whites in the video caption below if you need them. Now that those two eggs are separated, I bring all of my dairy ingredients to room temperature by letting them sit out for an hour or so. And then I get to work sifting the cake flour. I like to sift the cake flour right into a medium bowl on my kitchen scale to measure out 210 g. Weighing ingredients is the most accurate way to measure them, but if you’d rather use cups, you’ll want to sift the cake flour into a large bowl and then spoon and level it to measure two cups. Next, we’ll add the baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and whisk that together with the cake flour, and set it aside. In a large bowl, we’re going to add the softened butter and bead it on high speed until it’s creamy, which takes about 2 minutes. You can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer for this recipe. Once the butter is creamy, add the sugar and the vegetable oil. Then continue to mix on mediumigh speed until pale and fluffy. And this takes about two minutes. [Music] Next, add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time. I like to mix these in on low speed for about 10 to 15 seconds after each addition. [Music] the yolks can be added together. [Music] When all of the eggs are mixed in, add the sour cream and vanilla extract. Then turn the mixer to high speed for one full minute. Now I add all the dry ingredients we whisked together in the beginning all at once and mix on low speed until the ingredients just start to combine. Then I add the milk in a steady stream and continue mixing until incorporated, which takes about 30 seconds. Then I scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs to make sure there are no large lumps. A few little lumps are okay. Pour the batter evenly into cake pans that have been greased and lined with parchment paper circle. You can either use two 8-in cake pans or three six-inch cake pans like what I have here. Bake the cakes in a 350° oven for 28 to 32 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs. I like to let the cakes cool in the pan for just a few minutes before turning them out on a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Once the cakes are cool, I make the chocolate frosting, which I’ll post in the recipe below. It’s super quick and easy to make, and I could truly eat it by the spoonful. Before I fill and frost the cake with that chocolate buttercream, I level the cake layers. This part is optional, but it ensures each cake layer is exactly the same height and gives you a sneak peek of that super soft crumb. I filled and frosted these yellow cake layers with fudgy chocolate frosting and gave it some rustic texture with a small icing spatula before adding lots of rainbow sprinkles around the bottom edge. Then I topped it with swirls of chocolate frosting and more rainbow sprinkles. It’s such a classic birthday cake and absolutely delicious. It totally brings me back to my childhood birthdays and I am obsessed with how moist and fluffy the cake turned out without having to use box cake mix. I hope you get a chance to make it for someone you love or someone makes it to celebrate you. If you love cake, head to my blog at sugarinsparrow.com for all of my cake recipes, decorating tutorials, and ideas for your cake making. You’ll also find lots of recipe videos and tutorials on my YouTube channel. Hit the subscribe button while you’re there so you’ll never miss a new video from me. Thanks for watching.