Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

This is the yellow cake of dreams. Perfect for celebrating birthdays, graduations, or simply getting through a tough week. The crumb is tender and moist, the chocolate frosting thick, luxurious, and slathered on generously. If you’re nostalgic for an updated version of classic yellow cake, this one hits all the right notes.

Ingredients

Yellow Cake

• 3 eggs, separated, room temperature
• 2 cups / 400g granulated sugar, divided
• 1 cup / 225g buttermilk, room temperature
• 10 tablespoons / 145g unsalted butter, melted but not hot
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or almond extract
• 2 1/4 cup / 280g unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Chocolate Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 8 ounces / 228g cream cheese, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups / 140g cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or almond extract
• 7 cups / 770g powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 2-4 tablespoons buttermilk (or milk)

Instructions

Make the Yellow Cake Layers:

1. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans, line each bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper, and flour the pans.
2. Place oven racks in the center and pre-heat to 350°F / 176°C.
3. Whisk the egg whites in a mixing bowl (use an egg beater or electric mixer) until soft peaks begin to form. Gradually add 1/4 cup / 50g of the sugar and continue to mix until glossy, stiff peaks form - another minute or two. Set aside.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, melted butter, egg yolks, olive oil, and extract. Set aside.
5. In a large mixing bowl whisk together the remaining 1 3/4 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well for 15 seconds or so. Gradually add the buttermilk mixture while stirring. Keep going until everything is just uniform.
6. Add half of the whipped egg white mixture to the cake batter and use a spatula to mix them in - this will loosen up the batter. Add the remaining egg whites and fold in until there are no visible white streaks left.
7. Divide the batter equally between the two prepared cake pans. Tap on the counter to loosen any bubbles, then bake for roughly 20 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Rotate pans halfway through to ensure even baking.
8. Allow cakes to cool in pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove cakes from the pans and allow to cool on racks (or refrigerator) completely before frosting. Chilling them in a refrigerator makes them easier to slice into layers and frost, ideally using an offset spatula. While the cakes are cooling, mix up the frosting.

Make the Chocolate Frosting:

1. To make the chocolate frosting, beat the butter until creamy. You can do this by hand or with a stand mixer. Add the cream cheese and beat until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl along the way.
2. Add the cocoa powder and extract and mix on low if you're using a stand mixer. Drape your mixer with a clean towel to keep the cocoa powder in the bowl, if needed. Continue by adding 1/4 of the powdered sugar, mixing, and repeating until all the powdered sugar has been incorporated and the frosting is uniform in appearance and billowy. Add the buttermilk 1 tablespoon at a time until the consistency is to your liking. You want it thick, but spreadable. So it glides across the cake and doesn’t catch and tear.

Assemble and Frost the Cake:

1. First thing, my yellow cakes don’t typically dome, but every oven is different! If yours did, just trim the dome so your cake layers are perfectly flat. Or as close as possible. I like to use a serrated bread knife for this.
2. Place one layer of the cake on a platter or equivalent. Place strips of parchment around the base if you want to keep the platter clean. Spread a generous layer of frosting across the top and all the way to the edge. Top with the second layer, pressing gently to establish a connection and good structure. Finish by frosting the sides and top. Remove the parchment strips. Enjoy!

Notes

Note: Because of the cream cheese in the frosting, if it is going to be more than a couple hours, you should refrigerate this cake. Bring it up to room temperature before serving.

Serves 12.

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