Food and Recipes Desserts Cakes Homemade Yellow Cake 4.3 (7) 6 Reviews Whatever the occasion, a classic yellow cake recipe is always the right choice. Pair it with your favorite frosting. By Southern Living Test Kitchen Southern Living Test Kitchen The Southern Living Test Kitchen has been publishing recipes since 1970, four years after the first issue of Southern Living Magazine appeared on newsstands. The Southern Living Test Kitchen team includes a team of professionals with deep expertise in recipe development, from pastry chefs and grilling experts to nutritionists and dietitians. Together, the team tests and retests, produces, styles, and photographs thousands of recipes each year in the state-of-the-art test kitchen facility located in Birmingham, Alabama. Southern Living's editorial guidelines and Lisa Cericola Lisa Cericola Lisa Cericola has been on staff at Southern Living since 2015. As Deputy Editor, Lisa manages the food and travel departments and edits those sections of each issue, as well as digital content. Previously, she was the features editor at Food Network Magazine and has more than 15 years of experience writing, editing, and managing photo shoots for print and digital lifestyle brands. Southern Living's editorial guidelines Updated on March 28, 2024 Rate PRINT Share Active Time: 10 mins Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Yield: 2 cake layers Yellow cake may seem simple, but there's nothing more exciting than the possibilities that lie ahead when it comes to this classic recipe. A yellow cake lends itself to all sorts of festivities and frostings. Want to celebrate a birthday? Top it with a whipped cream frosting and cursive birthday wishes, and you're ready to add in candles. Dress it up for a wedding with layers covered in vanilla buttercream and fresh blooms. Name the occasion, and a classic yellow cake is always the right choice. Our yellow cake recipe comes from the Southern Living recipe achieves, and it's just as tasty today as it was when grandma made it decades ago. If you're looking for a little variation on this ready-for-anything, timeless cake, just make a few adjustments. Learn how to make yellow cake, and then pick your favorite frosting and decorations. It's always fun to make a beautiful cake! Photographer: Jennifer Causey Food Stylist: Ana Kelly Prop Stylist: Kay Clarke Ingredients Cooking spray 2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup (8 oz.) unsalted butter, softened 5 large eggs 3 cups (about 12 3/4 oz.) all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for pans and work surface 1 Tbsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. table salt 1 1/4 cups whole milk 1 tsp. vanilla extract Directions Prepare pans and oven: Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2 (9-inch) round cake pans with cooking spray; dust with flour. Cream butter and sugar: Beat sugar and butter with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture: Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl until combined; add to butter mixture alternately with milk in 2 batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating on low speed until incorporated after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Bake cakes: Pour batter evenly into prepared cake pans. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in centers comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove layers from pans, and let cool completely on a wire rack, about 30 minutes. Recipe Variations Spice Cake: Prepare recipe as directed, stirring 1/2 tsp. each ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, and ground allspice into flour at beginning of Step 2.Chocolate Cake: Prepare recipe as directed, beating 3 (1-oz.) unsweetened chocolate squares, melted, into butter-sugar-egg mixture at end of Step 1. Rate It Print