Did you know I bake lots of cakes? Like, lots and lots of lots of cakes? I had a homemade white cake recipe that I love but have been on the search for a good (and it must be GOOD) yellow cake recipe. This Yellow Cake Mix is the perfect way to get rid of box mixes or the perfect gift for a friend! This recipe also makes the perfect Birthday Cake!!!
Yellow Cake (Also Called Butter Cake)
There are two reasons that I finally ended up in this yellow cake recipe:
- It’s a one-bowl recipe.
- It uses whole eggs, not 8 egg yolks.
Oh, and one more… it’s the BEST! Tastes amazing.
(If you want this recipe written out to try my Birthday Cake recipe, it is the same delicious yellow cake only written to be made immediately.)
Homemade Cake Mix
The recipe is written to be stored. You prepare the dry ingredients, label them, and store them in your pantry. When you are ready to bake the yellow cake, you remove it from your pantry and add the wet ingredients.
It is a great option if you have a few extra minutes the week before a birthday or special occasion! Not only can making your own cake mixes save you time, but they taste amazing and are real, natural ingredients!
If you want a yellow cake recipe check out this Birthday Cake version. Detailed tips and tricks on how to make this yellow cake from scratch when you do not need to make the yellow cake mix.
Chocolate Buttercream
I couldn’t help but pair this yellow cake with rich chocolate buttercream, as that is my favorite combination.
Yellow Cupcakes
If you would like the CUPCAKE version of the best yellow cake, try this recipe for the Perfect Yellow Cupcake.
How to Gift Yellow Cake Mix
If you want to give this as a gift simply print out the ‘wet’ ingredients and the directions and attach them to the jar. Be sure to add some instructions, though. Something like, “After the cake is cooled call me and I will be right over.” 😉
More Popular Cakes
Yellow Cake
Equipment
- Stand mixer I like this one from Kenmore!
- Round cake pans (or you can use a 9×13 baking dish)
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups (281 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 3 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups milk
- ⅛ cup vegetable oil
- ½ cup (1 stick or 113g) butter, softened
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
Measure flour into quart size mason jar.
- Add sugar on top, then baking powder, then salt. Place lid on jar. (My ingredients JUST fit)
When Ready to Prepare Cake Batter
- Place softened butter into a stand mixer and mix on medium for 1-2 minutes. (You can also use a hand-held mixer)
- Place dry ingredients into stand mixer and combine with butter for 30 seconds.
- Add milk, oil, vanilla and eggs and mix on medium-high for one minute.
- Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350°F. For 8-inch pans it's 20-25 minutes. For cupcakes start checking around 15 minutes. To make in a 9×13, bake for 30-38 minutes. Cool before frosting.
Video
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Do you think coconut oil would work in place of vegetable oil?
I use coconut oil in all my cakes, cooking and baking! It does great – just make sure all your ingredients are room temperature!
Can I substitute 2% for whole milk
I used skim milk and it turned out fine.
This cake seems wonderful, would love to get the white cake and the chocolate cake, and any variations to would like to add. Thank you for sharing! Betty.
My daughter and I used this recipe for Easter egg cakes. We topped the egg cakes with pourable ganache and decorated with colored icing. They tasted every bit as delicious as the ones from the bakery. This cake is moist and has a wonderful flavor. No more yellow cake box mixes in my house. Thank you for the recipe.
I didn’t have an vanilla extract laying around and didn’t have time to run to the store so I added vanilla pudding mix about half a packet and the cupcakes came out super yummy!
I saw that same recipe on this website http://www.cheftalk.com/t/45372/finallythat-perfect-homemade-yellow-cake, it was posted a while ago and they also said that their cake came out amazing, I can’t wait to try it too!
Very much so similar ingredients! (Great find!!) Just different methods. 🙂
La receta mas deliciosa que he probado
Thanks so much Amanda! I have spent the last year trying to “improve” on boxed cakes because I thought scratch would be too time consuming. Boy was I wrong. It was quicker to put this together than any mix I’ve messed around with. And honestly, the taste (from the box) was never that great no matter what I did to it.
Then I saw this, I think on your FB page. I made the cake (and cupcakes) 3 times just last weekend, and am about to start making some more:-). Taste’s great, moist, and super easy! In fact, I went to Dollarama (I’m in Canada) and picked up 3 more quart containers *just* for this recipe. I will never use a box mix again!
That is WONDERFUL Stacie!!! I am thrilled!!
Thanks for sharing this. I have extra mason jars around, so going to try this instead of buying cake mix in the future.
This cake was NOT good. I followed the directions exactly and got a tough, dense, bland cake that was disappointing. I’m not exactly sure what everyone else did to get such apparently great results, but I just did not find this recipe good at all. I will give it another try because I don’t like to discount something after giving it one attempt, but I bake frequently with excellent results and this just did not do it for me. I was disappointed because I wound up throwing out the cake and wasted ingredients.
Definitely the first time I have heard this! Would love to know how your second attempt goes. Lets trouble shoot together if there are any more issues, ok?
How many cupcakes will this recipe yield?