Golden Vanilla Cake.
This moist and tender yellow cake is an American classic. It can be paired with any of the frostings you love: chocolate, vanilla, coconut, caramel... We make this cake using the "paste method;" soft butter and room-temperature liquids are beaten into the dry ingredients, then the eggs are added one by one. It's a no-fuss way of making a delicious cake every time.
Our guarantee: This cake will be tender and moist. It makes a good layer cake, cupcake, or eat-out-of-the-pan cake, with a fine crumb that you can pick up with the back of your fork.
- 2 cups sugar
- 3 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, soft
- 1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs
Directions
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Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease and flour your choice of pan(s): one 9" x 13" pan, two 9" round cake pans, three 8" round pans, or the wells of two muffin tins (24 muffin cups). You can also line the muffin tins with papers, and spray the insides of the papers. |
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1) In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. |
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6) Repeat this procedure with the second egg. Continue adding the eggs, scraping after each addition, until all 4 are added. |
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9) Bake for 40 minutes for a 9" x 13" pan; 27 minutes for 9" layers; 24 minutes for 8" layers, or 23 to 25 minutes for cupcakes. |
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10. The cake is done when it's golden brown around the edges and just beginning to pull away from the edge of the pan. A toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean. |
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11) Remove the cake from the oven and place it on a rack to cool before removing it from the pan. |
Recipe summary
- Hands-on time:
- 15 mins. to 55 mins.
- Baking time:
- 23 mins. to 40 mins.
- Total time:
- 38 mins.
- Yield:
- one 9" x 13" cake, 24 cupcakes, two 9" round layers, or three 8" round layers
- Recipe comments (62) »
Tips from our bakers
- The butter in this recipe needs to be very soft. You can soften butter by placing the sticks, still in their wrappers, in a bowl of warm (not hot) water for 10 minutes. If you can leave a dent in the butter with a gentle touch, it's ready to use.
- To warm the milk before adding it, heat it in the microwave for 1 minute. Add the vanilla after the milk is warm, then add all of the liquid to the recipe at once.
- Never frost a cake until it's completely cool. For tips on frosting a cake, go to our cake decorating class.
- This batter weighs 3 pounds; if you're using a scale to measure out your layers, each 9-inch layer should weigh 1 1/2 pounds; each 8-inch layer needs 12 ounces of batter.
| Nutrition Facts | |
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| Serving Size 1 piece (57g)
Servings Per Batch 24 |
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| Amount Per Serving | |
| Calories 190 | Calories from Fat 24 |
| Daily Value* | |
| Total Fat | 6g |
| Saturated Fat | 4g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Cholesterol | 35mg |
| Sodium | 150mg |
| Total Carbohydrate | 30g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0g |
| Sugars | 18g |
| Protein | 3g |
| * The nutrition information provided for each recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information. | |
Reviews
11/16/2009
PLEASANTLY SURPRISED!!! I used the recipe for cupcakes. Oh my...it was dee-lish! I gave them as door prized at a networking function here in Atlanta and everyone LOVE them. I used the vanilla recipe as a base, then altered the flavors to include almond cupcakes, vanilla bean cupcakes, lemon cupcakes and orange. The cupcakes were very dense in texture like tier cakes. However, NOT dry AT ALL. I prefer a bigger "fluff crumb" but the crumb were small yet moist. Not a problem. Some reviews said the cake came out tasting like cornbread. NOT SURE HOW THAT IS SO. I followed the "very different" mixing directions and the cupcakes turned out WONDERFULLY tall, flavorful and moist! I will use this recipe again. Thanks
10/31/2009
I tried this recipe today and frosted with a rich chocolate buttercream frosting. All I can say is the frosting was great, but the cake was very disappointing. I followed the recipe exactly even though I thought the recipe should have more baking powder, I wanted to give King Arthur's recipe a try, because after all they are the experts. The consistency of the cake was very, very, dense. I am an excellent baker and have been baking from scratch for over 35 years. Shouldn't this recipe call for 1 tsp of baking powder for each cup of flour?? I will try a few of the other recipes to see if they are any better. (I used 2, 9" pans).
I am sorry to hear that you had difficulty with this recipe. OUr bakers would be happy to assist you. Please call us on the hotline: 800-827-6836. Frank @ KAF.
10/30/2009
The Golden Vanilla Cake recipe was perfect for our son's first birthday. I saw the recipe online and wanted to know how much batter I would need for a two-layer 12x18 sheet cake. I called the recipe line and Mary Jane was so kind and helpful! She said it would be best to triple the recipe and divide that into two pans. Thank you so much; this is the best cake I have ever made! The recipe yields a wonderful, dense, sweet, but not overly sweet old-fashioned type of cake. Our son loved it and so did we! Many of our guests commented on how delicious the cake was and wanted the recipe. We frosted the cake with a homemade cream cheese frosting which complimented the cake perfectly. (For a two layer 12x18 cake we used the following to make the frosting: 32 oz cream cheese, 8 oz butter, 32 oz confectioners' sugar, and just enough whole milk to get a spreadable frosting). Thank you again for this great recipe!
10/27/2009
Thank you King Arthur Flour for the recipe. It was such a moist and delectable cake. Thumbs up!!
10/27/2009
I like the texture of this cake made with the paste method better than your Golden Layer Cake made with the emulsion process. I think the GLC may appeal to those with a stronger sweet tooth who want a fluffier cake. The GVC works better for my palate. I have made this with the easy buttercream frosting, though by my reckoning, this cake would be fine without any further embellishment, other than a piping cup of tea or coffee. Taste is richer on the 2nd day.
09/28/2009
I baked this cake for the first time yesterday and took it to my brother's for a family fish fry. I had some reservations about this cake after reading some negative comments. Did not need to worry, it was a big hit. It was moist and had a fine crumb. I topped it with my own butter-cream cheese frosting (vanilla). My brothers comment was "this did not come out of a box." Thanks for the good recipes, they make me look like a really good baker.
09/28/2009
Made the cake using the weight measurements and the cake was very dry and dense. This was the first recipe from this site that I was disappointed with. I am sorry to hear that you had difficulty with this recipe. Please call us on the Hot Line: 800-827-6836. Our bakers will be happy to walk through this recipe with you for better results next time. Frank @ KAF.
09/20/2009
This wasa good cake, light, rose nicely, really nice flavor, not quite as moist as I would have liked. I can't seem to find the secret to a moist scratch cake, what is the trick? I did not use the mixing method here just creamed moist ingredients with sugar and alternated milk and dry ingredients.
You may have overcreamed the butter and sugar. Try the method used in the recipe to avoid that problem. Molly @ KAF
09/20/2009
Good basic "plain" cake. I baked on day 1 and ate on day 2. The whole family thought it was delicious. I made this for my son's first birthday cake. This cake is a little denser than (yucky) store bought (not KA) cake mixes. But I prefer that in a cake. I think this cake would be great paired with a juicy berry or pineapple filling. I plan to try that in the future.
09/08/2009
Delicious cake! Rave review from family. First time I made it as a 9X13 cake, but added cocoa to about 2 cups of the batter and turned it into a marble cake. Second time around was a 2 layer cake. Perfect!
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