Tender White Cake
Tender White Cake
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| Yield: | Two 8" or 9" round layers; one 9"x 13" x 2" sheet cake, or 20 to 24 cupcakes. |
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 3/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour Blend
- 1 2/3 cups sugar; superfine sugar is best
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 large eggs whites plus 1 whole large egg
- 1 cup full-fat vanilla yogurt or 1 cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Directions
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare two 8" x 2" or 9" x 2" round pans; a 9" x 13" pan; or 2 standard cupcake pans (20 to 24 cupcakes) by greasing and flouring; or lining with parchment, then greasing the parchment. Note: Make sure your 8" round pans are at least 2" deep; if they're not, use one of the other pan options.
2) Mix all of the dry ingredients on slow speed to blend. Add the soft butter and mix until evenly crumbly, like fine damp sand. It may form a paste, depending on the temperature of the butter, how much it's mixed, and granulation of the sugar used.
3) Add the egg whites one at a time, then the whole egg, beating well after each addition to begin building the structure of the cake. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
4) In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt (or milk) with the vanilla and almond extracts. Add this mixture, 1/3 at a time, to the batter. Beat 1 to 2 minutes after each addition, until fluffy. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
5) Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes for 8" or 9" rounds; 36 to 42 minutes for a 9" x 13" x 2" sheet cake; or 18 to 20 minutes for cupcakes. A toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center will come out clean when done. Remove from the oven, remove from the pan, if desired (not advisable for a 9" x 13" sheet cake), cool on a rack, and frost.
Yield: Two 8" or 9" round layers; one 9"x 13" x 2" sheet cake, or 20 to 24 cupcakes.
Reviews
05/08/2012- Made this for the first time. Followed directions exactly. Cut each cake into two layers to make a 4 layer cake. Used raspberry jam as the filling, and iced with a meringue. Came out amazing! Flavor was great. Only problem though, was cake was really, really dense. It was almost like eating a brownie. Some guests at the party did not care for it being so dense.
I like buttermilk. It always makes my cakes more tender. You can also separate the eggs. Add the yolks instead of the whole egg and then beat the whites and fold then in at the end.
04/11/2012- Third time rating this recipe - not to run the rating up but because I've done something different with it every time. I used cake flour this time but regular sugar. I believe that superfine sugar helps with the texture, but out of the two ingredients, the cake flour makes all the difference. It just isn't going to be as tender without it. This time I made it coconut, and I used coconut milk in place of the yogurt, with coconut essence. With the coconut milk, it turned out just as wonderful as before. I like having options for ingredients I may not have on hand, and now I know this cake can be made successfully with half and half, buttermilk or coconut milk in place of the yogurt. This is a winner of a recipe that gets rave reviews from people every time I make it.
We really appreciate your persistence in conquering this recipe and for taking the time to share your results. Thank you very much from all of us! Elisabeth
- 04/03/2012
- Made this cake again yesterday as cupcakes and used AP flour and regular sugar because it was what I had on hand. The stated ingredients of cake flour and superfine sugar truly make a difference in the end product. I thought they were OK yesterday, if a little coarser and more yellow than white, but this morning they were awful. I planned to take them to a business meeting today, so went to the store and bought more ingredients and made more. When I got home I realized I had no milk or yogurt, so thinking of the somewhat interchangeable properties of yogurt, sour cream and buttermilk, I used the buttermilk I had on hand. If this recipe could get any better than it is as written, it is with the use of buttermilk! Light, tender, great crumb. Love this recipe!
- 03/29/2012
- I've been looking for a go-to vanilla cake recipe for years now. I've had the worst time with cakes that have the texture and flavor of cornbread. This recipe finally fits the bill. I was afraid it would be too eggy, but it's not. The paste method, while not a method taught in my culinary school, seems to be an easy enough method to do - if you follow the recipe the way it is written you can't go wrong. I would definitely have all ingredients at room temperature, and though my butter was not as soft as it could have been, my cake turned out perfectly. I love the texture of this cake; it has the lightness of a chiffon cake with the slight moistness of a pound cake. I did not find it dry like others did. Great cake recipe that I look forward to playing around with.
- 03/26/2012
- The suggestions about how soft the butter needs to be are spot on, but even though I didn't quite get a 'paste', I forged ahead and the cake turned out great. I carefully cut the 8 inch round in half to get 4 layers and used a cream cheese frosting recipe and covered the cake in large flakes of unsweetened coconut (also use coconut milk in lieu of yogurt or regular milk). An entire party full of people raved about and fought for seconds. It was that good and may even make a white cake convert out of this chocolate lover!
- 03/25/2012
- Followed recipe to the T; turned it into a Tres Leches cake.. and it is so good. The texture of this cake is the best I've ever come out with.
- 03/06/2012
- 02/26/2012
- This is a wonderful recipe! I really prefer the paste method over the creaming method because it takes less time and trouble. The only thing I will change in this recipe is the amount of extract called for. I will only be using one teaspoon of vanilla in the future and a half a teaspoon of almond extract. It was just too strong with all that was called ofr. I baked this cake in a 16x4 long loaf pan and it turned out great. I also added miniature chocolate chips to the batter at the end. I am going to try the yellow version next! The other thing I would like to address is the box of cake flour I got this recipe from. They do condense the recipe to save space on the box which would be fine EXCEPT, on the box it does not tell you to add the eggs one at a time along with a few other details. I just assumed that they should each go in separately from experience. Also, Mine did not make a paste, as I assumed it would not because I used regular granulated sugar, not superfine. But I dont think that affects the result very much.
- 02/25/2012
- I made this recipe yesterday and it came out fine but a little bit dense for me and defenitly with no tender crumbs. I used all purpose flour because where I live is hard (if not impossible) to find cake flour. I was wondering if you have a substitute blend recipe that I could use (maybe all purpose flour and cornstarch or rice flour?). Please help!
In a pinch when you can't get cake flour, put 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in your measure, then add AP flour to fill the cup. The cornstarch helps lower the protein level per cup of flour. MJR @ KAF
02/07/2012- The cake came out dense more like a pound cake and seemed it was lacking sugar. I have always used unbleached flour in my cakes. I realize they are not super light like bleached cake flour. I don't know what went wrong. Maybe it was the Greek yogurt.
I am sorry this recipe was disappointing. It is a butter cake so it is dense but with a fine tender crumb. Be sure you are using room temperature ingredients (very soft butter, eggs and yogurt with no chill). Also, using a stand mixer will yield the best results for proper air cell development. Also, be sure your are not over mixing once the flour is being incorporated. Please call our Hotline for further assistance, 1-800-827-6836. Elisabeth
