Due to an empty box of cake flour, the yellow cake experiments were delayed until this morning. Don’t worry. They’re back!
For those of you just catching up, I’ve been baking and comparing yellow cakes all week. The first three, adapted from Magnolia, Carole Walter and Paula Deen recipes, were variations on 1-2-3-4 cake and were all very good.
This second round, adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, Shirley Corriher and a blog called Egg Beater, are more like true yellow cakes rather than butter cakes, as they contain more egg yolks and are so less crumbly.
Up until now, my favorite of all cakes tested was CI’s recipe, but we have a new winner. Shirley C.’s Magnificent Moist Yellow Cake has moved to the top of the heap.
The recipe I used is adapted from Shirley Corriher’s book, Bakewise, which I accidentally packed away in storage until we move to our new house. Given the situation, I had to use an adapted version off Pink Antler Cakes, which I then “adapted” some more — and by that I mean streamlined. You could argue that because I didn’t do things exactly the same as Shirley, it’s a different recipe. However, given the excellent results I think I just used different means to reach the same end and you’ll be safe using this recipe if you don’t have the book yet.
Magnificent Moist Golden Cake – Adapted from Shirley Corriher’s Bakewise
1 3/4 cup cake flour (7 oz)
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
4 tbsp unsalted butter cut in 1 tbsp pieces
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 2 9-inch round pans with flour-added baking spray and line bottoms with rounds of parchment or use 8 inch round pans for a higher cake.
Put a stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment (or regular bowl and beaters) in the freezer to chill for about 5 minutes.
Thoroughly mix flour and baking powder in a bowl and set side.
Take out the chilled mixing bowl and whip the cream just a little beyond soft peak stage. Scrape it out of the bowl and set it aside.
Put the mixing bowl back onto the stand mixer (no need to rinse) and add the sugar. Heat the water to in the microwave. Add it to the sugar and beat a few seconds to dissolve the sugar, then add the butter, vanilla, and salt. Add the oil mix on medium speed to blend. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the flour mixture over the sugar mixture. Stir by hand — I do this with a heavy duty scraper. Continue adding the flour until all is incorporated. By hand stir in the egg yolks one at a time, and then stir in the whole eggs one at a time.
Fold a little of the whipped cream into the batter to lighten, then fold in the rest.
Pour the batter into pans. Drop the pans onto the counter a few times to get out any bubbles. Bake for about 20-23 minutes, checking at 15 minutes.
Frost with your choice of frosting.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
This sounds so good! How hot should the water be heated in the microwave?
I love all these tests! I have this book. What is better about this one compared to the CI?
Yellow Cake looks almost White. But none the less good.
I L-O-V-E this cake. It’s my new go-to recipe. I love that whole book (“Bakewise”). I think it’s a great one for folks who are inclined to back-engineering recipes as it gives a lot of the whys and becauses. Just curious about what icing you’re using (or maybe that’s Part II of the experiment??).
i have to ask, what are you doing with all of these cakes??
Cindy, I actually brought my water to a boil in the microwave. Original recipe says to a simmer. In the end, it didn’t seem to make a heck of a difference. If you boil it, you may want to wait a few more minutes before adding the butter, etc. Either way, the sugar/water mixture is going to be warm when you add the other things.
Jen, this one was moister and a tad bit less crumbly.
Patricia, I’m kicking myself for packing the book away.
Cheryl, that’s a good question! Whoever drops by gets cake. It’s not so bad because I’m baking one 9 inch cake at a time. I actually iced this one, cut it in half, then stacked it so it looks like a layer cake.
I made this cake into cupcakes for son-in-laws birthday and frosted them with peanut butter icing. Yum! The flavor and the texture were awesome. I think I put too much batter in the cupcake paper because they flattenend out on top. Not pretty; but they sure tasted good. I will try this one again.
Do you think it would be safe to bake this cake in a 10 inch round pan and a 6 inch? Or other variations? It sounds so good, but many of the scratch recipes I have tried seem to only work when used in the specific pans indicated. Thanks!
Chris, it should work. You just have to keep an eye on the cook time as that will change.
I made this yesterday for my husband’s 55th birthday. The cake was very moist and a beautiful color because I used my own chicken’s eggs! Nice even rise, no over browning on the sides, and a good spring.
My only problem was that the cake stuck terribly to the pan. I used a bundt pan. I did not use the floured spray, just the regular canola spray, so maybe thats why it stuck.
Luckily, it was a small birthday party and nobody cared what the cake looked like, but I had compliments on the taste.
PS: The next morning it is still moist, even left unwrapped!
Thank you.