I've been making Shirley Corriher's Magnificent Moist Golden Cake for years now. The recipe is from Bakewise, a book you'll want to read carefully to learn the science behind why we (sometimes) do what we are supposed do when baking. In Bakewise, Shirley gives science lessons and offers recipes to illustrate each one. Her Magnificent Moist Golden Cake shows how folding unsweetened whipped cream into the batter adds moisture and produces a velvet-like texture. The recipe has other take-aways as well, but the one I always remember is that it's the velvety textured cake where you fold the whipped cream in at the end.
Magnificent Moist Golden Cake Pan Size
This has become one of my favorite yellow cake recipes. Shirley designed it to fit a 9x2 inch round cake pan, which makes it a very thick cake. When I first started making it, the only 9 inch round cake pans I had were less than 2 inches deep, so I had to divide the cake between two pans. I now have the proper size cake pans, but I still very often just halve the recipe and make it in one pan. It's a thinner layer, but it works perfectly for my other favorite trick, which is cutting out 3 4-inch circles, stacking and making a small 3-layer cake. I call this the Mickey Mouse method. It leaves lots of scraps for sampling, too.
A Few More Notes About The Recipe
So I always think of this recipe as "the one with the whipped cream" but there are other interesting things about it. There's no creaming of the butter and sugar. Instead, Shirley has you pour boiling water over the sugar so that the sugar dissolves quickly. It's another contributor to that wonderfully soft texture. Like most other moist cakes, it includes oil. In this case, it's a combination of butter and oil -- butter for flavor and oil for texture. With the price of butter these days, I appreciate that you don't have to use so much. And the other thing worth noting is the cake flour. Be sure to use it or the recipe will not work. I usually use Swans Down brand.
Frosting Recipe
I didn't include a frosting recipe with this cake, but if you need a good chocolate frosting made with natural cocoa powder, here's a link to my very favorite chocolate frosting. The sour cream makes it special.
Here's a link to the book if you'd like to have the actual recipe with all of the notes. It's definitely worth buying! BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes
Other Recipes You Might Like
Recipe
Yellow Cake Inspired by Shirley C.
Ingredients
- ½ cup heavy cream (120 ml)
- 1 ¾ cup cake flour (200 grams)
- 1 ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar (300 grams)
- ⅓ cup boiling water
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut in 1 tbsp pieces, softened (56 grams)
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 3 large egg yolks -- bring to room temperature
- 2 large eggs -- bring to room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9x2 inch round cake pan with cooking or baking spray and line with a round of parchment paper. Alternatively, you can use two pans (for thinner layers).
- With clean beaters, whip the cream and set aside. If you are worried your whipped cream won't hold up you can do this step last, but I like to do it first to get it out of the way, especially if making this cake with a handheld mixer and one set of beaters.
- Thoroughly mix flour and baking powder in a bowl and set side.
- Put the sugar in the mixing bowl. Add the hot water to the sugar and beat with a heavy duty scraper for a few seconds to dissolve the sugar. Add the butter, vanilla, and salt. Add the oil and mix on medium speed with an electric mixer to blend.
- Sprinkle about ⅓ of the flour mixture over the sugar mixture. Beat by hand or with the mixer. 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 about a third 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 from a height of about 4 inches a few times to get out any bubbles. If making one thick layer, the bake time should be around 40 minutes. If making two thinner layers, the bake time will be closer to 25 to 30 minutes. The top will be very brown due to all the sugar and the internal temperature of the cake should be around 209F.
- Frost with your choice of frosting.
Anna
Kori, I'm so happy that you liked the recipe. It's still one of my favorites, but I recommended the others because a) it's always good to have alternatives and b) I've found myself making the others because more often than not, I do not have heavy cream on hand and this recipe calls for it.
So maybe the others have been a little more convenient for me as of late, but this one is still excellent!
kori
Like so many I've been on the hunt for a great vanilla cake recipe. I didn't care of it was yellow or white as long as it wasn't too corn bread-y or too dry. This recipe is fabulous for cupcakes!! Super soft, fluffy, moist. Basically like the "box" it's known for. I'm still going to try others to find my perfect one in an actual taste test but this is definitely one of the best I've tried. I did increase to 1 TBSP of Vanilla Bean paste which may have sweetened it a bit too much.
Anne can you tell me what you like about the recipes above that make them better than this?
Naz
Hi Anna,
Thank you so much for the feedback. I will definitely try the other recipe and let you know how it goes. Thank you so much!
Anna
Hi Naz,
I wish I knew why your cakes sank in the middle, but there are just so many variables. My gut feeling is it had something to do with the oven or the pan since you followed the directions, but it's hard to say. Maybe looking over this list on Joy of Baking will give you some clues.
http://www.joyofbaking.com/ButterCakeTroubleshooting.html
Also, as much as I love Shirley's cake I have found one I like even more since posting this. It's this recipe, though I've only made it as cupcakes.
https://www.cookiemadness.net/2012/04/the-best-yellow-cupcakes/
Another one that works really well and which I've made as cake and cupcakes is this scratch yellow cake. It uses a similar mixing method as Shirley's, but it calls for more sour cream.
https://www.cookiemadness.net/2012/02/yellow-cake-with-chocolate-sour-cream-frosting/
So if you get a chance, please try one of those cakes and let me know if you're still having the sinking problem.
Naz
Hi Anna,
I made this cake yesterday for the second time and its the best yellow cake ever! My only issue was that it was sunken in the center. I didn't use any substitues and I used true cake flour. I have "bakewise" and followed the directions to the tee. The first time I made cupcakes and even they were sunken in- any advice ?
Thanks!
Anna
Hi Jacky,
I'm so glad you liked it! It feels so good to find a great scratch yellow cake, doesn't it?
jacky
I LOVE IT . I just did this recipe today after thinking if I want to be disappointed again but anyway I did it and I couldn't wait for the cake to cool off so I try warm and it was so good it melt in your mouth I have to try it tomorrow when is cool but so far its my favorite I love it thank you so much
Tammy
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.
Anna
Chris, it should work. You just have to keep an eye on the cook time as that will change.
Chris
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!
Marie
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.
Anna
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.
Cheryl Cormier
i have to ask, what are you doing with all of these cakes??
Patricia
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??).
Louise
Yellow Cake looks almost White. But none the less good. 🙂
Jen
I love all these tests! I have this book. What is better about this one compared to the CI?
CindyD
This sounds so good! How hot should the water be heated in the microwave?