# BettyR's yellow cake recipe



## anniew (Feb 4, 2012)

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone who uses this recipe could help me with a few questions.
[thread="45372"]Finally That Perfect Homemade Yellow Cake [/thread]
Has anyone tried doubling this? In the above thread, someone said they doubled it and it exploded. I need it for a cake and cupcakes this week so I wanted to give it a try. Also, does anyone use cake flour in this recipe? I like cakes with a finer, tighter crumb.

I am really excited to try it so I would appreciate your help!

Thanks,

Annie


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

Welcome to Chef Talk, AnnieW!

As one of the members who has made BettyR's perfect yellow cake several times as both a two layer cake and as cupcakes

(it makes a three layered cake, and I only have two cake pans and one muffin/cupcake tin, so I poured the batter out that way and they came out just right!),

I would not stray from the recipe. So simple and yet so delicious. 

I would suggest to you that if you need a cake (three tiers) as well as cupcakes (three dozen), I would make up two batches, separately. 

It makes alot of batter, and I know that a double recipe would not fit in my Kitchen Aid 6 quart bowl. 

Aloha!


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## anniew (Feb 4, 2012)

Thanks for your reply.  Do you know if the cupcakes rise much?  I have a two tablespoon scoop and I was wondering if these have a good rise/dome when baked as cupcakes.

Thanks again!

Annie


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

Oh man, I had to break out my "granny glasses" to read the size on my scoop. I have an OXO #20 which is 3 tablespoon disher, using a plain ole' muffin/cupcake tin with papers and these cupcakes came out great and tasted fantastic. I'm sure that you already saw everyones photos


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## anniew (Feb 4, 2012)

Thanks for your reply.  Those are cute and just in time for Valentine's Day!  Were you able to get two dozen out of one recipe?


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

You'll get three dozen cupcakes from a single batch of this awesome recipe!!


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## anniew (Feb 4, 2012)

What!  That is awesome!  It really does make a lot! 

Thanks again for your help!


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## foodnfoto (Jan 1, 2001)

One thing I was wondering about this recipe-

Instead of measuring the milk, then adding oil to reach 1 1/3 cups, could you just use 1 1/3 cups half and half for a nice, rich cake?

It just seems odd to use butter *and* oil and add that awkward step that's easy to forget.

Was wondering, if you could just use egg yolks for a yellower crumb.

Any thoughts?


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## kaneohegirlinaz (Apr 24, 2011)

I don't know about omitting the oil, foodnfoto. 

I wasn't the best in Science class in school, and I know that baking is basicly Chemistry, but everytime that I have made a cake using oil, it came out SOOOOO moist with a nice sized crumb. 

I too thought about using maybe an extra egg yolk for a richer color cake... 

I guess it's just time to make another cake!!!

Valentine's Day is around the corner, I was going to make iced Sugar Cookies, but maybe not!


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## anniew (Feb 4, 2012)

Six egg yolks would be the direct replacement for 3 whole eggs.  However, this recipe seems to be relatively low on flour so I would keep at least 1-2 whole eggs in there for the structure. 

I agree, the oil, since it's such a small amount, seems unnecessary.  I think you could also easily replace the milk with half and half.  As a matter of fact, if you read the whole thread I posted, I think on the first page of that thread Betty talks about how she replaced the milk with coffee creamer one day because she didn't have milk.

I am going to make the recipe the first time as listed, which is what I always do.  It will be my "control" recipe.  Then I might start modifying it if I think it needs to be improved.  I did read the whole 9 page thread, and the crumb seems very loose which is why I was asking about the cake flour.  Generally cake recipes which use AP flour have a more open, coarse crumb.

What I find interesting, is that some people say it is light and fluffy like a cake mix, and other people say it's dense and close to a pound cake.  I like a denser cake with a finer crumb, which is how I came across this recipe in the first place.  I think I Googled "dense yellow cake recipe."  I am going to give it a whirl this week.  I am excited!


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## siduri (Aug 13, 2006)

If i'm not mistaken, oil cakes are moister, but they taste greasy on the tongue.  I think the small bit of oil adds moistness but it's not enough to lose the buttery flavor and it's not enough to leave the tongue feeling oily. 

In my opinion, for cupcakes you should add a little more flour, like 1/4 cup more, maybe 1/.2 cup. 

I tried them and they were too tender to hold together in a cupcake.  Made them with more flour and they were fine.


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## anniew (Feb 4, 2012)

Thanks siduri, I appreciate the input.  I think that's also one of the reasons it appears so loose and crumbly in the pictures.  It's very high in moisture and there's not a lot of flour for structure.

To me, the recipe almost resembles the All Occasion Downy Yellow Cake from Rose Levy Beranbaum, with a bit more milk, less flour (also AP instead of cake flour), and the whole eggs replacing the yolks.  I wonder if hers was one of the recipes Betty looked at when developing this one.


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## sockies treats (Jun 16, 2012)

I just made this cake and it's absolutely amazing.  I can't tell you how long I've been searching for a good base cake recipe and this is it for me.  I did use cake flour because I somehow ran out of baking powder and didn't want to run out.  It is a bit tighter, but still amazing.  I make it in two square pans, cooled, cut into squares and soaked them in a chocolate sauce then rolled in fine coconut.  Unbelievable!!!!  The squares held up to the chocolate, thus using cake flour worked well.  I will try it later using all-purpose, but for now, thank you, thank you, thank you.


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## kaikeline (Dec 17, 2012)

I made the yellow cake and the icing and it was delicious! My first cake from scratch. However, my cake was more spongy, not fluffy like the picture. And from the thread above, i'm assuming it's b/c I used cake flour. I added the baking powder too. With cake flour, do you not have to add baking powder? Next time I'll just use an all purpose flour so I can get a fluffier texture. I also added yellow food coloring b/c my husband won't eat cake unless it's actually yellow, lol.


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## cakesbyrichmond (Dec 26, 2012)

Betty thank you so much for sharing this cake recipe. I have been baking for over 7 years semi-professionally and everyone has always loved my basic yellow cake layers, however I always wanted them to be a little more moist, yet not heavy. I used your recipe for the first time today (Christmas Day) and my family loved the cake. The next time I will use all of the other flavors I use ( in addition to the vanilla that you use in your recipe). I felt it could have had a little more flavor for my taste buds, but overall I was VERY pleased with this recipe. Also, I have never tried the one bowl/dumping method for making a cake. I was always a little nervous since it goes against my training using the (sugar/butter/creaming method). Thanks again and you should be very proud. I plan to also use cake flour the next time just to see how it changes the texture.


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## grammaof3girls (Jan 9, 2013)

​i just made this super recipe, using half & half but just half of the oil she uses. 
Yummy AWESOME  is not good enough to describe Betty's fab creation. 
I did have a question for those who have made her Cooked Chocolate Frosting. 
Is her ingredient list correct? It states 7 tablespoons Cocoa & 1 Tablespoon butter. The instructions say to put 6 Tablespoons of butter in? 
I read it many times & it contradicts itself. If anyone knows the correct amounts of Cocoa & butter, please let me know? 
Thanks again Betty for a talent to munch by!
God- Family-Country,
Gramma Teresa


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## laurenlulu (Sep 9, 2012)

I just made this cake and measured all ingredients, had to fight the urge to use my usual dump ingredients together and magic is born method. Although the recipe needs a lot more flavoring added I like the genoise texture, quite spongy and easily accepts a simple syrup. They also domed nicely without rising over the edge of the paper liners.The con: Even though the recipe only contains 3 eggs it tastes eggy and my cupcakes (I got 23) have vertical tunnels inside like pancakes sometimes have. Not sure what caused them, I didn't over-mix the ingredients, even used a paddle to not incorporate as much extra air. Not sure what happened.


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## jeancarleo (Apr 9, 2013)

I just baked this in a bundt pan and it took 40 minutes to bake. Next, I'm making the cooked frosting for it.





  








yellow cake bundt.jpg




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jeancarleo


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Apr 9, 2013


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yellow-cake


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## ivy319 (Aug 9, 2013)

The yellow cake was amazing I tried it for first time and added almond extract made a chocolate almond glaze it was delicious thank to!!!


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## darelee (Aug 10, 2013)

Hey BettyR

I have made this cake several time and it has never explode on me, I have double this recipe many time when making cakes for the church so I can take two and I get good raves about. the only thing that I do different is adding just the egg yoke to make it more yellow otherwise very good cake. I am making it right now and was looking for a 7-up cake recipe on here. hope this help


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## choppinblok (Nov 16, 2013)

I just baked this and pulled it out of the oven and each layer is about 1" thick, doesn't look like your picture Betty

What did I do wrong?

Linda


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## lemon shelly (Apr 27, 2014)

_  * All I want with dinner is a yellow cake: I just moved in a apartment and don't have any cooking gear, well some but not what i need to cook what i like to eat, today I would like a yellow cake, but I do not have a mixer, *_

*I would like to know if this cake can be made stirred by hand and if so how long would it take *

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## wyandotte (May 24, 2011)

Hope you will soon be able to have all the utensils and supplies you need, Lemon Shelly.  Moving into a new place is a pain sometimes, isn't it.

About stirring, I can't answer your question as regards BettyR's yellow cake recipe with its requirement for an "electric mixer",  but I can tell you this: I've made dozens of dishes where the instructions tell you you need some kind of electric mechanized equipment for stirring/kneading, etc., none which I own.  I use a whisk or a wooden spoon or sometimes a manual old fashioned eggbeater or all 3 in the same recipe.  Everything usually works out, anyway.

FWIW.  Good luck!


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