First of all, you should know that this recipe produces the best yellow cake I have ever tasted. EVER! And through the years, I have baked a lot of cakes. But until my dear friend Vicki made her amazing Southern Caramel Cake for one of our JazzVox concerts, I had no idea a yellow cake could taste so good. And be so tender. And I should know, because I have tried many recipes for yellow cake that have left me wanting. Wanting everything this recipe delivers – in spades. So, the really good news is that now you too have a recipe for the perfect yellow cake. Because really and truly, where other cake recipes might be considered mandatory only as the excuse for eating frosting, this yellow cake can hold its own with pride.

And just because I chose to frost the cupcakes in this post with raspberry cream cheese frosting, doesn’t mean that other frostings wouldn’t be equally delicious. I just wanted a raspberry frosting this time.   

And luckily, both the cake part and the raspberry frosting are very easy to prepare. No fancy ingredients in the cake, but you need to plan-ahead and purchase some freeze-dried raspberry or strawberry powder for the frosting. (Trader Joe’s carries the powder at a reasonable price.)

So, as always, keep playing in your kitchen. And even if you think you don’t like yellow cake because you often find it dry and tasteless, you need to build these cupcakes or cake to realize how delightful a truly great piece of yellow cake can be!

Peace and love to all.  

Cake Batter:

½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature  

3 T. vegetable oil

1¼ c. granulated sugar

3 lg. eggs, room temperature

1 lg. egg yolk, room temperature

1 T. pure vanilla extract

1½ c. fluffed up or sifted cake flour

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

½ c. sour cream

In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter, oil, and granulated sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 5-6 minutes. (Do not skimp on the time for this step. Very important.)

Add eggs and egg yolk one at a time until well incorporated. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.

In a medium sized bowl whisk the cake flour, baking powder, and salt together.   

With mixer on low speed, alternate adding in flour mixture and sour cream. Do not over mix.

Cupcakes:

Using a #16 (¼ cup, 2-oz.) ice cream scoop, drop batter into cupcake lined muffin tins 7/8 full. (Makes about 16 cupcakes.)

Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for about 18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the internal temperature reaches 210-degrees. Don’t over-bake.

Remove from oven and let cupcakes cool in the pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting each cupcake. Store in the refrigerator. Decorate with fresh berries just before serving. 

Layer Cake:

Grease and flour two 8-inch round cake pans. Pour the batter evenly into the pans. Shake to help even off the batter.

Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick stuck into the middle of the pan comes out clean and the internal temperature reaches 210-degrees. Do not overbake. Check after 17 minutes to be sure.   

Remove pans from oven and place on cooling racks for 10 minutes. Then gently remove cakes from pans and allow to cool completely before icing.

To frost the cake, place one of the cakes upside down on your cake plate.   Spread icing over layer. (Not too much.) Add the top layer and frost just the top. Store in refrigerator. When ready to serve, decorate with fresh berries.  

RASPBERRY (OR STRAWBERRY) CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

 ¼ c. (½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

3 T. freeze-dried raspberry or strawberry powder

pinch salt

1 tsp. Chambord (black raspberry liqueur), opt.

1¾ c. powdered sugar, plus more if required

fresh raspberries or strawberries, for decoration

Cream butter, powdered sugar, and freeze-dried raspberry powder together until light and fluffy. Add the salt, Chambord, and enough powdered sugar to make a firm but not stiff consistency. Beat until smooth and easy to spread. Spread as described above.