Yellow Cake: the Reverse Creaming Method

I first made this yellow cake from Sarah Kieffer's cookbook about 18 months ago for a friend's baby shower. I liked it so much I made it again the next week for someone's birthday. Somehow it's been languishing in my draft pile ever since. Once so much time has passed, it's probably worth remaking something just to be doubly confident, right? So we arrived back from Mexico this afternoon, I started some laundry, ate some Thai "linner" (or is it lunner? maybe just supper?), and started in on a repeat of this cake.

There are a lot of hardcore yellow cake fans in this world. Caleb is one of them. Based on an incredibly skewed dataset of co-workers and friends I've made cakes for over the years, I'd guess that at least 25-30% of Americans would pick yellow cake over any other cake offered to them. I am not part of that major minority, because I'd rather try something new than eat something I've already had and liked once before. Why eat yellow cake with fudge frosting for the billionth time when I could eat virtually any other cake and it would be less repetition? Something like pistachio cake with a raspberry filling and pistachio buttercream or butterscotch bourbon cake or mocha hazelnut cake?

I've made (and eaten) a lot of yellow cakes in my lifetime, often because someone would stridently claim that no homemade cake could rival the Duncan Hines yellow cake box mix that is beloved by (apparently) so many Americans my age. Duncan Hines does make an astonishingly moist and easy yellow cake. Even mega-blogger Deb of Smitten Kitchen agrees with me. But there's just something about box mix I've never been able to get past (if you're wondering, I blame you Mom and Dad, but I love you for it too). So I'm always looking for the yellow cake that's going to beat Duncan Hines' in a blind taste test, because shouldn't I be able to do better than a grocery-store box? If I can't, what kind of baker am I?

When yellow cake is done properly, it's rich, lightly vanilla-y, moist and buttery with a crumb that is a teeny bit dense rather than fluffy... a little like a great pound cake in layer cake form. The trademark yellow color and richness are achieved by using A) all egg yolks or B) some egg yolks and some whole eggs (as is the case here) plus some combination of sour cream and buttermilk. Sadly, even with these starting advantages, most yellow cakes I've run across (and a few that I've made) are dry and flavorless. Not so this yellow cake from Sarah Kieffer, which relies upon a reverse creaming method to achieve a delicate cake crumb while maintaining the rich vanilla taste. Beating the butter into the dry mix to obtain a sandy-textured crumb, then adding the wet ingredients in two parts (as we do here), is highly reminiscent of a scone recipe, except the ratios are a little different for this cake...! The reverse creaming method helps produce a rich cake that has a dense, moist crumb and isn't too airy or dried out.

Making the cake itself is quite simple (although much easier if you have a stand or hand mixer). First you let your butter cubes come to room temperature, then stir together your dry ingredients, and whisk together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Add the butter cubes to the dry ingredients while mixing at low speed to form a coarse, sandy dry mix that's an awful lot like the base of a scone recipe (but with somewhat less butter). Be careful to do this on the lowest speed ("slow") not the second lowest speed ("2" on a KitchenAid Stand Mixer), otherwise you risk spraying your countertop with the dry mix (I speak from experience). Drizzle in half the wet ingredients while still mixing on low, beat for 20 seconds, scrape down the bowl and repeat with the rest of the wet ingredients. Split the batter between two cake pans, gently bang twice to settle, then bake for about 25-30 minutes.

This yellow cake is one of the best yellow cakes I've ever made (or tasted) and it certainly tops the box variety. It's great as the base for Sarah's raspberry cream frosting, and equally delicious swathed in a not-too-sweet fudge or vanilla frosting. It's easy to make at home and it keeps well for several days (storage conditions depending on how it's been frosted).

Original source: Vanilla Bean Baking Book

Yellow Cake

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: vanilla bean blog

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cooling Time: 2 hours hours

Total Time: 1 hour hour

Servings: 12 people

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• ¾ cup (180 grams) sour cream
• ¼ cup (64 grams) buttermilk
• 2 cups (284 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ cups (297 g) granulated sugar
• ¾ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ pound (2 sticks; 227 g) unsalted butter room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces

Instructions

• Adjust an oven rack to the middle position (and the other beneath it). Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use baking Pam or butter then flour two 8 by 2-inch round cake pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper circles.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks, then whisk in the vanilla, sour cream, and buttermilk. Set aside.
  
• In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt on low speed. With the mixer still running on the lowest speed (e.g. "Stir"), add the butter one piece at a time, dropping another piece in every couple of seconds, then keep mixing until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
  
• With the mixer still running on low, slowly add half the wet ingredients (1 cup worth). Stop to scrape down the bowl, then increase the speed to medium and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Drop the speed back to low, and slowly add the rest of the wet ingredients, pausing occasionally to scrape down the bowl (sides and bottom) and beater. Mix until just combined, scrape down the bowl again, then increase the speed to medium and beat for 20 seconds (the batter may still look a little bumpy). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl once more, then use a spatula to fold the batter a few times and check that there are no major lumps in the batter.
• Divide the batter between the prepared pans (about 600-620 grams per pan) and gently smooth the tops with a spatula. Tap each pan gently on the counter twice to help pop any bubbles. Bake the cakes about 25-30 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through. Start checking for doneness around minute 20, but expect the cakes to take closer to 30 minutes. The cakes are done when the tops are golden brown, the sides pull slightly away from the pan, and a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean.
• Transfer the pans to a wire rack and let cool for 20-30 minutes. Turn the cakes out of the pans onto the rack, remove the parchment paper from the bottom, and let cool completely (about 90 more minutes). Once cool, the cakes can be frosted or wrapped in plastic and refrigerated overnight/frozen for future use.

Notes

This recipe will work with 9 by 2-inch round cake pans and can be baked in two or three pans; reduce the baking time based on the pans you are baking in.

To bake as vanilla cupcakes: Place cupcake liners in two standard 12-cup muffin tins. Fill each liner just past half­way full. Bake cupcakes 16 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached. makes 24 to 25 cupcakes.

Variations:

cardamom cake • Add 2 teaspoons ground cardamom to the dry ingredients.

spice cake (serve with coffee buttercream) • Add I½ teaspoons ground cinnamon, I teaspoon ground car­damom,½ teaspoon ground cloves, and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper to the dry ingredients.