Serious Yellow Cake

Truth be told, I'm not a big yellow cake fan. I didn't even really know what "yellow cake" meant until this recipe (simply flour, eggs, and some vanilla). We've always used the "just add water" box mixes. My 2nd mom (my mom's best friend) hates the stuff.

This is a solid, standard issue yellow cake. Easy to make. Simple flavor. Big and moist. It is quite impressive to look at. It got a lot of props. I'm a little more amiable towards yellow cake now.

The frosting I used was the chocolate ganache from the Perfect Chocolate Cake. I love this frosting! It's great to work with because you can prep one layer of it, let it harden, and then come back to perfect it. Oh, did I mention it's delicious?

Serious Yellow Cake
by Smitten

4 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, well-shaken

Preheat oven to 350 and prepare your pan(s) of choice. I used two 8-inch squares pans. Squares pans are cute to me for some reason.

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just incorporated.

Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and cool completely, about 1 hour.

While it's cooling, prepare the frosting. Once everything has cooled down, trim the cake so it's even. The sides tend be a little more cooked so I like to take those off so the entire texture is uniform. Do your first coat of frosting to make sure everything is nice and even. Let it cool.

Apply the second coat and smooth out the edges. This is why I LOVE this frosting... it's so easy to work with and tasty. Decorate away!