Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting is a classic combination featuring a light and moist cake and a rich and sweet frosting – the perfect pairing!
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting was originally posted on cookaholicwife.com on May 8, 2011. The recipe has been revised as of May 2019.
I have been meaning to participate in a recipe redo for SO LONG! There are a ton of recipes that need updating on here and I keep running into them but just haven't managed to get anything actually remade yet. Tom's favorite cake is a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. It can be homemade, it can come from a box and a can, he doesn't care.
He also puts the cake in a bowl and drenches it in milk, so I'm not really sure what that says about him...
Anyway, way back in 2011 Tom had requested that I make a yellow cake with chocolate frosting for his birthday so I did and shared that original recipe with you. A few weeks ago, his parents were visiting and since I hadn't made him a cake for his actual birthday (about a week before) I figured it was the perfect time to make this cake again and get it all prettied up for people to see.
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 3 ½ cups all purpose flour
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 ⅓ cup sugar
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce or canola/vegetable oil
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
For the Frosting:
- 3 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened
- ¾ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6-8 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon milk or cream or more as needed
Directions
For the Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 9-inch cake pans with baking spray and place a round of parchment paper in the bottom of each.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add in the sugar and beat for 2 more minutes.
- Add in the applesauce, buttermilk, eggs and vanilla. Mix until combined.
- Slowly add in the flour and mix just until the batter forms and no flour lumps remain.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the 3 pans, filling each not more than halfway full.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
For the Frosting:
- Add butter and cream cheese to the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. Add in the cocoa powder and vanilla and mix until combined.
- Add in the sugar 1 cup at a time, stopping at 6 cups. Add in the sugar and milk, and mix until combined. If the frosting is not sweet enough for you, add in the remaining 2 cups of powdered sugar. (You may need another tablespoon of milk to reach the right consistency)
To Assemble:
- Use a serrated knife to shave off the tops of your cakes if they are not flat or even.
- Place one cake onto a cake stand and add about a cups worth of frosting to the center. Using an offset spatula, spread the frosting around in an even layer, adding more as needed.
- Repeat with the remaining cakes.
- Add frosting to the third layer of the cake and spread down the sides, covering the surface of the cake.
- Decorate with sprinkles if desired.
Recipes on Cookaholic Wife are for information purposes only. Nutritional Data provided has not been evaluated by a nutritionist.
Original Photos - yikes!
Lisa Kerhin
I love a good yellow cake and with chocolate frosting AND Sprinkles...it's a homerun for us!
Hezzi-D
Yum! I'm not a huge chocolate fan but I love chocolate frosting on yellow cake!
Ellen
Everyone in my family loves yellow cake with chocolate frosting and sprinkles! I usually use a cake mix but will try this next time!
Julie @ Back To My Southern Roots
Oh my goodness, I am already in love with this recipe. It looks so moist and SO amazing!
Carlee
Yellow cake and chocolate frosting was my birthday cake request for a fair number of years during my childhood. I think my mom used storebought frosting, this looks much better!! I wish I had a slice now!
Karen
I love these opportunities to re-do my favorite recipes.This cake sounds amazing.
Erin Vasicek
Love that you made a classic cake from scratch, and gotta have those sprinkles! Glad you were able to participate this month!
Leanne | Crumb Top Baking
Love those chocolate frosting layers! And those cake layers look so fluffy. Sprinkles really make every cake so fun!
Terri Singer-Little
I had this cake it was very moist, but the real surprise was the chocolate icing. Most icings are so sugary and cover the taste of chocolate---but this icing is perfectly light & it tastes so chocolatey.