FLUFFY YELLOW LAYER CAKE

Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake image

It's easy to create a supremely fluffy layer cake with additives, but most cakes made entirely from natural ingredients are either unpleasantly dense or too fragile to support layers of frosting. We wanted a frosted yellow layer cake with an ethereal texture and the great flavor of real butter and eggs. Chiffon cakes are especially weightless, springy, and moist. But unlike butter cakes, they are too light to stand up to a serious slathering of frosting. We decided to blend the two types of cake. We adapted a chiffon technique (using a large quantity of whipped egg whites to get a high volume and light texture) to combine the ingredients from our butter cake recipe. This worked beautifully, creating a light, porous cake that was hefty enough to hold the frosting's weight. But the cake lacked moistness and some tenderness. To fix the problem, we used a combination of fats (butter plus vegetable oil), which kept the butter flavor intact while improving the moistness of the cake. For extra tenderness, we increased the sugar and substituted buttermilk for milk. The buttermilk not only introduced a new flavor dimension, but also allowed us to replace some of the baking powder with a little baking soda to ensure an even rise. As for the frosting, a fluffy chocolate frosting is the perfect partner to this cake. A hefty amount of cocoa powder combined with melted chocolate gave the frosting a deep chocolate flavor. A combination of confectioners' sugar and corn syrup made it smooth and glossy. To keep the frosting from separating and turning greasy, we moved it out of the stand mixer and into the food processor. The faster machine minimized any risk of overbeating, as it blended the ingredients quickly without melting the butter or incorporating too much air. The result is a thick, fluffy chocolate frosting that spreads like a dream.

Provided by @MakeItYours

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

2 1/2cups cake flour, plus extra for dusting pans
1 1/4teaspoons baking powder
1/4teaspoon baking soda
3/4teaspoon table salt
1 3/4cups sugar (12 1/4 ounces)
10tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1cup buttermilk, room temperature
3tablespoons vegetable oil
2teaspoons vanilla extract
6 large egg yolks, room temperature
3 large egg whites, room temperature

Steps:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9-inch-wide by 2-inch-high round cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper. Grease paper rounds, dust pans with flour, and knock out excess. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and 1 1/2 cups sugar together in large bowl. In 4-cup liquid measuring cup or medium bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and yolks.
In clean bowl of stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium-high speed until foamy, about 30 seconds. With machine running, gradually add remaining 1/4 cup sugar; continue to beat until stiff peaks just form, 30 to 60 seconds (whites should hold peak but mixture should appear moist). Transfer to bowl and set aside.
Add flour mixture to now-empty mixing bowl fitted with whisk attachment. With mixer running at low speed, gradually pour in butter mixture and mix until almost incorporated (a few streaks of dry flour will remain), about 15 seconds. Stop mixer and scrape whisk and sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium-low speed and beat until smooth and fully incorporated, 10 to 15 seconds.
Using rubber spatula, stir 1/3 of whites into batter to lighten, then add remaining whites and gently fold into batter until no white streaks remain. Divide batter evenly between prepared cake pans. Lightly tap pans against counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any large air bubbles.
Bake until cake layers begin to pull away from sides of pans and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen cakes from sides of pans with small knife, then invert onto greased wire rack and peel off parchment. Invert cakes again and cool completely on rack, about 1 1/2 hours.
For High-Altitude Baking
Problem: Chemically leavened cakes sink in the center.
Solutions: Use less baking powder and/or baking soda. Increase the oven temperature and decrease the baking time.
Problem: Egg-leavened cakes sink in the center.
Solutions: Underwhip the whites and/or whole eggs. Increase the oven temperature and decrease the baking time.
Problem: Cakes are dry and cottony.
Solution: Use less sugar and/or add an extra egg.
Problem: Cakes are greasy.
Solution: Add an extra tablespoon or two of flour.
TECHNIQUE
TURNING UP THE VOLUME
HIGH
The chief hallmark of a box-mix cake is a feather-light (and chemical-laden) crumb.
HIGHER
Our Fluffy Yellow Layer Cake has an even more ethereal texture-plus it tastes good, too.
Makes two 9-inch cake layers
Nonstick cooking spray can be used for greasing the pans (proceed with flouring as directed). Bring all ingredients to room temperature before beginning. Frost the cake with our Foolproof Chocolate Frosting (see related recipe) or your favorite topping.