Best Yellow Cake With Swiss Buttercream Recipes

YELLOW CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease two 9-inch cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds (see #6 in Cake Baking Tips), then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. I recommend using nonstick spray for greasing.
• Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed for 3 full minutes. The creamed butter and sugar will be extra creamy. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Turn the mixer down to medium-high speed and beat in the 4 egg yolks one at a time, letting each egg yolk fully mix into the batter before adding the next. Beat in the vanilla extract until combined.
• Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients and 1/2 of the buttermilk and beat on low speed until combined. Add 1/3 more of the dry ingredients and the rest of the buttermilk and beat on low speed until combined. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and beat on low speed until combined. The batter is very thick. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl.
• Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar together on high speed until fluffy peaks form, about 3 minutes. See photo and video above for a visual. Slowly and gently fold the egg whites into the thick cake batter. Avoid over-mixing as you don't want to deflate the egg whites.
• Pour/spoon batter evenly into cake pans.
• Bake for around 27-31 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. After about 18 minutes, tent the cakes with aluminum foil to prevent the tops and sides from over-browning. To test the cakes for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. The cakes may look a little spongey on top as a result of the whipped egg whites. (That's normal!)
• Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
• With a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, 3 Tablespoons heavy cream, salt, and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat for 1 full minute. Do not over-whip. Add 1/4 cup more confectioners' sugar or cocoa powder if frosting is too thin or 1-2 more Tablespoons of cream if frosting is too thick. (I usually add 1 more.) Taste. Add another pinch of salt if desired.
• If cooled cakes are domed on top, use a large serrated knife to slice a thin layer off the tops to create a flat surface. This is called "leveling" the cakes. Discard or crumble over finished cake (or on ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with frosting. Top with 2nd layer. (If desired, if the edges seem extra crumbly, apply a crumb coat which is a thin layer of frosting all over the cake. You can see I did this in the video tutorial above. Refrigerate the crumb coated cake for 15 minutes before adding the rest of the frosting.) Spread remaining frosting all over the top and sides. I always use an icing spatula and/or a bench scraper for the frosting. Garnish with sprinkles, if desired.
• For extra neat slices, refrigerate cake for 30-60 minutes before slicing. This helps the cake hold its shape when cutting.
• Cover leftover cake tightly and store at room temperature for up to 1 day or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

YELLOW CAKE WITH SWISS BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease the bottom of two 8-inch round cake pans and line with waxed paper or parchment paper.
• Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder, then set aside. In a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream the granulated sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until thoroughly mixed. Alternate adding the flour and the milk, a little at a time, beating well after each addition, then continue beating for 1 minute. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.
• Cool the cakes in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and cool completely on the wire rack.
• Frost the top of one cake layer with Swiss Buttercream and place the second cake layer on top. Then frost the top and sides of the cake. Serve at room temperature.
• Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Start the machine on medium-slow speed and whip until the eggs begin to get frothy. Turn the speed to medium.
• Slowly add the sugar to the whipping egg whites, dropping the lemon juice in about halfway through the process.
• When all the sugar is in, speed up the mixer and whip until stiff peaks form and the meringue is smooth and super shiny.
• Turn the speed to medium-low and begin adding the butter. Add it bit by bit so the meringue doesn't slop over the sides of the bowl. At this point, the meringue will fall and look ruined and broken. It's not. This is what happens and it's okay. If the meringue doesn't fall, add a little butter until it does.
• Turn the speed back up to medium-high and walk away. Come back in 10 minutes. Does it look like buttercream? No? Walk away and repeat until it does. If it still doesn't look like buttercream after 30 minutes, add more butter until it does.
• Adapted from "Duff Bakes: Think and Bake Like a Pro at Home" by Duff Goldman © William Morrow 2015. Provided courtesy of Duff Goldman. All rights reserved.

LAYERED YELLOW CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour two 9-in. round baking pans. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beating well after each addition., Transfer to prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25-30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. , For buttercream, in a large bowl, beat butter until creamy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar and cocoa until smooth. Add vanilla and salt. Add milk; beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes., Spread buttercream between layers and over top and sides of cake.

SWISS MERINGUE BUTTERCREAM

Steps:

• Combine egg whites, sugar, and salt in the heatproof bowl of a standing mixer set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly by hand until mixture is warm to the touch and sugar has dissolved (the mixture should feel completely smooth when rubbed between your fingertips).
• Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing to medium-high speed, whisk until stiff (but not dry) peaks form. Continue mixing until the mixture is fluffy and glossy, and completely cool (test by touching the bottom of the bowl), about 10 minutes.
• With mixer on medium-low speed, add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, whisk in vanilla. Switch to the paddle attachment, and continue beating on low speed until all air bubbles are eliminated, about 2 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl with a flexible spatula, and continue beating until the frosting is completely smooth. Keep buttercream at room temperature if using the same day. If not, transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate up to 3 days or freeze up to 1 month. Before using, bring to room temperature and beat with paddle attachment on low speed until smooth again, about 5 minutes.
• To tint buttercream, reserve some for toning down the color, if necessary. Add gel-paste food color, a drop at a time (or use the toothpick or skewer to add food color a dab at a time) to the remaining buttercream. You can use a single shade of food color or experiment by mixing two or more. Blend after each addition with the mixer (use a paddle attachment) or a flexible spatula, until desired shade is achieved. Avoid adding too much food color too soon, as the hue will intensify with continued stirring; if necessary, you can tone down the shade by mixing in some reserved untinted buttercream.