Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Fluffy yellow cake paired with my grandma's classic chocolate fudge frosting make this the perfect birthday cake or any other celebration for that matter.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 30

Total Time 50

Servings

Calories 593kcal

Author Ryan Beck

Ingredients

Yellow Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (1 stick)
½ cup canola oil
4 eggs, at room temperature
¼ cup Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 cup toasted walnuts or pecans (optional)

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

4 cups granulated sugar
1 ⅓ cups whole milk
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
4 teaspoon Karo light corn syrup
½ teaspoon sea salt
4 oz unsweetened chocolate squares
1 stick unsalted butter
2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Yellow Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare two 9" round cake pans. Line the bottoms with parchment paper and then butter the pans. Toss a tablespoon of flour in the pans and turn to coat the entire pan, tossing the extra flour out. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the sugar, butter and oil until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat until mixed. Add the Greek yogurt and vanilla and beat until combined. You can also use a hand mixer to do this.
With a spatula and hand-mixing, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk and ending with the flour until just combined. Do not over-mix.
Divide the batter between the two cake pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the tops are set and no longer wiggly. Inserting a toothpick should come out mostly clean with some moist crumbs, but no wet batter. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes and then run a knife around the edges of the pan. Invert on a cooling rack and allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frost the cake with chocolate fudge frosting and decorate if desired. I like to cover the sides with some toasted walnuts or pecans.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Combine sugar, milk, 2 tablespoon butter, Karo light corn syrup, salt and chocolate in a pot. Place over medium heat, until it comes to a boil. Boil for 6 minutes.
Remove pot from heat and drop in stick of butter. Let the butter melt and do not stir until fudge cools, about 1 hour.
Add vanilla extract once fudge is cool and beat with wooden spoon until it is thick and creamy, about 5-10 minutes.

Notes

Do not skip the buttermilk as it helps create the moistness you expect from yellow cake with chocolate frosting. If you don’t have buttermilk you can make your own. Use whole milk mixed with ¼ teaspoon of white vinegar or fresh lemon juice instead of buttermilk. Fill a measuring cup with the lemon juice/vinegar then the rest with whole milk to reach ¼ cup + 2 tbsp.
If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can either replace with sour cream.
All refrigerated items should be at room temperature, which helps the batter mix easily and evenly.
You may not realize this but baking powder actually expires pretty quickly. Use baking powder that is less than a year old since it has been opened. If you use older baking powder, it won’t be powerful enough to help leaven the cake. You can test it by stirring half a teaspoon of baking powder into a cup of hot water. It will immediately start to fizz and release carbon dioxide gas if it’s still fresh enough to use.
You know cake is done when you insert a toothpick in the center and it comes out clean.
Allow the cakes to completely cool before adding the frosting, otherwise it will melt.

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