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The BEST Yellow Cake Recipe with Milk Chocolate Frosting. 5-Star Rated Recipe! This golden, tender yellow cake is topped with a thick layer of creamy chocolate frosting. Thanks to a secret ingredient — this homemade yellow cake bakes up moist, fluffy, and full of flavor every time. If you are celebrating a birthday, make sure to request this Yellow Birthday Cake with Chocolate Frosting!
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
I was one of those kids who were counting down the minutes at my birthday party until I could blow out the candles and eat my big ol birthday cake. I wanted a piece with a thick layer of homemade chocolate frosting.
This is literally the best yellow cake recipe. It is so flavorful, moist, and buttery! The homemade chocolate frosting is insanely rich and creamy and pairs perfectly with the homemade yellow cake.
It’s New Year’s Eve so let’s go out of 2016 with a huge yellow cake with chocolate buttercream because I see only green smoothies in my future….
The path to the Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting…
We had large cake testings to determine the winners of the unofficial homemade yellow cake recipe challenge.
If you read my last post about making a homemade yellow cake — Homemade Yellow Butter Cake, I went through many experiments to bring you these cake recipes. My pants just got tighter in an effort to bring you the perfect cake!
The recipe that I posted a few days ago is for a traditional yellow butter cake. I wanted to change it up a little and experiment with adding in some vanilla pudding mix. Since it is known to add a good amount of moisture to a cake, I was excited to see how it would affect the final product.
Best Yellow Cake Ingredients:
This homemade birthday cake calls for a mix of both butter and a touch of oil, dry pudding mix, and buttermilk which makes it so moist and tender. It is the best birthday cake ever! Here’s what you need to make it….
- Eggs
- Whole Milk or Buttermilk
- Vanilla Extract
- Flour (All-purpose or cake flour)
- Sugar
- Baking Powder
- Oil
- Salt
- Butter
- Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix (DRY)
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- Butter
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Powdered Sugar
- Heavy Cream, Half-n-Half, or Milk
Why add dry pudding mix?
Dry pudding mix is my secret weapon for a yellow cake that’s ultra-moist, tender, and flavorful. The pudding mix does a few magical things:
- Moisture boost: It helps the cake retain moisture, preventing dryness.
- Texture enhancer: It adds a soft, plush crumb, almost bakery-style.
- Flavor depth: Vanilla pudding mix intensifies the buttery, sweet flavor of a yellow cake.
It’s an old-school trick that works like a charm every single time.
It not only made a denser, moister cake but also a flavorful one as well. It’s a small amount of pudding but was still a big difference-maker. This is truly THE BEST YELLOW CAKE EVER!
The chocolate buttercream recipe is one that I played with over the years and is now my go-to recipe. It has the perfect balance of rich chocolate, butter, and powdered sugar and isn’t over the top sweet. It truly is the greatest chocolate frosting. If you are a chocolate cake lover, you must try my Love at First Sight Chocolate Cake.
How to make the Best Yellow Cake:
I will share all of the tips and tricks for making an easy homemade cake recipe that will get rave reviews! Here are some step-by-step photos and instructions. See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for amounts and instructions.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla extract.
- In a standing mixer, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Beat the butter into the flour mixture, one cube at a time. Continue to beat until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the 1/2 of the egg-milk mixture and oil and beat the batter is light and fluffy. Add remaining egg-milk mixture and vanilla pudding and mix just until combined.
- Take a spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl. Spread into greased 8 or 9-inch cake pans and smooth tops with a spatula.
- Bake for 16-22 minutes, depending on the depth of pans. If the cake layers are thin, they will cook for less time than the thicker layers.
- Let cakes cool. Run a knife around edge of cake pan and flip over. Frost with milk chocolate frosting.
- To make Chocolate Buttercream Frosting: In mixing bowl, cream together butter, cocoa, powdered Sugar, and cream until light and fluffy. You may want to add more cream or milk depending on consistency. Once the cake has cooled and has been removed from pans, frost each layer with frosting.
- Top with chocolate shavings, chocolate chips, sprinkles, M & M’s or whatever your heart desires.
Here are my favorite baking pans — and .
is the perfect tool to use to frost this cake.
Add some colorful sprinkles to this Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting if you want to make kids really happy.
Baking Tips!
Room temperature ingredients: Make sure eggs and milk are at room temperature for better mixing and lift.
Don’t overbake: Yellow cake dries out quickly if left in the oven too long. Begin checking a few minutes early.
Rotate pans: If baking multiple layers, rotate them halfway through to ensure even baking.
Level your layers: Use a serrated knife to trim domed tops if stacking layers—your frosting will look smoother.
Popular Cake Recipes:
I love making homemade cakes and have shared so many recipes through the years on Modern Honey. Here are some of the most popular cake recipes…
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Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting
Equipment
- 8 inch round cake pan
- 9 inch round cake pans
- kitchenaid mixer
- measuring cups and spoons
- spatula set
Ingredients
- 4 Large Eggs
- 2/3 cup Whole Milk or Buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 2 1/4 cups Flour
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar
- 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Butter softened, cut into cubes
- 2 Tablespoons Oil
- 1/3 cup Vanilla Pudding Mix (DRY) instant
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- 1 1/2 cups Butter softened
- 1 cup Cocoa Powder
- 5 cups Powdered Sugar
- 1/3 cup Heavy Cream (or Half n Half or Milk)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and vanilla.
- In a standing mixer, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- Beat the butter into the flour mixture, one cube at a time. Continue to beat until it resembles coarse crumbs.
- Add the 1/2 of the egg-milk mixture and oil and beat the batter is light and fluffy. Add remaining egg-milk mixture and vanilla pudding and mix just until combined.
- Take a spatula and scrape the sides of the bowl.
- Spread into greased 8 or 9-inch cake pans and smooth tops with a spatula.
- Bake for 16-22 minutes, depending on the depth of pans. If the cake layers are thin, they will cook for less time than the thicker layers.
- Let cakes cool. Run a knife around edge of cake pan and flip over. Frost with milk chocolate frosting.
- To make Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:
- In mixing bowl, cream together butter, cocoa, powdered Sugar, and cream until light and fluffy. You may want to add more cream or milk depending on consistency. Once the cake has cooled and has been removed from pans, frost each layer with frosting.
- Top with chocolate shavings, chocolate chips, sprinkles, M & M’s or whatever your heart desires.
Video
Notes
- This recipe makes two 9-inch cake layers or three 8-inch cake layers. If you use three 8-inch cake pans, the layers will be thinner and will cook for less time.
- This is one baked good that gets even better the next day, if covered.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Happy Baking, my friends! xo
Wait! I read this yesterday and it called for sour cream. It didn’t call for pudding mix. I went out and got the sour cream and now I can’t find the right recipe. It had detailed directions for preparing the pans, leveling the cake, crumb-coating it. This LOOKS like the recipe I read yesterday, but where’s the rest of it?
Hi Eloise! That must be a different recipe. My yellow cake calls for whole milk or buttermilk and no sour cream. Pudding mix has always been a part of the recipe as it is an integral part. You may have been looking at a different recipe. This one is a good one though! 🙂
After trying over a dozen vanilla cake recipes this by far has been the BEST one I just made it today and I also tested some of my batter and made a few cupcakes out of it as well and it worked out FABULOUSLY thanks for sharing ????????
Yay!! I am so happy to hear that! So glad that you loved it. 🙂 Now I am craving some cupcakes!
This looks like an awesome cake. My question is do you add the pudding mix dry or mixed with milk?
Hi Monie! You only add the dry powder mix. It mixes with the milk in the recipe and makes such an amazing texture. 🙂
My boyfriend wanted a yellow birthday cake with chocolate icing for his birthday. I tried to talk him out of it because even though I love to bake, yellow cakes never turn out well for me. He is one of the sweetest men alive but he wanted a yellow cake. I found your recipe and prayed for the best. It was fantastic! Thank you! I used all-purpose flour. Today I am baking one using cake flour. The cake is great the same day, but does taste even better the next day.
Love it, Jessie! Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. What a lucky girl you are to have the sweetest man. I bet he loved that you made him a birthday cake. 🙂 I am so glad that you loved it and I appreciate you trying out my recipe. Have a great day!
Can u add peanut butter to the cake batter? If so , how can u add
Meant to say how much peanut butter can u add to this cake batter
Hi Lisheena. Adding peanut butter to the cake batter will change the texture of the cake. Since it has some natural oils in it, adding peanut butter to the recipe may make it not set up in the oven. Have a great day!
I really love the taste of the cake, the taste of the frosting. I made this as a 2 layer the first time. However, one pan baked up beautifully, the second one did not. It was still a bit under done and fell apart. I froze the good one, tasted a bit of the done portion of the other (very good flavor!). I remade this as a 9×13, it baked up beautifully, again, but then fell in the middle. I don’t care, it tastes great!! I made 2/3 of the frosting recipe as I didn’t remove the cake from the pan & only frosted the top. I whipped the frosting to be very light. My family will eat cake off the floor if it tastes good!!
Hi Patri! That sounds like an adventure! Isn’t it interesting how one layer will bake beautifully and the other one not as much? Baking is such a science and there are so many factors that can play into it. I am so glad that you loved the taste of the cake. Thanks for taking time to comment! 🙂
Could I make this in a 9×13 pan? Do you know how long it would take to bake? I can’t wait to try this cake!!
Hi Sheryl! You can make it in a 9 x 13 pan. I haven’t tried it yet as I only make layer cakes but it would be much thicker which means a longer baking time. I would set the timer for 30 minutes and check the center of the cake. If the top is getting too brown, cover it with foil. That will allow the inside to still bake without the top getting too brown. Hope that helps!
Hi there,
Hoping got make this cake, but not clear on what size of pans, or how many pans to use. You don’t actually specify up front.
I don’t want to increase the size of the recipe.
If you see this, let me know!
-Brenda
Hello! Can’t wait to try this cake. Does it need to be refrigerated if made a day before it will be eaten?
Hi Michaela! That is a great question. Some people would say that refrigerating the cake dries it out and others will say it preserves it. I usually keep mine out covered with a glass dome. The frosting seeps into the cake slightly and makes it more moist. Let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Hi there. Can’t wait to try the recipe tonight. Can I use it to make cupcakes instead of the layered cake? Just checking because sometimes a cake recipe is not quite right for cupcakes. Thanks!
Angie
Hi Angie! This is a wonderful yellow cupcake recipe. It should make approximately 24 cupcakes. The baking time should be reduced to about 16-20 minutes. Take a cake tester or toothpick and place in the center of the cupcake to check. Let me know how they turn out! – Melissa
Best yellow cake, chocolate frosting, ever! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe. I’ve tried several recipes, as this is my family’s favorite bday cake combo and they proclaimed this THE best!
Yay! So happy to hear that you loved it, Anne. Thank you for taking the time to write such a sweet comment. I really appreciate it! – Melissa