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Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting The BEST Yellow Cake Recipe with Milk Chocolate Frosting. 5-Star Rated Recipe! www.modernhoney.com #yellowcake #homemadecake #cake #yellowcakechocolatefrosting #baking

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

The BEST Yellow Cake Recipe with Milk Chocolate Frosting. 5-Star Rated Recipe!

I was one of those kids that 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.

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting The BEST Yellow Cake Recipe with Milk Chocolate Frosting. 5-Star Rated Recipe! www.modernhoney.com #yellowcake #homemadecake #cake #yellowcakechocolatefrosting #baking

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. 

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting The BEST Yellow Cake Recipe with Milk Chocolate Frosting. 5-Star Rated Recipe! www.modernhoney.com #yellowcake #homemadecake #cake #yellowcakechocolatefrosting #baking

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….

Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Modern Honey. Homemade Yellow Cake with Vanilla Pudding Mix to make it extra moist and flavorful. Rich chocolate buttercream is the perfect addition to this birthday cake.

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!

We had large cake testings to determine the winners of the unofficial homemade yellow cake recipe challenge.

Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Modern Honey. Homemade Yellow Cake with Vanilla Pudding Mix to make it extra moist and flavorful. Rich chocolate buttercream is the perfect addition to this birthday cake.

The path to the Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting…

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.

Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Modern Honey. Homemade Yellow Cake with Vanilla Pudding Mix to make it extra moist and flavorful. Rich chocolate buttercream is the perfect addition to this birthday cake.

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.

Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Modern Honey. Homemade Yellow Cake with Vanilla Pudding Mix to make it extra moist and flavorful. Rich chocolate buttercream is the perfect addition to this birthday cake.

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.

Add some colorful sprinkles to this Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting if you want to make kids really happy.

Here are my favorite baking pans — USA Bakeware Round Cake Pan 8 inch and USA Bakeware Round Cake Pan 9 inch

A Wilton Angled Icing Spatula is the perfect tool to use to frost this cake.

Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Modern Honey. Homemade Yellow Cake with Vanilla Pudding Mix to make it extra moist and flavorful. Rich chocolate buttercream is the perfect addition to this birthday cake.

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Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting

By: Melissa Stadler, Modern Honey
Homemade Yellow Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting will be the cake everyone is begging for at the next birthday party.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 16

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 instant

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

  • 1 1/2 cups Butter softened
  • 1 cup Cocoa
  • 5 cups Powdered Sugar
  • 1/3 cup Cream 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.

Additional Info

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 16
Keyword: yellow cake
Like this? Leave a comment below!Jump to Comments

Happy Baking, my friends! xo

Homemade Yellow Butter Birthday Cake with Milk Chocolate Frosting. All the secrets and tips to make the perfect yellow butter cake plus the best ever recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting.


Hi, I'm Melissa Stadler!

I am an Award-Winning Recipe Creator. Cover of Food Network Magazine. Two-Time Pillsbury Bake-Off Finalist. I am passionate about sharing the best recipes so you have success in the kitchen!

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244 Comments

  1. Hi. I would like to try baking this cake using the cake flour mentioned in the comments. Do I have to reduce the amount of flour if I use cake flour?

  2. I made this cake last week and it was a HIT! One of my sisters took a slice home for the next day and said (and I quote), “it’s bomb ass”! I’d call that a rave review!! Follow the recipe exactly and you won’t regret it. Happy baking!

    1. I love to hear that, Marie! Thank you for taking the time to write such a kind comment and for trying my recipe. — Melissa

  3. How long would you suggest baking it if I used (3) 8 inch pans?
    It looks absolutely amazing and I cant wait to try it out !
    Thanks

    1. Hi Coco! Since the batter is thinner, I would suggest reducing the baking time by 5-7 minutes and to keep checking the center of the cake. I hope that helps!

  4. I have attempted homemade yellow cake before but haven’t been happy with the results. This one is hands down the best one yet. I will make this cake from now on. My family loves it!

    1. I love hearing that, Jane! Thank you for trying my recipe and for taking the time to comment. I appreciate it! — Melissa

  5. Can I add lemon zest and lemon extract to this recipe? I really like this recipe and I need a lemon cake?

    1. Hi Julie! I haven’t tried that yet but you can give it a shot. I also have a lemon olive oil cake recipe, which is delicious! It calls for fresh lemon juice and zest.

    1. Hi Samantha, I have used buttermilk before and have kept the recipe just the same and it turns out awesome. I hope that helps! Thanks! — Melissa

    1. Hi Lauren! I have started to add nutritional information to my website so stay tuned. It should be updated this week. Thanks! — Melissa

  6. Hi! I’m going to bake this cake for my son’s birthday this weekend. I would like to use three 9 inch round pans. I’m curious; did you 11/2 times your cake recipe just like you did in the pictures? Thanks!

    1. Hi Lisa! I am so sorry for the delay in replying. For the pictures, I used three 8-inch cake pans. It still provides a good sized cake but if you want a taller cake, you can 1 1/2 times the recipe. Happy late Birthday to your son! — Melissa

  7. Hi,

    What size ‘cubes’ for the butter in the cake (such as: 1/2″, 1″, etc.)? Just trying to avoid extra work – Ha!

    Thank you,
    Shelley

    1. Hi Shelley! I understand! 🙂 1/2 cup = 1 cube of butter. If a recipe calls for 1 cup of butter, it needs 2 cubes of butter. I hope that helps! — Melissa