What is a great yellow cake recipe?!
Answers: I want to make a pinapple upside down cake tonight, just wanted to see some recipes instead of picking a random one online. Also, suggestions for what other cakes you use it for or other basic cake recipes in general would be great!
When in doubt use pound cake. It's one of the easiest, most versatile and most satisying yellow cakes to make and converts easily to pineapple upside down cake.
My grandmother's recipe for traditional pound cake is a pound of butter (4 sticks), pound of flour (3 cups), pound of sugar (3 cups: you can use less if you like) and a pound of eggs (about 5 eggs depending on the size). Additionally you'll need 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, 1/2 a teaspoon of baking powder, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a cup of milk.
Mix all these together with a mixer or whisk, pour into a tube pan, loaf pan or divide between cake pans and bake 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a preheated 350F oven. If you divide the batter between cake pans, you may only have to bake for 45 minutes. As long as a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Now to make this into upside down cake...My mother would slightly caramelize pineapple slices in about 1/4 stick of butter and a few tablespoons of brown sugar in her largest iron skillet. Then she'd turn off the heat, place a maraschino cherry in the hole in each pinapple slice, make sure the sides of the pan were buttered or prop additional pineapple slices around the sides and gently pour the batter over them and put the whole pan in the oven.
For apple upside down cake, caramelize apples in brown sugar, butter and a teaspoon of cinnamon and follow the method above.
For marble cake, pour the batter into your baking pan and reserve about a cup of the batter. Add 3 tablespoons powdered cocoa and mix well. Swirl the chocolate mixture through the yellow batter with a spoon or flat spatula and bake. (I do a backwards marble cake, chocolate cake laced with espresso with yellow swirls).
Yellow Sheet Cake with Chocolate Frosting
For the cake:
18 Tbsp (2? sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
3 cups sugar
6 extra-large eggs, room temp
8 oz (about 1 cup) sour cream, room temp
1? teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 lemon, zested
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
For the frosting:
24 oz semisweet chocolate chips
1? cups heavy cream
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
? tsp pure vanilla extract
4 Tbsp (? stick) unsalted butter, room temp
Chocolate candies for decorating (recommended: M&M's)
Preheat the oven to 350o F. Butter and flour a 12”x18”x1?” sheet pan.
To make the cake, cream the butter and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the eggs, 2 at a time, then the sour cream, vanilla, and lemon zest, scraping down the bowl as needed. Mix well. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir just until smooth. Finish mixing by hand to be sure the batter is well mixed. Pour evenly into the pan, smooth the top with a spatula, and bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan to room temperature.
For the frosting, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water, stirring occasionally, until the chips are completely melted. Off the heat, add the corn syrup and vanilla and allow the chocolate mixture to cool to room temperature. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the chocolate mixture and softened butter on medium speed for a few minutes, until it's thickened.
Spread the frosting evenly on the cake. Decorate the cake with chocolate candies.
--Ina Garten
Step one: Buy a box of yellow cake mix from the store.
Step two: Follow the recipe for Pineapple Upside Down Cake that's printed on the side of the box.
There's a great cookbook called "Cake Doctor" which is nothing but recipes using pre-packaged cake mixes.
You can, of course, find recipes on how to make your own cake from scratch like your grandmothers did before the invention of Duncan Hines or Betty Crocker, but cakes are pretty tempermental things, whereas cake mixes are pretty sure-fire successes.
Yellow Cake
12 servings
Prep: 20 minutes
Bake: 30 minutes
Cool: 1 hour
Stand: 1 hour
Ingredients
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup butter or margarine
1-3/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs
1-1/4 cups milk
Directions
1. Grease and lightly flour two 8x1-1/2-inch or 9x1-1/2-inch round baking pans or grease one 13x9x2-inch baking pan; set pan(s) aside. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl beat butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating 1 minute after each. Add dry mixture and milk alternately to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just till combined. Pour batter into the prepared pan(s).
3. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Cool layer cakes in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove layer cakes from pans. Cool thoroughly on racks. Or, place 13x9-inch cake in pan on a wire rack; cool thoroughly. Frost with desired frosting. Makes 12 servings.
Yellow Cupcakes: To make cupcakes, grease and lightly flour thirty 2-1/2-inch muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. Prepare cake as directed in Step 2. Fill each cup half full. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Makes 30 cupcakes.
SAC