Rose's Favorite Yellow Layer Cake: Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes

Makes: A 1-3/4 inch high cake

The Batter

INGREDIENTS	MEASURE	WEIGHT
cool room temperature	volume	ounces	grams
4 large egg yolks	2 full fluid ounces	2.5 ounces	74 grams
sour cream	2/3 cup	5.5 ounces	160 grams
pure vanilla extract	1-1/2 teaspoon	-	6 grams
sifted cake flour	2 cups	7 ounces	200 grams
sugar	1 cup	7 ounces	200 grams
baking powder	1/2 teaspoon	-	-
baking soda	1/2 teaspoon	-	-
salt	1/4 teaspoon	-	-
unsalted butter (must be softened)	12 tablespoons	6 ounces	170 grams

Equipment: A 9 inch springform pan, bottom greased, lined with parchment, then greased and floured (preferably with spray that contains flour)

Preheat the Oven: 20 minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix the Batter
In a medium bowl, lightly combine the yolks, about 1/4 of the sour cream, and the vanilla.
In a stand mixer bowl, with paddle attachment, combine the cake flour, the sugar, the baking powder, the baking soda, and the salt.
Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend. Add the butter and the remaining sour cream and mix on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened.
Increase to medium speed, or high speed if using a hand held mixer, and beat for 1 minute to aerate and develop the structure. Scrape down the sides. Gradually add the egg mixture in 2 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides.

Bake the Cake
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and it springs back when pressed lightly in the center.
Remove the cake from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. Loosen the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula, and remove the sides of the springform. Invert the cake onto a wire rack and reinvert onto a second rack it so that the top faces up. Cool completely before frosting or wrapping airtight.

Store airtight 3 days room temperature; 1 week refrigerated; 3 months frozen.

Pointers for Success
Use superfine sugar for the finest texture. (You can make it by processing fine granulated sugar in the food processor for a few minutes.)
Use cake flour without leavening or bleached all purpose flour.
Use unsalted butter for the best flavor.
Use fresh baking powder under 1 year old.

Adapted from “The Cake Bible”

From the kitchen of Rose on 10.26.05 at 7:35 PM in Cakes

Comments

I am attempting to make a 3 D Yoda cake for my son' bday and i was looking for a good recipe for a delicious but dense yellow cake recipe and chocolate cake recipe (making 2 layers). I say dense as I hear a dense cake will stand up better to carving and fondant. Any advice I can get will be great. It is the first without a mold 3 d cake I am making.

Reply to this Posted by: ERikaI | September 16, 2008 12:13 PM #

Thank You Julie

Reply to this Posted by: Donika | August 30, 2008 10:50 AM #

thank you very much

Reply to this Posted by: Donika | August 30, 2008 10:48 AM #

Donika,

The All-Occaision Downy Yellow Cake is indeed on p.39 of TCB and the recipe is as you mention. The recipe listed above is a different recipe, it is the Sour Cream Butter Cake from p.35.

If your All-Occaision Downy was dry, it could be for several reasons. On p.476 of TCB there is a short section on troubleshooting, and it lists overbaking or using a pan that is too large as a possible cause for the problem (assuming, of course, that you are using accurate amounts of all ingredients, with no substitutions).

Hope that helps,
Julie

Reply to this Posted by: Julie | August 30, 2008 8:04 AM #

In my Cake Bible the cake the All-Occasion Downy Yellow Cake is on pg.39. The recipe in my book is different, it uses 6 eggs yolks and has no sourcream instead 1 cup milk,and 3 cups flour, is that why my cake was dry?

Reply to this Posted by: donika | August 29, 2008 2:56 PM #

yes its on page39

Reply to this Posted by: Donika Aktas | August 29, 2008 2:52 PM #

That makes a lot of sense. I grew up speaking "British English" and when I came to Canada I had to get used to different terminology.

Reply to this Posted by: Rozanne | April 23, 2008 11:55 AM #

in the UK there are many different terms such as tin instead of pan and i think my editor thought people would relate better to that name!

Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | April 23, 2008 10:11 AM #

Interesting.....I wonder why Rose changed the name of the cake.

Reply to this Posted by: Rozanne | April 23, 2008 9:59 AM #

Thank you.

Reply to this Posted by: Anonymous | April 23, 2008 5:52 AM #

in the UK version it's the "yellow butter cake" page 28

Reply to this Posted by: rose levy beranbaum | April 23, 2008 5:43 AM #

I thnk I have the UK version,the first natural thing i did was to look up the index, it was not listed. I flip the whole TCB page by page, there is no such thing as All occasion downy yellow.:-(

Reply to this Posted by: Anonymous | April 22, 2008 9:24 PM #

Whichever edition you have, you could just look it up in the index at the back of the book. It should list it together with the correct page.

Reply to this Posted by: Daphne | April 21, 2008 10:57 PM #

Which edition of the Cake Bible do you have? Is it the UK edition? In the US version it is on pg 39 as geejay mentioned.

Reply to this Posted by: Rozanne | April 21, 2008 10:11 PM #

I am sorry to find that In my TCB, pg 39 is the second page for white velvet cake??? I can only find the yellow layer cake , are they the same?

Reply to this Posted by: Anonymous | April 21, 2008 7:50 PM #

All Occasion Downy Yellow is on page 39 TCB

Reply to this Posted by: geejay | April 21, 2008 2:27 AM #

help. i cannot find the all occasion downy yellow butter cake which so many rave in the Cake Bible. Can someone tell me the page? Does it bear another name?
Thank you.

Reply to this Posted by: Anonymous | April 20, 2008 10:11 PM #

I haven't made any 3D cakes, but I can tell you the flavor of the chocolate fudge cake is FABULOUS!!!!

Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | March 19, 2008 9:22 AM #

Amy, I have made several 3D cakes for my kids using Rose's Chocolate Fudge cake recipe. It is on page 60 of the Cake Bible (US edition). I wrap the cake pan in wet paper towels and then in foil when I bake it. It helps protect the cake from drying out and being overdone.

Reply to this Posted by: Rozanne | March 18, 2008 7:51 PM #

Hello,
I love to bake, and I am trying a 3-D cake next weekend for my sons 3rd birthday. It will be a dinosaur. The problem is the directions say to use a dense homemade cake. I need a suggestion or two for a recipe that is dense enough to hold shape, but still tastes good enough for a birthday cake. I will be using butter cream frosting. Thank you for any advice or help.
Amy

Reply to this Posted by: Amy | March 18, 2008 1:17 PM #

Thanks for your quick response Patricia, I know Rose is on vac, you guys are God's gift. Keep up the good work.

Reply to this Posted by: cakeroyale | March 18, 2008 9:57 AM #

Cakeroyale - Rose is on vacation, but welcome. You'll LOVE the cake bible. The new cake book is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2009.

Reply to this Posted by: Patrincia | March 18, 2008 9:08 AM #

Oh Rose, You are such a wonderful creature, I was directed to this site last week and ever since ive fallen in love with your site. Although ive no gotten a copy of the Cake Bible but it is a must for me to get a copy now cos seeing all the people expanciating on the cake bible, i dont think I can do anything without it. Im a homebaker and i got all my recipes online and ive gotten so much raves on my cakes although I do it as part time and I love baking as well. I baked your favourite yellow cake last weekend and its whao. My children finished it immediately, I will bake it again and again. Thanks Rose for giving your time to do this. And Rose, I read you bio saw ur pic and I fell in love with you immediately. Dont think I can do without ur site again. Thanks again for ur time. Learnt your new book is coming out this year, when exactly?

Reply to this Posted by: cakeroyale | March 18, 2008 3:53 AM #

Belmari, I hate to be the one to tell you but you need to get 2" pans if you want your cakes to turn out well. A lot depends on the correct size of pan.

Reply to this Posted by: Rozanne | February 27, 2008 2:30 PM #

All my cake pans are 3". Will be starting to bake the recipes in the Cake Bible. Should I start getting the lower 2"pans. I have a collection of rounds,rectangle, and square. All 3 inches.Ups!!! Please let me know. Thanks, Belmari

Reply to this Posted by: Belmari Bauer | February 27, 2008 2:18 PM #

peggy, not all cakes have a good texture when made in a larger size. it sounds like this is one that won't. if it were simply dense i would recommend increasing the leavening but dense and dry does not sound promising. i do have two sour cream bsaed cakes in the upcoming book that are really terrific and work for wedding cakes. (fall 09)

Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | February 18, 2008 10:10 PM #

Hello Rose,
I absolutely love your sour cream butter cake. I tried making a large batch to fill a 6'' 9'' 12'' and 15'' round pans but did not get the same texture as the small batch. The cakes had a very dense, dry and chewy texture. I would love to know how I can make larger batches. I tried the formular for making larger butter cakes from the cake bible but was confused by the difference in ingredients when compared with that of the sourcream butter cake. Any suggestions you have will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Reply to this Posted by: Peggy | February 18, 2008 4:23 PM #

Hi,
i'm so glad a came caross ur site and i would be very happy if u could explain why i keep having heavy, pudding-like and dense cakes all the time. i would prefer lighter, airy cakes. please help

Reply to this Posted by: Kemi | February 12, 2008 6:20 PM #

i appreciate your appreciation!

Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | February 3, 2008 10:43 AM #

Rose, I had your Cake Bible for years and suddently it disapeared from my culinary book collections. Of course I'm purchasing a new one (I can't bake well without it) but I wanted to thank you for having the Yellow layer cake" recipe and others online for your dearest fans. Jocelyne

Reply to this Posted by: jocelyne | February 1, 2008 8:59 PM #

how please i am that you have asked as it inexplicably pains me to hear genwah (though i don't expect everyone to know how to pronounce french words but at least pastry people...) so you're right--it should be--well let me copy from my own book where i gave the pronunciation for all french terms: JenWAHX ClassEEK (by the way as a pastry chef it would be a great asset to have the cake bible and the pie and pastry bible--at least take it out of the library).
you're right about terrine--long e.
i'm sure you will be a wonderful pastry chef as you concern yourself with details that many ignore and that is the soul of a pastry person!

Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | September 5, 2007 11:19 PM #

To Rose the expert in many delectables!
I recently got a job as a pastry chef (after 20 years of doing wedding cakes out of my home!) at a 4 star hotel in town. I heard people at work calling Genoise (Gen-wah)verses what I think the correct pronunciation of: Gen-waz. I looked it up on dictionary.com and a couple of others and they all post it the "waz." Meaning the z is sounded like Z in Zone. Am I crazy? How would you pronounce this?
Another pronunciation question is terrine. Long ee sound at for ine? een?
I hope you can clear this up so I learn the right way now that I am in the pastry industry!
Debbie

Reply to this Posted by: debbie | September 5, 2007 11:12 PM #

there are two cakes in the upcoming book that have a combination of butter and oil but some others i have tried have not been successful, particularly the yellow cake which was more moist but less flavorful, coarser but lower in height.

Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | September 5, 2007 7:35 PM #

Rose, have you ever experimented with Shirley O'Corriher's method of combining fats for a moister cake? It's my habit (after reading Cookwise) to substitute a couple of tablespoons of oil for the butter in a classic butter cake recipe. It seems to work, as I like a very moist cake. I haven't yet tried your recipes (I am working on Pie and Bread right now), but I was wondering what your thoughts were on the subject. I know you mentioned the new Cake Bible was going to have some cakes made with oil.

Reply to this Posted by: AS | August 23, 2007 3:01 PM #

you could just put the commercial baking powder in hot water to see if it fizzes and is still active or get smaller cans. the rumsford i like so much comes in really small cans and is available in health food markets and places like whole foods.
in theory you can make your own but you need to do it just before using it as it lacks the starch stabilizers of the commercial.

Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | August 22, 2007 4:13 PM #

Perhaps I don't bake enough to use a full container of baking powder, so I find I have to throw it out and buy a fresher container. Can you make baking powder from 1 part cream of tarter to 2 parts baking soda, and if so, will it work in your recipes?

Thanks

Reply to this Posted by: Markat | August 22, 2007 2:15 PM #

thanks for your kind words!

i think it will be pretty much the same. of course use the appropriate amount of batter for volume of the pan!

Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | August 18, 2007 11:31 AM #

Dear Rose, I would like to say "thank you" for all your wonderful recipes. My family just adore your cakes. Lately, I have been getting request for birthday cakes for children. My recent one is for a Hello Kitty face cake which requires me to pour in a 9X18' pan and cut out the design. Do you think that pan will change the texture and moisture of the Downy Yellow Butter cake?
Thank you for you help.

Reply to this Posted by: Judy | August 18, 2007 12:24 AM #

I am a fairly proficient Australian Cake maker, Cake Decorator but want to produce an American Layer Cake for a Church Function. I would still like to decorate it with fondant. I have the cake bible but no time to experiment. Can someone help me with a suggestion for a non chocolate cake and suitable filling which will cut reasonably well. Should I make only two layers to enable easy cutting? Many of our cakes of course are fruit cake but we are now asked for many different kinds together with chocolate mud. I want this cake to be acceptable to both adults and children. Thank you in anticipation

Reply to this Posted by: Jeanette Pennels | July 15, 2007 6:27 PM #

sundee--please continue to post questions directly on the blog. the answer to your last ? re vanilla is you're absolutely right--i only seem to have used it in the whipped cream. i now use it far more. i would start with 1 teaspoon for 4 cups buttercream and add more to taste.

Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | May 11, 2007 4:00 PM #

it is not neoclassic without the corn syrup--it is classic and you need to use a thermometer for the finished temperature of the syrup. the amounts of vanilla and many variations are listed after the neoclassic recipe. or you can do it to taste.
for space between the layers you need to purchase cake separators from a store such as sweet celebrations.

Reply to this Posted by: Rose Levy Beranbaum | May 11, 2007 1:57 PM #

We're struggling with layering cakes so that there is a slight space

Real Baking with Rose Levy Beranbaum

This scratch baking blog, featuring baker and cookbook author Rose Levy Beranbaum, is an online journal of Rose’s baking adventures, cooking tips, and scratch recipes. Her cookbooks include Bread Bible, Pie and Pastry Bible, Rose’s Christmas Cookies, Passion for Chocolate and The Cake Bible.

Rose's Favorite Yellow Layer Cake

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