How To Make A Cake From Scratch
Have you graduated from boxed cake mix? Want to step up your cake-making game? Lucky for all of us, baking a cake from scratch is completely doable for the home baker. If you are just starting out, we have some great tips and just the right recipe for you! Classic yellow butter cake straight from your own oven whats better than that? Lets get started!
While there are infinite cake recipes, those that use the creaming method typically start the same way and use the same techniques. The exact directions may vary, but some of these key points are universal for nearly all cakes.
Making Vanilla Pound Cake
Storing At Room Temperature
Once your cake has been baked and cooled, wrap them in plastic wrap and store at room temperature overnight. Prepare the frosting, then cover and store in the fridge overnight as well. When you are ready to assemble and decorate, set the frosting out at room temperature to soften for about 30-45 minutes. Give it a quick mix to loosen it up in your mixer for about a minute, then frost away!
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What Others Are Saying About This Recipe:
This has become my go to vanilla cake recipe. I love making it! ~ MaryJo
This is the best recipe ever. Vanilla cake came out wonderful ~ ID
This is now my go to Birthday cake. The cake is simple to make and the taste is amazing. ~ Sonia
Made this yesterdaycame out beautifullythe cake was moist and flavorfulmy family devoured it. ~ Laura
I have combed through the internet, baking through every recipe I could find. This is by far the best one I have made . ~ Amy
i am just 9 years old and i made it all by myself it tasted so good and sweet ~ deborah
This is the best homemade cake I have ever tasted. My 11 year old daughter made it for us, and the whole family LOVED it so much. Thank you, we are making it again, tonight! ~ Amanda
How To Make An Iced Lemon Snack Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8×8 inch pan with nonstick baking spray. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest. Set aside.
In a bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add in the eggs one at a time, followed by the almond extract, sour cream, and lemon juice. Mix until combined.
Carefully, add the flour mixture into the wet mixture.
Mix until just combined.
Pour batter into the prepared 8×8 pan. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and let cool for 20 to 30 minutes before removing it to a cooling rack.
To make the icing, add the powdered sugar, lemon juice, and heavy whipping cream to a medium-sized bowl. Whisk until smooth. If you would like a thicker icing keep adding more powdered sugar. If the icing is too thick, add more lemon juice or heavy whipping cream to thin it out.
Spread the icing on top of the lemon cake and sprinkle with your favorite colorful sprinkles.
Slice and serve!
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Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Snack Cake
Sweet rice flour, all-purpose flour and a healthy amount of sour cream combine to create a rich, plush cake with a moist and structured crumb. Baked in a versatile 8-inch square pan and generously studded with melty semisweet chocolate chips, this snackable cake is simple but surprisingly decadent, a reminder that at the end of the day, cake should taste good and be a joy to eat. Enjoy a homey, comforting slice with your fingers or a fork there are no rules here.
Alternate Adding Dry And Wet Ingredients
- After each addition of the eggs , thoroughly mix the mixture.
- Its protein produces structure around air bubbles, which helps to keep the texture of the product consistent.
- To begin, separate the eggs into custard cups or small bowls and set aside.
Test Kitchen Tip: If you have shell fragments in the batter, you can quickly fish them out of the cup rather than having to fish them out of the batter itself!
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How Long Does Homemade Cake Mix Last
If you store this cake mix in an air-tight container it should last 10-12 weeks. Make sure to store it in a cool, dry place. If you bake the cake, you can freeze it for up to three months. The best way to freeze a cake is to freeze the layers separately. Wrap each cake layer in plastic wrap and then in aluminum foil. Then, using a permanent marker, label the cake type and the date you put the cake in the freezer. When you are ready to serve, remove the cake from the wrap and frost while frozen. Then let thaw for about 30 minutes to an hour.
How To Make White Cake
To make this easy white cake recipe, youll start out by whisking together your dry ingredients some cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Once youve mixed the dry ingredients together, whisk together your buttermilk with some vanilla extract and set them both aside.
Then, youll cream together some unsalted butter and granulated sugar. You want to cream the butter and sugar together until theyre light in color and fluffy, which can take about 4 to 5 minutes. I know that seems like a while to cream together some butter and sugar, but this step is important.
Why? Because it will incorporate more air into the batter, which will create a lighter, fluffier cake.
Then, add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar in three additions alternating with the buttermilk mixture. Start with 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then mix in half of your buttermilk mixture, another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, the remaining buttermilk mixture, then the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Alternating the dry ingredients with the buttermilk helps to prevent overmixing the cake batter which can result in a denser cake.
Just make sure to gently fold them into the batter I like to fold in half of the egg whites, then fold in the rest. Once theyre folded in, your batter should look like the picture above.
Then, you can either bake this cake in two 9-inch cake pans or make it a bit easier and bake it in a 9×13-inch pan. Ive included instructions for both options in the recipe.
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Watch The Bake Time And Temp
I know this may sound obvious to some, but its worth going over because its an easy fix. If your cakes are coming out dry, it could be that youre over baking them. Remember, when you insert a toothpick into the center of your cake to check doneness, you want the toothpick to come out with a few moist crumbs on it. Your cake layers continue to bake for a few minutes as they cool in the cake pans.
Another alternative to making sure you bake moist cakes from scratch is turning down your oven temperature. While you and I may have the exact same oven, that doesnt mean they bake the same way. You really have to get to know your oven and be mindful of how long your cakes bake in comparison to a recommended time in a recipe. If youre watching your cakes bake at a given temperature and time and theyre always coming out dry, Id suggest reducing your temperature to 325 and baking a few minutes longer. Start with 5 to 7 minutes more and work your way up, if needed, by 2 minute intervals.
The Role Of Eggs In A Cake
After the butter and sugar are creamed together, it is time to add the eggs. Add the eggs in one at a time to give them a chance to emulsify into the batter.
You may add the eggs while the mixer is running on low to further incorporate them. The eggs should be room temperature to create smoother, more homogenous batter if the eggs are cold, the batter may appear curdled.
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Serve Your Cake At Room Temperature
Yes, I said it and I know its controversial
I know many of you like cold cake, and if you do, then keep eating cold cake and enjoy! However, if youre serving your cake cold, just remember that the texture of the cake layers and buttercream will be different than when you serve cake at room temperature. I think sometimes we associate cold cake with dry cake, when in fact, the cake isnt actually dry and just needs to be left at room temperature for a little longer.
How To Make Vanilla Cake
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Read The Recipe Thoroughly Before Starting And Plan Ahead
How To Frost A Layer Cake
Taste of Home
Frosting a layer cake might seem like a fussy process, but it doesnt need to be a struggle. All you need to get the job done is a cake plate or cake stand and an offset spatula. Level off your cakes and start stacking. Keep the plate clean by layering waxed paper around the edge. When youre done, pull it away for a clean plate ready for serving.
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I Made The Mixnow What
I wanted to share four things you can make with this cake mix a vanilla cake, a chocolate cake, a Sunny Yellow cake, and a cobbler. The Sunny Yellow cake recipe is in the recipe card at the bottom of the post, and Ill list the other three below. Feel free to take these recipes and make them your own. If you make something amazing, let us know in the comments!
Vanilla Cake
- 3 & frac13 cups Homemade Cake Mix
- ¾ cup milk
- Pour pie filling into a 9×13 pan. Sprinkle Homemade Cake Mix over the pie filling.
- Drizzle melted butter over the top of the cake mix.
- Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.
- Serve immediately with ice cream, if desired.
What To Serve With Homemade Vanilla Cake
You can serve anything you want with this delectable homemade cake recipe. In fact, I like to top this cake with fresh berries as it has a delicate, angel food cake texture that pairs well with fruit of just about any kind. Opting for seasonal fruits is a great way to add color and freshness, but throwing a few scoops of ice cream on the plate doesnt hurt either!
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How To Make A Cake More Moist: Poke Cake
There are moist cakes, and then there are poke cakes . Sometimes called poke hole cake, a poke cake has holes poked in it after baking, usually with the handle of a wooden spoon or skewer. Then, a liquid is poured over the baked cake to soak into the holes. Find our step-by-step directions for making poke cake. Or check out our best poke cake recipes.
With each of these must-have cake tips, you’ll never serve a dry cake. Moist chocolate cake recipes, red velvet cakes, pound cakes, you name it, you now know how to make all of them stay tender and moist through the whole process of how to make a cake.
The Best White Cake Recipe
This is my favorite white cake recipe! This cake is light, tender, moist, and topped with a delicious vanilla buttercream frosting.
After I posted my favorite chocolate cake recipe a few months ago, I had several requests for a white cake recipe too. Now, Ive always been a chocolate cake lover but after getting so many requests I decided it was time to really work on a good white cake recipe.
I knew that this homemade white cake needed to be light, soft, fluffy, and incredibly moist. After some trial and error, I finally found the winning recipe! I even baked a white cake box mix to compare it to this recipe and my husband told me that my version was better and had more flavor. Now thats what I call a win!
Ive also included instructions for how to bake this cake in a 9×13-inch pan if you dont want to make a layer cake and some extra photos to help you along the way!
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How Do You Keep A Cookie Cake Moist
Pay attention, chewy cookie lovers! Ensure that this cake stays moist by not overbaking it. After 20-25 minutes, this cookie should come out of the oven. It may look a little soft in the middle, but it will continue to bake for a few minutes after being removed from the oven thanks to the carryover heat.
Sunny Yellow Cake With Orange Blossom Frosting
For this post I decided to make the Sunny Yellow Cake. I love the bright, citrus flavors of this cake. The cake itself is flavored with lemon extract and the frosting has orange zest and orange juice. Each bite is just bursting with flavor! I decorated with orange slices, clementine slices, and chamomile flowers.
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Allow Ingredients To Reach Room Temperature
- Many cake recipes call for cake components such as eggs and butter to be allowed to come to room temperature before being used.
- Because of this, the butter will combine more readily with the other ingredients, and the eggs will result in a more substantial cake volume.
- Test Kitchen Tip: Never use melted butter in a recipe that calls for softened butter instead.
It will have a negative impact on the cakes texture.
The Easiest Cake Mix To Make At Home
This Homemade Vanilla Cake Mix is so easy to make and will store in your pantry for those days you want to put together a quick, delicious vanilla cake!
Move over Betty Crocker Cake Mix All Things Mamma is comin for ya! Im about to show you how to make this easy homemade cake mix recipe that results in the best made-from-scratch cake!
While this Homemade Cake Mix is perfect for a 13×9 cake, it can also be used anytime you have a recipe that calls for a recipe with cake mix cake mix cookies, cake mix peach cobbler dump cake, or even cake mix brownies.
Seriously, its one of my favorite homemade mixes.
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Why This Is Safer Than Typical Cream Butter And Sugar Cakes
Making a really good cake that starts with cream butter and sugar until fluffy. is actually harder than you think. The butter has to be at the perfect temperature, and you cant have chilly mixing bowls.
If the butter is too soft, the cake will be greasy and dense sound familiar? If its too hard, youll never manage to cream it and youll end up with grease pockets. If you beat butter too long, you break the air pockets.
Theres more room for error with cookies and some other types of baked goods. But the butter temperature needs to be near perfect for cakes and cupcakes. .
And even if you nail it, the cake rapidly loses freshness. Even the next day its noticeably drier. Ive tried dozens and dozens over the years, to compare to this Vanilla Cake. This recipe puts all to shame in terms of fresh shelf life.
Heads up this is a long step by step explanation post, to ensure those who are new to baking are armed with everything they need to make this cake perfectly, first time and every time!
Why is vanilla cake so hard? It seems hard to find the perfect cake because there is nothing to hide behind, it is one of the purest forms of baking. And the cream butter and sugar step is the biggest cause of problems, setting up the cake for success or failure from the very start .
This Vanilla Cake recipe is much more foolproof!