Everyone should have a couple of recipes in their repertoire that are stand-by classics, you know what you are going to get and you know it’s going to be great every time you make it. This is a standby yellow butter cake recipe that works EVERY TIME – no fail. A couple of hints though; 1) use top quality butter and eggs – AA grade for both makes a WORLD of difference in the finished product 2) you MUST use the cake flour in the amount stated – use of cake flour changes the texture of the final product.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
- 1 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks (1 cup) Hiigh quality AA grade Eurpoean unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 4 Grade AA large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups milk
DIRECTIONS
-
Preheat the
oven to 350 degrees. -
Butter two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans; line the bottoms with parchment paper. Butter parchment, and dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside. Into a medium bowl, sift together flours, baking powder, and salt; set aside.
-
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in eggs, one at a time, and then beat in vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture in three
Whip butter and sugar until fluffy
parts, alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until combined after each addition.
-
Divide the batter between the prepared pans, and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until the cakes are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the centers comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer pans to a wire rack to cool 20 minutes. Invert cakes onto the rack; peel off the parchment. Re-invert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.
When you think you have whipped enough – whip some more
Finished batter ready to bake
