Looking for a cake recipe.

Temp422773312507524 · April 2011

Confession...I've never made a birthday cake that was not out of a box.

I think my mom and I are going to attempt to make cupcakes for Emma's birthday, but I'm hesitant to make them out of a box.

Does anyone have a good vanilla cake recipe? and/or chocolate? Nothing fancy, just a good cake for cupcakes.

Thanks.

jessica0602 · April 2011

I've never made this myself, but this is my mom's go-to cake.

1-2-3-4 Cake

Yield One nine-inch, two-layer cake

Alice Waters

Ingredients

4 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
3 cups cake flour (sift and then measure)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsweetened butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter two 9-inch baking pans and line the bottom of each with parchment paper. Butter the paper and dust the pans with flour, tapping out the excess.
2. Stir baking powder and salt into cake flour.
3. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the four egg yolks one at a time. Add the vanilla to the mixture.
4. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately, starting and ending with one third of the flour. Stir just until the flour is incorporated.
5. In another bowl, whisk egg whites to soft peaks. Stir one third of the egg whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes.
Hint: Whisk the egg whites first in the mixer and put the stiff egg whites on a plate. Then beat the sugar and butter in the same bowl.

Variations

The recipe can be divided among three cake pans for a three-layer cake. It also makes 24 to 30 cupcakes or it can be baked in a 12 x 18-inch sheet cake pan. Bake cupcakes or sheet cake for about 20 minutes.

Kernel14 · April 2011

Hershey's perfect chocolate cake is really good and easy. Pretty sure its right on their website!

tracyd21 · April 2011

I've made this recipe before - sooooo good and pretty easy, you just need to buy cake flour.

This website Joy of Baking is a go-to of mine for baking recipes. Everything I've made from this website turns out good.

Shannon1110 · April 2011

I am no help here but I can tell you what cake not to make

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/07/best-birthday-cake/

I always make pound cakes, and I love those but I wanted to try a homemade yellow cake. I should have just stuck with the pound cake because this was dry and yuck. I've made other things from this site and they've been good but this cake was dry and flavorless.

If you want a good sour cream pound cake recipe, let me know

Temp422773312507524 · April 2011

Thanks guys. I will definitely take a look at those and maybe try a couple out.

How about a good icing recipe? Something that is white or whitish and will pipe well. I wants to be fancy. ;-)

lachute · April 2011

whatever box is delish

meldot · April 2011

Butter and powdered sugar. Beat 1 stick of softened butter and add 3-4 cups powdered sugar. Add 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tbs milk. You can add more powdered sugar to stiffen it or more milk to thin. Super easy and you don't need to pay attention to measurements. I do it by taste and texture.

Temp422773312507524 · April 2011

lachute:
whatever box is delish

I like box too. I totally want to make my own so people aren't all mcjudgey saying "This is totally from a box." But I would not be surprised if I get over myself and still use a box.

I will make my own icing though!

Kernel14 · April 2011

meldot:

Butter and powdered sugar. Beat 1 stick of softened butter and add 3-4 cups powdered sugar. Add 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tbs milk. You can add more powdered sugar to stiffen it or more milk to thin. Super easy and you don't need to pay attention to measurements. I do it by taste and texture.

Ditto! Sometimes I add things to this recipe too..like oreos that I put through a food processor for a an oreo buttercream, etc.

ering1115 · April 2011

LandD052006:

lachute:
whatever box is delish

I like box too. I totally want to make my own so people aren't all mcjudgey saying "This is totally from a box." But I would not be surprised if I get over myself and still use a box.

I will make my own icing though!

not gonna lie, depending on # of people box may be the way to go because it will ensure consistency. and all of the cupcakes will rise well and look the same as long as you put the same amount of batter in each. you can always say you made them yourself- you did. someone just put your dry ingredients together for you. i feel the same way about frosting.

however, if you are going non-box i would try this for chocolate. not overly sweet. http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/black-magic-cake/Detail.aspx

or this for vanilla- http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/saras-secrets/magnolias-vanilla-cupcake-recipe/index.html

ooodsie · April 2011

This frosting is great:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fluffy-White-Frosting/Detail.aspx

kblast94 · April 2011

This post of mine has my favorite vanilla buttercream, chocolate pound cake, and funfetti cake from scratch!

Looking for a cake recipe.

Re: Looking for a cake recipe.

1-2-3-4 Cake

Ingredients

Method

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