Yellow Cake Taste Test

I bring to anyone reading this my own yellow cake taste test.

The idea of the taste test came from me feeling like I don't always have a go-to recipe for a lot of things--in this particular situation, yellow cake.  I try a lot of different recipes and generally they are all great.  But when it comes time to make, say a yellow cake, I feel like I could use that one or this one or that other one because what's the difference?  I remember liking all of them so it shouldn't make a difference.  But maybe it does.

There are several different methods for making cakes but only about three that are used to make a yellow cake:  the creaming method, the reverse creaming method and the one-bowl method.  And each one is supposed to produce a different end result.  The creaming method should produce a cake that's good for stacking in layers--but still soft and tender.  The reverse creaming method is supposed to produce a similarly sturdy cake that's good for stacking multiple layers.  But, from what I've read it also has a denser crumb--but still tender and soft.  Lastly is the one-bowl method which is probably the simplest of them all.  For one thing--as the name implies--you do all of the work in one bowl. And in my opinion, it produces the best crumb that's soft and pillowy and most similar to a boxed cake mix. They're also usually made with all oil or at least some oil.

My recipe

How to Bake Everything

Cooks Illustrated

The Cake Bible

The Joy of Cooking

King Arthur

So, I made six yellow cakes using all three of those methods.  I picked five of the recipes from different recipe books I had on hand and the sixth one was my own.  I used the same baking pan, same oven and same types and brand of ingredients for each recipe where appropriate.  And lastly, I frosted each of the cakes with the same chocolate frosting.  Essentially I tried to be as scientific as I could.

My recipe

How to Bake Everything

Cooks Illustrated

The Cake Bible

The Joy of Cooking

King Arthur

I invited friends over, had them taste each of the anonymously numbered cakes and then vote for their top picks.  And after tallying up all of the votes, my recipe actually came out on top--which was made using the one-bowl method.  I promise I didn't rig the competition in my favor.  My recipe doesn't necessarily use any secret ingredient.  I think that by using the one-bowl method you do produce a cake that isn't super dense and is lighter.  From what I've read a lot of that might have something to do with the fact that you're using oil.  I don't know the exact science behind that but I'm sure I read about it at some point.  And generally, as I mentioned earlier, you get a cake that's most consistent with a cake made from a boxed mix.  You can take that for what it is--I personally am ok with it because I like the way boxed cake mixes taste.

I still think that all of the other recipes are great.  But now that I've had a side to side comparison I can narrow down the yellow cake recipes in my repertoire and make use of them on an appropriate basis respective of their individual characteristics.

For reference, the recipes I included--in most popular to least popular order--were from Mark Bittman's How to Bake Everything, Cooks Illustrated's classic yellow cake, Rose Levy Beranbaum's all-occasion downy yellow cake from The Cake Bible,  The Joy of Cooking's yellow cake recipe, and King Arthur's classic yellow cake recipe which I found off of their website.

Recipe for my own yellow cake: makes one 9" yellow cake

145g unbleached cake flour
150g superfine granulated sugar
65g unsalted butter melted and cooled
28g vegetable/canola oil
75g (~1 1/2) large eggs at room temperature
2/3c buttermilk at room temperature
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract


First, preheat the oven to 350 F.  Then, butter the sides and bottom of a 9" round cake pan.  Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl of a stand mixer, sift in all of the dry ingredients and then using the paddle attachment, mix together everything for about thirty seconds on low.  In a second medium bowl thoroughly whisk all of the wet ingredients together.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry.  Turn the mixer on medium speed and mix for about 1 1/2 minutes until everything is thoroughly combined--the batter will be very thin.  Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for about 22-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10-15 minutes and then remove it from the pan and let it cool completely before frosting.