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Classic Birthday Cake
Updated Feb. 29, 2024
![Classic Birthday Cake](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2018/01/30/dining/30COOKING-CLASSIC-BDAYCAKE/30COOKING-CLASSIC-BDAYCAKE-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- About 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- Nonstick spray or butter for the pan
- 1cup/227 grams (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1-inch pieces, plus more, if necessary, for greasing the pans
- 3⅔cups/471 grams all-purpose or cake flour
- 2teaspoons baking powder
- 1½teaspoons kosher salt
- 1½teaspoons baking soda
- 1½cups/360 milliliters buttermilk
- ¾cup/180 milliliters vegetable oil
- 2teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2cups/403 grams granulated sugar
- ½cup/110 grams lightly packed light brown sugar
- 5large eggs
- 3large egg yolks
- 12ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (chocolate chips are fine)
- 8ounces/227 grams sour cream, room temperature
- 2sticks/227 grams (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1½cups/185 grams confectioners’ sugar
- Generous pinch of kosher salt
- Lots of sprinkles
For the Yellow Cake
For the Chocolate Frosting
Preparation
- Step 1
For the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray three 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray or grease with softened butter. If your oven cannot accommodate all 3 pans on one middle rack, while the oven is still cool, arrange 2 racks as close to the middle as possible, allowing enough space between them for the cakes on the lower rack to rise without touching the one above it.
- Step 2
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together; set aside. In a medium bowl (or a measuring cup), combine the buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract; set aside.
- Step 3
In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar and light brown sugar. Using an electric mixer (or the stand mixer) on high, beat everything together until it’s very light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add in the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, beating between additions. Beat the batter until it’s almost doubled in volume and very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, occasionally scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Step 4
With the mixer on low, gently beat in ⅓ of the flour mixture. Before it’s fully combined, add in ½ of the buttermilk mixture. Repeat with remaining flour and buttermilk until everything is well blended and no lumps remain.
- Step 5
Divide the cake batter equally among the three cake pans. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan or rack placement halfway through baking. You’ll know the cakes are done when they are golden brown, pulling away from the sides of the pan, and the tops spring back ever so slightly when you press them.
- Step 6
Remove the cakes from the oven and let sit for five minutes to cool slightly before inverting them onto a wire baking rack to cool completely.
- Step 7
Make the frosting and assemble the cake: Melt the chocolate either in a bowl in the microwave in 30-second intervals until melted, or in a double boiler or makeshift double boiler (a bowl set over a bowl of barely simmering water on the stove, but not touching the water), stirring occasionally until melted. The melted chocolate should be warm but never hot, with no visible chunks left.
- Step 8
Add about ⅓ of the sour cream to the melted chocolate and using a spatula, combine until no white streaks remain. Repeat with another ⅓, and finally the last ⅓. The chocolate will stiffen a bit as you add the sour cream, and this is O.K.
- Step 9
In a large bowl, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Using an electric mixer (or the stand mixer) on low speed at first to avoid showering yourself with sugar, and then increasing to high speed, beat until everything is fluffy and almost pure white, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low, slowly add in the chocolate mixture and blend. Increase the speed to high and beat until everything is very fluffy and well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Step 10
Once cakes are cooled, transfer one layer of cake, top side up, to a large parchment-lined plate. Use an offset or regular spatula to spread frosting onto the first layer of cake. Place second layer of cake on top, bottom side up (layering the rest of cake with the flat bottoms on top makes a cake with a straight shape, rather than domed). Repeat with remaining layer.
- Step 11
Once all the layers are assembled, apply a thin layer of frosting all over the cake, making sure to cover the whole cake. Chill the cake for 2 hours, keeping the frosting out at room temperature.
- Step 12
Remove the cake from the fridge and using either an offset spatula or a butter knife, give it another coat of frosting, doing whatever decorative patterns or swirls you wish: very smooth, or peaks and valleys.
- Step 13
Finish and decorate with sprinkles however you please.
- This cake might appear slightly darker on the outside after baking than your typical yellow cake, but don't worry. The inside will be tender and moist.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Made this a few days ago—my first pandemic cake. I cut recipe in half and used two 8 inch cake pans. Beautiful and delicious. The cake and frosting are very tender which means the chocolate frosting while “chocolaty” does not overpower the almost-delicate-cake. Follow recipe exactly and you’ll be rewarded with one of the best and easiest “yellow cake with chocolate frosting” recipes ever. P.S. If you do cut recipe in half, baking time in the two 8 inch cake pans is 25 minutes.
This makes a really big, spectacular cake. I made it for a staff gathering, and it was devoured within minutes. Next time I might double the frosting because I'm a glutton.
I wanted to make this in three 6-inch pans instead of 9-inch, so I cut the recipe by 1/3 and it came out perfectly! Here are the measurements for others looking to do the same. For family birthdays, I’ve found a 6-inch three layer cake to be the perfect amount of cake. 150 g butter 311 g flour 1.5 scant t baking powder 1 t salt 1 t baking soda 1 c buttermilk 119 mL vegetable oil 1.5 scant t vanilla 266 g sugar 73 g brown sugar 3 eggs 2 yolks
I added a lot more confectioner's sugar to the frosting than the recipe. I made it a bit sweeter and allowed for better whipping (a lot of the comments seemed to say the frosting was too bitter and heavy). 185 grams is very little for buttercream.. I probably added nearly double. Also, be careful adding warm chocolate to buttercream. If it separates, some time in the fridge and then beating the bejeezus out of it works to save it.
LINE THE PANS! I was surprised that the recipe didn't call for a circle of parchment or wax paper, but went against my better judgment and just used a generous coating of non-stick spray. Three beautiful cake layers stuck to the bottom of the pans. There is not enough crumb coat in the world to sort out this mess. What a disappointment.
This made a HUGE and really delicious cake for my Grandmother's 80th birthday. The buttermilk and sour cream in the cake batter and frosting, respectively, added a sophisticated tang which elevated the cake for adult enjoyment. My whole family loved it! I did not have the trouble that some other reviewers did with dryness or texture - the cake was beautifully moist and almost jiggly. I imagine those issues are due to overbaking or overmixing.
Bittersweet chocolate was not great w this. Loved the salt in the icing but would use semi sweet next time. Recipe should also say the middle of your cakes will still be wet after 40 minutes. They finish cooking out of the oven.
Love this recipe so much. I have made this many times for birthday celebrations: it’s dramatic, delicious, simple. I initially tried it with cake flour based on the note in her cookbook, but the middle of the cakes sank—these are big cakes and I think the cake flour is too light to support their bulk. All-purpose flour is the way to go, in my experience. What makes the cake is the frosting which is decadent but light, chocolatey enough and not saccharine, gritty, or greasy—my usual gripe.
This was fantastic! Best birthday cake ever. I used cake flour, which made for a really delicate crumb. Highly recommended. I made a classic buttercream frosting since we're not huge sour cream fans. Make this!
This was my first time making cake from scratch. I had access to a stand-mixer, which was a lifesaver. I followed the directions exactly as stated. The cake came out very well! The cake itself is lovely. Initially, I didn't think the frosting was for me. I could taste a little too much tang. However, I liked that it wasn't too sweet. A day later, the frosting was perfection–– the flavors mellowed out. I would highly recommend making this the night before serving!
If you’re looking for a tangy, not too sweet cake this might be what you’re looking for. But if you’re looking for a light/airy/moist cake with a creamy or sweet frosting this isn’t it. I made it for a birthday party and everyone enjoyed it, but I feel like if I’m going to make a cake that doesn’t come from a box I want it to be perfect. This felt a touch dense/stodgy (similar to a pound cake) and the frosting with the sour cream was not quite right to me. Was beautiful tho.
As a less experienced baker, I wish the first step of this recipe (and many others) would be “take the butter out of the refrigerator two hours in advance to get it to room temperature”. This gets me every time.
Hi there! For a buttermilk substitute I’d recommend 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice/vinegar and enough milk to fill up to 1 cup. Sour cream in the buttercream would probably work with creme frâiche, mascarpone, or Greek yogurt!
Lesson learned: that chocolate sour cream mixture needs to be cool before it goes into the creamed sugar or it will melt all the butter! I did this and had to let the soup cool completely, then re-beat with some extra confectioners sugar to firm it up. Yeah yeah the recipe says “don’t let the chocolate get hot” but it really wasn’t clear why they was so important to me! Also, my cake turned out terrible. Texture of polenta cake. Nor sure where I went awry.
Was not moist, cook for less time and add more moist ingredients
Cakes turned out dry despite baking them per instructions. Frosting didn't taste right to me either (not bad, just not my fav). I don't think I'll be making this one again.
The frosting calls for a ‘generous pinch’ of kosher salt. Don’t be conservative. The chocolate frosting is tangy and the cake is sweet and moist, so you want you want to taste that salt. This was only the second birthday cake I ever made, and it was delicious. A cake grown-ups will love.
1) You need tall cake pans. If you use shallow cake pans, the batter will spill out in the oven. 2) The frosting is a mess. I would pick a different recipe for chocolate frosting. I've made this cake a half dozen times, always thinking I can "fix" the frosting using more powdered sugar, different chocolate. Every time, it comes out like spackle.
The sour cream tang came through a little too intensely in the frosting for me. The sponge was a bit dense and bland, though maybe I underbaked. Overall not my favorite cake recipe.
The cake was absolutely perfect- moist, lightly sweet, and a delicate crumb that was still sturdy enough to hold its weight even with three layers. The frosting I was personally less thrilled with, but everyone else loved it. (I realized eventually that it just tasted like a whipped-up chocolate ganache to me, and I'm a weirdo who doesn't like ganache.) Next time, I think I'd pair the cake with fresh strawberries and either whipped cream or creme fraiche.
The batter worked out great for me and the cake was well-received at a three-year-olds birthday party. I did not make the buttercream frosting though, I just melted milk chocolate and mixed it with sour cream which in my experience makes a fuss-free, easy to work, wonderful frosting which is not as heavy as buttercream and has just the right tang to sweetness ratio for children and adults alike.
This was lovely! I made a 2/3 batch of the batter (using 3 eggs and 2 egg yolks) and divided it between 2 9” pans. Baked for 30 mins and they turned out perfectly. I made a full batch of frosting and used it all, so I would say make extra if you’re making the full amount of cake. I also added 1/4tsp almond extract to the batter for that nostalgic boxed cake flavor!
I made this sour cream buttercream frosting, slathered on and sandwiched between layers of Claire Saffitz' sponge cake recipe along with Sam Sifton's modified strawberry compote (no bananas and rum instead of bourbon) for my 39th birthday cake. All of these are in the NYT Cooking treasure trove. Oh, what a joy of a frankencake to eat. It's a childlike wonder on the outside and adult and sophisticated on the inside. Love.
This was fantastic -- cake was light, moist, and flavorful, and the icing was delightfully balanced. Because this was for a child, I substituted semi-sweet chocolate chips for bittersweet and added about 1/2 cup more confectioner's sugar in the icing. Followed the instructions carefully, and it turned out wonderfully. I've tried many different birthday cake recipes over the years, and this is my new go-to.
Cake was perfect. Frosting was too intense. I’d probably mix up bittersweet with either milk or normal dark next time to make it more delicious.
Used AP flour and turned out perfectly fluffy. Highly recommend using springform pans for the cake, but needed to use an extra 5-10 min for the pan & layer size I had!
Yum! I'm surprised by the mixed reviews. This was the most involved cake I've made before, but everything worked as it should. I followed Shelley's measurements to cut by 1/3 and made 2 9-inch layers instead of 3. That's still a LOT of cake! Cake was moist. Used semi-sweet chips and the icing was to die for - light and not too sweet (and I usually am sensitive to overly sweet desserts). Only thing is most of what I tasted was the icing... not the cake part. Good thing the icing's delicious!
One question though - the comment says both the cake and the frosting can be made ahead. Some guidance on that would be appreciated - how far ahead, and what to do with it while you wait? Can/must everything be refrigerated? Can anything be frozen? I made my cake ahead and let it sit on the counter for a day and a half, but I was scared to try with the frosting lest it get too stiff sitting in the fridge, or go bad sitting on the counter with the cream cheese...
Should the finished cake be stored in the fridge or on the counter?
Too sweet for me. Made the cake, not the frosting. Cake is moist, with a soft crumb and medium-light texture. But if there's a next time, will cut 100g of granulated sugar and maybe sub 75g almond flour for AP flour to retain moisture. I was disappointed I used 8 eggs for a cake I don't really like the flavour of.
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