Here is another recipe from Reeni at Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice. I’ve probably made this cake about 5 times. According to Reeni, this recipe was originally published in 1910 (McCall’s Book of Cakes and Pies). I can tell you it is still phenomenal today. I’ve only made a few tiny changes. First, I cut the sugar back from 1 1/4 cups, to 3/4 cups. I tend to load up on the icing a bit, so I needed to balance it out. The other change I made was to beat the batter just a bit longer. Probably an extra 2 minutes or so. If you don’t beat it for 2 minutes or longer then it makes a very crumbly cake, almost like a cornbread (still delicious, by the way). If you mix it for several minutes, it creates a dense cake, which holds together better. It isn’t as dense as a pound cake though, for example. So depending on what texture you’re looking for, you can adjust the time accordingly. Also, it doesn’t rise very much, which I love because it creates a beautiful flat surface that doesn’t need to be leveled.
The buttercream frosting is pretty straight forward: butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Easy-peasy. You could also use shortening, but I tend to stay away from that as much as possible. Cream cheese frosting is good with this as well. And I haven’t tried this yet, because if I did I would be the only one in my house that would eat it, but I think a layer of jam in the middle would taste and look great.
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| The batter |
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| Pour in cake pans (2) |
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| Remove from oven and let cool |
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| In the meantime, make the buttercream frosting |
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| This is the middle of the cake |
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| Top it with the other cake and finish frosting (I find it easiest to pile the frosting on the top and then frost down the sides) |
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| Inside view |
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| Close up, minutes before my toddler ate it 🙂 |
Old Fashioned Yellow Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
Original Recipe: Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice
Serving Size = 2 8-inch cakes
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 3/4 cup sugar (original recipe calls for 1 1/4 cups sugar)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter, softened (unsalted)
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add to a large bowl, or to your mixer bowl (I used my Kitchenaid mixer). Add the milk and butter. Beat together for 2 minutes (I beat it together for at least 3 or 4) on medium speed.
- Add the eggs, one at a time and the vanilla. Beat for another 2 minutes (again, I beat it together for 3 or 4 minutes) on medium speed.
- Pour into two greased 8-inch round pans (I used 9-inch round pans). Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- Let cool in pans, on wire racks, for 10 minutes. Carefully flip out of the pans and let them finish cooling on wire racks.
- When completely cool, add the frosting.
Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter, unsalted, softened but not melted (room temperature)
- 4 – 5 cups powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- With a mixer, beat the butter until creamed. Add the milk and vanilla, mix. Slowly add the powdered sugar until it reaches desired consistency.