Classic Yellow Cake

Like mom used to make!



I'm always looking for a good yellow cake.   It's got to be both moist and fluffy, with that great taste of "times gone by".   Then, topped with a wonderful chocolate fudge frosting...well, that just seems a bit like perfection to me. 

Just like my dad used!

This recipe is from an old McCall's cookbook from 1910 and it stands up to the test of time.  It fulfills all my expectations and satisfies a sense of longing for the "good ol' days" when my mom would bake all our birthday cakes from scratch. 

She baked a chocolate cake on the bottom, a yellow butter cake for the second layer, with her homemade vanilla cream pudding for the filling.  Then, my dad would decorate it with one of those little metal frosting tubes...he was so artistic.  They were truly beautiful cakes! 

It turned out, my husband's favorite cake was a classic yellow cake with chocolate fudge frosting. He really loved this version, as did my whole family! 

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1  1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350*F.  Grease and flour two 8 inch x 2 inch baking pans and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add butter, milk, and vanilla.  With a hand mixer, beat for  2 minutes, occasionally scraping down the sides of the bowl. 

Add eggs and beat for 2 minutes more.

Pour batter into prepared pans, dividing equally between the pans.  Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  (Mine only took 22 minutes, so check it early.)  Remove from oven.

Cool in the pans for 10 minutes and then turn cakes out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Frost with your favorite frosting.  (Ours is written below.)


"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)
1/3 cup milk  (plus an additional few drops to make a nice consistency)
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium saucepan,  melt butter;  stir in cocoa. 

Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency.  Add more milk if needed. 

Stir in vanilla. 

Makes about 2 cups frosting.

This frosting tastes like fudge!  It's rich, easy to spread and will fill the inside and frost the outside generously.


Be encouraged!

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."  - Acts 4:12