Moist Golden Yellow Cake with Rich Chocolate Frosting

Golden Chocolate Cake (Yellow Cake with Chocolate Buttercream)

Equipment

• Cake ring(s)
• ¼ sheet pan (1x) or ½ sheet pan (2x)
• Parchment paper
• Mixer
• Kitchen scale

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients

• 233 grams (1 ¾ cups) all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons Instant Clearjel or 3 tablespoons vanilla instant pudding mix
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt

Wet Ingredients

• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup water
• 1 tablespoon + 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 ½ teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Creamed Ingredients

• 200 grams (1 cup) sugar
• 1 stick (4 oz) salted butter, room temperature
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• 3 egg yolks

Whipped Ingredients

• 2 egg whites
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Chocolate Buttercream & Decorations

• 1 batch prepared Fluffy Chocolate Buttercream (see recipe)
• Optional: chocolate ganache drizzle and gold crystal sprinkles

Instructions

Make the Golden Vanilla Cake

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a ¼ sheet pan with parchment, then spray the parchment and pan sides with cooking spray.
2. Sift dry ingredients together and whisk to blend evenly.
3. Combine wet ingredients (buttermilk, water, vanilla, vinegar) in a separate bowl or pitcher.
4. Cream sugar and room-temperature butter until light and fluffy. Add oil and corn syrup and mix until incorporated. Add egg yolks and blend until smooth, scraping the bowl as needed. Avoid over-creaming.
5. On low speed, alternate adding dry ingredients and wet ingredients to the creamed mixture in thirds, mixing until just combined. Scrape sides of the bowl as needed; do not overmix.
6. Whip the egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff peaks form in a clean, grease-free bowl.
7. Fold the whipped egg whites into the batter gently, adding half at a time, until no streaks remain and the batter looks smooth and uniform.
8. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan with an offset spatula.
9. Bake on the middle or upper rack at 325°F for 18 minutes, then reduce oven to 300°F and bake an additional 8–10 minutes. If the cake is still jiggly, bake 1–6 more minutes. A toothpick should come out mostly clean with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely. Brush with simple syrup if desired.
10. Wrap the cooled cake tightly with parchment on top and plastic wrap, then freeze in the pan for at least 2 hours (or overnight) to make cutting and layering easier.

Layer, Decorate and Serve

1. Layering is easiest from frozen. If assembling the same day, work with refrigerated layers.
2. Cut rounds from the frozen sheet cake using cake rings (the cut-and-stack method). For a 6″ cake, cut three layers—two full rounds and one made from two halves as needed.
3. Assemble layers with slightly more than ¼” of prepared chocolate buttercream between layers. Use an offset spatula for even spreading. Apply a thin crumb coat on the outside, freeze for about 10 minutes to set, then finish with a final coat of buttercream.
4. Decorate as desired. I like to drizzle a small batch of chocolate ganache and add gold crystal sprinkles and rosettes piped with a star tip. Chill briefly if needed, then bring the cake to room temperature 2–3 hours before serving for best texture.

Notes