Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

A Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting is a classic for a reason. Layers of fluffy, egg-yolk enriched cake topped with rich chocolate frosting will be my birthday wish year after year.

Birthdays have always been magical, and a child's first birthday is a major celebration in many cultures. This is true in Hawaii where my ancestors are from. Today, we tend to take infant mortality for granted, but it wasn't that many generations past where a child living through their first year was considered a small miracle.

Today, small children's birthday parties tend to be social media spectacles with parents mainly trying to show off and out do their peers. I often wonder what the point is of something the child won't even remember. But in the days before vaccines and modern medicine, a child's first birthday was was absolutely something worth giving thanks for. People would want to thank their gods but also their extended family and community for helping to care for and protect their child.

What makes this Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting so awesome?

No matter what your age, you should definitely never miss a chance to have cake, particularly if it's a Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting. It's yellow because this cake is enriched with extra egg yolks, making it moist, fluffy, and flavorful. The frosting is obviously the star of the show here, but the vehicle upon which is rides is equally delicious.

And oh that chocolate frosting! Made with melted chocolate, it's rich and creamy and just sweet enough. I've literally eaten it with a spoon. You can certainly decorate your cake as simply or elaborately as you like. I like to pipe a simple border around the bottom, mainly to cover up my untidy frosting job. And no matter what you're celebrating, there's just gotta be sprinkles. It's an automatic party.

Magical Properties of Cake

While I usually focus on specific ingredients, occasionally, the finished product has magical significance all its own. Just like with bread, this is also true of cake. Though the cakes used as offerings by our ancient ancestors may not look anything like the cakes we eat today, the energetic idea remains the same. A cake is something special, something sweet, something the baker put a lot of love and care into making. That makes it powerful all on its own.

Often used in rituals and celebrations, cakes were also left as offerings to deities and spirits. Many of our current traditions have specific cakes associated with them that have their roots in pagan history. Cakes are tied to the element of earth and carry feminine or receptive energy. Enchant a cake with these properties for any special event. (Source: Rachel Patterson)

For details on the magical properties of each individual ingredient in this recipe, check the Kitchen Magick page.

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need for this awesome recipe. The full details are in the recipe card below.

• Eggs - plus extra yolks
• Buttermilk
• Vanilla - extract of vanilla bean paste, whatever you got
• Cake flour - this will ensure a light and fluffy cake
• Sugar
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Butter - unsalted and softened
• Unsweetened chocolate - if you can't get unsweetened baking chocolate, buy the darkest chocolate available
• Powdered sugar
• Half and half - or whole milk

Tips for making Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Yes, making a layer cake is a bit of a production. That's part of what makes it special. It's not something you can just whip up. That being said, it's also not hard, just time consuming. Start by taking all your chilled ingredients out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Do this at least two hours before you plan to start baking. Also, make sure your cake pans are well greased and/or lined with parchment so you don't risk your cakes sticking to the pan.

We're working with a reverse creaming method this time, which means we'll combine all our dry ingredients then add the butter most of the buttermilk to that before working in the eggs and remaining buttermilk. There's some good science behind this method, but for the life of me, I can't remember it right now. Check out The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum to learn more.

Once your batter is evenly mixed, divide it between two 9-inch round pans or three smaller pans if that's what you're working with. Mine are 20 centimeters, so I use three. You can use your food scale to make sure the batter is divided evenly. Bake these in on one shelf. If that means you have to work in stages, that's fine.

Decorating Your Cake

Once your cakes are baked and completely cool, assuming you've survived the stress of turning them out in one piece, you can move on to frosting and decorating. We're using melted chocolate for this frosting, so do that first so that the chocolate can cool a bit before it gets mixed in with the butter. Mix together the powdered sugar and butter, then add in the melted chocolate, half and half, and vanilla. If you want a nice thick frosting, just mix until combined. If you want something a little more light and fluffy, just keep mixing with an electric mixer for another minute or two to incorporate some air.

Frost the top of each layer, then the sides. Then use excess frosting to tidy up and do any piping you might desire. Don't forget the sprinkles.

FAQ

Is it even a party if there's not cake? Make this Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting the next time you want to celebrate something awesome.

Looking for more awesome cake ideas? Try this lovely Lavender Cake or a Practically Perfect Chocolate Cake.

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