It may have looked like cornbread...

but (thank goodness)...

it definitely tasted like cake.
Yellow cake is like the sunshine of cakes. I have fond memories of standing at my kitchen counter, eating Pillsbury yellow cake straight from a 9x13 inch pan. (Fatty alert!) But I always wondered in the back of my mind if the "moist supreme" taste could be duplicated or improved upon in a from-scratch recipe. Maybe it's just me, but I've noticed that people bake chocolate, vanilla, chiffon and pound cakes from scratch, yet they hardly ever make a plain old yellow cake. Le sigh. One of the great mysteries of life, right up there with: "Is Earth really the only planet that hosts life? Sometimes I wonder."
An online search confirmed my suspicions. Finding a yellow cake recipe from a blogger or chef I trust (where are you Ina?) is like searching for a needle in a haystack, and the needle becomes even narrower when you don't want to make cupcakes or a layer cake.
Nevertheless, my first time making yellow cake from scratch turned out better than I had hoped. I went with a Martha Stewart Weddings recipe. I was pretty happy with it overall, except that my cake baked about 10 minutes faster than stated in the recipe, and it was a tad too sweet. It could also do with the addition of some dried strawberries (my sister's fine suggestion). The recipe below reflects the edits I would make next time around.
Yellow Cake
Adapted from Martha Stewart Weddings Basic Yellow Cake recipe
Yield: One 8-inch square cake
- 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/3 cups cake flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup soy milk
- Smattering of add-ins like chocolate chips or freeze-dried strawberries, if desired
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Cream butter and sugar for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add in vanilla and eggs and mix until combined.
3. Mix cake flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Add to butter/sugar mixture in thirds, alternating with the soy milk (beginning and ending with the flour mixture).
4. Pour into greased pan and bake for 40-45 minutes until golden like cornbread (or yellow like yellow cake!).