Yellow Layer Cake

Ingredients (19)

• 2 and 1/2 cups (285g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)*285 g
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder≈ 12 g
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda≈ 1.5 g
• 1/2 teaspoon salt≈ 3 g
• 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature*170 g
• 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar350 g
• 1/3 cup (75g/80ml) vegetable oil75 g
• 4 large egg yolks, at room temperature≈ 72 g
• 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract≈ 13 g
• 1 cup (240g/ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*240 g
• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature≈ 66 g
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar*≈ 0.4 g

Toppings and extras

Listed, but not counted in the percentages below.

• 1 and 1/2 cups (339g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature339 g
• 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar480 g
• 3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons (76g) unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or Dutch-process)76 g
• 4–6 Tablespoons (60–90g/ml) heavy cream (or half-and-half or milk), at room temperature90 g
• 1 and 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract≈ 5 g
• 1/4 teaspoon salt≈ 1.5 g
• optional for decoration: sprinklesn/a

flour 285 gbatter 1287 g

≈ marks grams converted from cups and spoons with standard densities; the rest are weights the source printed.

Baker's percentages

Grams per 100 g of flour, and where that falls among all 126 recipes. Shaded: the middle half. Tick: the median.

• Sugar123% · 81st percentile · median 108%
• Fat86% · 90th percentile · median 66%
• Egg48% · 28th percentile · median 56%
• Liquid84% · 53rd percentile · median 82%
• Leavening4.6% · 80th percentile · median 3.9%
• Salt1.1% · 55th percentile · median 1%

Oven

Temperature

350°F / 175°C

median 350°F

Time

27 to 31 minutes

median 28 minutes