Fresh Milled Yellow Cake
A moist, tender yellow cake made with fresh milled einkorn or soft white flour. This is a simple base cake, perfect for layers or a 9x13 sheet cake, and ready for your favorite frosting or buttercream.
Ingredients
- 300 grams fresh milled einkorn or soft white flour, milled fine (see notes)
- 1½ teaspoons (6g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) butter
- ½ cup (100g) neutral oil, I used avocado oil
- 1½ cups (300g) sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
- ½ cup (120g) milk, room temperature
- Easy Chocolate Buttercream or your preferred frosting or buttercream (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour the pan 2 8” or 9” pans or brush with homemade cake release.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter, oil, and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl once or twice.
- Add one-third of the flour mixture, mixing at low speed until incorporated. Add the sour cream and mix until well combined. With mixer on low speed, add another third of the flour mixture, and mix until combined. Add the milk and mix to incorporate, scraping side and bottom of bowl. Add the remaining flour and mix until everything is well combined. The batter will be thick and fluffy.
- Allow batter to rest for about 5-10 minutes.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans, dividing the batter equally. Bake at 350°F for 28-32 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. You might notice edges are just starting to separate from pan. Remove from the oven and set on cooling racks.
- Allow the layers to cool for about 10 minutes in the pans before turning out onto cooling racks. Cool completely before frosting.
- Once ready to assemble, level each layer to remove any dome. Set the first layer, crust side down, and frost with your chosen frosting or buttercream. Add the second layer and frost the top and sides.
Notes
Flour:
For best results, weigh your flour using a kitchen scale. Measuring fresh milled flour by volume can vary widely. The amount per cup is also different for einkorn vs. soft white so it's best to stick with gram measurements, which is what I used when testing.
I tested this recipe with soft white and einkorn flour, both milled on the finest setting. Ultimately, I found if I use soft white, I prefer the texture of the cake with sifted flour. With einkorn, I think it works well even without sifting.
Buttercream:
I made two batches of my Easy Chocolate Buttercream recipe and used almost all of it. If you want to fill and frost generously, I would suggest at least 1 1/2 batches. If you prefer less frosting, one batch will work. Of course, feel free to use a different buttercream or frosting that you love.
Can I make an all-butter cake?
Yes, you can. I love the flavor of all butter, but I like the extra tenderness that oil brings to the cake so I usually do half and half.
Can I skip the sour cream?
Yes, you can swap in regular yogurt. I haven't tried using all milk or buttermilk in this. If you try it, I would love to know how it turns out.
Can I make this in a 9x13 pan?
Yes, I tested in 9x13 pan and it works perfectly. Increase the bake time to 38-42 minutes.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!