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Old Fashioned Butter Cake

October 8, 2013 by Melissa 54 Comments

This Old Fashioned Butter Cake is the basis of so many special occasion cakes. Once the layers are baked this versatile cake can be filled with jam and topped with whipped cream and fresh berries, turned into strawberry shortcake or iced with your favorite flavor of frosting for your next birthday party. It's the one cake flavor besides chocolate, that people search for the most when an occasion arises that warrants a celebration.

Easy Old Fashioned Butter Cake Recipe

Through the years, I've heard yellow cakes called by various names such as old fashioned butter cake, plain cake, vanilla cake, yellow cake and 1-2-3-4 cake. They're all slight variations of the same cake and it's the one cake recipe that everyone needs in their dessert recipe file. Frost it with your favorite icing flavor and this cake is ready to get the party started.

How to Make the Best Old Fashioned Butter Cake Recipe

Ingredients you'll need to make homemade Butter Cake: All purpose flour, cake flour, butter, buttermilk, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, vanilla, extract, butter extract, almond extract and large eggs.
Kitchen tools you'll need: A stand mixer or a hand mixer, large bowl, medium bowl, measuring cups and spoons, 8 inch cake pans, cooling rack and whisk.
Two Types of Flour Make a Difference in the Texture: My personal favorite butter cake as demonstrated in this recipe, uses a combination of all-purpose flour and cake flour for just the right texture. It's not too crumbly, not too dense.
If time allows, while the butter is softening and coming to room temperature allow the eggs to come to room temperature, too. If you forget, the recipe will still work but it does seem to add more volume to the cake batter when the eggs aren't cold.
When adding eggs to a cake recipe, crack them into a smaller separate bowl or measuring cup first. This will prevent any egg shell from going directly into the mixing bowl and ruining the batter.
I'm an avid baker and I've used a whisk for sifting dry ingredients for many years. It works like a charm. You can also use a fine mesh sieve if you don't have an old fashioned sifter.
This cake can be frosted with any flavor icing you like. Checkout my recipes for Whipped Chocolate Frosting, fluffy 7 Minute Frosting, easy Vanilla Buttercream Icing, citrus filled Pink Lemonade Frosting or classic Cream Cheese Icing.
You can also make this cake up to 2 days in advance and store the layers separately chilled in the refrigerator tightly wrapped in plastic wrap prior to frosting.
Freeze Old Fashioned Butter Cake for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator and frost it your way.

More Easy Cake Recipes to Make

Hummingbird Cake was made famous by Southern Living was created by a special lady right here in my neck of the woods in North Carolina.
Best ever Chocolate Cake Recipe features both chocolate layers and frosting.
Coconut Layer Cake is a holiday must make.
German Chocolate Cake features my own twist on the classic frosting that makes it rich and delicious.
Strawberry Shortcake Layer Cake is impressive to serve.
Make your own homemade Chocolate Buttermilk Cake for your next special occasion.
Peanut Butter Cake from My Incredible Recipes.

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