Yellow Blender Cake
A tender all-purpose yellow cake that's almost as easy as a boxed mix, with a pure vanilla flavor you'd expect from a fancy bakery.
- MakesMakes two 8- or 9-inch round cakes
- Cook Time35 minutes
- Active time plus coolingplus cooling
- 9
The batter for this basic golden-hued layer cake takes only a few minutes to throw together, and whirring the wet ingredients in a blender makes the recipe virtually failsafe. No stand mixer and careful creaming needed. The cakes do require a little more work than opening a box of store-bought mix, their taste and texture won’t disappoint. We use buttermilk, melted butter and just a couple tablespoons of oil for a moist, tender and flavorful crumb. Oil is 100 percent fat—butter is not, as it contains water and milk solids—and it remains fluid at room temperature, which contributes to a moister, softer crumb. Cake flour, which is low in protein, also helps keep the texture fine and and delicate. With vanilla extract as the only flavoring, this cake can be finished any way you like. Fill and frost it with vanilla, chocolate or coffee buttercream. Or put pastry cream between the layers and coat the cake with a chocolate glaze to make a Boston cream pie. Or, simply sandwich whipped cream and fruit jam between the rounds and dust the surface with powdered sugar.
Don’t overblend the wet ingredients or the cakes will bake up with lots of bubbles on the surface. Blend only until the ingredients are well combined about 15 seconds, but make sure to scrape the blender jar about halfway through to make sure the sugar isn’t clumped on the side.
Step 1
Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle position. Mist two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans with cooking spray. Line the bottoms with rounds of kitchen parchment, then mist the parchment. Dust the pans with flour, then knock out the excess.
Step 2
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a blender, combine the buttermilk, butter, whole eggs and egg yolks, oil, vanilla and sugar. Blend on high just until combined, about 15 seconds, scraping the jar about halfway through to make sure the sugar has not clumped on the sides; do not overblend. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then whisk just until evenly moistened. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared pans, then rap each pan 2 or 3 times on the counter to remove any air bubbles.
Step 3
Place the pans in the oven, evenly spaced on the rack. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean, 22 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Run a paring knife around the edge of each cake to loosen. Invert the onto the rack, lift off the pan and peel off the parchment. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
