Yellow Butter Cake and Buttercream

Yellow Butter Cake and Buttercream.
Everyone has to have their favorite go-to recipes. I've searched to find a cake recipe that is moist and fluffy without being too dense. There were two recipes I tried, each one claiming to be "the one". After making both recipes I found that neither gave me the perfect cake I was looking for. So, I decided to play around with the two recipes and see what happened... in the end the cake was buttery, fluffy and moist - it was a success. This will be my go-to recipe for now until I find one that's even better.

I almost forgot to mention the buttercream. This is my favorite buttercream recipe, it takes time but its sooo worth it.

Enjoy.

Yellow Butter Cake

4 cups sifted Cake Flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
2 cups sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups buttermilk, shaken
1/2 tsp butter flavoring,

Preheat to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small bowl and set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl before each addition. Be sure there that each egg is fully incorporated. Add the buttermilk on low speed just until combined. The batter should have a curdled appearance at this point. Add the flour mixture in three parts. Mix just until all the flour has been incorporated. Pour batter into greased and floured pans (2 - 9x9 inch round pans) or lined cupcake tins (makes about 24).

Bake the cakes for 35-40 minutes. Cupcakes will bake for 20-30 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack for about 10 minutes. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened (*I don't like a lot of shortening but you could swap 1/4 cup of shortening in for butter, if you are looking for a stiffer frosting)
a pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
4-5 cups of powdered sugar, sifted
2-5 tbsp heavy whipping cream

Beat the butter and salt until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and 2 tbsp of heavy whipping cream. Sift the sugar and then add cup by cup until you have reached the desired sweetness. Beat the frosting 15-20 minutes. The amount of time you spend beating the mixture truly makes a difference in consistency and fluffiness. Add more cream as needed.

These measurements are always exact, I usually go by taste and texture, adjusting for sweetness, creaminess and consistency. This is a good base recipe, adjust for your own taste.