Do you guys have any weekend plans? We’ll just be doing the usual, yard work and church on Sunday. Sometimes I love having no plans for the weekend. We just got back from a kid-free 2 week vacation in Australia, so we’ve been spoiled anyway. (And yes, it was so fun!!) I hope you get to make this Chocolate Free Chocolate Cake soon! Well. Actually. It turns out you can. I would be eating a real piece of Humble Pie right now if I weren’t so busy stuffing my face with this amazing brown sugar yellow cake. It has the exact same texture and insane moistness as my favorite chocolate cake, minus the chocolate. (Pass the Pie. I was thinking you were a little crazy, Shannon, Lover of Yellow Cake, but I’ve been fully converted.) I looked up a couple other yellow cake recipes just to see what kind of disaster Shannon was in for when she tried to omit the cocoa from my chocolate cake. And I was shocked to find that my chocolate cake recipe is almost identical to several yellow cakes I found–same butter amount, same liquid amount, same flour, etc. But instead of using all white sugar, my cake has half white sugar and half brown sugar. When is brown sugar EVER a bad idea?? It’s a little odd, but the result is a brown sugar flavored yellow cake that is incredibly moist. As I say about the original chocolate cake, the edges are almost brownie like, but somehow still manage to be cake. There are no dry edges. There’s a reason I’m including a photo of the non-frosted underside of this cake. The edges are unreal, even when they don’t have frosting on them.
I maintain that the amount of frosting called for in this recipe is the proper amount, although Eric, my brother Nathan, and even the kids said it was a bit excessive. But I have a strict No Bite Left Behind Policy. I need EVERY SINGLE BITE of my cake to have frosting on it. That means lots of frosting. My friend Melissa took a slice of this brown sugar cake home with her after visiting one day, and I texted her later, “Everyone says the cake has too much frosting…is that even a thing??” and she said, “Not if you’re me! If you don’t like frosting, don’t eat cake.” I like your style Melissa. (We know she has good taste. She’s the one who gave me this 30 Minute Pesto Penne with Chicken.) (Can you tell I’m not into crumb coats? My strategy is to pile on more and more frosting…)
Skip the chocolate. I have to admit, I’m not sure why you would, but there are other frostings. Some of my favorites include Maple Frosting with Pecans, Buttercream Frosting, and Cream Cheese Frosting. No vanilla bean paste, no problem. Use vanilla extract instead – it will still taste great! Feel free to substitute some of the vanilla extract with almond or coconut extract. Use less frosting. I’m a little frosting obsessed; you may not be. You can frost the cake with less frosting than this recipe calls for and refrigerate the rest for another time.
Help the layers release easily from the pans. After greasing and flouring the cake pans, trace the bottom of the cake pans onto parchment paper, cut out the circles, and put them in the bottom of the pan. Remove air bubbles from the unbaked layers. Before baking, drop the cakes on the counter from a few inches above to get out some of the air bubbles. Make the cake easier to frost. After baking and cooling to room temperature, wrap the cakes securely in plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour or 2. Keep your cake plate clean. If you don’t want your cake plate to get frosting all over it, line the bottom cake with strips of parchment paper that you can pull out when the cake is completely frosted.
Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram Layered Cornbread Cake with Whipped Honey Butter Frosting » it’s luscious, decadent, and the BEST cornbread/white cake combo Peach Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting « this cake is delicious and uses frozen peaches! Upside Down Almond Crunch Cupcakes « why are we still frosting the tops of cupcakes? Turn those babies upside down for triple the frosting The Best Homemade White Cake Recipe of Your Life!! « no joke Cherry Garcia Cake from Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons Lemon Pistachio Cake from Scientifically Sweet Hawaiian Sunset Cake from Momma Lew
