The ultimate birthday cake recipe! A classic yellow cake with a rich chocolate frosting and colorful sprinkles. The perfect flashback to your childhood.
I am channeling my very best 80’s vibe with this cake.
The 80’s was such a perfect time to grow up, maybe the last perfect decade to be a kid. Technology was slowly infiltrating our homes, but it hadn’t completely taken over our lives yet. Kids could still be kids. Birthdays were not the lavish Pinterest-fuelled affairs they are now. We’d invite our friends, have a handful of snacks out, maybe some balloons or hats, and of course, the classic birthday cake.
You know what I’m talking about. That yellow cake box mix and the tub of chocolate frosting. It was perfect.
Honestly, if someone put that in front of me today, I would not turn my nose up at it. I still love it. I’ve talked about my love for store-bought or box mix cakes before – I’m not ashamed to admit it.
While I do love to bake, there’s something comforting about those nostalgic flavors. And let’s be real here, I’ve yet to recreate the perfect flavor that is the Betty Crocker French Vanilla cake mix. So. Good!
This cake I bring you today is what I consider to be the perfect birthday cake recipe.
I’ve used this yellow cake recipe a few times before, and it’s my favorite. It’s often what I use as a base to work from when I’m looking at creating new cake flavors. The one difference this time around is the clear vanilla extract.
What is clear vanilla?
Clear vanilla extract is an artificially flavored vanilla. It has a sweeter taste than classic vanilla, and I find it to evoke more of that box-mix cake flavor. It’s often used in cakes and frostings that need to be pure white, as it won’t tint the color of the cake. If you don’t have clear vanilla extract though, it’s not a deal breaker. Regular vanilla extract will work just fine too.
The chocolate frosting is simple to make, and it’s delicious. I don’t make American-style buttercreams often, but it was a must-do for this classic birthday cake. A simple mix of butter, powdered sugar, cocoa, and melted chocolate.
I kept the decorating on this cake simple. No fancy piping or chocolate drips or anything. Just some rustic swirls on the sides and top, some fun sprinkles, and little flags made out of washi tape.
If you’re looking for a birthday cake for that special someone, or want a way to relive those awesome memories of birthdays gone by, this classic birthday cake is for you!
Looking for more Birthday Cake ideas?
- Vanilla Cake With Vanilla Buttercream
- Momofuku Birthday Cake
- Simple Vanilla Buttercream
- Yellow Cake with Mocha
Tips for making this yellow cake with chocolate frosting:
- Clear vanilla extract helps give the cake more of that box-mix flavor, but you can use regular vanilla if you like.
- I used Sweetapolita’s I Believe sprinkle medley on the top of this cake, and made the flags out of birthday themed washi tape and bamboo skewers.
- Try to use good quality dark chocolate in the frosting. It really makes a difference in flavor! I love Callebaut.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, see my Flat Top Cakes post.
Classic Birthday Cake
Ingredients
Yellow Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp clear vanilla extract *
- 1 cup whole milk room temperature
Chocolate Frosting:
- 1 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar sifted
- 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder sifted
- 6 oz good quality semi-sweet chocolate chopped, melted, cooled
- 2-4 Tbsp whole milk room temperature
Assembly:
- birthday sprinkles
Instructions
Vanilla Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 8″ cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Bake for 35-40mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack.
Chocolate Frosting
- In a large bowl, whisk sifted powdered sugar and cocoa powder to combine. Set aside.
- Beat butter until smooth and creamy. Add powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, beating well between each addition. Beat until smooth (approx 5mins).
- Add in cooled melted chocolate and beat until combined. Add in milk until desired consistency is reached (I added all 4 Tbsp).
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Top with approximately 1 cup of buttercream. Repeat with remaining layer and crumb coat the cake. Chill for 20mins.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake in a rustic manner using an offset spatula.
- Decorate the top with sprinkles and decorative flags if desired.
Carole Maupin says
I made this cake for my daughter’s fourth birthday yesterday and it was amazing! It was also easy enough to make that she was able to help me make it which made it extra special!
Olivia says
Aww that is so awesome! I’m so happy to hear you both liked it and that she helped out!!
Pariyakorn Magphanthong says
This is the best recipe for cake! I kid you not, I baked this for the birthday of my friends, they all went crazy for it. There is not a thing to change, it is a perfect consistency, richness, and sweetness. I made this recipe over five times already and they all turned out perfect every time. This recipe works perfectly for cupcakes too! The most perfect cake recipe I have ever come across! Thank you so much.
Olivia says
Hi Pariyakorn! I’m so glad you liked this one! Five times, wow! That is high praise for sure. Thanks for the feedback!
Kelly says
Hi! I’m making this right now for my son’s 3rd birthday. Thank you for the recipe!! Is it okay to leave it on the counter for a couple days (in a cake container, of course), or do you recommend storing in the fridge?
Olivia says
Hi Kelly! I always store in the fridge (even though the fridge tends to dry cakes out), but it should be totally fine on the counter for a couple days.
Anne says
Made half of the recipe and baked it in a 6” pan, with a bit more flour and less powder as my oven is at 6900’. Torted it (3 layers), filled with strawberry jam and whipped cream, and frosted with your chocolate yumminess. Birthday boy loved it! Great recipe!
Olivia says
Hi Anne! So glad you and the birthday boy liked it!
carmen soto says
Hi your cake looks great. I don’t own a 8 inch cake pan I have 9 inch would that make difference .
Olivia says
Hi Carmen! The layers would be thinner in the 9″. It will work but you’ll have to reduce the baking time and be ok with thinner layers :). Otherwise you can increase the recipe. Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
Lauren says
Hi! I don’t have much experience with cake making, but am going to give this recipe a try for an upcoming party! Any tips on how to prepare the cake pans for baking? Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Lauren! I use Pam for Baking and spray the whole pan and line the bottoms with parchment.
Margaret says
I am about to ice the cake and am wondering what you mean by « crumb coat the cake »? Thank you for your help!
Olivia says
Hi Margaret! It’s a thin coat of frosting all over the cake to “lock” in the crumbs so they aren’t in your final pass of frosting 🙂
Quan says
Hi, can I substitute cake flour for AP flour?
Olivia says
Hi Quan! Yes, that should work fine.
Stephanie says
Hi,
I want to make this cake for my sister’s birthday this weekend but I don’t own 8 inch round pans. Do you have suggestions on how to make this recipe for two 9 inch pans? Thank you for your help!
Olivia says
Hi Stephanie! I would 1.5x the recipe (you can adjust the Servings slider to 18) and make cupcakes with any extra batter. Don’t fill your pans more than 2/3rd full (unless they are 3″ tall). If they are then you can just use all the batter and adjust the baking time for thicker layers. Let me know how it turns out!
Uzma says
Hello Olivia
I recently joined ur group .love ur all recipes.i cant see ur videos.where i can find ur all tutorials?
Olivia says
Hi Uzma! I actually don’t have many videos, only the Flat Top Cakes one: https://livforcake.com/flat-top-cakes/
Kalin says
This batter seems thicker than what I am used to, is that okay?
Olivia says
Hi Kalin! The batter is thicker than something like a cake mix batter, but make sure to spoon and level your flour rather than scooping it as this can greatly affect the amount of flour in a recipe.
Tika says
Wondering if you have an estimated time for standard sized cupcakes? Ima try this lovely looking recipe this weekend for my hubs’ birthday. Thank you for this beautiful recipe, I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Olivia says
Hi Tika! I would start checking them at about 15mins.
Litta says
I have made this cake twice and it was a no fail recipe. I made it for my husband birthday andd everyone wanted me to make another. I love this recipe.
Olivia says
Hi Litta! So happy to hear that. Glad everyone liked it 🙂
Cindy Rodriguez says
Awww yes, the good ol’ 80’s era. It was a great time to be a kid, I agree. And I’m a huge fan of the Sweetapolita sprinkles as well – I use them often. I love the simplicity of the cake! Sometimes less is more.
Olivia says
It WAS the best time, I’m glad you agree 🙂 Nothing better!
keiko says
HI! Your cakes are beautiful! I just started following you.
I used to live in Port Moody, too! and I also went to Northwest culinary academy! (in 2005)
Anyway, I was just wondering…to decorate your cakes, do you use one of those turn table thingys?
Olivia says
Hi Keiko! That is crazy, small world! Are you still in the Vancouver area? I do use a turntable — it’s a must-have in my opinion! But I seriously use a cheap lazy susan from Ikea. It was like $10 or $15 and gets the job done. This one is on my list to buy… eventually 🙂 https://amzn.to/2In4P0N
Colin Scheibelhut says
So smaller world yet, I was looking for cake recipes and found this one, lo and behold Olivia, I graduated from VFS Game Design in 2012! Thanks for the recipe Olivia!
Olivia says
Hi Colin! So cool!! I’ll have to mention it to Dave 😀 I hope you like this one!!
Sandeep says
Looks Delicious.
Olivia says
Thank you!
yocakes says
i love this special day because we celebrate with delicious cake. I love cake, specially chocolate flavor, it is so yummy and celebrate to any kind of function. Thanks for sharing
sweet smith says
This cake looks delicious! I love the texture of the layers – look so fluffy and yummy!
Olivia says
Thank you!!
Kelly says
Lovely cake, one of my all time favorites. Where did you get those gorgeous gold candles?
Olivia says
Thanks so much Kelly! A friend actually got them for me years ago at a local shop that is no longer un business 🙁 These ones look to be similar (though much taller): https://amzn.to/2pQJdmI I love the height on them though!
Kelly says
Awesome!!! thank you.
Chandra Persaud says
Hey Liv,
The recipe says whole milk but the method says buttermilk…so can you please clarify which it is? Thanks!!
Olivia says
Hi Chandra! Good catch, it should just say milk! I’ve updated it 🙂 Buttermilk would work fine though too.