Yellow Birthday Cake with Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
This yellow birthday cake is frosted with homemade chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream! This will be your go-to birthday cake! The vanilla cake is super soft and moist thanks to a combo of oil and butter, while the Swiss meringue buttercream is super creamy and smooth.
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 678kcal
Equipment
- Two 8 inch cake pans
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 ⅔ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup neutral oil
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- 1 cup buttermilk room temperature
Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate melted and cooled
- 1 cup white sugar
- 4 large egg whites room temperature
- 1 ⅓ cups unsalted butter room temperature and cubed
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Vanilla Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/175℃. Grease and line two 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter with the oil and sugar until creamy on medium speed. This will take about 2-3 minutes, and it'll look a bit grainy and fluffy.⅓ cup unsalted butter, 1 ⅔ cup white sugar, ¼ cup neutral oil
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping the bowl after each addition.4 large eggs
- Mix in the vanilla extract.3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour with the baking powder and salt2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- Add ⅓ of the flour mixture, then mix on low. Add ½ the buttermilk. Repeat once more, then end with the flour mixture.1 cup buttermilk
- Pour the smooth cake batter into the prepared pans.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10-15 minutes before removing and letting them cool completely on wire cooling racks.
Make Frosting
- Fill a medium saucepan with an inch of water and bring to a simmer. Combine the sugar and egg whites in a large mixing bowl (if you have a stand mixer, you'll want to use that bowl), set the bowl above the simmering water. Make sure the bowl is completely clean before using, if there is any fat in the bowl then this meringue buttercream won't work!1 cup white sugar, 4 large egg whites
- Heat, whisking constantly, until the sugar dissolves. The mixture will go from a yellowy, granular substance to white and opaque, this takes about 5 minutes. I recommend taking a pastry brush to brush the sides of the bowl so all of the sugar is getting dissolved. Using a thermometer, it should read 140°F/60 C. If you don't have a thermometer, when you pull the whisk up feel the mix with your fingers - if it is no longer grainy then it is ready for the next step.
- Put the bowl into your stand mixer with a whisk attachment and beat on medium-high until you get a glossy meringue with stiff peaks - about 10-15 minutes. Note it can take up to 20 minutes if the weather is hot and humid. You'll want to be beating the mixture until the bowl is completely cool. If the bowl or meringue is too warm it will melt the butter.
- Switch to paddle attachment. Add butter one piece at a time, allowing it to incorporate fully, while still at medium-high speed. This should take 8-12 minutes. When you've added all the butter and the mixture looks smooth, slowly pour in the chocolate, vanilla extract and salt. Give it one final mix using a rubber spatula to make sure all of the chocolate is incorporated.8 oz semisweet chocolate, 1 ⅓ cups unsalted butter, ½ teaspoon kosher salt, ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Frost your cake and enjoy!
Notes
My recipes have been developed and tested in metric grams. I highly recommend using a weighing scale and measuring out your ingredients the metric way. I have provided a conversion to US cups but please note that I haven't tested the recipe with this method.
Ingredients: I make sure that all of my ingredients are at room temperature before I start the recipe, so pull out all of the ingredients before you start baking.
Salt: If you don't have kosher salt, halve the amount of salt called for in the recipe. 1 teaspoon kosher salt = ½ teaspoon fine salt. Please note, I'm using Diamond Crystal kosher salt and not Morton salt which is too salty!
Storage: Store the cake in the fridge for 3-4 days. I recommend letting it come to room temperature before enjoying!
Nutrition
Calories: 678kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 40g | Saturated Fat: 22g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 133mg | Sodium: 528mg | Potassium: 211mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 53g | Vitamin A: 920IU | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 3mg
