Yellow Butter Cake with Chocolate Frosting

I know, dark picture and I also realize it is not valentines day yet, but I got these sprinkles and had to use them or else I could die.  What?  It could happen.

  So some times when you are baking there are left overs.  Like I have said before, I will do almost anything to not have to clean up left overs.  S'mores bark anyone?  Well after over coming the world of macaron making; and yes I totally get how overly dramatic that sounds.  I had a bunch of egg yolks left over.  Now I was smart this time and actually used them in something I knew I would like.  Last time I made lemon curd, and I don't know how, but it was so lemony I couldn't even eat it.  And I love lemon.  Anyway.  So this time, this time I made a cake.  And it was good.  So good in fact that Pork Chop even ate it, icing and all.

  I know right?  The world can end now, nothing will top that.

  So to find a cake I just googled "recipes with egg yolks" and I found a bunch.  The one I picked looked easy.  Even though it was a layer cake, and I hate those.  I love eating them, hate making them, there is a difference.  So I planned to make it in a 9x13 and just ice it that way, and be all fancy and put sprinkles on it.  It was a great plan, in theory.

  Here is the Link

I love how a home made cake batter is so nice and thick, the mixes you buy are so watery.

  So the reason why it would have been better as a layer cake, was I think it needed more icing, and less cake.  It is hard to eat a cake with a 2 inch layer of icing.  Or so I'm told, I could do it, I know I could.  The cake was a little dryer than I like, maybe that the extra time that I baked it because I didn't listen for the timer really, so a minute or two less and I bet it would have been great.  Anyway let's get started.

Yellow Butter Cake
from Joy of Baking

-3 cups sifted cake flour*
-3 1/2 TSP baking powder
-1/2 TSP salt
-3/4 cup unsalted butter
-1 1/3 cup sugar
-6 large egg yolks
-1 cup milk
-2 TSP vanilla**

*when a recipe calls for cups of sifted flour, that means you sift then measure the flour.  If it calls for flour, sifted you measure then sift.

**I used vanilla bean paste, just because I could.


Start by heating your oven to 350, then preparing your cake pan.  Either with spray or butter then flouring it, or like I did just leave it.  The pans I have are non stick so they usually are okay.

Beat the butter by itself until light and creamy, then slowly add the sugar and beat again for a few minutes.  Then add the egg yolks, three at a time.  Mix well then add the vanilla.  To add the dry ingredients, do it in three batches.  Then the milk in two batches.  So add 1/3 of the dry stuff, then half the milk, then another 1/3 of the dry stuff, then the rest of the milk then the last of the dry stuff.  I have heard that if you do this it will ensure a nice smooth batter.  What do I know, I usually just dump it all in, but I followed the directions. This time.

It looks sort of glossy right?

 So then you want to bake your cake until a tooth pick inserted into the middle comes out clean.  And do not do what I do and forget as mine over baked just a bit.

Please ignore the fact I have like a million things on my table yet again.

Then once it is done and cooled you can make your frosting.

Chocolate Frosting
From Joy of Baking

-6 oz unsweetened chocolate
-1 cup unsalted butter
-2 cups icing sugar
-1 TSP vanilla

So chop up the chocolate and melt it in a bowl over a pot of simmering water.  Once melted take it off the heat and let cool.  Beat your butter until smooth then mix in the sugar. Beat in the vanilla and beat until light and creamy.  Then add the chocolate and beat the icing until well mixed, then turn up the speed and mix it until it is glossy.  I never noticed it getting glossy but whatever; it worked.

And here is Pork Chop, he was working up an appetite because he ate the whole piece of cake I gave him, icing and all.  He never does that!

  So once you have that all ready, you can either decorate your layer cake like a pro, or like me just slather all the icing on top of your cake and sprinkle it with some sprinkles and leave it at room temperature until ready to serve.

I don't know why but I love these sprinkles.

I think the icing was a nice balance, not overly sweet and again I suggest doing this as a layer cake, because I found it was a little dry.  I will make it again for sure, I have plans to try macarons again so I will have plenty of egg yolks to work with.

Is that not the saddest cake picture ever?