Basic Cake and Cupcake Recipe

This is my go-to for nearly all of my cupcake recipes and for my rainbow cake. I've tweaked it a bit (of course) from the original Betty Crocker recipe in my cookbook.

Starlight Yellow Cake
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup butter*
1 1/4 cups milk
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs

1. Preheat your oven to the temperature noted in your recipe. For this one, it's 350F. If you're making a cake, grease and flour two 9" cake pans. For cupcakes, paper liners are sufficient and convenient.

2. In a mixing bowl (I use my KitchenAid stand mixer, but any mixer and bowl combination will do just fine), cream the butter and sugar. Mix on low to medium speed until they are well-combined and look light and fluffy.

3. To the sugar/butter mixture, add the eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add the milk last.

4. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Mix with a fork to combine, then add to the wet. Blend on medium speed until well mixed.

5. Pour into prepared cake pans / cupcake tins and bake. Cakes take approximately 40 - 45 minutes to bake. Twelve cupcakes take approximately 17 - 20 minutes to bake. You know they're done when you stick a toothpick in the middle and it comes out clean. Plus, the cake / cupcakes will have pulled away from the sides a bit.

6. Take them out of the oven and set on wire racks to cool. For cakes, wait until the pan is cool to the touch. Take the dull edge of a regular knife and run it carefully around the edge of the cake. Turn over onto wire rack to cool completely.

7. For cupcakes, you'll be needing the tin for the next batch, so without burning your fingers, take them out of the tin and set them on the rack to cool.

Note: cakes / cupcakes MUST be completely cooled prior to frosting. If they are in any way still warm, the frosting will run and make a gooey, sticky, not nice mess.



*I never, ever use margarine or lard in any of my recipes. Butter is better.