Yellow Layer Cake

Name: Yellow Layer Cake
Yield: Serves 10 to 12 (Makes enough batter for two 9-inch or three 8-inch cake layers)
Ingredients: 2 cups (8 ounces), cake flour; 1 1/2 cups (10 1/2 ounces), granulated sugar; 1 teaspoon, baking powder; 1/4 teaspoon, baking soda; 3/4 teaspoon, salt; 3/4 cup, buttermilk; 5 , large egg yolk plus 3 large egg whites; 8 tablespoons, unsalted butter, melted and cooled; 3 tablespoons, vegetable oil; 1 1/2 teaspoons, vanilla extract; 1/8 teaspoon, cream of tartar

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Appears in Cook's Illustrated March/April 1999, America's Test Kitchen TV

Desserts or Baked Goods

Cakes

We were looking for a moist, tender cake that was both foolproof and full flavored. By changing mixing methods and ingredient ratios, we achieved our goal.

SERVES10 to 12 (Makes enough batter for two 9-inch or three 8-inch cake layers)

TIME1½ hours, plus 2 hours cooling

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WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

Traditional yellow layer cake should melt in the mouth and taste of butter and eggs. But many layer cake recipes that we tried came out crumbly, sugary, and hard. As for the flavor, they tasted merely sweet. We made a few refinements to the...

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