High Altitude Yellow Birthday Sheet Cake with Chocolate Fudge Frosting
A classic, buttery yellow birthday cake that's moist and fluffy, frosted with chocolate fudge frosting and sprinkled with chocolate chips.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 ¾ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ⅓ cup full fat sour cream
Frosting
- ¼ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray an 8-inch square baking pan with non-stick baking spray, or line with parchment paper.To bake this cake in a 9x13 pan, double the recipe.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, then whisk until evenly distributed.
- Add the melted butter, eggs, vanilla, milk and sour cream, and whisk the batter until smooth and combined, about 10-15 seconds.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake for about 30-32 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake completely before frosting.
Frosting
- Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan, or in the microwave, until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot.
- Measure the chocolate chips into a bowl, and pour the hot milk/butter over the chocolate chips. Stir until smooth and melted. If the chocolate seizes up a little and won't smooth out, microwave the mixture (in a microwavable bowl) in 30 second increments at 50% power until it's mostly smooth.
- Stir in the powdered sugar. The frosting may look sort of grainy at this point.
- Now use an electric mixer to beat the frosting for several minutes to smooth it out. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the frosting for 10-15 minutes to cool it down, then beat it again for several more minutes. The frosting will get thicker and more fudge-like, but it will not be fluffy like buttercream.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled cake. The surface of the frosting will crust over quickly, so sprinkle it with chocolate chips or sprinkles before it crusts over.
Notes
Store leftover cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
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