We recently had a movie party theme where I served these adorable cakes in mason jars. We try to follow Michael Pollan’s “real food rules” for eating when we can, and because my eight year old is super sensitive to dyes, so for this cake we went with his philosophy, “Eat all the junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.”
Since I only make cake once or twice a year, it’s very hard for me to find one from scratch that is easy enough for me to pull off. Baking from the box is so much easier, but I’ve come to love the taste of homemade cake and with a few tricks, it comes out delicious.
I served this cake with Magnolia’s Buttercream frosting recipe which I’ve used for years. I added one cup (half a package) of Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chocolate chips and the other half sprinkled throughout the jars, but you could certainly use the whole package in the cake.
I hope you enjoy it!
Yellow Cake with Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 2 Sticks Unsalted butter Softened. (the recipe calls for unsalted, but I admit I still use salted).
- 1 1/2 Cups sugar
- 1/2 Tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp baking powder (that's correct - tablespoon!)
- 4 Large eggs
- 1 Cup Milk
- 2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 2/3 Cups Flour sifted.
- 1 12 oz packet semi-sweet chocolate chips. optional.
Instructions
- A note about baking cakes: It helps if your ingredients -
butter, milk, and eggs are at room temperature before beginning. Take the time (about 6-8 minutes) to really cream the sugar and butter together--it makes all the difference! Lastly, do not over bake. It's better to check this five minutes early than over bake by even a few minutes. It will make your cake dry.Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.Coat a 9 x 13 inch cake pan with coconut oil spread thinly around with a paper towel.Sift flour into a separate bowl and set aside.Beat the butter, sugar, salt and baking powder on medium for 6-8 minutes or until sugar looks dissolved and no longer "gritty." Add eggs, beat 2 minutes or until fluffy. Reduce speed to low and beat in milk and vanilla (batter may have tiny lumps), then beat in flour just until blended and smooth. Stir in 1-2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips with a spoon.Bake 30 to 35 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 to 10 minutes in pan before carefully inverting and transferring to cooling rack. Let cool completely before frosting.
Welcome! Our modern lives can be so hectic that it is so helpful to find easier ways to get a healthy meal on the table, meditate even if the kids are loud, and stay active any way that we can fit it in. This blog is dedicated to making Mindful Living Easier.