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Ruhlman’s Classic Yellow Layer Cake

Source of Recipe

"Ruhlman's Twenty" by Michael Ruhlman


Recipe Introduction

This recipe makes a beautiful, tall cake. It is very light and has a good, airy crumb. In the book, the cake is iced with a chocolate buttercream and glaze. I’ve never used those, but will try that in the future. When I do, I’ll make note of it and add those recipes to the Sweet Sauces & Frostings section. A couple of caveats about this cake: it tends to be a bit sticky on the outside. Which means that the outside crust can look a bit rough and sometimes the bottom crust puffs up separate from the cake layer. I just peel that off when it happens. Brush the layer top, bottom and sides off with a brush and slather on a nice, thick layer of icing. The other thing - harder to fix - is that it can be a bit dry. I have thought of adding an additional egg yolk or two to the batter. Not sure what the answer is - I've requested some advice at Cookskorner.com and will add notes later.

List of Ingredients

9 large eggs, separated
2 c. sugar
2 t. vanilla extract
2 T. lemon juice
2 c. cake flour



Recipe

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Spray two 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray and line bottoms with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks, half of the sugar and the vanilla. Whisk until combined and the mixture is light and bubbly (about one minute).

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg whites and lemon juice. Beat, with the whisk attachment, on high for 1 – 2 minutes. With the mixer running, slowly add the remaining sugar. Keep beating until the whites form soft peaks.

Gently fold half of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in half of the flour. Fold gently until combined, then fold in the rest of the egg whites, followed by the rest of the flour.

Pour the batter evenly into the pans. Bake 30 – 40 minutes until they pass the toothpick test. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and peel off parchment paper. Allow to cool completely, right side up.

Frost as desired.