This 9×13-inch yellow birthday cake with chocolate frosting is a perennial party favorite. Easy to make from basic ingredients, it’s soft, tender, and perfectly moist. This buttery yellow sheet cake doesn’t require any special assembly, piping tips, or decorating skills. Top it with rich and creamy chocolate fudge frosting, your favorite sprinkles, and don’t forget the birthday candles!
I originally published this recipe in 2019 and have since updated it with new photos and additional success tips.
There are plenty of reasons to bake a layer cake, but sometimes all you need is a simple cake that feeds a crowd, travels well, and is easy to decorate. This classic yellow birthday cake baked in a 9×13-inch pan is exactly that. It’s plush and buttery with a rich vanilla flavor, an incredibly tender crumb, and a thick layer of creamy chocolate fudge frosting on top.
This is the classic birthday cake everyone recognizes and loves. It’s easy enough for beginner bakers, sturdy enough to transport to parties and potlucks, and just as welcome at a weeknight family dinner as it is at a birthday celebration. Add a handful of colorful sprinkles, light the candles, and you’ve got a cake that’s always worthy of a celebration!
If you’re looking for a reliable homemade birthday cake that tastes just as delicious as this yellow layer cake but is easier to make, this recipe deserves a permanent spot in your recipe collection.
Why You’ll Love This Yellow Birthday Cake
Every baker needs a dependable 9×13-inch cake recipe, and this one checks all the boxes. This cake is:
- Soft, fluffy, and extra buttery
- Rich with real vanilla flavor
- Easy enough for beginner bakers
- Perfect for birthdays, parties, and celebrations
- Frosted with a thick layer of silky chocolate fudge frosting
- Simple to decorate with sprinkles, piped borders, or writing icing
It’s the kind of cake that’s nostalgic in the best way—a homemade version of the classic yellow birthday cake many of us grew up eating. You know the super moist cakes that stick to your fork? That’s what this is!
Key Ingredients You Need & Why
After plenty of recipe testing, I landed on a simple combination of basic ingredients that yield a tender and flavorful yellow cake.
- Cake Flour: Cake flour gives this cake its fluffy, delicate crumb. Its lower protein content creates a finer texture than all-purpose flour, making each slice exceptionally tender. If you don’t have cake flour, you can use this DIY cake flour substitute.
- Unsalted Butter: Like vanilla cake, creamed butter and sugar is the base of this yellow sheet cake. There’s simply no other way to achieve the same soft, buttery crumb. Make sure you are using proper room-temperature butter. And if you’re just starting out your baking journey, I have a video tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar.
- Eggs: My layered yellow cake uses whole eggs, plus additional egg yolks. In that recipe, I also whip egg whites into peaks before folding into the cake batter. Layer cakes require a little more finesse because you’re stacking the layers, filling them, and gently pressing them together. I don’t find either addition (extra egg yolks and whipped egg whites) necessary in the 1-layer 9×13-inch pan version.
- Sour Cream: Full-fat sour cream adds necessary moisture, which promises a tender cake crumb. Plain yogurt works as a substitute if needed.
- Whole Milk: Liquid is key in most cakes because it thins out the batter. You can use nondairy or lower-fat milks in a pinch, but the cake’s texture won’t be as rich or moist.
You also need sugar, baking powder, baking soda, vanilla, and salt.
I use the same ingredients in my yellow cupcakes, too.
The batter comes together quickly with an electric mixer and just a couple of bowls. If you need a recommendation for a 9×13-inch pan, I like this metal 9×13-inch pan or this metal 9×13-inch pan.
Because it’s baked in a 9×13-inch pan, decorating is quick and beginner-friendly—no stacking or crumb coating required.
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
Check out this glossy chocolate fudge frosting! It’s the same frosting I use for my piñata cake. (Another cake that’s perfect for a birthday celebration.)
It’s silky, creamy, deeply chocolatey, and spreads beautifully across the cake. The frosting pipes well if you’d like to add a border or decorative swirls, but it’s just as pretty simply spread on with an offset spatula.
A little corn syrup gives this fudge frosting its glossy sheen, but you can leave it out if you’d like.
Finish with plenty of rainbow sprinkles for the ultimate classic birthday cake!
The Many Benefits of Sheet Cakes
I love sheet cakes because they feed a large crowd, bake up fast, and cool pretty quickly. There’s no assembly required or special decorating techniques needed. They’re also easy to transport, so you don’t have the same worries about a layer cake falling over while in transit!
If sheet cakes are your preference too, try this cookies and cream cake, apple cake, zucchini cake, or funfetti sheet cake next.
Yes. Bake the cake up to one day in advance or freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 3 months.
Cake flour produces a softer, finer crumb than all-purpose flour, giving this cake its classic bakery-style texture. If needed, you can use a homemade cake flour substitute, but the crumb won’t be quite as delicate.
Absolutely. Vanilla buttercream, classic chocolate buttercream, strawberry buttercream, or whipped chocolate ganache would all pair beautifully with this cake.
Insert a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs, the cake is finished baking.
Yellow Birthday Cake Tools
9×13-inch Baking Pan with Lid
Measuring Cups & Spoons
9×13-Inch Yellow Birthday Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: serves 12
- Category: Cake
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This 9×13-inch yellow birthday cake is soft, buttery, and topped with rich chocolate fudge frosting. Made from basic ingredients and easy to decorate, it’s the perfect homemade cake for birthdays, parties, and celebrations.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (266g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 cups (300g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup (160g) sour cream, at room temperature*
- 1 cup (240g/ml) whole milk, at room temperature*
Chocolate Fudge Frosting
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 and 1/2 cups (540g) confectioners’ sugar
- 3/4 cup (62g) natural unsweetened or dutch-process cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup (120g/ml) whole milk
- 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup*
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- optional: rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Generously grease a 9×13-inch baking pan. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed for 3 full minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the sour cream.
- Add half of the dry ingredients and half of the milk and beat on low speed until combined. Add the remaining dry ingredients and milk and beat on low speed until combined. Do not over-mix this batter. The batter will be smooth, velvety, and slightly thick. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl.
- Spread the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it into an even layer. Bake for 32–38 minutes or until the top is very lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Rotate the pan halfway through baking and, if you notice the top and edges quickly browning, tent the cake with aluminum foil.
- Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the pan placed on a wire rack. As the cake finishes cooling, make the frosting.
- Make the frosting: Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until pale, smooth, and creamy, about 3 minutes. Using a fine mesh strainer, sift the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa together. Add the sugar/cocoa mixture to the butter, then beat on low speed until the sugar is mostly incorporated, about 20 seconds. Stop the mixer, then add the milk, corn syrup, vanilla, and salt. Beat on medium-high speed for 2 minutes. If the frosting is too thick, beat in an extra splash of milk.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and top with sprinkles, if desired. Slice and serve.
- Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Cake can be made 1 day in advance, covered tightly at room temperature, and then frosted right before serving. Frosting can also be made 1 day ahead of time. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Bring frosting to room temperature, then beat the frosting on medium speed for a few seconds so it’s creamy again. Adding a splash of milk will help thin the frosting out, if needed. Frosted or unfrosted cake can be frozen up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×13-inch Metal Baking Pan or this 9×13-inch Metal Baking Pan | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack | Fine Mesh Strainer | Icing Spatula
- Cake Flour: Cake flour produces an extra light cake, and I strongly recommend it here. In a pinch, you can try this cake flour substitute.
- Sour Cream: Full-fat sour cream lends the best flavor. You can substitute plain yogurt in a pinch. I suggest a full-fat variety.
- Milk: For a rich and moist cake, I highly recommend whole milk. You can use lower-fat or nondairy milk in a pinch, but the cake won’t taste as rich or moist. You can use buttermilk instead, too. I recommend whole milk or even half-and-half in the frosting, but lower-fat or nondairy milk works in a pinch.
- Corn Syrup: A little corn syrup makes the frosting uniquely glossy and shiny. You can leave it out if you’d like.
- Yellow Cupcakes: You can use this cake batter to make about 20 cupcakes. I also have a yellow cupcakes recipe that produces the same buttery, moist texture and flavor. If using this cake batter, follow the same baking instructions as the yellow cupcakes.
- Yellow Layer Cake: Here is my yellow layer cake recipe.
- Update in 2026: We updated this recipe with 2 small changes for more effective leavening and to produce a moister crumb. To make it as written originally, increase baking powder to 2 and 1/2 teaspoons and decrease sour cream to 1/2 cup (120g).
Reader Comments and Reviews
Sally Im going to make this next week for a friend but I need to stack it. He had diabetes so Im going to try to use truvia and then Ill be frosting with buttercream He said his favorite cake is yellow cake and its his birthday so I hope it turns out
Hi Terri, For a layered cake you can use the recipe Best Yellow Cake. We haven’t tested it with truvia but let us know if you do!
Hi Sally, can I reduce the amount of confectioners sugar, say to half, for the frosting? What will happen if I do so?
Hi Mayette, you can reduce the confectioners’ sugar, but keep in mind that the more you leave out, the greasier the frosting will be. Confectioners’ sugar soaks up the moisture from the butter. You may enjoy the chocolate version of my Swiss meringue buttercream instead– chocolate is detailed in the post!
I made this as a test run by halving everything and baking in an 8×8 pan. It was perfect! Then I made the full 13×9 version with the recipe exactly as written and I got dense, gluey streaks toward the bottom. What causes that kind of compression in a cake? I followed all instructions….mainly I want to learn the science of that kind of failure so it doesn’t happen again. Any thoughts?
Hi Wendy! That will happen in cakes if they’re under-baked. No matter what size or type of cake– pound cake, round cakes, even banana bread. I recommend a few extra minutes in the oven next time.
The fluffiest cake I’ve ever made!
This cake is delicious! If anyone is thinking about trying this, I definitely recommend!
Hi Sally . This looks good.
Do you have a chocolate sheet cake recipe like this? I really like chocolate quarter inch sheet cake with chocolate whipped frosting on top. It would be fantastic if you have a recipe for a chocolate quarter inch sheet cake version of this. With whipped chocolate frosting to go on top with sprinkles. Please let me know by e-mailing me at midnight0675@suddenlink.net
Hi Heather, I have this chocolate sheet cake recipe that you can certainly use with chocolate frosting instead!
Thank you for the most beautiful recipe. Taste, flavor, all out of this world. Not a baker, but wanted something simple to impress my 19yrs old on his birthday. Shuuu I was blown out. This is definite five star.
Thanks once more Sally.
I’m not sure what happened. The cake is delicious but the texture is moist and bubbly like a pudding. I measured the ingredients with a scale. Also the batter overflowed the pan…
Hi Megan, I’m just seeing this comment now, my apologies. Did you use a different size pan than 9×13 inch or 12×17 inch? If the pan was smaller, the batter will over-flow and won’t bake properly. Did you follow the baking powder and baking soda amounts as well? The moist, bubbly texture makes me believe that something could have been off there.
I’m giving this 4 stars because I follow all of your recipes and I know it’s sensational. I don’t know what I did wrong. For some reason, my cake came out overly moist and slightly greasy. And the bottom is crunchy almost like a sugar cookie. Is this a result of letting the butter sit out too long at room temperature? Something is off with the texture.
Hi Tara! My guess is that the cake was under-baked perhaps? I’m unsure about the bottom tasting like a crunchy sugar cookie, though. Was the batter over or under mixed? Anything at all that you changed? Did you use a dark metal baking pan?
I have always volunteered to make the birthday cake for my co-workers on their birthday. Once I started making this cake, it is the one everyone requests that I bake for them! It is a hit every time! I have found most people just love a simple, basic cake and this one is that but just tastes so good! I always do the larger sheet pan as it feeds a crowd easily and then there are leftovers! And I always use sprinkles for decoration, so no stressing over that! Great recipe as usual!
This cake was amazing! Easy enough that my 4 year old was able to be involved. Thank you!
Excellent cake! Rich and buttery but still a light texture. Creaming the butter as directed makes this cake taste like bakery goods instead of homemade. The chocolate buttercream frosting was to die for! Never again will use cans of frosting when this is easy and so incredibly delicious. I halved the recipe and baked it in an 8 inch square pan, since it’s just us two and dare not have so much cake calling me! A big thank you to Sally!
The cake is perfection…truly epic. My only issue was that there was no way the volume of batter was going to bake in the suggested pan size. Am I the only one who has run up against this problem? I have never once had to modify any of Sally’s recipes (and most of my go-to’s are now from here), but I had to switch to a 9×13 pan in order to ensure that I didn’t end up with a cracker. Also–I had a glut of buttermilk and used that instead…highly recommend!
Hi Matt! Thank you! This is a very thin sheet cake (as pictured!) and definitely works in a 9×13 pan for a thicker cake. Thank you so much for trying it. We love this cake!
Yes, really, this cake is that good. Made it with my 9, 6 & 3 year old granddaughters today (well – they made it and I supervised), and we were all absolutely giving it 2 thumbs up. So moist, delicious and tasty. Absolutely everything you want in a cake. Made it in the 9 x 13 cake pan and it was perfect.
I crave this cake! I’ve made it so many times. It’s perfect with all flavors of buttercream but I prefer chocolate.
I made this cake and forgot to add the milk. I was thinking the batter was very thick. It tastes more like a sugar cookie. Lol. I will never forget the milk again. I don’t bake often but I loved your very specific directions. That is extremely helpful.
This cake is so good and easy to make in sheet cake form! That fudge frosting…YUM!
Oh. My. God. This cake! This cake was AMAZING. So moist, so delicious, and the frosting was to DIE for. I live in Colorado at 6000 feet, so adjusted a bit for high altitude and it worked just fine. I added an extra 1/4 cup flour, reduced the baking soda by 1/8 tsp. and reduced the sugar by 2 Tbsp. I also used buttermilk instead of the whole milk and increased the amount by 2 Tbsp. It took 40 minutes at 350 for the middle to be done, and it was a bit browner than I would have liked on the top, but the cake was still moist and once you cover it with frosting nobody sees it anyway. BTW, the frosting makes about twice as much as needed, so I froze the extra. Hoping it will thaw well and I can use it later because it really was fabulous. Thank you for this wonderful recipe – I know I’ll be making it again and again!
HI Sally! I’d like to make this cake for my nephew’s birthday. Does it remove easily from the pan, with greasing and flouring? I’d like to serve it whole, outside of the pan. Thank you!
Hi, Ashika – I haven’t tried it, but it should remove easily.
Just made this in a 9×13 pan and it came out perfectly moist; frosted with your chocolate cream cheese recipe. I used a little less than 1 cup of sugar in the cake batter and only 200g of confectioner’s sugar in the frosting—nobody complained about it having less sugar. It was wiped clean! So feel free to add less sugar, taste the batter or the frosting as you go (helps if you’re watching your diet/health). The frosting I have leftover could probably cover another 9×13 pan cake so I’ll just freeze it and smile because now I have an excuse to make this all over again 🙂
Hi Sally,
I am not a regular baker but wanted to bake a cake for my Sister-in-law’s birthday and I attempted the Yellow cake with fudge topping. I must say it turned out very well and was a great hit. Thank you very much for the excellent instructions which made it easy for a novice like me to churn out a good cake
Hi Sally! Do you think this makes enough frosting to ice a 9×13 on the top and sides? Thank you
Hi Bridget! Yes, you will have enough frosting for a 9×13 inch cake.
The fudge frosting is DELICIOUS!!!! I used it to ice a German Chocolate Cake & not only did it taste amazing, it worked beautifully piped on a cake. The tastiest chocolate frosting I’ve ever had!! This is my go to chocolate frosting from now on. Everyone who ate the cake, RAVED about it!!
Hi Sally, I made this cake for a friend’s birthday and I was disappointed because it didn’t rise hardly at all. It was going to be shared with a lot of people we bowl with and I didn’t want to be embarrassed so I bought him a cake at the last minute. It baked uneven for one thing and it only rose about a half inch on the ends and an inch in the middle. I thought it was because it needed more baking soda. I did taste it after I bought one and it was good. The icing was terrific. Can you tell me what I did wrong?
Hi,
Can this be adjusted to an 11×15 pan?
Absolutely– just a little longer in the oven.
This is the first cake I have ever made from scratch. I made it for my son’s fourth birthday and it was perfect. I will definitely use this again, everyone loved it and asked where the recipe was from. Thank you!
Just made this recipe. My only concern was the amount of frosting the recipe made. I made the cake as a 9×13 sine I didn’t have an appropriately sized sheet pan and there’s SO MUCH FROSTING. Not that it’s a bad thing, I will just probably halve the frosting next time. (The batter is delicious, fyi. I couldn’t help myself.
Hi Jen! The frosting is enough for the sheet cake 🙂 For a smaller, thicker cake– halving is a great idea.
Sally Ive tried literally all your recipes and of course every single one was amazing. THIS recipe however by far is the most perfect cake recipe! ♡♡♡ im in love with how moist this cake is, i made it couple days ago and my husband devoured it all in just 2 days! This is now my go to cake recipe