Brown Sugar Cake Recipe from The Food Charlatan. (2024)

This Brown Sugar Cake Recipe will rock your world

So as a food blogger, I get a lot of questions from people making my recipes. Most of them are just your average clarification on the recipe, but sometimes you get a question that makes you scratch your head. Recently someone asked if they could make The Best Chocolate Cake I’ve Ever Had…without chocolate. “I want a yellow cake. Can I make this without the chocolate?” Ummm…

Well. Actually. It turns out you can. I would be eating a real piece of Humble Pie right now if I weren’t so busy stuffing my face with this amazing brown sugar yellow cake. It has the exact same texture and insane moistness as my favorite chocolate cake, minus the chocolate. (Pass the Pie. I was thinking you were a little crazy, Shannon, Lover of Yellow Cake, but I’ve been fully converted.)

I looked up a couple other yellow cake recipes just to see what kind of disaster Shannon was in for when she tried to omit the cocoa from my chocolate cake. And I was shocked to find that my chocolate cake recipe is almost identical to several yellow cakes I found–same butter amount, same liquid amount, same flour, etc. But instead of using all white sugar, my cake has half white sugar and half brown sugar. When is brown sugar EVER a bad idea??

Why you’ll love this Recipe for Yellow Cake with Brown Sugar

I hate dry cake. I refuse to eat it – it’s just not worth it! That’s why I love this cake. The brown sugar makes it soooo moist and tender, which can be hard to get in a yellow cake. Even the edges are a little like a brownie, not dry at all. I love frosting it with chocolate buttercream but you could use any kind of frosting you like.

What does brown sugar do to a cake?

If you use brown sugar in a cake instead of the usual white sugar, you’ll notice that it’s more tender and moist and is darker in color. You can see from the photos that this definitely isn’t a “white cake.” Not apologizing. The flavor is absolutely amazing.

How to make Yellow Cake (with Brown Sugar)

The method for this brown sugar yellow cake is different from your average yellow cake.

1. First you boil some water and butter together (that’s part of what gives it that fudgy texture).
2. Then you stir together the dry ingredients, and add the baking soda and baking powder to the eggs.

It’s a little odd, but the result is a brown sugar flavored yellow cake that is incredibly moist. As I say about the original chocolate cake, the edges are almost brownie like, but somehow still manage to be cake. There are no dry edges.

There’s a reason I’m including a photo of the non-frosted underside of this cake. The edges are unreal, even when they don’t have frosting on them.

I maintain that the amount of frosting called for in this recipe is the proper amount, although Eric, my brother Nathan, and even the kids said it was a bit excessive. But I have a strict No Bite Left Behind Policy. I need EVERY SINGLE BITE of my cake to have frosting on it. That means lots of frosting. My friend Melissa took a slice of this brown sugar cake home with her after visiting one day, and I texted her later, “Everyone says the cake has too much frosting…is that even a thing??” and she said, “Not if you’re me! If you don’t like frosting, don’t eat cake.” I like your style Melissa. (We know she has good taste. She’s the one who gave me this 30 Minute Pesto Penne with Chicken.)

(Can you tell I’m not into crumb coats? My strategy is to pile on more and more frosting…)

Homemade Yellow Cake with Chocolate Icing variations

Want to switch things up? I’m ok with that. Here are some ideas:

• Skip the chocolate. I have to admit, I’m not sure why you would, but there are other frostings. Some of my favorites include Maple Frosting with Pecans, Buttercream Frosting, and Cream Cheese Frosting.
• No vanilla bean paste, no problem. Use vanilla extract instead – it will still taste great! Feel free to substitute some of the vanilla extract with almond or coconut extract.
• Use less frosting. I’m a little frosting obsessed; you may not be. You can frost the cake with less frosting than this recipe calls for and refrigerate the rest for another time.

Brown Sugar Cake Recipe Tips

This cake is one of my absolute favorites. Here are a few tips to make sure it turns out perfectly!

• Help the layers release easily from the pans. After greasing and flouring the cake pans, trace the bottom of the cake pans onto parchment paper, cut out the circles, and put them in the bottom of the pan.
• Remove air bubbles from the unbaked layers. Before baking, drop the cakes on the counter from a few inches above to get out some of the air bubbles.
• Make the cake easier to frost. After baking and cooling to room temperature, wrap the cakes securely in plastic wrap and freeze for about an hour or 2.
• Keep your cake plate clean. If you don’t want your cake plate to get frosting all over it, line the bottom cake with strips of parchment paper that you can pull out when the cake is completely frosted.

Serving Yellow Cake

Make sure you have plenty of milk on hand, or ice cream. Cake is rich and you need something cold and creamy to go with it!

Storing Homemade Yellow Cake with Chocolate Icing

This cake can be kept on the counter for 3-4 days. I don’t imagine it’ll last much longer than that, but you can freeze individual slices! Wrap them well in plastic wrap and store in a ziplock bag. Voila, you can have your cake and eat it later too.

More cake recipes you need to try!

The Best Chocolate Cake I’ve Ever Had << I still make this claim. It’s almost exactly today’s recipe, except with chocolate. It’s so moist it’s brownie-like, while still being cake.

Peach Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting << this cake is delicious and uses frozen peaches!

Upside Down Almond Crunch Cupcakes << why are we still frosting the tops of cupcakes? Turn those babies upside down for triple the frosting.

The Best Homemade White Cake Recipe of Your Life!! << no joke

Cherry Garcia Cake from Kitchen Fun with My Three Sons

Lemon Pistachio Cake from Scientifically Sweet

Hawaiian Sunset Cake from Momma Lew