How to Make Cake from Scratch | Easy Homemade Recipe
Chef Alan TetreaultIn this tutorial: What You'll Need · Oven Setup · Temperature by Pan Type · Preparing Pans · Scratch Yellow Cake Recipe · Cooling & Removing · Cake Mix Tips · Scratch vs. Mix
Every great decorated cake starts with a great bake. In this tutorial, Chef Alan Tetreault of Global Sugar Art covers everything you need to know about baking a cake — from oven calibration (the step most people skip) to a from-scratch yellow butter cake recipe, plus his method for getting the best possible results from a boxed cake mix.
📌 This is part of the Buttercream Basics series: Part 1 – Baking the Cake from Scratch (you're here) · Part 2 – Making Buttercream Icing · Part 3 – Piping with Star Tips · Part 4 – String Work · Part 5 – Petal & Leaf Tips · Part 6 – Advanced Borders
What You'll Need
↪ For the scratch yellow cake (makes two 9-inch layers):
- 2½ cups cake flour (or substitute: 2¼ cups all-purpose flour + ¼ cup cornstarch)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1¾ cups granulated sugar (or superfine sugar for a more tender crumb — do NOT use confectioner's/powdered sugar)
- 4 oz (1 stick) butter, softened but still cold
- ⅓ cup Crisco (or substitute with oil or additional butter)
- 1 cup whole milk (can substitute skim or 2%, but whole gives the best result)
- 3 whole eggs + 3 egg yolks
- 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
↪ Equipment:
- Two 9-inch round cake pans, 2 inches deep (or two 8-inch pans for taller wedding cake layers)
- Stand mixer with beater blade (preferably a flex-edge/rubber-edged blade)
- Kitchen scale
- Oven thermometer
- Parchment paper
- Kitchen timer
Before You Bake: Oven Setup
Chef Alan calls this the most important part of baking — and the step most people ignore.
↪ Calibrate your oven
Most home ovens are off by 10–15°F. Buy an oven thermometer, hang it from a rack, and leave it there permanently. If your oven runs hot or cool, you can usually calibrate the dial — one of the knobs on top typically pops off to reveal an adjustment mechanism.
↪ Level your oven
Set a small level inside the cold oven and check in both directions. An unlevel oven means lopsided cakes.
↪ Rack position
- Round cakes (2-inch pans): Second rack from the bottom — between middle and just below middle.
- Sheet cakes: Just below the middle.
- Never above the middle. Heat rises — the top of the cake bakes too fast, forms a crust, and the rising batter erupts through it.
↪ Convection ovens
If you have one, use the cake baking setting — it lowers the fan speed so air circulates for even heating without blowing the batter around.
Oven Temperature by Pan Type
| Pan Type | Temperature |
|---|---|
| Standard aluminum (not anodized), 1.5–2" deep | 350°F |
| Anodized aluminum (e.g., Fat Daddio's) | 325°F (lower by 25°) |
| Dark metal pans (anodized or not) | 325°F (lower by 25°) |
| Glass pans | 325°F (lower by 25°) |
| Deep pans (3–4 inches) | 325°F |
💡 How to know if your pan is anodized: It will say on the pan when you buy it. Anodized pans conduct heat better because the metal has been molecularly changed — great pans, but they run hotter.
Preparing Your Pans
Butter cakes stick far more than cakes from mixes because butter caramelizes with the sugar and flour. A simple pan spray won't cut it.
- Cut parchment circles — trace around the pan on parchment paper (or wax paper) and cut.
- Grease the pan — sides and bottom — with Crisco, pan grease, or spray shortening.
- Place the parchment circle in the bottom.
- Grease the parchment too.
- Flour the sides — tap flour around the greased sides of the pan so the cake has something to grip as it rises.
💡 Why flour the greased sides? Without it, the greased surface is too slippery — the cake can't climb the sides as it rises and you get a shorter, denser cake.
The Scratch Yellow Cake (Two-Stage Method)
Chef Alan uses the two-stage method — not the traditional creaming method. It's simpler, more forgiving, and produces a reliably tender cake.
↪ Stage 1: Dry + Fat
- Sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the sugar to the flour mixture. Mix on low for a few seconds to combine.
- Add the softened butter and Crisco. Mix on low for about 2 minutes until the mixture reaches a sandy consistency — like wet sand. Don't mix until it clumps into a dough.
↪ Stage 2: Add the Liquids
- Whisk together the milk, whole eggs, egg yolks, and vanilla in a separate bowl until the eggs are just broken up.
- Add half the liquid mixture to the sandy dry mix. Mix on low to incorporate.
- Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes (medium = 3–4 on a KitchenAid; high on a hand mixer). This develops the cake's structure.
- Scrape the bowl (unless you're using a flex-edge beater blade).
- Add the remaining liquid slowly on low speed.
- Beat on low-medium for 1 more minute (2–3 on a KitchenAid; medium on a hand mixer).
The batter should be very light, uniform, and creamy.
↪ Portioning the batter
Use a kitchen scale: put the pan on the scale, hit tare, and weigh out equal amounts. For this recipe, each pan gets about 22 oz of batter.
Tap the filled pans on the counter to level the batter and pop any large air bubbles.
↪ Baking
- 325°F for anodized pans (350°F for standard aluminum)
- 30–35 minutes — start checking at 30
↪ Two ways to know it's done
- The cake gently pulls away from the sides of the pan.
- A toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
💡 The "touch test" is unreliable for butter cakes. A tender butter cake will leave an indentation when you press it even when it's fully baked. Always use the toothpick.
Cooling and Removing from the Pan
- Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes — don't remove it sooner.
- Run a knife around the edge to release it.
- Invert onto a wire rack — hold the rack against the top of the pan, flip both, and lift the pan off.
- Peel away the parchment paper.
- Cool completely (at least 1 hour) before wrapping, refrigerating, or decorating. Don't wrap a warm cake — trapped steam makes it gummy.
Getting the Best Results from a Cake Mix
Chef Alan's tips for boxed mixes:
- Standard mixes (like Duncan Hines) have gotten smaller over the years — they're really better suited for two 7-inch pans now, not 8-inch.
- Mix on medium speed for 3 minutes with water, then slowly add the oil and remaining water.
- Mix for 3 more minutes on low-medium after everything is combined.
- This recipe uses the Alan Tetreault Select cake mix, which has eggs already included and is formulated for a slightly denser cake that holds up well under fondant.
Scratch Cake vs. Cake Mix: The Difference
Chef Alan cuts both cakes open at the end of the video so you can see the comparison:
- Cake mix (oil-based): Very fine grain, soft, moist. Great texture but milder flavor.
- Scratch butter cake: Slightly coarser crumb, incredibly rich butter flavor. "You just can't compare the two flavor-wise."
Both are excellent — it comes down to whether you prioritize convenience or flavor.
What's Next in the Series
This video is the foundation for Chef Alan's Buttercream Basics series. Coming up next: how to make different kinds of buttercream icing, and how to slice, fill, and ice a cake using two different methods.
This tutorial is part of Global Sugar Art's library of free cake decorating videos by Chef Alan Tetreault. Browse all tutorials →
