Best Yellow Cake + Buttercream Frosting

Why hello there! It's been a while.

Yesterday I made this cake for a staff party. I have to thank Smitten Kitchen yet again for this one. I could reprint the whole recipe, but since I didn't really alter anything, I'll just direct you right to it. It's an easy cake from scratch, and it turns out great. It was a little different making it in a bundt pan rather than two cake pans (if you have cake pans, I think it turns out better that way), but it did work, and made three cupcakes in addition! If you're like me, and don't have access to buttermilk, check out easy substitutions here at Good Life Eats.

I made my own frosting, and didn't use the one in the Smitten Kitchen recipe. Like a lot of my recipes, my buttercream one is pretty imprecise. I generally alter proportions based on taste as I go, but here are the guidelines:

Buttercream Frosting

Mix together:

• 2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature (soft)
• 3 cups confectioners sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk (use more/less depending on the consistency you're looking for)
• 4 drops lemon juice (this cuts some of the sickly-sweetness, but shouldn't make it taste lemony)

I dusted the cake with unsweetened cocoa powder, which cut some of the sweetness of the frosting (and covered up some, ahem, cosmetic mistakes on the cake.)

There are tons of ways to vary this frosting, too. Here are some simple ones:

• Lemon frosting: Add more lemon juice--around two tablespoons. You might need to add extra sugar if the consistency gets too runny.
• Chocolate frosting: Add 1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder and leave out the lemon juice. You might need to add a bit more milk if the frosting gets too stiff.
• Mocha frosting: Follow instructions for chocolate frosting, and substitute strong black coffee or espresso for the lemon juice and milk. You can also add espresso powder.

Happy baking!