This cake was simply fantastic! Of course I tweaked it I mixed the shortening with butter and the cake simply melted in your mouth. I also made the cake a Lemon cake by adding lemon flavoring in addition to the vanilla and also adding some lemon juice. I used lemon curd filling in between the layers and made a lemon cream cheese frosting. Turned out excellent. This recipe never fails. I don't understand how it could get a bad review or how you could have a dry cornbread cake when it calls for a cup of shortening.. Lol

This recipe was PERFECT. I substituted butter for shortening like many others and halved it to make about 15 just above the liner cupcakes (you could squeeze 16 cupcakes out of half this but I'm a habitual batter eater). I've already eaten two before they've cooled because they're too yummy I didn't want to wait to frost them! To those negative reviewers, I imagine that they didn't really mix things in. You need to seriously cream your sugar and butter before proceeding (thank heavens for mixers) and add the other ingredients SLOWLY. I did cheat and add the baking powder and salt just tossed in before the milk and flour instead of mixing it in with the flour because I was too lazy to get out another bowl. Then I added 1/3 cup flour, then 1/4 milk, alternating til I'd done it all and making sure the previous addition was fully integrated before proceeding. It gave me a perfectly light spongy, moist cake. I also suspect many people are unhappy it does not taste like a box cake, but I think it tastes much better, and certainly more natural. This is plain and simple good baking.

Excellent recipe! This is a must have recipe for everyone and it is so easy to make and is very delicious. I made a pineapple upside-down cake with this batter and it came out just perfect.

This cake is delicious and dense. I throw an orange zest for fresh flavor. It's a hit for yellow cake lover.

After reading some reviews I made a few changes: I used butter flavored shortening and I sifted the dry ingredients. I don't have a Kitchenaid so I had to use my hand mixer (which works quite well). I mixed the shortening and sugar VERY well, for about 6 minutes, and mixed in one egg at a time. I alternated mixing in the milk and the flour as directed. I made sure the whole concoction was well mixed. I put the batter in 2 round 9" pans. My end result was this: The cake looked beautiful and had no problem rising. I did get a somewhat caramelized coating as other reviewers mentioned, but it wasn't that bad. It was light and fluffy, not too sweet, and I thought overall it was pretty tasty. I did have one of the cakes not come out of the pan (after greasing and flouring ahead of time) and it fell apart :( But I made it work.

Yum.

Delicious recipe. Thank you for sharing it. I used your recipe to make my Easter cake, and boy was it good!

I made this cake about a week in advance to my wedding last year. I had to make several for the amount of tiers I needed. I also tweeked the some of the ingredients to fit what we wanted...I added 2 tablespoons of bakers concentrated raspberry puree to the mixture as well as substituting 1 cup of milk for 1 cup of champagne. After baking and cooling I added another 2 to 3 tablespoons of champagne drizzled over the cake and then securely wrapped the cakes in plastic wrap and then foil to prevent any air from getting into the cake. It kept all week in the freezer until I needed to decorate it the day of my wedding. It was PHENOMINAL!!! I also added Bavarian Cream in between the layers for a little extra something. The reviews from our guests were no less than extraordinary. If you follow the recipe properly and you know your oven then you can't mess this one up. Baking is a science and intuition, if you don't put love into what your baking it will never come out just right.

I made this recipe side-by-side the Wilton Basic Yellow Cake... there's simply no comparison! I made this exactly as stated [with exception of sifting the flour], even though I dislike using shortening, and it's incredible. We had a blind taste test for our family- my three year old and five year old both adamantly declared this one the winner, and my husband and I had no hesitation declaring this our favorite as well. It is light, moist [incredibly, lovely and moist, so much like my favorite chocolate cake!], and very delicate. Not crumbly or grainy, or 'eggy' or dry, it is the perfect, PERFECT cake. I can't rave enough. I have been searching years for the right cake to add to my recipe book [only tried and tested recipes get written down] and this has already been added!! Honestly, I have tested more recipes than I can keep track of now, nothing coming close to this. Phew, no more searching! Thank you, thank you, for this lovely cake! It will be a highlight at many many birthdays to come. Edit: I'm now reading the poor reviews in shock. This cake is absolutely not like cornbread [yes, I have come across this in other recipes!!], and is so light! I truly think this must be user error. I know after reading several cookbooks/baking books that mixing is key. Yes, creaming the butter is vital, but it's once all of the ingredients are combined that's key- mix it at least 1min on med/high after you think it's done. Try it!

Usually whenever I have to make yellow cake, I just use a boxxed mix, but this time I wanted to shake things up while making Boston Cream Minis... I was a little dubious my first time making this, but I'm glad I did. This recipe was absolutely delicious and had a nice texture. I'll definitely make it again!