Celebration Cake: Yellow with Chocolate Icing

"A party without cake is just a meeting."

So says Julia Childs, which means this statement is 100 percent fact.

The fave cake in these parts is yellow with a fab chocolate frosting. It holds beauty and comfort. Here she is:

 I always rock out some rainbow sprinkles on this. My son used to call the bundt-style cake a doughnut cake when he was a toddler. So cute.

And here's my secret about this cake: It originates from a box of cake mix. Listen up, all y'all who think making cakes is hard work: The recipes that follow are from the Cake Mix Doctor aka Anne Byrne. This amazing lady teaches us home cooks how to gussy up a box of cake mix that will wow a crowd. And her frostings are always a homerun. 

Next time you have a celebration that needs something sweet and special, be sure to make this Basic Sour Cream Yellow Cake. There is nothing basic about it! I love how homemade and imperfect it looks, which makes it perfectly perfect in my book.

Basic Sour Cream Yellow Cake

From "The Cake Mix Doctor"

By Anne Byrn

Serves 16

Vegetable oil spray for misting the pan

Flour for dusting the pan

1 package (18.25 ounces) plain yellow cake mix

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup vegetable oil, such as canola, corn, safflower, soybean or sunflower

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly mista 10-inch tube pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside. 

Place the cake mix, sour cream, oil, water, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it is golden brown and springs back when lightly pressed with your finger, 50 to 55 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a wire rack, then invert it again onto another rack so that the cake is right side up. Allow the cake to cool completely, 30 minutes more. Frost as desired.

Store the cake, unfrosted, covered in aluminum foil, at room temperature for up to 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. 

Martha's Chocolate Icing

From "Chocolate from the Cake Mix Doctor"

By Anne Byrn

Makes 1 and 1/2 cups, enough to frost a bundt or tube cake, 24 cupcakes or a 13-by-9-inch cake

1 cup granulated sugar

5 Tbsp. butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Place the sugar, butter and milk in a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until the mixture comes to a boil, 3-4 minutes. Still stirring, let the mixture boil until the sugar dissolves, 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

Stir in the chocolate chips and continue to stir until the mixture is smooth and the chocolate has melted.

Spread the icing over the cooled cake or cupcakes of your choice.