Yellow Cake Made from Scratch

I was hesitant to try this recipe at first because of some of the bad reviews, but I am so glad that I did! This recipe was awesome! The cake was very moist and fluffy - not at all dense or dry as in the previous review, and it rose perfectly (perhaps the problem with previous reviews saying thiers had fallen in the middle was old baking powder?). I followed the recipe and instructions exactly (except I substituted butter for the shortening because I didn't have any), and didn't even use a water bath and it was still incredibly moist! It was perfect with Tianne's Chocolote Frosting I. Definitely a recipe that I will use over and over!

I found that if I used the amount of baking powder 3 1/2 tsp which it calls for, that is all you taste in the cake. I tossed the first one out (which was also to dry due to using the exact bake time and not less which you should) and found that the cake was good with just 2 teaspoons of baking powder and only 22 minutes in the oven using 2 9inch pans.

This recipe is perfect. It was light and moist. To all of you that this was a dense heavy cake ...sift the flower befor adding it and only bake it for about 25-30 mins. I have a family of 200 gathering and it was gone in 15 mins. Now I have request for it. Great cake! I also entered it into a bake contest and I won first place.

We were very pleased at how this cake turned out. This was my husband's first attempt at making cake from scratch (LOVES cake and has made box cakes until now).We substituted butter for shortening and about a 1/2 c or so of the flour was whole wheat (will increase to 1 c next time), baked in 2 round pans for 33 min(one to eat, one to freeze). We both went back for seconds (OK, I had thirds). Oh, and that was with no frosting! Thanks for the recipe! UPDATE: made it again and it turned out even better. We mixed it a lot more this time and it baked up very light. This makes me wonder if people who have gotten really dense cakes have not mixed long enough to incorporate some air into the batter before baking?? Bottom line - wonderful to have a recipe from scratch that tastes this good. Many thanks!

I use this recipe for birthday cakes or other special occasions and its always a hit. I have some recommendations though which might help some of the others who weren't as happy with it as me. 1) I bake this cake in a water bath - place tin on cookie sheet (or other tin with high sides); fill larger tin with boiling water while baking. This ensures an extremely moist cake. 2) Line tin with parchment paper and grease with shortening - this definitely allows it to come out clean from the tin. 3) I like to add almond extract with the vanilla for a really nice subtle flavour. I've also frosted this with a vanilla (store bought) frosting and added ground almonds with sugar between layers or on top. Thanks very much for this recipe - definitely a keeper for me :o)

This recipe is awesome! I doubled it and made an American Flag cake with it (with blueberry stars and strawberry stripes) for a birthday treat (my b-day is close to the 4th of July) - and there were 50 happy people at work! I did follow other's advice and cut the baking powder to 2 tsp and used 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, plus I separated the eggs. I whisked the egg whites and added a bit at a time, then mixed the yolks with the milk and alternated it with the flour mixture, which I sifted. It turned out light and fluffy and moist! Will make again for sure! Thanks!

DRY. DRY. DRY. I should have been skeptical when I noticed the ingredients not listed in order of use. I followed the directions fine, but the cake was not.

i didn't get a bite, but everyone who took some said it was awesome I made this cake again one day in a 10" springform pan, cut it in half, spread the inside of one piece with half a package of instant vanilla pudding mix with whipped cream(real), topped the pudding mixture with slice bananas, laid the other half of the cake on top of the bananas, iced the cake with whipped cream, topped whipped cream with more sliced bananas and created my first iced cake: banana pudding cream cake. it was literally gone in 15 minutes.

This is a very flavorful cake. I've made this recipe three times. I, like others, have found the cake to be too dry. What made the difference for me was to separate the egg yolk and white before creaming, then adding the yolk last (before the flour & milk) I cooked mine for only 35 minutes and it came out perfect. My oven is a piece of junk so it could just be my oven :)

My first time making a cake from scratch and it came out perfect. My husband loves it and he is picky about his cakes because his mother is a great baker. I followed the recipe and had no problems. I substituted half of the shortening with sweet butter, and that is the only change I made. For those of you who did not get good results, try this recipe again and follow the instructions carefully, too little or too much of any ingredient may cause an undesirable result.

I made this cake today and it is great! It is not as yellow as a 4 to 6 egg cake, but the taste is delicious! I used real butter vs shortening, and used 1 cup 00 italian flour and 1 cup all purpose (finer crumb, tender texture). I decreased the baking powder to 3 tsp and decreased the salt to 1/4 tsp (these are personal preferences). This is my go to cake recipe. My entire family loved it! UPDATE: I have made this cake 6 times since my original review and have found the following works best: room temp eggs, real butter straight from the fridge, room temp milk, sift the two flours together w/ the baking powder. cream the butter/sugar on med-high, add all 3 eggs at the same time and mix on the highest speed you have for 2 minutes, cut the speed all the way back to the lowest speed you have and just add the flour blend and milk at the same time. beat on the lowest speed until mixed (do not over mix). pour into prepped pan and bake ( I average 30 min...sometimes longer, sometimes less). This is my go to cake!

I made this cake a few days ago.. it came about a bit course like corn muffins it wasn't moist i followed the recipe exactly. it smelt very eggy as well i was a bit dissapointed with this cake.

I made this for my mother. She does not like boxed cake mixes. I did sift the flour and I followed the directions very carefully. But, it was still pretty easy and it came out beautifully. I used half butter and half shortening. I used two 9 inch round pans. I baked it 28 minutes, as another reviewer recommended. I might even test it at 25 next time. Everyone loved it, especially my mother! It is a very different texture than a cake mix. It is sort of like comparing a fast food burger to a homemade one.

spongy moist purrfect..take ur time beating the sugar butter mix..results are amazing ..i baked in two - 9 inch rounds pans at 170degree celsius for 28 minutes... substituted shortening for butter..and sifted the flour and then measured..

I was excited to try out this recipe because I wanted to make cupcakes from scratch instead of using a box mix. I should have stuck to the box mix. They tasted like corn muffins and they were very dry. I had to bake another batch using a box mix that I had in the house.

I really liked this recipe and my husband loved it. The consistancy was moist, not dry and was not crumbly like a lot of cake mixes turn out. I substituted Spenda for half the sugar and it wasn't even noticable. I also used butter instead of shortening, I just think it really adds more flavor to the cake. To anyone who thought this tasted like corn bread, I would suggest making sure to follow the step of alternating in flour mixture and milk. This step will really smooth out the texture of the cake.

This cake was ok. It was really dry and both times that made it, it broke when it came out of the pan. The second time the middle completely fell in and was like batter. I will probably use a differnent recipe next time.

Much better than the Wilton basic yellow cake recipe! The only changes I made, was I used baking soda as I was out of baking powder after a weeks worth of Wilton thud brick cakes, and then to counter the saltiness of the baking soda, I added about 1/4 more sugar to the mix and baked in a water bath in the oven at 325 in convection mode. What I got was the most spectacularly soft and moist and fluffy cake! It was amazing! For those who are getting dense cakes or cornbread like cakes, beat your shortening or butter and eggs more to make it lighter and fluffier and presift your flour. It makes a ton of difference. You really can't do wrong with this cake recipe. If it's not turning out, it's operator error.

this is the second time i made this and both times they turned out GREAT! moist and delicious. i cut down the sugar by a bit though (i dont like my desserts too sweet)and i replaced the shortening by butter as well. overall, i loved it! yummy!

This cake came out dense and moderately dry, I followed the directions immaculately. I was very excited to make a cake from scratch and expected a wonderful tasting one, but was dissapointed. It also needed more sugar than the recipe calls for, and you could almost taste the eggs. If you insist on making this cake(which i wouldn't personally recommend), add more sugar and two eggs instead of three.

Made this cake for my son's birthday. It was not edible! I questioned using that much baking powder, but did it any way based on the reviews. My son took one bite and spit it out. It was GROSS!

This batter is so delicious and especially for making cupcakes. I had to make 60 of them for a Halloween Party and the batter is so moist and better than any box mix. One tip, make sure if you are using all purpose flour even though it has baking powder in it to use baking powder anyway this makes a big difference.

i use this recipe to make pineapple upside down cake :P i pour this batter as is over my pineapple butter & brown sugar mixture it's amazin'!

Excellent! Very easy and very tasty! It definitely isn't like the store mix but I think it's really great for a from scratch recipe. I think I tried to make this one before but it turned out too dry. Made it this time as cupcakes with a water bath and it turned out great. Very moist. Finally a good from scratch cake recipe!

I used this recipe to make a mini wedding cake. It had really good texture. It didn't crumble when I cut out the mini cakes. Thanks for the recipe! Edit: I'm changing my previous rating from 5 stars to 4 stars. I made this recipe again and for some reason when I use butter instead of shortening it made the finished recipe a bit salty, and I'm using unsalted butter! IMO it's probably better to stick to just shortening and lower the sugar content.

I did not care for this! Worst cake I have ever tasted and trust me, I've tasted the good, the bad, and the ugly. I followed all of the diredtions.

For someone who can barely make a cake from a box, this was awesome! I made it as a cake and as cupcakes. It came out GREAT! A family favorite, YUM! It came out of the pan flawlessly and the taste was good too. Now to find a flawless, easy, icing recipe... I'm not so good at that, yet.

Loved it!!!!! Have made it 4 times with all types of options. If you make layers, just cut back on the cooking time. If you make the 9x13, then bake at the time listed. I also cut back on my baking powder to 2 tsp.

Great basic recipe. I use butter instead of shortening, equal amounts. Turns out great every time.

This did not work for me.

I made this cake for an accomplished baker, I wanted to make it from scratch, my cake turned out great, the only suggestion, I followed was, to beat it till you got the air bubbles out...nice and fluffy. thank you for this recipe..........

I made this cake exactly as directed. I substitued 1/2 of the shortening with 1/2 butter as the recipe state could be done. We liked the flavor of this scratch cake but according to all of my family it was a tad dry and the crumb was too large. We actually baked this two minutes under the stated time. When cutting the cake there were crumbs all over the serving plate. This made a poor presentation. Based on our experience we could only rate this cake a 3.

Easy, delicious and moist.

This cake was a disaster! Did not rise correctly, and then fell in the middle. I would suggest trying another recipe.

A very good tasting cake. Very easy to make. The texture however was not what I was looking for.

This is a VERY good cake! As far as one reviewer stated that it was not sweet enough, well it was plenty sweet enough for us, very sweet and flavorful in fact. I could have eaten the whole thing without icing. I did make a few changes when making this recipe. I used butter in place of the shortening, I cut the baking powder down to 2 1/2 teaspoons, I sifted the salt, baking power and flour twice, and I added 1/8 tsp of almond extract for more flavor. Very nice cake. I also reduced the baking time to 28 minutes, well at least that's how long it took for it to bake in my oven. I wanted to try out a few recipes before making a cake for my son's birthday in a few weeks. I think this one will be a winner!

I was reluctant to make a cake with shortening (Crisco); but I was nearly out of butter, so I decided to give this recipe a try. And I did just about everything wrong, but it still came out great. First, because I wanted to use it for a pineapple-upside-down cake, I substituted 3/4 C pineapple juice and 1/4 C cherry juice for the cup of milk. Then, I found I didn't have enough baking powder (and it was old, too), but I went ahead and used the 2 t I had. Lastly, I forgot the vanilla until I put the cake in the oven, so I just drizzled it on top! (I did follow the suggestion of using a water bath because I don't like dry cakes.) Anyway, to my amazement, it came out wonderfully--very light, moist, and flavorful--much better than my old recipe for yellow cake. It took about 50 minutes to bake, and I kept testing it because a pineapple-upside-down cake can take longer than a regular yellow cake, given the moistness of the fruit. My boyfriend, who usually prefers flourless cakes, really loved this recipe, too; he can't stop raving about how tasty it is. I'm looking forward to making this cake when I actually have all the right ingredients and can follow the recipe exactly (though I'll still use the fruit juice instead of milk the next time I make a pineapple-upside-down cake). Thanks, Foxy.

My sister and i tried to make this cake. We followed the directions. We put it in the oven and after few moments we smelt something burning. When we went to check on it. It had pretty much exploded. It was all over the racks and caked on the bottom of the oven. We had to turn off the oven and let it dry a little before we could even pull it out of the oven. We had to throw away the pans. We spent over an hour scraping bits of this cake off of the racks. We still have not finished cleaning the bottom of the oven. To top it all off it smelled absolutely awful. I was very disappointed with this recipe. It looked nothing like cake. I will NEVER make this again. I might never even eat cake again.

If you want a hard packed pale white cake with little flavor.. this is the one for you! I read the reviews.. followed the tips but this one was not good. I am an avid baker- from my ultimate choc chip cookie to baklava and I have never had a cake come out so "lead like". I was truly embarrassed!

3 stars for texture but it tasted more like a sweet cornbread.

Very Dry I did not like this cake recipes I am not good at makeing cakes from scratch but this one was very bad

good flavor and it didn't collapse, only reason why it got two stars. Very crumby and dry. Many people compared it to sweet cornbread?! I will not use again

Dry, dense, and flavorless. Will not make again. I could feel how dry it was as soon as it cooled and decided to get the frosting on it and let it sit for a day under a cake dome hoping that would help. It didn't. The worse part was it was brought to a family gathering where the only one who ate a piece was my husband. Which doesn't say much, since he'll eat anything if it has chocolate slapped on it.

It tasted like sweet cornbread and was NOT light an airy. It was DENSE DENSE DENSE!

I think I should've substituted all butter, or used butter flavored shortning. This was very dry and really didn't have much flavor. It worked out okay though because I used it in i trifle. This would not be very good by itself, even with frosting. I don't think I will be making this again.

It was a great cake. I was worried a bit because of mixed reviews, but it turned out fine! Be generous with vanilla or some other flavorful extract. I made it in bundt form, whith butter frosting it was delicious. I added only 2 tsp baking powder as someone adviced and cake rose beautifully.

Please. Don't waste your ingredients on this awful thing. It wouldn't even qualify as cornbread. Are the reveiws for real about this so called cake? I'm a good cook and baking is my specialty. This is just plain awful. Don't go there.

Really simple to make. Had a nice flavour and texture. Gave 4 stars because it didn't rise as high as I would have liked. Also used butter for better flavour. Worth making again.

Made this cake and it was SENSATIONAL!!! My husband loved it so much and the kids that I will be doing this recipe often!!!! It was a major hit!!!!!!

This was really good. Not as yellow as I thought it would be, but very yummy. I made the cake in a loaf pan (2) and we ate them right out of the over, barely cool, that was how good they are. Will be making this one again and maybe even frost it next time.

I used this recipe when I made Rum Cake and was very pleased with the results. Thanks!!!

This is more of a muffin recipe. I'll stick with the box until I find something better.

Very disappointing. A dry, dense, bland cake.

Terrible, terrible, terrible! DO NOT make this cake. I made it for my mother's birthday and it turned out extremely dry. Eventhough I greased and floured the pan, the cake still stuck and tore apart. I usually have great success with cake recipes but this was an exception.

The flavor is good ~ the cake was not as fluffy as a box cake mix. Moist & dense with a crusty edge ~ which my fiance enjoyed. Used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup shortening. Also 1/4 cup less sugar and 1/2 t. less baking powder. Do sift the flour first & then spoon it lightly into your measuring cup for accurate amount. Beat with electric mixer for about 2 minutes when all the ingredients are added/as with box cake for air to incorporate. Only needed 35 minutes baking time. We definitely LOVED this cake which I 'iced' with a homemade Hersheys recipe for Chocolate Mousse...excellent!

I have made a lot of cakes from this website, but this is the first one I was disappointed with. Like other reviewers, the cake was too dry for me and lacked flavor, even though I added an extra tsp of vanilla. The cake rose beautifully in the oven, but collapsed after I took it out to cool. After comparing other yellow cake recipes, I think this one doesn't call for enough eggs. Sorry, but I won't make this one again.

I loved this cake! It was fluffy and moist. Instead of making it as one big cake, I made my cake in individual ramekins. GREAT RECIPE!

This is a good cake base. You just have to play with the ingredients. I used 2 teaspoons of baking powder instead of 3, oil in place of shortening (it is a cake after all), and because I love vanilla, I used a tablespoon instead. I also am a little heavy handed with greasing the pan so not only was the cake more flavorful and moist with my changes, it popped out of the pan!

This is the best recipie for a yellow cake that I've ever tried! My husband and I loved it!

THIS THE BEST CAKE RECIPE I EVER TRIED.

I made this cake for a guy I was enamored with at Valentine's Day. The cake itself was moist and smelled excellent. Although I never got a slice, he said it was great. So, I give this five stars. It was pretty easy to make too.

I made this cake twice and both times it didn't rise. I made sure I measured the baking powder( it was fresh)exactly. The cake tasted really good though, but I probably won't make it again

I used this recipe to make a pineapple upside down and it was excellent! I followed the recipe exactly, sifting the dry ingredients as someone suggested. This is definately a keeper.

I made this cake today, The only change I found necessary was the milk amount. It calls for 1 cup, I added 1 1/2 cups. The cake was moist and delicious . Will definitely make again !!!

I was searching for a shortcake recipe to go with some fresh strawberries. I did not have adequate ingredients on hand, after doing a further search, found this yellow cake. I used butter, and only baked for 35 minutes. I do believe if I had baked it longer, it would have burned. The cake came out perfect, no overpowering flavors, and the strawberries on this cake, made it perfect. The only reason for the four instead of five stars, is the length of time to bake.

Nice recipe and easy to make. Wasn't quite as moist as I'd hoped, but still nice.

Cake exploded in my oven. Was my first try at baking cake from scratch, this is not the recipe to use when baking from scratch for the first time apparently. If it is your first try baking a cake without a box, don't let the "easy" description fool you. I re-read the recipie and followed it to a T and still had the cake explode and collapse on me.

This cake was so good!! I read the reviews first and I took the advise to whip the egg whites and put the yolks in with the milk and alternate the milk mixture with the flour. This made the cake light and moist, Thank you. I will make this again!

I was looking for an easy cake that I could make for a "cake making project" for my 10th grade Biology Class.In my class we all had to go home, bake a cake, and bring it back in to class, and write a lab report. Also, the teacher insisted on trying a little bit of everyones' cake. Then she announced her favorite cake, IT WAS THIS ONE! I love this recipe, it's easy, short, and tastes sweet (but not TOO sweet) and moist. The second time I made this cake I tried adding some raisons and cinnamon; it turned out better than before. (5*)

This cake recipe is awesomw!! Dry No ~~ Delicious Yes!! Now the only thing I did differently was add butter instead of shortening, added 1 1/2 teaspoon more of vanilla & cooked @ 400 for 30 mins.... I woill be making this cake for the church bake sale

This cake tastes very very good! Although I wasn't happy with the cupcakes. I made cupcakes and then used rest of batter for small cake. Cupcakes formed crispy crust around the edges that over- lapped onto the pan. When I pulled the cup cake liner off, the cake stuck to the liner so bad that it never even formed a cupcake. You basically had to eat just the chunks off of the liner. Which were very tasty, by the way. The crispy part tasted like a vanilla wafer. The cake stayed more intact, but it sank. This is not a dry cake, but it was a little too crumbly for me. I had alot of air pockets, but yet was still very moist. I guess I'm just not used to the box cake mixes. Anyway, that's my experience with this recipe. Overall, I think the taste was very good. It would be good plain, or with a powdered sugar frosting.

i'm sorry i didn't read the other reviews before i made this cake for my neice's bday party. the cake came out, as the other relatives tried to describe it nicely without hurting my feelings..."heavy". but it was very dense, hard, and dry. not yummy at all. sorry

I just made this and followed the Recipe but it came out looking like cornbread and tasting like egg. Next time I will reduce the egg, add 2cups of sugar, coconut oil instead of butter/grease and use buttermilk instead. It came out a little dry but maybe because the recipe calls for 45 mins in oven.

This was a great cake recipe. Its even better after its been put in the fridge for a little while. This is one of those cakes that doesnt need frosting. I had a lot left when we were all full, which i cubed and made into a trifle! thanx!

It wasn't fluffy like most cakes should be and it had a strong floury taste. My husband liked it a lot though. Overall it was ok.

I made this into cupcakes and they are good. I added a touch of almond extract (I do that alot) & used butter instead of shortening. Thanks for the wonderful recipe-I'll never get a box mix again!

The only change I made to the recipe was using oil because butter/shortening is really expensive here in China. The cake was soft, moist and tasty -- very easy to make! Great recipe.

my nephew and I love this recipe. we use it to make cupcakes all the time. Quick and easy to make. Very yummy...we give this five stars :-)

very good and easy

I didn't read the reviews first, or I may not have tried it! I loved it. I made it for my daughter's birthday, and it made several cupcakes and an 8x8. I'd recommend keeping it all in the cake (the cupcakes got a bit dry). The cake was wonderfully moist, though, and delicious. I was a little heavy on the vanilla, as I love it, but that's the only variation I made. Thank you for a great recipe! I'm putting this one in my box.

this was a great cake my family of 5 ate it all in one day. I chose to use no icing it did not come out hard i also added a 1/4 cup of oil and used butter instead of shortening. it was outstanding. The only type of cake i have ever made from scratch is a pound cake other wise i have always used a box mix. from now on i will use this instead. again awesome cake

Very tasty, moist, fluffy, and not too sweet cake. I tried to make a cupcakes, but made the mistake of over filling the cup. DO NOT FILL MORE THAN HALF WAY. I got about 35 reasonably sized cupcakes out of the second batch. I made homemade chocolate and white frosting. YUM! Will make over and over again.

Easy to make, no need to separate eggs or waste egg whites like some of the other recipes.

I've been baking cakes for about two months, but i use the box cakes. But for my little cousins baptism i decided to try making one from scratch. (i thought it would be cheaper since its for about 50 people) so i decided to try it before actually making the real thing. It was way better then i thought it would be. The only changes i did were instead of 3 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, i used 2 1/2. I also didnt have any vanilla, so i skipped that this time. But it was still amazing super moist and very fluffy. i followed other people's advice and baked it for 30 minutes instead of the 45 it said. maybe that is why it comes out dry for others. anyways, I will definitely be using this cake for the baptism this weekend

Super moist cake. I followed the directions as they were written and I also beat the mixture for a long time (I let it beat for the whole process and a little extra while I greased the pan) It's probably important to get a lot of air in it.

Cake was dry - won't make it again

Loved the cake it was the best cake i have ever made from scratch!!!

I agree with the others that said it has a texture simular to bread.

The only thing that saved this cake was that I put it in the refridgerator so we could eat it cold. It was dry and flat. I followed the recipe as written.

Delicious so tender, made them into cupcakes I subsist used the milk for buttermilk. My whole family ate them in 2 seconds

Total fail

This was the best tasting cake I have ever had! It was so much better then box mixes from the store. Home made is definitly better in this case! I made about 24 cupcakes using this recipe and it was soo flavorful and wasn't dry at all.

My kids and I had some fun with this. We added food color droplets into the batter and swirled in color. Then threw in a few chocolate chips before baking (note: choco chips sank to the bottom of cake). I followed recipe exactly using butter instead of shortening, and included water cookie sheet in the oven for extra moistness. I made a 9x13 pan and baked for the full 45 minutes. It browned fully on top but was NOT hard or crusty. It was a great tasting cake. No frosting needed!

This cake is yucky. It only turns out about 3/4 of an inch tall. I have made alot of cakes, and this one just doesn't cut it. If you want a light fluffy cake use the berry tiramisu cake on this sight. I know it says sponge cake, but is a really good yellow cake mix especially if you add a bit of nutmeg to it. Just leave this recipe alone.

Not bad, followed the directions exactly since this is the first time I have ever made a cake from scratch, the middle fell in and it had a sort of cornbread taste and texture to it, but fortunately my family loves cornbread, so not a complete waste LOL.

Made this yesterday for a Valentine cake for a 97-year old dear man. Trusted the reviews that if I sifted my flour (ALWAYS sift flour, pre-sifted or not), thoroughly creamed the shortening mix before adding the flour mix, and measured and mixed accurately, it would turn out tasty with a nice crumb and not fall in the middle. Fail. It fell in the middle, so that crumb was dense, had a rather large crumb around the non-fallen edges, and tasted okay as long as it was accompanied by the sweet cream cheese frosting I spread on it. Pretty disappointing. The cake alone, was dry and not very sweet. Still looking for trusty, basic cake recipes instead of using mixes.

Unfortunately I was not overly impressed with these cupcakes. I was hoping for something that would almost melt in my mouth, but this wasn't it. It was too crumbly and gritty, even after I followed others' suggestions of sifting the flour, etc., and creaming the sugar and butter well. I think David's Yellow Cake is a better recipe than this one, although I still think there has to be an even better one out there somewhere. I'm still on the lookout for a true 5-star yellow cake recipe.

I needed a fairly simple recipe and this fit the bill. My kiddie taste testers thought it wasn't sweet enough, but when you pile on the icing (which we tend to do) I think they're plenty sweet. I used butter instead of shortening and only 2tsps of baking powder.

It was a good recipe, and it tasted great, but it was a lot denser then I expected. I dont think I'll use it again, I need a recipe that yeilds a fluffier cake.