Church Lady Cake: Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Church Lady: A Slice of Sunday — Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Bake Time: 28–33 minutes
Yield: 10–12 servings
Category: Dessert
Method: Baked
Cuisine: American
This cake is more than yellow layers and chocolate frosting—it’s a memory.
It’s sitting at my grandparents’ place after church, still dressed in your Sunday best, listening to grown folks talk, laugh, and sneak in gossip between gospel records and reruns of old shows.
The Church Lady cake is classic. Familiar. Comforting.
Just like the women who raised us with tough love, hard prayers, and unbeatable pound cake.
I don’t drink milk—never have. So my slice was always paired with a red Solo cup of that iconic church punch. You know the one. Sweet, bright red, ice cold. If the Caribbean lady made it that week? It might’ve had guava juice… maybe papaya. You never knew—but it always hit.
This is that cake.
The one that shows up at every occasion but especially matters on Sundays.
The one that says “you’re home.”
Ingredients — Yellow Cake
2 ½ cups cake flour (spooned & leveled)
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temp
1 tbsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
1 cup whole milk, room temp
Instructions — Yellow Cake
Prep — Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and line two 8-inch pans.
Dry Mix — Whisk flour, baking powder & salt. Set aside.
Cream — Beat butter + sugar 3–4 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add Eggs — One at a time, mixing fully after each. Add vanilla.
Combine — Add dry mix in 3 parts, alternating with milk. Mix just until smooth — don’t overmix.
Bake — Divide into pans and bake 28–33 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool completely before frosting.
🍫 Milk Chocolate Ganache (Default Frosting — Soft & Glossy)
Ingredients
12 oz milk chocolate, finely chopped
8 oz (1 cup) heavy cream
1 tbsp butter (optional, for shine)
Instructions (Universal Method — works for all versions)
Heat cream until steaming (don’t boil).
Pour over chocolate. Let sit 2–3 minutes.
Stir slowly from the center until smooth and glossy.
Let cool until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
Frost the cake.
🍫 Choose Your Chocolate
Milk Chocolate (Default): sweet, nostalgic, kid-friendly
Semi-Sweet: richer, deeper, more “grown”
Texture Ratio Result:
Thick & Fudgy 2 : 1 (choc : cream) Frosting-like, sets thick
Soft & Glossy 1.5 : 1 (Default) smooth & silky
Light & Creamy 1 : 1 Soft, sweeter, lighter
🍴 Chef Notes & Tips
Whole milk = softer crumb
Cake flour is best, AP works in a pinch
If ganache is too loose, chill 10 minutes and stir
Best served at room temp
📦 Storage
Room Temp: 2 days (covered)
Fridge: 5 days (airtight)
Freezer: 2 months (wrap slices individually)
If you bake it pls tag me! also pls share your grandparents recipes with me, i would love to try it! and maybe we can make some content together around it!
