A beautiful country-style cake that’s easy to make, unpretentious, and loaded with old-fashioned charm. Just a simple yellow cake with chocolate icing on top. Everyone will love it.
I love the name “farmer’s daughter” cake. It feels so wholesome and comforting. It’s almost my favorite thing about it. But my actual favorite part is that simple, old-fashioned chocolate icing. It might look intimidating, but I believe in you.
Table of Contents
Ingredients and Tools You’ll Need
Using oil instead of butter for the cake keeps it moist and tender. But if you’d prefer to use melted butter, you can. If you don’t have unsweetened baking chocolate, you can substitute 3/4 cup of cocoa and 2 tablespoons of butter for the icing (you’ll still add more butter after).
This makes 9 slices. If you’d like to double or triple this recipe, you can make adjustments in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Equipment
- 8×8 square baking pan
- Electric Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk whole is best
Icing
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate (or 3/4 cup of cocoa and 2 tablespoons of butter)
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1½ tablespoons butter unsalted
How to Make
Step One: Make the Batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F and grease your 8×8 pan.
Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar until they are lighter in color. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in another bowl. Add half the flour mixture to the egg mixture, then the milk, then the remaining flour. Mix just until combined.
Step Two: Bake the Cake
Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 35 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn it out onto a cooling rack and cover with a kitchen towel. It will flatten – that’s normal. Let it cool completely.
Step Three: Make the Chocolate Base
Put the chocolate, sugar, and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely. Remove it from the heat before it boils.
Step Four: Add the Eggs
Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl. Add a little of the chocolate mixture to the yolks and stir. Keep adding chocolate slowly, stirring constantly, until you’ve added about half. Pour this back into the chocolate and mix.
Step Five: Finish the Icing
Pour the egg-chocolate mixture into a mixing bowl, stir in the butter, and let it cool completely at room temperature. Don’t touch it while it cools.
Beat with electric mixer until it’s smooth and shiny, about 5-10 minutes depending on your mixer.
Step Six: Ice the Cake
Put the cake on a wire rack with parchment paper underneath. Pour half the icing on the center and edges. Wait one minute. Pour remaining icing in center. You can smooth it with a butter knife a little, but it should smooth out on its own. Let it sit for 2 hours until it’s dry, then transfer to serving plate.
Serving & Storing
Store this cake covered on the counter. The icing hardens up nicely, so you can just cover it with plastic wrap or put it under a cake dome. It’ll keep for several days this way.
Don’t put it in the fridge unless you have to – the icing can get a little weird in there. Room temperature is best.
More Old Fashioned Cakes
- I love bringing this caramel Bundt cake to a potluck. It looks way more impressive than it is.
- Apple spice cake is perfect for fall and football games.
- Make this coconut lemon Bundt cake for a spring event like a bridal or baby shower.
- And this old fashioned gingerbread is just the thing for Christmas.
Printable Recipe
The Farmer’s Daughter Cake
Equipment
- 8×8 square baking pan
- Electric Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Whisk
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk whole is best
Icing
- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate see notes for substitutions
- ½ cup whole milk
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1½ tablespoons butter unsalted
Save This Recipe
I’ll send you a link so you can find it later.
You'll join my email list which you will love. And if you don't, unsubscribe in one click. ❤️
Instructions
Make the Cake
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350℉ with the rack in the center. Prepare an 8×8 or 9×9 square pan by spraying with non-sticking baking spray or coating in shortening then dusting with flour.
- Make the batter. Beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer until slightly lightened in color. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl. Add half to the egg mixture and mix until just combined. Then add the milk and finally the remaining dry ingredients, mixing on low.
- Bake. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top. Bake for 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Flip out onto a cooling rack, turn the cake right side up, and cover with a clean tea towel. The cake will flatten as it cools. Cool completely before icing.
Make the Icing
- Melt chocolate. Melt the chocolate, sugar, and milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, until the sugar dissolves (rub the mixture between your fingers to make sure the sugar is no longer grainy). Remove from the heat before it boils, and set aside.
- Temper eggs. Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl. Add a small amount of the chocolate mixture and stir into the yolks to temper them. Slowly add more chocolate, stirring continuously, until half of it is mixed into the eggs. Add the egg/ chocolate mixture back into the chocolate and mix until everything is combined.
- Add butter and cool. Pour the chocolate mixture into a mixing bowl (if you have a stand mixer, use that bowl), and stir in the butter by hand. Allow to cool at room temperature, undisturbed, until completely cool.
- Mix. Beat the icing with an electric mixer until it is smooth and shiny. It will become slightly lighter in color and stream down off the beater in ribbons. This will take about five minutes on high using a stand mixer, and ten with a hand mixer.
Ice the Cake
- Place cake on a wire rack or cake stand on top of parchment paper to catch any icing drips. Pour half of the icing in the center and along the edges of the cake. Wait one minute to let it run down the sides. Pour the remaining icing in the center and on any corners that were missed. It will smooth out on its own, but you can smooth it with a butter knife if you'd like. Let the cake stand at room temperature for two hours until the icing is dry to the touch. Carefully transfer the cake to a cake stand or platter to cut and serve.
Notes
Nutrition
Love,
When does the oil go in?
step 2 with the other liquids 🙂
hey randi! milk 🙂 just updated it, thanks. I tweaked the recipe and forgot to change part of it.