This is the best vanilla cake recipe! It has an amazing flavor, a soft, cloud-like crumb, and is so incredibly moist. Cake flour, the reverse creaming method, lots of butter, and a touch of oil keeps this cake moist for days. This was my first cake recipe posted in my first cookbook Artisan Cake Companys Visual Guide To Cake Decorating. It was one of my most popular flavor for wedding cakes back when I was still a storefront.
Next to my white velvet buttermilk cake, and lemon blueberry cake, this moist vanilla cake is one of our most popular recipes. I have been using this recipe for over ten years for my cake clients with nothing but rave reviews. This is the cake that turns those "I don't even like cake" consultations into OMG we need to book you right now clients! This is perfect for special occasions like weddings, showers, and it makes the perfect birthday cake!
Whats In This Blog Post
What Makes This Vanilla Cake The BEST
I have tested this recipe over and over and tweaked it many times until I achieved in my mind what is the BEST vanilla cake. To me, the best cake is soft, moist, buttery, flavorful and moist even after a few days. It's versatile and can go with just about any flavor combo. I've used this recipe as a base for other recipes like my applesauce spice cake, pink champagne cake, and yellow cake recipes.
- The Texture of this vanilla cake is incredibly soft and has a tender moist crumb thanks to the reverse creaming method. The reverse creaming method is where you combine the butter with the dry ingredients first and then add the liquids. There are no large holes, toughness or dryness to be found in this cake. A common complaint is that it's SO tender some people think they did something wrong but I assure you, this tenderness is totally normal and delicious.
- Incredibly delicious flavor! Using high-quality butter, vanilla, and whole eggs not only adds tons of flavor, it keeps this cake moist for days.
- Bakes flat so you have no cake waste.
- Very moist but stable enough to make layered cakes or wedding cakes.
- Not too sweet and goes really well with my vanilla buttercream.
Vanilla Cake Ingredients
Cake flour is used in this recipe instead of all-purpose flour because cake flour has a much lower protein content resulting in a more tender and moist cake. If all you have is all-purpose flour, then you can use the cornstarch hack to make your own cake flour BUT I will warn you it won't taste exactly the same.
Vanilla is the main flavor ingredient in this recipe so ideally you should use pure vanilla extract or even vanilla beans for the best flavor.
Unsalted butter is what bakers normally use for baking so that you can control the level of saltiness in your recipes. If you don't have unsalted butter you can use salted butter but it can affect the flavor of your cake layers.
Vegetable oil is used to help keep this cake moist for days. If you don't have vegetable oil or don't want to use it, you can use any other type of oil like canola, olive oil, or grapeseed oil.
Tips For Success (trust me, you want to read this)
- Measure out all of your ingredients with a kitchen scale. Baking is a science and because you can accidentally add too much flour or have not enough flour when you use cups, a scale is needed for accuracy. You can purchase a kitchen scale in the baking aisle at most grocery stores for less than $20.
- Bring your butter, milk, and eggs to room temperature. Room temperature ingredients will create an emulsion properly but if any of your ingredients are cold then the batter will not mix together properly and you'll end up with a wet layer at the bottom of the cake. Click the link above if you need to know how to warm up your eggs, milk, and butter properly.
- Don't be afraid to mix. If you've never used the reverse creaming method before you might get freaked out about the mixing stage because we are going to mix for TWO minutes. When you're traditionally making a cake, you would never mix that long because you would over-mix your cake batter and create huge holes (tunnels).
- With the reverse creaming method, we coat the flour in the butter first which inhibits the gluten from developing. We are also using cake flour which isn't as strong as regular flour so it needs to be mixed more. Reverse creaming also allows us to add more liquids and sugar to the cake than the typical mixing style which is why this vanilla cake is SO incredibly moist and tender.
- Check your altitude - If you live above 5,000 ft you may need to reduce your baking powder a bit so that your vanilla cakes do not collapse.
Vanilla Cake Step-By-Step
- Preheat your oven to 335ºF. I like to bake at a lower temperature because it results in a flatter cake. If your oven doesn't have that capability, it's still ok to bake at 350ºF. You might have a tiny dome after baking but you can just trim it off.
- Place the first measurement of warm milk (4 oz) into a separate measuring cup. Add in the oil and set it aside.
- To the second measurement of milk, add the eggs and vanilla extract. Whisk lightly to break up the eggs.
- Place your cake flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment attached. You can also use a hand mixer. *before you ask, this is my Bosch universal plus affiliate link if you're interested in learning more.
- Add in your softened butter in chunks while mixing on low speed. Mix everything until it looks like coarse sand. Don't walk away because this happens pretty quickly.
- Now add in the milk/oil mixture all at once. Mix for two full minutes on medium speed to develop the cake's structure. The batter should be light, white, and not curdled looking or broken.
- Now we are going to slowly add in our egg/milk mixture while mixing on low. We are adding it slowly because we are creating an emulsion with our eggs and liquids. If you add it too quickly, your liquids will separate from the butter and sink to the bottom of the cake.
- The cake batter should be fairly thick and look smooth and shiny.
- Divide the batter into three, eight inch pans prepared with cake goop or your preferred pan release. For added insurance, you can put parchment paper into the bottom of the pan but it's really not needed. I use a scale to make sure all my pans have the same amount of batter.
- Bake your cakes for 25-30 minutes in a preheated oven until the center is set and a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake. You may need more time so do not be afraid to bake the cake for longer.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and place them onto a cooling rack. Let them cool down until the pans are barely warm. Don’t let them get cold or they will stick. The cake layers do not go all the way to the top of the pan and that is ok! The cakes are VERY delicate when warm so handle them carefully.
- After the cake layers are cool, flip them out onto the wire rack to cool fully before frosting. You can also freeze your cake layers if you don't plan on frosting them right away.
How To Decorate A Vanilla Cake
So now that you've made the worlds best homemade vanilla cake you are probably wondering how to decorate it! Would you believe me if I told you it's not as hard as you think! You can easily turn this recipe into a layer cake by following my tutorial on how to make your first cake. The tutorial will walk you through how to trim you cake layers, how to make the vanilla buttercream frosting, how to stack, crumbcoat, and decorate your cake.
If you want to decorate your cake making palette knife buttercream flowers you can watch this video I made on YouTube.
FAQ
Adding cocoa powder to this vanilla cake won't take it from vanilla to chocolate. Baking is science so the best thing to do is to just go with a tried and true chocolate cake recipe like my easy chocolate cake.
This difference between a vanilla cake and a white cake is just egg yolks. You can easily convert this recipe to a white cake by replacing the egg yolks with egg whites.
This recipe is formulated to bake up perfectly flat so it's not the best in my opinion for cupcakes. If you really want to use them for cupcakes, try my vanilla cupcakes recipe instead.
This recipe is formulated to bake up perfectly flat so it's not the best in my opinion for cupcakes. If you really want to use them for cupcakes, try my vanilla cupcakes recipe instead.
More Cake Recipes You'll Love
WASC (White Almond Sourcream Cake)
Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
Select an option below to calculate how much batter or frosting you need. Adjust the servings slider on the recipe card to change the amounts the recipe makes.
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Cups of Batter Needed
8 cups
Cups of Frosting Needed
5 cups
Note: measurements are estimated based off the vanilla cake recipe using standard US cake pans and sizes. Measurements used are for 2" tall cake pans only. Your results may vary. Do not overfill cake pans above manufacturer's recommended guidelines.
Recipe
Equipment
- Food Scale
- 8" x 2" Cake Pans (3)
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake Recipe
- 4 ounces whole milk to be mixed with the oil
- 3 ounces canola oil
- 6 ounces whole milk to be mixed with the eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean pod
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 13 ounces cake flour
- 13 ounces granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 ounces unsalted butter softened to room temperature but not melted
Easy Buttercream Frosting
- 16 ounces powdered sugar
- 4 ounces pasteurized egg whites
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 16 ounces unsalted butter softened to room temperature but not melted
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 TINY drop purple food coloring to offset the yellow color (optional)
- 3 drops electric pink food coloring for the flowers
- 1 Tablespoon white sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
Vanilla Cake
- IMPORTANT: This is the BEST vanilla cake because I use a scale so it turns out perfectly 🙂 If you convert to cups I cannot guarantee good results. Make sure all your (cold ingredients) butter, eggs, milk are at room temperature or a little warm. See my post about how to use a scale if you don't know how to measure by weight.
- Heat oven to 335º F/168º C . Prepare three 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop or another preferred pan release.
- Place the 4 oz of milk in a separate measuring cup. Add the oil to the milk and set it aside.
- To the remaining 6 oz of milk, add the vanilla and room temperature eggs. Whisk gently to combine. Set aside.
- Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.
- Turn the mixer onto the slowest speed. Slowly add chunks of your softened butter until it is all added then let everything mix until it looks like coarse sand.
- Add your milk/oil mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and mix on medium (speed 4 on kitchenaid, speed 2 on the Bosch) for 2 full minutes to develop the structure. Set a timer! Don't worry, this will not over-mix the cake.
- After 2 minutes, scrape the bowl. This is an important step. If you skip it, you will have hard lumps of flour and unmixed ingredients in your batter. If you do it later, they will not mix in fully.
- Slowly add in the milk/egg mixture while mixing on low, stopping to scrape the bowl one more time halfway through. Mix until just combined. Your batter should be thick and not too runny.
- Divide the batter into your greased cake pans and fill ¾ of the way full. I like to weigh my pans to make sure they're even.
- Bake for 30 minutes and check your cakes. Do the "done test". Insert a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. Sometimes wet batter doesn't show up so make sure it's clean and not just wet. Then gently touch the top of the cake, does it spring back? Oven temperatures vary so if it's not done yet, bake for a few more minutes (2-3) and check again until it passes the "done" test.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and give them a tap on the countertop to release air and prevent too much shrinking. Let them cool on a cooling rack until they are barely warm.
- After cooling for about 10 minutes, place the cooling rack on top of the cake, placing one hand on top of the cooling rack and one hand under the pan and flip the pan and the cooling rack over so the pan is now upside down on the cooling rack. Remove the pan carefully. Repeat with the other pan.
- After the cakes are fully cooled, carefully wrap them in plastic wrap and place them into the freezer or fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up the cakes and make them easier to handle for stacking.
Easy Buttercream Frosting
- Place egg whites and powdered sugar in a stand mixer bowl. Attach the whisk, combine ingredients on low and then whip on high for 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and salt.
- Add in your softened butter in chunks and whip with the whisk attachment to combine. It will look curdled at first. This is normal. It will also look pretty yellow. Keep whipping.
- Whip on high for 8-10 minutes until it's very white, light and shiny. If you don't whip it enough, it could end up tasting buttery.
- Optional: If you want whiter frosting, add in a tiny drop of purple to counteract the yellow in the butter (too much will make the frosting grey or light purple.)
- Optional: Switch to a paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream very smooth and remove air bubbles. This isn't required but if you want really creamy frosting, you don't want to skip it.
- After your cakes are chilled, fill them with your favorite frosting and frost the outside. If you're not familiar with decorating cakes, check out my how to make your first cake blog post! Watch the video to see how I made the palette knife buttercream flowers.
Video
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients to avoid cake failure. Using a kitchen scale for baking is super easy and gives you the best results every single time.
- Make sure all your cold ingredients are room temperature or slightly warm (butter, milk, eggs, to create a cohesive batter. Curdled batter causes cakes to collapse.)
- You must use cake flour for this recipe. Do not fall for the "just add cornstarch to regular flour" trick. It does not work for this recipe. Your cake will look and taste like cornbread. If you can't find cake flour, use pastry flour which isn't quite as soft as cake flour but it's better than all-purpose flour.
- If you're in the UK search for Shipton mills cake and pastry flour. If you're in another part of the country, search for low protein cake flour.
- When you do the reverse creaming method, you're coating the flour in butter and stopping gluten from developing. This creates a super moist and tender cake. When you add the milk and oil, you have to mix for a full 2 minutes to develop that gluten. This creates the structure of the cake. If you don't mix for the full 2 minutes, your cake could collapse.
- Make your own pan release (cake goop!) The best pan release ever!
- Need more help with making your first cake? Check out my how to decorate your first cake blog post.
Aliyah says
Hey Elizabeth,
I just made this cake and it was find of a fail 🙁
The batter was great no curdling whatsoever, but even after 35+ mins it’s wasn’t baked. I inserted a toothpick and it came out clean so I though it was done. After letting it cool I transferred it to a cooling rack and thought everything was going great. That’s when the middle of the cake started to droop and fall through the rack due to it being extremely under baked . The outer part of the cake was AMAZING tho. Is there anything I could have done to cause this result? I halved the recipe btw, just in case that might affect the mixing process.
Thank you so much!
Elizabeth Marek says
It sounds like you may have mis-measured something along the way or it just wasn't baked for long enough. Each oven is different. Not sure what else could be the problem.
Sarah says
I have been making cakes for 8-9 years from scratch. This cake and buttercream are pure perfection! Exactly what we are all trying to achieve when we want a traditional birthday cake! I made this cake “funfetti” by adding sprinkles (coated in flour first) folded into the batter. Turned out PERFECT! My family was freaking out about how the cake wasn’t too sweet, was moist and actually tasted like vanilla! This recipe will be passed down for generations! Thank you!
Aliyah says
Hey Elizabeth,
I decided to try this cake out again after my recent fail, and even though I used regular cake and pastry flour instead of swansdown, the cake still came out AMAZING. It has such a fine crumb, is so delicate and moist. I can’t thank you enough for this recipe Liz!
Though I am still curious as to how it would’ve turned out if I had used the swans down flour which is bleached. I live in Canada and there is only cake and pastry flour which I assume is unbleached.
Anyways, thank you again!
Trini says
Liz, I need to make 2 - 11x15 cakes. If I double or triple the recipe can I just make each single recipe at a time then add them to the cake pan? Or do I have to double or triple at once?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can make the recipes individually and add them to the pan
Aliyah says
Hey Elizabeth,
Do you sift your flour? I find that doing so can make quite the difference in the texture of your cake.
Thanks!
Elizabeth Marek says
I don't sift because I use the reverse creaming method 🙂
Vanessa says
Hi can you help.Love the recipe but I would like to make 3 x 12 inch round cake over the weekend. What will the measurement for the ingredients be. Do I treble the ingredients???. Many thanks!
Elizabeth Marek says
Hi there, you can use the cake batter calculator to figure out how much batter you need. Its right above the recipe card.
Cb says
I baked with this recipee. It was superb! Thanks for the share. Best recipee so far
Nora says
I love this recipe so much. After days of testing recipes, this one definitely tasted the best. Also, I only had two 6 inch cake pans, so I stuck the leftover batter in the fridge and baked it off 40 mins later. The cake tasted the same!
Desleigh Coombs says
Hi Elizabeth,
I tried this cake today, went down as a treat for my mother in law's birthday cake. I made it in one large heart shaped tin. I also used your ganache recipe as well. Fantastic. Wish I could send you a photo. Thanks Desleigh
Cindy cauthen says
I have been searching for a moist vanilla cake recipe and I found it today!! It was moist and had the best taste ever!! I am now a fan of yours! Thank you so much for sharing your amazing recipe!
Kelly Shivery says
Hi. Can I use measure for measure gluten free flour for this recipe?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can
Lisa says
I made this and got rave reviews so it’s now my go-to vanilla cake recipe! Thank you!! Now, I have someone who wants a vanilla cake but asked if I can do it lactose-free. Am I able to use almond milk instead of whole milk and have it turn out just as great?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can use any kind of milk
Ryan says
Best vanilla cake recipe ever!
Tiffany Taylor says
I just made this recipe a few days ago and added some sprinkles to make a funfetti birthday cake. I paired it with your easy buttercream. This is the best cake that I have ever made. I have been trying not to eat it all, I have snacked on it cold, room temperature and with ice cream. I can't stop! Love the recipe thank you for sharing.
Regina Kunschman says
Hi!
I am trying for the whitest cake possible! I have heard that one can use egg whites instead of whole eggs in the cake recipe to ensure the cake is as white as possible. Is that possible in this recipe? If so, how would you suggest that I do it? I am going to use the easy buttercream recipe using the pasteurized egg whites and add a smidge of purple gel color and the white color to whiten it, too!!!
Elizabeth Marek says
I would use the white velvet buttermilk recipe instead or replace the whole eggs with egg whites equally by weight.
Sarah Perrett says
The Moist Vanilla Cake is the best vanilla cake I have ever made! I live at 6,025 feet altitude and used your high altitude hacks to make a successful cake. Thank you.
Annzi says
I made the cake and it came out soft as I like. I am not planning to frost the cake and would like to serve the cake to my guests tomorrow, how do i keep the cake moist for tomorrow
Elizabeth Marek says
Just wrap the cake in plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature.
Lillie says
Hi Liz, I need to make a three tiered wedding cake
6, 8 and 10 inch cakes
How much batter do I need?
Thanks
Elizabeth Marek says
You can use the cake batter calculator right above the recipe
Natalie Pouy says
The best vanilla cake recipe I’ve ever used. Thank you for sharing this incredible recipe with all of us. Amazing.
Anasa says
What a wonderful cake! This cake is moist, tasty, delectable, did i say tasty! This is my go to birthday cake recipe. I've made this cake many times with butter cream and fruit filling between the layers. I knew I found a hit when i made this for my three yr old nephew who does not like cake (for whatever reason). It was his birthday and we were all on Zoom video and we all knew he does not like cake but his mom decided to give it a try. I don't know if he was convinced to taste the cake because his favorite characters were on it. but in any case, he took the bite and i was breathless....then he said "Delicious!"... phew!...i can breath again. he ate every crumb on the plate. this cake is a hit with kids and adults alike. I've had slices in my refrigerator for almost a week and the slices were still moist and delicious. Thank you for sharing!
Jesenia says
Hey Liz, can I substitute the vanilla extract for another flavor or is that not ok for this recipe.??
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can do that
Eli west says
Hi Liz! I was wondering if I could use a sugar substitute? Would monk fruit sugar work?
Elizabeth Marek says
As long as the texture is similar to granulated sugar, I don't see why it wouldnt work
kris says
Hi Liz!! Very good cake! I was wondering if you had a recipe for 10 inch cakes? Unless you just suggest making a double batch of the 8inch recipe but that's a lot of waste. Thanks!
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi! So glad you like the cake, you could make a 1 and a half batch for 10 inch cakes.
tas says
5 stars brilliant
Jane says
Would it ruin the cake if I were to substitute "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light" instead of butter in this recipe?
Elizabeth Marek says
I have not tested this cake recipe with butter substitutes but it's worth a try!