This vanilla cake recipe is extremely moist and tender! It has an amazing flavor, a soft, cloud-like crumb, and is so incredibly moist. Cake flour, the reverse creaming method, milk, 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 flavors 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!
What's 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 in 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.
- The cake layers bake flat so you have no cake waste.
- The cake is VERY moist but stable enough to make layered cakes or wedding cakes.
- This recipe is 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 and they may be too salty.
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
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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 milk to be mixed with the oil
- 3 ounces canola oil
- 6 ounces 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.)
- 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.
Tshiamo says
Hey there, I don't have a stand mixer, what would be the best way to mix in my situation... I do have a hand electronic whisk
Elizabeth Marek says
I would use the electric mixer
Jesenia says
Hey Liz, so I’ve made this recipe more then I can count and never had an issue, but recently right after taking them out of the oven they shrink A Lot 😳 while cooling. I can only assume it was because I got a new oven so I tried reducing the temperature and cooking time but still no luck. Any suggestions.???
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi! Totally normal issue, I had the same problem after making it for a while. Shrinking can happen when your ingredients aren't fully at room temperature, when you don't mix enough, or when you add the liquids in too quickly.
Brandy says
Hi! This is my second time making this, and both times the top got very dark, but the inside wasn't done after 30 minutes. It took another 5 to 7 minutes to bake. Is there a reason its so dark on the top? My oven is at 335 like you said. I live in Idaho, so don't think there's much adjustment needed. Thanks for your help!
Elizabeth Marek says
It could be that your pan is too close to the top of the oven or the oven temp could be off. Keep in mind that all ovens are different and increasing or decreasing the baking time is normal. Thats why I say "or until a toothpick comes out clean" because times do vary.
Elise says
I made this yesterday and made eight layers in 8 inch foil pans I put a cup in each pan and baked for maybe 10 minutes I iced it with peanut butter frosting and chocolate ganache alternating layers and then chocolate ganache all over not only was it a beautiful cake when you sliced it it was absolutely delicious this is my go to vanilla cake from now on. Thank you
Julie says
I followed the preparation directions exactly with professional results!! It was perfect - the most moist vanilla cake. And the layers came out nicely even - no domed tops at all! It was a big hit with the family. Per my son's request I added mini-chocolate chips to the vanilla frosting in between the layers and I added the caviar from one large vanilla bean to the frosting! It was beautifully white with specs of vanilla bean (no purple food coloring needed.) I used unsalted Italian butter whit a high fat content.
*the frosting directions do not say when to add the vanilla extract or the salt to the frosting - I added in the middle of the mixing.
It was perfect in every way I frosted with peanut butter frosting every other layer and then chocolate ganache every other layer in covered in chocolate ganache wonderfulelise says
Fabulous recipe I divided 1 cup into eight foil pans and baked eight layers it took about 10 to 11 minutes. It was perfect in every way I frosted with peanut butter frosting every other layer and then chocolate ganache every other layer in covered in chocolate ganache wonderful
Tammi Blair says
Nevermind my last comment my cake mix looked exactly like yours in the video.. i was under the impression that it was going to resemble a dough kinda thick like a bread dough or something by the way the instructions described it... thank you though I really hope it turns out as good as yours
Michelle says
Hi!.
Do you have the ingredients in Cups?.
Thank you in advance!. 🙂
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi Michelle! My cake recipes are only in ounces and grams because it is more accurate to measure by weight than volume and I don’t want anyone’s cake to fail and waste ingredients. I know it’s a new challenge for many people but it really makes baking easier! I have information about how to use a scale and an ounces to cups conversion chart on my blog post if you can’t get a scale right now though: https://sugargeekshow.com/news/digital-kitchen-scale/
Michelle says
Hi Liz!
Great thank you! I am so excited to try your vanilla cake recipe! You are so amazing, I look forward to making other treats.
Marieli says
I made this cake for the first time today. I followed the directions, weighted everything, cold ingredients at room temperature; mixed according to instructions, scraped at the suggested times... baked at the right temperature, didn't open the over until 30 minutes had passed and they had sunk. It tastes AMAZING but they sunk... not sure if because it's so hot here the butter was too soft? Any how, I will try it again with the butter not so soft to see how it turns out.
Elizabeth Marek says
Sounds like it was not mixed enough if it sunk. Softened butter will not make a difference. Mixing for the two full minutes at medium speed to build the structure is important with the reverse creaming method. Make sure you are baking until the cakes are baked and a toothpick comes out clean, not just baking for the time listed as all ovens are different.
Katelyn says
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but could I make a marble cake with this recipe? Like could I take half and add melted chocolate or cocoa powder?
Sugar Geek Show says
Yes! I do exactly that in my marble recipe, here are the measurements! https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/marble-cake/
Ameshia Shepherd says
Fantastic!!!! I have been looking for a "Great!" Vanilla cake recipe for birthday cakes and by golli I have finally found it. I followed the instructions exactly and it came out better than perfect. My client was very pleased. Thank you so much for sharing you don't realize how much you helped me!
Azusena says
Hi Liz!! I have loved all the cakes I've made following your recipes. Question though... How can I get a vanilla cake to form a Dome this time?? I am going for a Monster cake and the top cake looks like it s a dome cake. (you know to save time from carving and besides I want it most) would you do the top layer using your Cupcake recipe? I hope my question makes sense. Thank you!
Elizabeth Marek says
Bake the cake at a higher temperature (350ºF) and mix the cake for 30 seconds more than usual at the end.
Therese says
Hi Liz, I love your frosting recipe. I’ve used it so many times. Is it ok to add chocolate powder to make it as chocolate frosting? If so, how much chocolate powder should I put? Thank you!
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi! Check out my chocolate frosting recipe: https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/best-chocolate-buttercream-frosting/
Azusena Marcial says
Thank so much Liz. Will try that!
Angelica says
Hi Liz, do you think 1 Batch of this recipe is enough for 1 10" round layer or should i do 1.5 batch ? I like my layers to be tall . I would really appreciate your response. Thanks in advance
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes it's enough for one 10" round
Angelica says
Hi Liz, do you think 1 batch of this recipe is enough to make 1 10" layer 2" tall or would i have to
Do 1.5 batch? I like my cake layers to be tall. I would really appreciate a response😊 Thanks in advance!
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi! This recipe is enough for 3, 8"x 2" cakes so I definitely think it will be enough for 1, 10" x 2" cake. You will probably have extra batter too.
Melanie says
My cake turned out moist but crumbly. I had all my ingredients a ton room temperature and mixed the batter for exactly 2 minutes. How can I fix this? I'm considering re-baking the cakes so they turn out less crumbly.
Sugar Geek Show says
Hm I'm not sure, did you weigh all of your ingredients with a scale or convert it to cups? Also were you using a stand mixer or a hand mixer for this cake? Sometimes people have issues trying to convert, so I always recommend a scale. And if you were using a hand mixer, you most likely have to mix longer than 2 minutes as they aren't quite as powerful.
Alaa says
Hi Liz,
Thank you for all of your amazing recipes, you have elevated my cake game! I was wondering if i could add spices to this cake recipe to make it a spice cake? and also if i could add brown butter instead of regular butter?
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi! Yes you can definitely add spices and customize it to your liking. Or I'd recommend trying my applesauce spice cake recipe, the applesauce just adds moisture to the cake. https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/applesauce-cake-recipe/ and the brown butter sounds delicious, I have a brown butter cake recipe if you're interested in that as well.
Jamie says
I don't have a stand mixer. Do you think it is possible to achieve the needed consistency for the cake using a hand mixer or mixing by hand? Thank you!
Sugar Geek Show says
It's difficult with a hand mixer because you'll have to mix everything for longer, but it can work! Make sure to mix for longer than 2 minutes after adding the oil, and go by look and texture instead of time.
Aadila says
Hi there.
I want to make 3 cakes but I only have one cake pan of the recommended size. It's it okay to leave the batter out and bake them one by one or will this result in a bad bake?
Thanks!
Sugar Geek Show says
Totally fine! You can also put the batter in the fridge while waiting for each layer to bake.
Barbara Johnston says
Hello. I was wondering if I could use 2% milk in replace of whole milk?
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes that is ok
Sue says
Hi Liz,
Found the recipe easy to follow but my cakes came out moist but crumbly.... fell apart a bit when I took them out of the tins after cooling. What could I have done wrong?
Elizabeth Marek says
Could have been under-mixed (really mix for two full minutes on medium speed) and let the pans cool until barely warm. Also make sure all the ingredients are room temperature or even a little warm.
Merlin@81 says
Looks like my cake batter @looked grainy. Almost like the oil was separating. I had everything at room temp. I did notice that the milk I used was 2%. Would that have made a difference? The cakes came out sticky in the middle and the bottom. Also the frosting to me had the consistency of actual butter. Is that how it should have been? Thanks.
Elizabeth Marek says
One of your ingredients was too cold. Make sure you feel the ingredients to test if they are warm, even if they have been out for hours, they can be too cold. Shoot for about 68º for everything.
r says
will adding other powders mess it up; black sesame powder or matcha
Elizabeth Marek says
You can replace some of the flour with matcha