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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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 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.
Meredith says
it is great i tried it with my family
Tammy Lovestobake says
So delicious! I made it today for my husband's birthday. He LOVED it! White and/or vanilla cakes are his favorite. Thanks for a great recipe and very easy to follow directions. ❤️
Paz Austin says
It’s so delicious even without frosting, ate it warm 😋😋
I have a question if you wanted to make buttercream chocolate, can I add cocoa powder or melted chocolate?
Thanks for the recipe!
Elizabeth Marek says
Here's my easy chocolate buttercream recipe: https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/best-chocolate-buttercream-frosting/ You can also add melted chocolate instead of cocoa powder if you want.
Jessica James says
I just made this cake with your easy chocolate butter cream and it is hands down the best cake I've ever made!!! Thank you!
Dawn says
I am so excited to make this cake for my anniversary this weekend. I would love to add some extra "love" to it. LOL! Could I add chopped Oreos to one pan and sprinkles to the other and then keep the third vanilla? 🙂
Sugar Geek Show says
Yay that makes me so happy to hear! This recipe is a bit too soft to add oreos, but you can add some roughly chopped oreos to my white cake recipe. Just be sure to scrape off the oreo filling or it will leave holes in the cake. https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/white-cake-recipe/
Esmeralda says
Liz,
You’re amazing!!!! This cake was so easy to follow, it smelled amazing as it was baking. So fluffy and delicious. Thank you so much!!!!!
Ron says
Hi Liz,
I made this recipe today for my 5-year-old grandson's birthday. This is the first time I have made a cake in twenty years. I don't have any fancy stand mixer, just a $30 hand mixer which made it a bit more challenging. Everyone at the party complimented me about the cake and frosting.
Thank you
~Ron
Jasel says
First off i love your blogs and tutorials. I only gave this a 4 because 1 I don’t know why but i am getting less of the batter than it says i should. Yes i am using scale and double checking my weights and ingredients. But the first time i made it i used 2 8x3 inch pans and after they were done baking i had about 2inch cakes. The second time i made this i used 3 8x2 inch pans and my cakes were roughly an inch high less after i leveled them. So will continue to see if i am doing something wrong by re reading the instructions. Also the second time my cakes seemed to want to fall apart more. I made the buttercream and found it too soft to really pipe with and too buttery but I believe I didn’t whip it long enough so will try again. I am planning on making my nieces sweet 16 cake with these two recipes so hoping for the best! Cake was delisted though.
Elizabeth Marek says
Sounds like you are not mixing enough at the 2 minute stage which is where the batter gets its volume and can also make them too delicate. Make sure you are mixing for 2 full minutes at medium high speed.
Julie Ernst says
I made this for a birthday party last week and it was delicious, thank you for a great recipe! Next time I'd like to add some mini chocolate chips. Would that work okay?
Emily says
Hey Liz I'm trying this recipe out tonight would it work if a folded crushed Oreos into the batter and baked it?
Sugar Geek Show says
I would use my white cake recipe instead, it's a little bit firmer so you don't have to worry about the oreos sinking to the bottom. https://sugargeekshow.com/recipe/white-cake-recipe/
Jacqi Whiteman says
This cake was so delicious! The directions were so thorough and my cake and the frosting came out perfectly! Wait until you see how creamy the frosting is!
I will definitely be making this again. My husband’s favorite cake and frosting flavor is vanilla!
I use my own homemade vanilla paste for both parts of this recipe! Yum!!!
Karen says
I purchased the Fat Daddios pans per your recommendation but now you are suggesting another brand. So which one is better?
Sugar Geek Show says
Fat Daddios pans are good, I also like Magic Line and have found those to work a bit better! Both work great, really.
Emily says
I’m about to make this cake but I don’t have canola oil. Can I use vegetable or butter in replace?
Elizabeth Marek says
vegetable oil works great 🙂
Christy says
I made this cake last month for my husband's birthday. It was so well written and easy to follow. Thank you.
Blanca says
Hello, this cake is delicious and the amount of sweetness was just perfect. The only thing is that I used All purpose flour and the cake didn't come out fluffy. My cake was moist but denser than a cake. I will try making it again but with cake flour next time and see how that goes. Thank you for this recipe.
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi Blanca, I'm glad you liked the cake. Using cake flour is definitely needed for this recipe, I hope it turns out better for you the next time!
Eruejerien O says
Maybe think about updating this recipe to reflect that it makes 2, 8”x 2” rounds. I found out the hard way that you can not fill up 3 pans 2/3 of the way as the written recipe states. It’s important for layer cakes to have a deep enough cake to carve off the brown and of you do 3 pans, the cakes are too thin. Love the reverse creaking method though.
Elizabeth Marek says
When I make this recipe it fills my 6" pans 2/3 of the way full
Vickie Van Etta says
Hi Liz, Let me start off by saying your recipes are AMAZING. I am new to cake baking and your step by step instructions, pictures and videos make it easier for beginners like me. It really makes a difference having something to compare textures and colors to. I want to also Thank you for your hard work finding the best possible recipes. I have made your strawberry and vanilla cakes so far. I will be making the Oreo cake this weekend and I can’t wait.
BROOKY says
This cake tastes amazing. The problem I have, everytime I make it, is that the middle always sinks! I don’t know how because I do everything right and the batter looks exactly like the pictures! Please tell me what i did wrong cause I can’t figure it out. Other than that this is the best cake ever!
Sugar Geek Show says
Hi, I'm sorry that you're having this issue! It could be a few different things that are causing this to happen. Using a scale to measure out the ingredients instead of converting to cups, and bringing your milk, eggs, and butter to room temperature are the first steps. If you've done that, then sometimes people don't mix for the full 2 minutes on medium speed with a stand mixer. This gives structure to the cake, so don't be afraid of over-mixing and setting a timer. Also using 6" or 8" pans and baking until a toothpick comes out clean from the center is sometimes an issue, definitely go by look and not time. I hope this helps!
Terra says
Holy moly! I have been searching for forever for a great white cake. I have an amazing chocolate cake recipe but was never able to find the perfect white cake. I am amazed at how good this is! Thank you!! So moist and amazing flavor 😍
Varsha says
Hey I submitted a question before about turning this into a brown sugar cake but I don't know why I can't see my comment. could you kindly tell me, if I replace white sugar with brown (equal amount) would this work as a brown sugar sponge?
Thankyou
Elizabeth Marek says
Yes you can use brown sugar but I would only replace half the sugar with brown sugar not all
LauraF says
Love this recipe for the cake and easy buttercream...yum! I tried to decorate as you suggested...I wish I could post to show you. It was rough...but with practice I think I can nail it in the future! 😊
TR says
This cake was delicious. It tasted like a real vanilla cake and was light and fluffy. It wasn’t overly sweet which was good. I was surprised at how easy it was to make. Highly recommend it.
Rebecca says
I have made this a few times now. It comes out with such a lovely texture! I have learned to beat the eggs very thoroughly before incorporating them into the recipe. If I don't, the cake does end up tasting a bit egg-y.
Jasmine says
I have been looking for the perfect vanilla cake for years, and have probably tried 25 recipes. This is the best vannila cake ever. It's so soft and moist. I love making it with chocolate frosting, but find when I pair it with vannila it's a little sweet for my taste. I know sugar is important for the structure as well as the taste, but do you think I could reduce the sugar by 1/2 to one ounce with out any issues?
Ida says
This is the best of the best. I am in love with this cake. The first time I bake it, and I made my customers tasted, they told me I left an ankle in the cake. It was so good 😊 Liz, I am giving you 10 star ⭐️ for this wonderful recipe. I have a quick question though: I have tried several time which was perfect, then my last one I did rise very well, then fell back down. What makes cakes to fall back down, ans what do I prevent from this not to happen again? Thanks for your time, and understanding.
Ida