This is the perfect classic white cake recipe. Light and fluffy, moist and full of flavor. There is a joke in the cake world that white is not a flavor, it's actually a vanilla cake. But a white cake is not just white. Let's dive into what makes the perfect, best white cake recipe.
Quick Glance at the Recipe: White Cake Recipe
- Recipe Name: White Cake Recipe
- Why You'll Love It: Soft, fluffy white cake with a delicate crumb and bright white color that's perfect for decorating.
- Time and Difficulty: 15 minutes - Intermediate difficulty
- Main Ingredients: All-purpose flour, egg whites, butter, sugar, milk, baking powder
- Method: Traditional creaming method with egg whites added to whipped butter and sugar.
- Texture and Flavor: Light, tender crumb with a subtle vanilla flavor and moist interior.
- Quick Tip: Wrap the cakes while still warm and flash chill them to lock in moisture.
Jump to:
- Quick Glance at the Recipe: White Cake Recipe
- My Experience With White Cake
- White Cake Ingredients
- What Makes A White Cake?
- How To Make A White Cake Step-By-Step
- How to Make Easy Buttercream Step-By-Step
- Cake Batter and Frosting Calculator
- Cups of Batter Needed
- Cups of Frosting Needed
- Watch: How To Decorate A Cake Step-by-Step
- Recipe
My Experience With White Cake
There's a running joke in the cake world that "white isn't a flavor." People say it's just vanilla cake without the yolks.
But professional bakers know that white cake really is its own thing.
By removing the egg yolks and using only egg whites, the cake becomes lighter in color and slightly more delicate in flavor. It also produces that bright white crumb that's perfect for wedding cakes and elegant layer cakes.
White cake, vanilla cake, and yellow cake are all closely related recipes, but the way the eggs are used changes the texture, flavor, and color.
This cake pairs beautifully with white chocolate ganache as a frosting - the vanilla flavor of the ganache complements the delicate crumb of the cake perfectly.
White Cake Ingredients
This recipe uses traditional baking ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.
All-purpose flour - Provides structure for the cake. I prefer all-purpose flour here because it gives the cake a slightly stronger crumb that holds up well for layered cakes. If you prefer cake flour, check out my white velvet cake recipe.
Egg whites - Egg whites keep the cake bright white while still adding structure and moisture. You can use fresh egg whites or pasteurized egg whites.
Granulated sugar - Sugar sweetens the cake and helps create a light, fluffy texture when whipped with the butter.
Unsalted butter - Butter adds flavor and richness to the cake. Make sure it's soft so it creams properly with the sugar. If you brown the butter you can make a delicious brown butter cake.
Milk - Milk adds moisture and helps create a soft crumb.
Vegetable oil - Oil keeps the cake moist even after refrigeration.
Baking powder - This gives the cake its lift and light texture.
Salt - Salt balances the sweetness and enhances the overall flavor.
Vanilla extract or clear vanilla - Vanilla adds flavor. Clear vanilla can be used if you want to keep the cake extra white.
What Makes A White Cake?
Many people confuse white cake, vanilla cake, and yellow cake, but the difference mostly comes down to how the eggs are used.
- White Cake uses only egg whites, which keeps the crumb bright white and gives the cake a delicate texture.
- Vanilla cake uses whole eggs, which results in a slightly off-white color and a richer flavor.
- Yellow cake uses egg yolks, which give the cake a deep golden color and a richer, more custardy flavor. Again, people laugh and say that "white" and "yellow" is not a flavor but making an order for "all egg yolk cake" just does not have the same ring to it. It's just a way of describing the cake so we all are on the same page.
White cake and vanilla cake are both commonly used as base recipes for flavored cakes, while yellow cake is traditionally paired with chocolate frosting or chocolate ganache.
The names might sound simple, but they're just shorthand so bakers know exactly what type of cake they're working with.
How To Make A White Cake Step-By-Step
Remember to always bring your cold ingredients to room temperature and use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients. I use "ounces" for my measurements because it's easier to mis en place everything out. If you prefer metric, you can switch the measurements on the recipe card below.
- Preheat your oven to 335ºF (168ºC) and prepare two 8" x 2" cake pans with cake goop or your preferred pan release.
- Combine the warm milk, oil, and extracts, and set them aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together: flour, baking powder, and the salt and set it aside.
- Place the soft butter into the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until smooth.
While mixing on low, Sprinkle in your sugar, and then let it whip on high until light and white (about 5 minutes) until lightened in color and very fluffy.
- While mixing on low, add the egg whites one at a time (roughly) to the butter mixture and let them fully combine after each addition before adding the next. If your egg whites aren't at room temperature, you can microwave them for a few seconds. Be careful not to cook them! Cold egg whites will curdle the batter.
Mix until smooth.
- Add ⅓ of your dry ingredients to the egg/butter mixture and mix on low until just combined.
Then add in ½ of your liquids, then dry, then liquids, and the rest of your dry.
Let mix until they are just combined.
- Add the batter into prepared cake pans and bake them at 335º F for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center.
- Let the cakes cool for fifteen minutes, then turn out the cakes onto a cooling rack. Wrap the cakes while they are still warm and place them into the freezer to flash chill. This locks in the moisture. Once the cakes are cool but not frozen, you can then trim off the brown edges of your cakes and frost them as desired.
How to Make Easy Buttercream Step-By-Step
- Combine pasteurized egg whites and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the mixture on medium speed until it becomes thick and glossy.
This creates the base for the easy buttercream.
- Begin adding softened butter one piece at a time while mixing on medium speed.
At first, the mixture may look curdled or separated. This is completely normal.
- Mix in the vanilla extract and salt. Then whip on high until light, fluffy, and no longer tastes like butter.
- Optional: Switch to the paddle attachment. Mix the easy buttercream on low for several minutes to remove air bubbles and achieve the smoothest possible texture.
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.
Choose a pan type
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Choose a cake pan size
(based on 2" tall cake pan)
Cupcake Tin Size
Choose number of pans
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.
Watch: How To Decorate A Cake Step-by-Step
Before you start decorating, watch the video below where I show you every step of decorating a cake from start to finish. Seeing the process in action makes it much easier to follow along
- Liz Marek.
Recipe
Ingredients
White Cake Recipe Ingredients
- 10 oz milk room temp
- 2 oz vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract use clear for a whiter cake
- 14 oz AP flour
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 8 oz unsalted butter room temp
- 14 oz sugar
- 6 large egg whites fresh not boxed at room temp
Easy Buttercream Frosting
- 8 oz pasteurized egg whites room temperature
- 32 oz powdered sugar
- 32 oz unsalted butter room temperature
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Instructions
White Cake Recipe Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 335ºF and prepare two 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop or another preferred pan release.
- Combine milk, oil and extracts and set aside
- Combine your flour, baking powder and salt and set aside
- Place butter in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and cream until smooth. Sprinkle in your sugar and then let whip on high until light and white (about 5 minutes)
- Add the egg whites one at a time (roughly) to the butter mixture while mixing on low and let fully combine after each addition before adding the next. If your egg whites aren't at room temperature you can microwave them for a few seconds. Be careful not to cook them! Cold egg whites will curdle the batter.
- Add in ⅓ of your dry ingredients to the egg/butter mixture and mix on low until just combined. Then add in ½ of your liquids, then dry, then liquids and the rest of your dry. Let mix until just combined.
- Add batter into prepared cake pans and bake at 335º F for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when poked in the center.
- Let cool ten minutes then turn out cakes onto a cooling rack. Wrap warm and place into the freezer to flash chill. This locks in the moisture. Once cool but not frozen you can then trim off the brown edges of your cakes and frost as desired. Chill cake.
Easy Buttercream Frosting
- Combine egg whites and powdered sugar in a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment. Whisk to combine on low then whisk on high, adding in your butter in small chunks, vanilla and salt. Turn mixer up to high and whip until light, fluffy and white.
Gold Drip
- Melt chocolate and water in the microwave and whisk until smooth. Add in a couple drops of food coloring. Let cool to about 90 degrees before attempting to drip over the chilled cake. Once chocolate is set, you can combine the everclear and gold dust to make a paint and paint the drip.
*note: this is a non-toxic gold dust
Jem says
Hi Liz! I made this cake a few months back and subbed the almond for additional vanilla but I'm wondering if I can adapt it for lemon cake? I've seen your lemon cake recipe but it calls for CF which is very difficult to come by in the UK or it's expensive and I know you say about using the correct flours for these cakes. If it can be adapted, would you recommend just the flavouring be swapped out or can I add lemon zest?
Thanks!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes you can adapt this recipe in the same way to make lemon by subbing out extract and adding in lost of lemon zest 🙂 I would use full eggs instead of just whites for a lemon cake.
sana says
Swt......Thank you for the Recipe, I really love White cakes .. can't wait to try this out .
Debbie says
Love your site, so informative and great recipes. But, I also have a question on this white cake why couldn't you use the pasteurized egg white in the batter also would it effect the texture? I love the buttercream recipe using those been using it for some time now. I have having a lot of egg yolks left over when I don't make a lot of custards or curds they end up wasted. Thanks again for your time answering all the questions and posting great recipes. Some day I will attempt a carved cake. Don't have the nerve to do that yet.
The Sugar Geek Show says
You can use pasteurized egg whites if you prefer. One egg white is equal to 1oz of liquid egg whites.
Hailey D says
Hi there,
I’m making my first double barrel in a couple of weeks, would this cake be ok to use for this? I will board and dowel the bottom layer like in your tutorial. Thanks in advance! Cake looks amaze!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes, any recipe other than the WASC can be used for stacking
B says
H there,
I am one of those WASC junkies and have to do a wedding cake this weekend - I would really like to branch out an try a nice white cakes from scratch. I understand the weight of the measurements, but how do a measure the tsp? (e.g. how would i know what 4.58 tsp baking powder is)
Maybe I should stick with the WASC on this one to ensure it turns out right?
The Sugar Geek Show says
A tsp is a tsp, I don't go by weight. Just follow the tips in the directions for the scratch cake to come out right. It's really all about the ingredients being room temp or even slightly warm and following the mixing directions.
Miriam says
Hi!
First off...I LOVE THIS RECIPE!
You mentioned freezing in the earlier comments. Do you mean freezing the batter or baked cake?
Would butter based batter that are frozen be ruined after freezing?
The Sugar Geek Show says
Freezing the baked cakes
Sneha says
I tried this recipe last evening and oh wow wow wow!!!!!!! I have been using a white cake recipe that I absolutely love but it’s quite a pain to make. This recipe is now my go to recipe for white cake! It’s soft, melt in your mouth and oh so easy to make. Thank you for sharing this.
Gina says
Hi! Do you know what the weight of the egg white would be? I have some saved in the freezer, but can’t remeber how many are in the container.
The Sugar Geek Show says
one egg white is 1 oz 🙂
Jodi says
Hi Liz, off the back of this answer, do you use medium eggs to get 1oz egg white? I use large eggs for pretty much everything and decided to weigh the white and it's between 1.25 and 1.75oz. I've started weighing my whites to 6oz (6 egg whites) and my cakes taste MUUUUUCH better 🙂 xx
The Sugar Geek Show says
Interesting. My egg white do weigh about 1oz. Sometimes a tad more but def not 1.75. A whole egg typically weighs 1.67 oz. Are you sure you weren't using x-tra large eggs?
Jodi Morgan says
The eggs I use are classed as Large but it's possible they're top end because they are pretty big. I'm in the UK so not sure if sizing is different here? I'll have to weigh the whole egg to see! (Didn't get an alert you'd replied! Sorry)
The Sugar Geek Show says
One egg white weighs roughly 1 ounce so you can guesstimate how big they are if you weigh one
gilliane says
Hi Liz, If I use this recipe as a base for Oreo cake, do I need to adjust the amount of the flour? I'm going to fold in crushed oreos to the batter. By the way, I tried your Strawberry cake recipe for cupcakes & it was the best, my cupcakes had perfect domes and it was delicious. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.
The Sugar Geek Show says
You can add up to 1/4 cup of dry ingredients and it not affect the cake 🙂
gilliane says
Thank you, the cake turned out great and tasty!
Connie Peck says
I love, love white cakes. I plain to bake this soon. It's looks really tastee!!
Maja V says
hi Liz,
In my homecountry (Belgium) AP-flour is not known.
Here we have baking flour to prepare for example bisquit, cake,...and we add potatostarch when we want to change the density and 'souplesse'of the cake.
Can you explain me what's so different between flour and AP flour(what are the additives)?
thx!
The Sugar Geek Show says
I don't know what the exact flour is in your country but here AP flour is all-purpose flour with nothing added. Used for most generic baking
Julie T. says
I am living for these comments and questions. lol. but more than that, I have been looking for an amazing white cake recipe and I cannot wait to try this. 😉
Amrita says
Hi Liz! Love your work ?I had a query regarding storing the cake. Once the cake is baked and warm you cling wrap it and store it in the fridge? What would be the shelf life of the cake? How many days in advance can I store my cake, without being dry and retaining the moisture.The reason I’m asking is cos I’m a novice home baker and I struggle with time management.
The Sugar Geek Show says
You can bake, wrap as soon as they are cool enough to handle and freeze them until you need to use them. This actually makes them moister. Don't freeze for more than a couple of weeks though or they will dry out
Shabna Anwar says
Hi,
Thank you for the good information you provided differentiating between yellow and white cakes. I am glad to get such a wonderful recipe, will soon try it within this week. I always wish to make white cakes and now it is going to happen. Even I prefer weights than cups.? For buttercream frosting you have written 1 cup of egg whites. Can you tell me in that in weight or how many eggs need yo be taken. Thank you so much. You are a wonderful person with sweet n wonderful recipes ?
The Sugar Geek Show says
In this cake the egg whites weigh the same as water so 8oz 🙂
Charlotte Schoeffler says
I am planning to use your recipe for making a wedding cake. My bottom layer is a 12 x 2 inch pan. Does this recipe work well for this size cake pan? Thank you!
The Sugar Geek Show says
Yes you can use any size cake pan