I use this white cake as the base for many other cake flavors. It’s the PERFECT cake with a soft texture, wonderful vanilla flavor, and tastes incredible with creamy vanilla buttercream on top. Cake flour, egg whites, and sour cream are the secrets to the best texture. This cake recipe is the base for my burnt sugar caramel cake, coconut cake, strawberry cake and pistachio cake, too!
Let’s start the day the only way we know how: with a buttery white cake.
Why This is my Best White Cake Recipe
This white cake recipe is adapted from my perfect vanilla cupcakes, a reader favorite. The cake is my definition of *cake perfection* and has become one of the most popular cake recipes on my website. Here’s why:
- Soft & airy crumb
- Moist, but not eggy
- Pure sweet flavor
- Stick-to-your-fork tender
- Completely from scratch
- Easy & approachable recipe
I love this cake so much that I used it as the base for several other cake recipes I have published including espresso chocolate chip cake, pineapple coconut cake, cookies and cream cake, and the others mentioned above. I even reduced the quantity of cake batter down to make the perfect 1 layer pineapple upside down cake.
White Cake Success Tips
- Cream the Butter: To achieve a good rise, properly cream the butter and sugar together. We have a crutch of baking powder and soda, but the recipe begins with that very first and imperative step: beating the butter and sugar together until creamy.
- Egg Whites: Use ONLY egg whites. No yolks. Not only will using only egg whites give us a pristine white cake, it will ensure that the crumb is not weighed down by the fat in egg yolks. Think about it: lighter confections such as marshmallows and angel food cakes only require egg whites. Same story here.
- Sour Cream: Sour cream is the cake’s security blanket; it keeps everything moist. It plays the same important role in coffee cake, too.
- Cake Flour: Cake flour is almost 30x finer than all-purpose flour. Using it is a surefire way to achieve a delicate and delicious texture. It’s sold in the baking aisle and you can use the rest of the box in any of these recipes that use cake flour including this popular confetti cake.
- Room Temperature: Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature. When ingredients are the same temperature, they bind together more readily than if you had some cold and some warmer ingredients. Colder ingredients, especially egg whites, will produce a thicker batter and, since it’s cold, will take longer to bake. This changes everything.
To summarize, make sure you’re creaming the butter and sugar together properly, all your ingredients are the same temperature and you use egg whites, sour cream, and cake flour. The result is an ultra-light cake with buttery vanilla flavor, just like the kind you find at a bakery or from a box mix. But it’s all made from scratch in your very own kitchen. ♥
White Cake Decoration
While the ingredients in the cake batter don’t leave any room for substitutions, we can have some fun with a variety of frostings and cake pans. I prefer vanilla frosting, which I include in the recipe below. But I encourage you to play around with chocolate buttercream, rainbow chip frosting, or chocolate cream cheese frosting. For a lighter, less sweet option, I love pairing this cake with whipped frosting (pictured below). Each of these frostings are absolutely remarkable on this lovely cake. The vanilla frosting makes a lot, so expect a thick layer between the cakes.
9×13-inch pan: Want to bake a sheet cake instead? Follow my recipe note. A single layer white cake is easier to prepare, decorate, and serve!
I even used this exact cake recipe for Elmo cake and added chocolate chips for Cookie Monster cake! It’s such a versatile cake and always receives compliments from taste testers and party goers.
You can also frost this cake with whipped frosting:
PrintFavorite White Layer Cake
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: serves 10-12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This white cake recipe is buttery and moist with the fluffiest crumb and creamiest vanilla buttercream. The tricks are to use cake flour, egg whites, and sour cream.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/2 cups (295g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 and 3/4 cups (350g) granulated sugar
- 5 large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, at room temperature*
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (yes, Tbsp!)
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk, at room temperature*
Vanilla Frosting
- 1 and 1/4 cups (282g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 5 cups (600g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (or use clear imitation vanilla extract for stark white frosting)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- sprinkles for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease two 9-inch round cake pans, line with parchment paper rounds, then grease the parchment paper. Parchment paper helps the cakes seamlessly release from the pans. (If it’s helpful, see this parchment paper rounds for cakes video & post.)
- Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the butter on high speed until smooth and creamy—about 1 minute. Add the sugar and beat on high speed for 2 minutes until creamed together. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Add the egg whites. Beat on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes. Then beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients until just incorporated. With the mixer still running on low, slowly pour in the milk until combined. Do not overmix. You may need to whisk it all by hand to make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour batter evenly into cake pans. Bake for around 24-25 minutes or until the cakes are baked through. To test for doneness, insert a toothpick into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it is done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire rack. The cakes must be completely cool before frosting and assembling.
- Make the frosting: In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy—about 2 minutes. Add confectioners’ sugar, cream, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 full minutes. Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin, more cream if frosting is too thick, or a pinch more of salt if frosting is way too sweet.
- Assemble and frost: First, using a large serrated knife, slice a thin layer off the tops of the cakes to create a flat surface. Discard (or crumble over ice cream!). Place 1 cake layer on your cake stand, cake turntable, or serving plate. Evenly cover the top with frosting. Top with 2nd layer and spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides. Decorate top of cake with sprinkles, if desired. Slice, serve, enjoy!
- Cover leftover cake tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The cake layers can be baked, cooled, and covered tightly at room temperature overnight. Likewise, the frosting can be prepared then covered and refrigerated overnight. Assemble and frost the cake the next day when you are ready to serve. Frosted cake can be frozen up to 2 months if you have room in the freezer. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-Inch Round Cake Pans | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Cooling Rack | Cake Turntable | Straight Spatula (for frosting) | Round Cake Carrier (for storage)
- Amount of Batter: If it’s helpful for using different size cake pan sizes and conversions, this recipe yields about 7 cups of cake batter.
- Whole milk and sour cream are strongly recommended for the best taste and texture. A full fat plain yogurt would work instead, though the cake may not be as light. Same goes with a lower fat milk.
- 9×13-inch Pan: Simply pour the batter into a greased and lightly floured 9×13-inch pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cupcakes: My vanilla cupcakes recipe is essentially this same recipe, only halved. If you want more cupcakes, you can follow this white cake batter recipe and use the baking instructions for the cupcakes.
Here are my perfect vanilla cupcakes. Today’s white cake is just as soft & fluffy.
Hi, I plan on making this cake for my daughter’s 13th birthday this weekend. Is it possible to make this as a 2 layer 8” cake?
Hi Kathy! Yes, you can use two 8 inch pans instead of 9 inch pans. Bake time may be a minute or two longer. Enjoy!
Hi Sally. I made your vanilla cupcakes recently and they were lovely and fluffy. Tonight I made the white cake in a 9×13 inch pan and it was soft and moist but it came out very flat – only 2cm tall! Any idea why? Thanks.
Hi Georgia, Did the cake not rise and was dense? It’s not a very tall cake. If it was dense then the post How to Prevent a Dry or Dense Cake should help you troubleshoot. I hope this helps!
Hiv salt
I want to make a 6 ” layered cake but I only have 1 -6″ pan
Will the cake batter stay good while cooking one layer at a time?
Thank you
Meg
Hi Meg, absolutely. Leave the remaining cake batter covered at room temperature while waiting for the other layers to bake. Enjoy!
Hi, can all or part of the butter be substituted with canola oil? Thank you!
Hi Ashley! It’s best to stick with all butter for this cake recipe. Enjoy!
Hi!! Can the vanilla extract be substituted with almond extract?
Hi Ciara, we don’t recommend using all almond extract. For an almond cake, we recommend using 1.5 teaspoons almond extract and 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract. Enjoy!
Sorry but this is the worst cake I’ve ever made, yes it’s fluffy what there is of it but it’s as flat as a pancake, I did everything that was in the recipe, followed it to a t, all room temp ingredients etc, so disappointing but I would not recommend this
Hi Sally, I just made the two-layer white cake version. The taste was great but the layers weren’t as high as I expected, and had lots of air holes. What might I do different next time? I followed the instructions and notes, and have been baking a long time, so I’m not sure how to improve for next time.
Hi Bonnie! Over-mixing your cake batter can lead to air bubbles and a more dense crumb. Make sure to only mix until combined! These tips for preventing a dense cake may be helpful for the future as well. Thank you so much for giving this cake recipe a try!
Hi! Wanting to make a small cake using 6 inch rounds – maybe 4 layers. Would this recipe make enough batter for my smaller cake?
Hi Mattie! We suggest following the recipe in this 6 inch cakes post for a three layer 6 inch vanilla cake instead. Or you can reference our cake pan sizes and conversions guide to find out how much batter you would need to adjust this white cake recipe for a 4 layer cake. Happy baking!
Hello! Can I substitute the pure vanilla extract with pure almond extract? And do I use the same amount? Thanks!
Hi Mary Jane, for an almond cake, we recommend using 1.5 teaspoons almond extract and 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract. Enjoy!
I made this cake this morning. There were no instructions regarding greasing the pan. I put olive oil in the bottom and the sides of the tin and wipe it down. Then I put parchment paper in. However, the bottom of each cake was dark. What should I have done?
Hi Mary! We recommend lightly greasing the pans (we usually use cooking spray) and lightly flouring for this recipe – see step 1. If there was too much oil in your pans that could cause extra browning.
Do you do anything different for high altitude? I live in Wyoming and we are at about 6000 feet.
Thanks,
Merridy
Hi Merridy, I wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. I know some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Hi Sally,
I want to make your Favorite White Cake recipe but I have to bake gluten free. I normally use King Arthur Gluten Free Measure for Measure Flour which is a 1:1 substitute for regular AP wheat flour, I have never been able to find any gluten free cake flour. Should I use your recipe for homemade cake flour substitute with the my gluten free flour, or just use the GF flour as is to make this cake? Thank You!
I want to make your Lemon Blueberry cake using a vanilla cake and lemon curd for the middle in place of lemon cake. I’m wondering if I can use a springform pan, since this is all I have for a smaller pan size, and will the cake be thick enough to hold the blueberries?
Hi Miranda! You can add blueberries to this batter -we recommend 1 cup of fresh blueberries. You can use a 9 inch springform pan – we would bake it in two batches for two layers instead of baking it all at once. You can leave the second half of the batter sitting at room temperature while the first bakes. Would love to hear how it goes!
This cake is everything I was looking for. When I was licking the batter from the bowl while the cakes were in the oven I knew it was going to be good, and as soon as they came out of the oven there was a creamy vanilla scent that wafted through the air, which still happens two days later when I take the cake dome off for another slice. When the cakes were still warm and cooling I levelled them just so I could have a little piece and the flavour and texture blew me away. So soft and fluffy! I frosted it with a raspberry buttercream and served with fresh raspberries, and I know I’ll be making this one again. Absolutely perfect!
This recipe was easy, and the cake baked very well…but it didn’t have a good deep vanilla taste. I used McCormick, a new bottle, and the full amount of 1 tablespoon. From the description, I was expecting a very recognizable vanilla taste, hoping for depth something like a good vanilla ice cream…cuz that was the request of the little kid recipient-to-be.
Can I just add an additional teaspoon or even 2 of the liquid vanilla? Would it improve the strength if I used vanilla paste instead or or in ADDITION to the McCormick liquid? I’ve never mixed vanilla with the sugar so would THAT be an additional move? Thanks very much…I have another request for a vanilla cake coming up, so am wondering now ….
Thanks so much for any information or suggestions you can give me….
Hi Martha, thank you for trying the white cake recipe. To add more vanilla flavor, you could use vanilla sugar. You could also add vanilla paste in addition to the vanilla extract (such as 1-2 teaspoons) or add the seeds scraped from 1/2 of a vanilla bean. I wouldn’t add more liquid vanilla extract.
I made this recipe this week with “regular” flour and it turned out really well! Delicious!! We topped it with your vanilla buttercream recipe! 🙂
Absolute favorite Cake recipe!! I am making 3 servings for my nephews birthday this weekend. Quick question, can I use liquid egg whites? Not the egg substitute just the preseparated egg whites? I’d really rather not have 15 egg yolks sitting around…
Hi Emily! Yes, you can use carton egg whites. The carton should give measurements for substituting for real egg whites.
Hi Sally! Would you recommend doubling this recipe for a 12×18 pan?
Hi Jennifer! You can reference this handy Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions Guide to find out how much cake batter you’ll need for that pan.
I’m planning on making a blue and red swirl cake for my son’s Spiderman Birthday. Will food coloring mess up this recipe or do you have a specific coloring to reccomend or another cake recipe that will take coloring better?
Hi Amber, this cake will color nicely. We always suggest using gel food coloring as you need to use less to get vibrant colors (adding lots of liquid food coloring could alter the texture of the cakes). Let us know how it goes!
Hi, Sally! Will it be ok if I make this cake and just put it into 3 6″ cake pans?
Hi Zoe, there is too much batter for a 6 inch cake. Use my 6 inch cake recipe instead, which is a lot like this cake batter. (And the cake is pretty soft, too.)
I’m going to be making this for a 9×13″ cake, and your notes are clear as to just adding the batter of 1 recipe to the 9×13 pan….7 cups. But I also looked at your article about batter/pan conversion….and there it lists a 9×13″ pan as 14 cups of batter. Does that mean that the full volume to the top of the pan is 14c…and so you wouldn’t ever put that much INTO a pan?
And then if that were the case, the correct volume of this batter, 7 cups, would be the right amount for a single normal nicely risen 9×13 layer? Sorry, maybe I am creating my own confusion by “too much information”!! Thanks for any response back…Martha T
Hi Martha, the amount listed in the Cake Pan Sizes & Conversions guide is the total amount of batter each pan holds, but you usually only fill cake pans halfway (unless otherwise noted in the recipe you are using). So you’re correct — the 7 cups of batter here will be perfect for a 9×13 pan, filling it about half way. Hope this helps!
Oh. My. Goodness!! 🙂 I made this cake yesterday and had it in the fridge overnight and ate it today! It was the most delicious white cake I have ever made! Wonderful flavor(no egg taste since the yolks are omitted) and the perfect texture-not too light and not too dense. I made it into a sprinkle cake and added 1/2 cup of rainbow jimmies to the batter and it was beautiful. Thank you for this wonderful recipe!
I made and assembled the cake with icing a day in advance. It is refrigerated and I will serve it tomorrow. Should I sit it out for 30 minutes beforehand to come to room temp? Thanks!
Hi Cassie! Yes, that is a good idea to let the cake warm a bit before serving. Hope it’s a hit!
Hi Sally! I made this but mine turned out really dry. (I’m a beginner baker) Any thoughts? Did I overcook it ( the bottom was very dark brown color…)?
Hi Aarti! It could have definitely been over-baked, especially if it was dark brown on the bottom. There’s a chance your oven could run hot; you could try turning it down a bit next time or buying an inexpensive in-oven thermometer. And as always, keep an eye on cakes in the oven to make sure they don’t over bake. Here’s a post about preventing dry cakes as well!
Bar none, the absolute best vanilla cake I’ve ever made/eaten! Room temperature ingredients make all the difference. Will be using this recipe for all future vanilla birthday cake requests!
Am very anxious to try this, it sounds delicious! My son has an egg allergy and I usually use a fake egg substitute (flax egg). Any other better suggestions or allowances for this alteration? Thanks so much!
Hi Shannon! We haven’t tested any egg substitutes in this recipe. Would love to hear how it goes for you!
This. Cake. Is. Excellent! Thank you, Sally, for such a delicious recipe. For my preference, this hit the spot on tenderness, fluffiness, and taste (which to me means non-eggy). And the frosting is excellent as well! Archived as my #1 white cake recipe. Yum!
And on a side note: Your recipes have gradually been taking over my notebook of favorites. Sincerely enjoying how you cook, bake, write and educate. It’s a fun site to explore. 🙂
Cake was good but dense. Any suggestions?
Hi Jill, dense cake can be caused for a few different reasons. Our How to Prevent Dry and Dense Cakes might help you pinpoint the culprit. We’re glad it was delicious nonetheless!
This is my 3rd time making this beauty. Instead of using 2 9in pans I used 3. I want my layers to be a bit on the thinner side. Just took them out of the oven. I plan to put a maple flavored apple compote in between the layers and frost it with a lightly cinnamon SMBC frosting. Everything is ready to go. I’m just waiting on my layers to cool. I can’t wait to eat a piece. Even though my layers are thinner they look FLUFFY! And my batter? It was chef kiss perfection!! Hope you have a great Valentine’s Day Sally. All the best to you and yours… ❤
Sally,
Could you please advise how to incorporate a little strawberry swirl into this cake? I want to make this for my son for Valentine’s Day. I recently discovered your recipes and have converted your Carrot Cake and Strawberry Cake to Gluten Free and Dairy Free because my son has severe food allergies. They came out so delicious! Thank you so much!
Hi Tamela, We are so happy you have been enjoying the cake recipes. I am just seeing this question now, but we have not tested this cake batter with a strawberry swirl. You can definitely use strawberry frosting, or add strawberry sauce between the layers. Let us know if you try anything!
Hello Sally,
This recipe looks perfect. I am baking a 3 layer gender reveal cake for my son and daughter-in-law and will use 3- 8 inch pans. Will your buttercream recipe be enough or should I make extra?
Kind regards,
Lorraine
Hi Lorraine, how fun! We would make extra just to be sure – 1.5 should be enough or 2x will give you more than enough.