With its outstanding vanilla flavor, pillowy soft crumb, and creamy vanilla buttercream, this is truly the best vanilla cake I’ve ever had. And after 1 bite, I guarantee you’ll agree.
Out of all the cake recipes on my website, there’s a glaring absence. There’s white cake with a pristine soft crumb, vanilla naked cake with a flavorful tight crumb, and checkerboard cake with a whimsical design.
What about a classic vanilla layer cake draped in vanilla buttercream? I already have homemade vanilla cupcakes and a vanilla 6 inch cake covered and now in all its crowning glory (and after plenty recipe testing catastrophes), I present you with cake perfection:
This is the best vanilla cake I’ve ever had.
What Makes it the Best Vanilla Cake?
Let’s count the ways!
- Soft, light crumb from cake flour
- Fluffy from extra egg whites
- Buttery and cakey from creamed butter
- Stick-to-your-fork moist from eggs & buttermilk
- Extra flavor from pure vanilla extract
Not to mention its versatility: This vanilla cake batter is strong enough for shaped cakes, tiered cakes (see the slight variation in my homemade wedding cake recipe), and holds up beautifully under fondant. Use this batter for vanilla cupcakes, Bundt cake, or even piñata cake. It’s classy enough for a wedding celebration, but unassuming enough for a big family dinner.
Behind the Vanilla Cake Recipe
After years of cake successes and flops, I’m confident in this homemade vanilla cake. During my recipe testing, I combined my white cake recipe and naked cake recipe. These are two reader favorites and I knew they’d be the best starting point. At first there were too many eggs and I quickly learned sifting cake flour was NOT doing any favors.
You need the following power ingredients:
- Cake Flour: If you want a fluffy and soft bakery-style vanilla cake, cake flour is the secret. The cake will be denser and heavier using all-purpose flour.
- Eggs & 2 additional egg whites: 3 whole eggs provide structure, moisture, and richness. 2 extra egg whites keep the cake light and airy. I don’t recommend using 4 whole eggs; stick to the 3 egg & 2 egg white combination.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: Remember the differences in baking powder vs baking soda and why we use both in some recipes? Using enough baking powder to give these layers height gave the cake a bitter aftertaste. Baking soda allows us to use less baking powder.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk is an acidic ingredient and baking soda requires an acid to work. Plus buttermilk yields an EXTRA moist cake crumb. See recipe note about the alternative.
For more prominent vanilla flavor, use homemade vanilla extract. (What a fun DIY gift!) This vanilla cake batter is moderately thick and fits perfectly in 3 9-inch cake pans. We actually use the same exact batter to make snickerdoodle cake.
Do you know how to level a cake? Let me help. It’s really easy. You can use a fancy cake leveler, but I use a serrated knife. Carefully slice off the tippy top of the cooled cake layers, creating a flat surface. Leveling cakes doesn’t require a ruler, talent, or any mathematical equations. Instead, just use your eyes, hands, and a knife.
Leveling the cake layers promises a straight and sturdy layer cake.
How Much Frosting Between Cake Layers?
I always eyeball the amount of frosting between cake layers, but I measured when I decorated the pictured cake. The vanilla buttercream recipe below yields about 6 cups of frosting. I recommend you use about 1.5 heaping cups of buttercream between each cake layer and reserve the last 3 cups for outside the cake. If you are going to add a filling such as raspberry cake filling, you’ll use less frosting between the layers.
Cake Decoration Inspiration: For a simple look, stick with vanilla buttercream, fresh berries, and mint sprigs. You can also decorate with chocolate buttercream (I recommend the same amount from this piñata cake), rainbow sprinkles, or even beautiful buttercream flowers.
Homemade Vanilla Cake Success Tips
Learn from my mistakes and bake the best cake on the 1st try!
- Follow the recipe closely. Use each power ingredient listed.
- Use room temperature ingredients. The batter mixes together evenly when all the cake ingredients are roughly the same temperature. This also reduces the risk of over-mixing and over-baking. Set out your ingredients 1 hour before beginning. Read more about why room temperature ingredients are important.
- Line your cake pans with parchment. Place your cake pans on a large sheet of parchment paper. Trace the bottom of the cake pan with a pencil. Cut parchment paper into rounds. Grease the pan and the parchment paper. Parchment paper rounds guarantee seamless removal from the pan because the cake slides right out.
- Cool cake layers completely. I’ve tried taking shortcuts by assembling a layer cake with semi-warm cake layers. Well, the frosting completely melts and causes the entire cake to collapse. Make sure each layer is cool– refrigerate or freeze the layers if you need to!
- Refrigerate decorated cake. After frosting the cake, place it in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour. This is optional, but it sets the frosting and cake layers. You’ll get beautifully clean slices because the crumbs are cool and tight.
Great read: Check out Tessa’s Top 10 Best Layer Cake Tips.
Finding the perfect vanilla cake recipe requires a celebration. Luckily we have cake!!!
More Classic Cake Recipes
And here is my perfected vanilla cupcakes recipe.
PrintBest Vanilla Cake
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours (includes cooling)
- Yield: 12-14 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
With its outstanding vanilla flavor, pillowy soft crumb, and creamy vanilla buttercream, this is truly the best vanilla cake I’ve ever had. Make sure you read through the recipe and recipe notes before beginning. This recipe yields approximately 8 cups of batter which is helpful if you need this batter for different cake pan sizes and conversions.
Ingredients
- 3 and 2/3 cups (433g) cake flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs + 2 additional egg whites, at room temperature*
- 1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract (yes, Tbsp!)
- 1 and 1/2 cups (360ml) buttermilk, at room temperature*
Vanilla Buttercream
- 1 and 1/2 cups (340g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 5 and 1/2 cups (650g) confectioners’ sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) whole milk or heavy cream
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease three 9-inch 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.)
- Make the cake: Whisk the cake flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together. Set aside.
- Using a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a silicone spatula as needed. Beat in the 3 eggs, 2 egg whites, and vanilla extract on high speed until combined, about 2 minutes. (Mixture will look curdled as a result of the egg liquid and solid butter combining.) Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl as needed. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients just until combined. With the mixer still running on low, pour in the buttermilk and mix just until combined. 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. Weigh them to ensure accuracy, if desired. Bake for around 23-26 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’s done. Allow cakes to cool completely in the pans set on a wire cooling 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, milk, vanilla extract, and salt with the mixer running on low. Increase to high speed and beat for 2 minutes. Add more confectioners’ sugar if frosting is too thin, more milk if frosting is too thick, or an extra pinch of salt if frosting is too sweet.
- Assemble and decorate: 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 about 1 and 1/2 cups of frosting. Top with 2nd cake layer and evenly cover the top with about 1 and 1/2 cups of frosting. Top with the third cake layer. Spread the remaining frosting all over the top and sides. I use and recommend an icing spatula to apply the frosting.
- Refrigerate cake for at least 1 hour before slicing. This helps the cake hold its shape when cutting.
- 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. Let the frosting sit at room temperature to slightly soften for 10 minutes before assembling and frosting. Frosted cake or unfrosted cake layers can be frozen up to 2-3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before decorating/serving. See how to freeze cakes for detailed instructions.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-inch Round Cake Pans | Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Silicone Spatula | Kitchen Scale (optional) | Cooling Rack | Large Icing Spatula | Cake Turntable | Bench Scraper | Cake Carrier (for storing and transporting)
- 9×13 Inch Cake: I recommend using my white cake batter instead. Both use similar ingredients and produce a deliciously light vanilla cake. See recipe notes for the 9×13 inch version.
- 2 Layer Cake: I recommend using my 2 layer white cake batter instead. Both use similar ingredients and produce a deliciously light vanilla cake.
- Bundt Cake: This vanilla cake batter will fit into a 10-12 cup or larger Bundt pan. I’m unsure of the exact bake time (likely around an hour), but use a toothpick to test for doneness. Same oven temperature.
- Cupcakes: Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake at 350°F (177°C) for 19-21 minutes. Yields about 3 dozen. Or try my vanilla cupcakes recipe.
- Cake Flour: To prevent a dry-tasting cake, make sure you are spooning and leveling the flour or weighing it. For the best results, I strongly recommend cake flour. You can find it in the baking aisle and I have many more recipes using it. Usually a homemade cake flour substitute works, but this recipe uses far too much cake flour and the homemade substitute is not ideal.
- Eggs: 3 whole eggs provide structure, moisture, and richness. 2 extra egg whites keep the cake light and airy. I don’t recommend using 4 whole eggs; stick to the 3 egg & 2 egg white combination. Here are recipes using leftover egg yolks.
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a DIY sour milk substitute. Add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar or lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup. Then add enough whole milk to the same measuring cup until it reaches 1 and 1/2 cups. (In a pinch, lower fat or nondairy milks work for this soured milk, but the cake won’t taste as moist or rich.) Stir it around and let sit for 5 minutes. The homemade “buttermilk” will be somewhat curdled and ready to use in the recipe.
- Why is everything at room temperature? All refrigerated items should be at room temperature so the batter mixes together easily and evenly. Read more about why room temperature ingredients are important.
- Want chocolate frosting instead? I recommend the recipe/amount of chocolate frosting I use for Piñata Cake.
- Sprinkle Cake: To make a sprinkle cake, fold about 3/4 cup (135g) of sprinkles into the cake batter. Avoid nonpareils (the little balls), which tend to bleed their color. Or try this confetti birthday cake, which is quite similar to this recipe.
This was amazing!! I am an awful baker and for some reason my cakes don’t do something right every time I make them, but this one worked fine! It came out light and fluffy, was easy to make, and the frosting was amazing! Thanks so much!!!
Just made this cake yesterday for a party! It was my first cake and it was a hit with everyone there. Thank you so much for these awesome recipes, they are always spot on.
Hey sally! Thank you so much for this recipe!
I wanted to make a strawberry shortcake style cake. I layered your delicious vanilla cake and frosting then put some strawberry coulis on with a little bit of whipped cream so it would still have some of the classic ingredients! So delicious and my family devoured it! Thank you so much!
Could I make this as a one-layer rectangular sheet cake?
Hi Mikaela, see recipe notes for 9×13 inch cake directions.
Awesome recipe Sally! We have tried your recipes and we absolutely love them! Try out our recipes as well, and let us know if you like them at heartycookbook.com! :))
Hello Sally,
I just want to confirm. I’m making a 2 layer 2 tier square cake. 8×8 bottom tier ans 6×6 top tier. Did you say you reccomend a different recipe of layered/tiered cakes? I was a little confused by that.
Thanks for your time 🙂
Hi Sally, this batter holds up pretty well as a tiered cake. It’s actually close to what I use for this homemade wedding cake recipe.
i made this cakeor. my Aunts birthday and was very pleased of the result!!the cake was super soft a d moist. It is definitely a croes pleaser and has become my go to recipe for birthdays. Highly recommended five stars all the way
OMG! Thank you for these recipe. I used this recipe to make a birthday cake for my husband & it came out absolutely lovely. I couldn’t find cake flour when l went to the store, so l used the substitute you provided (all purpose flour + corn starch). It was my 1st time making vanilla buttermilk cake and my whole family enjoyed it. Still relishing on the leftover. Thanks a lot!
Hi Sally. I’m in Canada (not sure where you are) and I am having trouble finding just Cake Flour. All I can find is Cake and Pastry flour. I’ve read that pastry flour is way too light and will not turn out. The brand here is Robin Hood Cake and Pastry flour. Do you know how this will work? Thanks!!
Hi Colleen, if you can’t find cake flour near you, you can make your own Homemade Cake Flour Substitute at home. Happy baking!
My 9 year old asked to make her own cake after watching nailed it. Your recipe was easy for her to follow, through enough for a beginner and turned out great!!!
I was so excited to try this recipe and was happy to see the weight measurements provided, I love to double check my ingredients using my kitchen scale, I measured out the cake flour in cups but only got 400grams so added extra to reach 440gr. I wish I hadn’t because the cake was a bit too dry and dense. In hindsight the batter did look thicker than in your photo. I also added 3/4 cup of sprinkles, maybe that dried the cake up too much?
I’ll probably try the recipe again using less flour.
I made this vanilla cake as a 3 layer 6 in cake and 12 cupcakes. It worked beautifully. The cake was by far the best I’ve made so far. I was extremely proud of it and can’t wait to use the recipe again!
Hi sally, i only have 7″x2 pan is this possible to still bake this and maybe give it more time to bake in the oven?
Hi Sally,
Thanks for this great recipe.
I’d like to make the frosting for another (smaller) cake. Can I half the frosting recipe?
Hi Shahla, you can absolutely halve the frosting. Enjoy!
Delicious!! Easy to make and was so moist and light. ABC is too sweet for my taste and this cake was on the sweet side so I used ermine frosting instead. Absolutely perfect!
Hi Sally! I’ve been eyeing up this cake recipe and your SMBC recipe to use for my very first(!) layered birthday cake! The cake pans I have are 3, 8”x3” round pans. The cakes would be a little bit taller, but is there any reason why this recipe wouldn’t work with those pans?
Also, would your SMBC recipe produce enough to layer and crumb coat the cake in the above configuration with plain white, then make two additional colours to ombré the cake and put swirls on top?
Thanks a bunch, and Happy New Year!
Hi Jamie, Yes you can use your 8 inch pans. The bake time may be a minute or two longer because your cakes will be thicker, so keep an eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness. The Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe yields enough to fill and frost a three layer 9-inch cake with just enough frosting. If you wish to have extra to decorate we recommend making a separate half batch instead of increasing the amount in one batch – see the recipe notes for details.
Hi Sally, what do you suggest for the batter if I only have 1 9inch pan, or only 1 pan fits in my oven at a time. Leave the rest of the batter in the fridge until each layer is done baking on its own and I can reuse the pan? Or room temp?
Hi Hailey, You can try baking one layer at a time and leaving the remaining batter loosely covered at room temperature until ready to bake.
I tried it in my birthday and it’s great
This cake tastes sooooooooo good! I made the recipe as written, but I only had 8 inch pans, so my layers were tall yet still fluffy. The cake is sweet (obvs) so I used whipped cream and strawberry jam for the layers and an Italian meringue buttercream for a crumb coat/naked look. It was beautiful, delicious, and perfect for my daughter’s bday. I’m definitely going to make this again and again!
Very good cake! Great texture and very fluffy! However, the frosting is a little too sweet.
Made this as a birthday cake, turned out great! I was worried might not be enough frosting, but it was the perfect amount. Thanks for the wonderful recipe!
Hi
I was going to make the funfetti but also want to make a surprise cake which I found has to be 4 layers. Do you think this would work!
Hi Bridgid, This recipe as written would not be enough batter to divide between 4 layers. You can try this Pinata Cake instead!
Thank you so much! I’ll be making it Wednesday so fingers crossed 🙂
I made your recipe for the first time today and it turned out perfectly! Three beautiful rounds baked to perfection in exactly 23 minutes! I have never had so moist and fluffy a cake before.
I substituted for the cake flour per your specs – AP flour + arrowroot flour. Worked really well. Next time I want to make this recipe with saffron. Any guidelines as to when to add it in would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. It is definitely a keeper.
Hi sally,
I made this and it turned out perfect but it needs some tweaks. There is a tad of an egg white smell ( a tad) even with one TBSP of high quality vanilla extract. Next time, I am going to add a teaspoon of vanilla bean paste! Along with that 1tbsp of extract. Also, I might wipp the egg whites with some of the granulated sugar and some of the vanilla extract separately and then fold it in at the end. It will keep the cake fluffy and moist and hopefully helps with this smell issue. 🙂
Edit: I also used 4 cups of powdered sugar in the recipe. And the frosting was still sweet 🙂
Hi Sally,
This cake is absolutely delicious!! And I’m usually not a sweet tooth. I’ve made this recipe in 3x 8x2in (20x5cm) pans. When I stack the layer up after levelling them, the total height is about 9cm. I envisioned it to be about 12cm tall. How can I increase the height? Was thinking maybe putting strawberries between the layers. Would you recommend that? Thank you.
Hi Yvonne, I’m just seeing your comment/question now so my apologies on the delay responding to you. I’m so glad that you love this vanilla cake recipe. Adding fruit to the layers always helps increase the height. I think sliced strawberries would be delicious!
This recipe was actually really good. I’m a beginner and I was able to make it perfectly thanks to your clear direction. The actual cake came out wonderfully. However, the frosting is WAY too sweet in my opinion. Six cups of confectioner sugar made it almost inedible. Almost to the point where I felt sick after eating a small piece. Maybe my tolerance for sugar is low, but my partner said the same thing when he ate it. So everything is really really great. The frosting was just too sweet and it ruined the cake for me. Thank you though for your recipe, I do appreciate your direction, and I think that it would have been awesome had it not been for the amount of sugar.
Hi sally,are whipping cream and heavy cream are the same product?
Hi Bella, This can definitely be confusing! Their difference is in the percentage of milk fat. Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream contain 36% milk fat and whipping cream (without “heavy” in the title!) is a little lighter with 30% milk fat.
They can all be used interchangeably in most recipes, but when it comes to making actual whipped cream– heavy cream/heavy whipping cream will hold its shape longer.
Hi! This looks delish! I’m wanting to bake and freeze a vanilla cake and then cut and mold the cake together to create a lizard cake shape for my sons 4th birthday! Do you think this cake would act ok to freeze and shape? Thank you!
Yes that should work, Lindsey. Sounds like an amazing cake – have fun!
Hello Sally,
This recipe is a winner! Made this today for my daughter’s birthday and it was a big hit so thank you! I loved the texture and softness of the cake and frosting. It was truly melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness! My daughter enjoyed it, too, and said that it was the best cake she’s ever had. Yay! We never have to buy store-bought cake again! I’m going to try some other cake recipes of yours–they look great, too.
One thing’s for sure–this is not only the best vanilla cake you’ve ever had but it’s also the best vanilla cake I’ve had, too! 🙂
Thank you so much for the positive feedback, Penny! I’m thrilled it was a hit for your daughter’s birthday. Would love to know what you decide to try next!
What is the difference between the 2 different vanilla cake recipes? Which one is lighter and fluffier?
Hi Debbie! Are you referring to my white cake recipe? It’s a little lighter in texture than this vanilla cake. It’s also a bit smaller, too.