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.
I love the taste of this cake! but mine always ends up dry 🙁 I have made it a couple times now, what can I do to prevent this from happening??
Hi Omega, over baking is usually the culprit for overly dry cakes. For next time, try taking it out a minute or two before you typically do and use a toothpick to ensure it has baked through. We also share some more tips and tricks for preventing dry and dense cakes here. Hope these are helpful for next time!
Hi Sally! I’ve made your recipe multiple times now and have had success every time. It’s so delicious! I’ve been asked to make a small wedding cake later this month and would like to use your recipe. I would like to achieve an almost perfectly white cake and have heard that I can use just egg whites (no yolk) to help achieve this. Do you know if I can substitute (2 egg whites = 1 whole egg) for this recipe? If not, do you have a go to recipe? Thank you!
Hi Jessica, we do! We’d recommend following our White Cake recipe instead — we use egg whites only there to give us a pristine white, fluffy cake. Let us know how it turns out for you!
I found this cake too buttery and oily, several other people tasted this cake and felt the same. It was not their favorite and not my favorite. I will use it again but I will make some alterations to balance it out. I will take out some butter and add more vanilla to make it less butter flavor and more vanilla. But this cake is very moist which I do appreciate. I just wouldn’t recommend if you don’t like super buttery, oily cakes. Also I liked the buttercream, it was just a little sweet for my taste but everyone else that had the cake really liked it.
love it so fun
I’ve seen recipes that use a combination of butter and oil for the cakes to make them moist and light – would you recommend this for this cake or stick with full butter?
Hi James! No, do not use oil. Stick with butter for this cake.
This cake came out perfectly- thank you so much! Best vanilla cake I have ever had for sure! Thanks for making our birthday celebration special and delicious! Can’t recommend this recipe enough!
Found this recipe and never looked back. It really is the best vanilla cake recipe!
Hi Sally. What distinguishes this cake from your favorite white cake recipe? How will this differ in taste/texture from the white cake or yellow cake recipes? My dad wants vanilla cake for his birthday and I want to make sure I get it just right. Thanks!
Hi Mike, The white cake is a little lighter in texture than this vanilla cake. It’s also a bit smaller, too.
I am trying to make a 3 layer cake using 8 inch pans. I know that i will need 3 1/2 cups of cake batter in each pan. But I would like to know how any cups does this recipe make? Just so that I make the right amount of batter. Thank you
Hi Carla, This recipe yields *about* 8 cups of batter. We use about 2 and 2/3 cups of batter per layer.
I’m looking to make a 10” cake. Would you suggest doing this recipe 1 1/2 or double and yielding an extra layer?
Hi Jennifer! Here is everything you need to know about converting recipes to different Cake Pan Sizes.
Any downside to adding mini chocolate chips to the batter?
Hi Sharon! You can definitely add mini chocolate chips. We recommend 1 – 1.5 cups.
Hi Sally,
Would I be able to halve this recipe so i can make a small 6” cake. If yes how would I halve the eggs in this recipe??!
Hi Ameera! You can use half this cake batter for 6 inch cakes, but halving it can be a bit tricky. For the eggs you can do 1.5 whole eggs (Our general rule for halving an egg is to crack it open, beat the yolk and white together with a fork, measure the volume (should be a few Tbsp), then use half) and then 1 egg white. Or, you might like our 6 inch vanilla cake recipe instead. The two are similar, but with this larger cake we like to use buttermilk instead of sour cream and whole milk simply because larger cakes tend to become denser quicker and buttermilk helps prevent that. This cake also needs a few egg yolks for structure. Hope this is helpful!
This cake is delicious. I followed everything exactly for the cake and the frosting. So good! It’s not to sweet which is great. I was able to use duck eggs when I made it this weekend and it was even better than the first time!(I used the same amount of eggs)I only wish I could share a photo of what I made here(there is a photo on my Instagram @icemoonphotography) Thank you!
Hi Rachel, thank you so much for your feedback! We’re thrilled this cake was such a hit for you. We always love to see reader photos — feel free to send it to us as sally@sallysbakingaddiction.com. Thank you again for giving this recipe a go!
This is the best vanilla cake I have ever made! We usually make boxed cake with homemade frosting because my homemade cakes have never turned out that good in the past. This is the first time my homemade cake turned out just as fluffy as boxed cake – but it tastes better of course. When adding the buttermilk it was stinky 1 but once mixed in it really works with it.
The buttercream was good – a bit better than the standard buttercream I usually make. I just used regular 2% milk because that is what we always have.
I think the best is in the details. I appreciate all the baking lessons in this recipe :).
Thank you!
I made this cake today, tasted great, but I thought it was a little dry. Most scratch cake you alternate the dry and wet ingredients. Perhaps this would be better for this recipe?
Hi Mary! We didn’t find that necessary for this cake. If your cake is dry, it could have been over-baked. Use proper room temperature butter and other room temperature ingredients and make sure you spoon and level the cake flour next time, too! Here’s an article about preventing dry, dense cake that may be helpful as well.
Hello! My family lovessss this cake and requested it for Easter. I want to make it a few days ahead. Will the cake be okay if it is refrigerated for 2 days or would I need to freeze it? How long can the cake last in the refrigerator before it needs to be eaten? Thanks for your help!
Hi Amal! Cakes can dry out in the fridge, and we don’t recommend freezing whole cakes as the buttercream can crack and separate from the cake. If at all possible we would recommend baking the cake layers ahead of time, keep them covered tightly at room temperature until ready to assemble, and assembling the cake the day of serving (see recipe notes). Otherwise you can tightly cover the assembled cake and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Hi, I’ve made this cake twice now. I love the flavor but it is really heavy. Is there a way to make it lighter & fluffier?
Thanks!
Hi Sarah, Thank you for trying this recipe! Here’s a helpful post on preventing dense cakes for next time.
Can this recipe be adapted into lemon flavored? I have made this one before and it was delicious but my family loves lemon!
Hi Kayte, we haven’t tested a lemon version of this exact recipe, but we recommend trying our lemon cake. (Or you can try replacing some of the vanilla extract for lemon extract and add some lemon zest here.) Let us know what you try!
Hi!
Made this today for my fiances younger sisters birthday and its fantastic. I had to make some substitutions but it worked wonders!
I had to make the buttermilk using 1 cup 2% and 1 tbsp lemon juice. Left for 10 minutes.
I also had to sub more baking powder instead of soda so 4 1/2 tsp total. Worked well!
Cake was so incredibly light and fluffy yet firm enough for decorating in lavender coloured buttercream.
Fantastic recipe!
I just made the layers and the smell and look are excellent. I just have a question. I noticed you add the dry ingredients then add the buttermilk. Being old school I thought you always started and ended with dry ingredients. I’ve always done 1/3 dry, 1/3 liquid and continued being sure to end with dry. Does it make a difference? I’m an old dog but I can learn new tricks! Just wondering the theory behind your process. Will do the frosting after layers cool!
Thanks
Hi Pat, We hope you loved this vanilla cake and thank you so much for asking about the mixing method. In terms of mixing the dry and wet, we’ve found it does not make a huge difference in some cake recipes. Mixing in 1/3 dry, then wet, etc or mixing in half dry, half wet, repeat, OR even adding all of the dry, then all of the wet and beating together. Of course this depends on the recipe, but the method above works wonderfully for this cake!
I used brown butter and subbed 100g of the sugar for brown sugar (so 300g white / 100g brown). Put in 3 8” pans. It looks great! Haven’t tasted it yet (frozen to decorate Friday) but I have no doubt.
I made a few changes to this recipe and it turned out great! I used Madagascar vanilla bean paste. I also used instead of buttermilk 1/2 and 1/2 of Vanilla flavoured Kefir and table cream. Yummy! Oh, and I substituted in 20% coconut flour. This really turned into a new favourite.
Ok, I’ve tried a few other ‘perfect cupcake’ recipes and you win. Hands down. I really appreciate the details and reasoning for things like cake flour over all-purpose and explaining the benefit of spoon-and-level. So I lost my head for a bit during making the Vanilla Cake recipe. I’d carefully measured each of the ingredients separately and when the instruction said to add the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda together, my brain generalized and said, ‘all the dry ingredients’. Hilarious move, since I know that butter and sugar get creamed in Step One in most all recipes like this. But it happened. I set it aside and remeasured everything, ensuring that sugar met with butter. I’m considering just following another Vanilla Cake recipe, in as much order as possible and hoping for the best. I just don’t want to toss it out. Do you have any advice? Thanks.
I’m going to turn this into a 6 layer rainbow cake for my daughters birthday. Would you recommend dowels for that?
Hi Michael, I depends on how you make it. There is enough batter to make 6 8-inch cake layers, though the layers will be thinner. Reduce the bake time- I’m not sure of the exact time so keep an eye on the cakes while they bake! You wouldn’t need dowels for this method. If you are making this cake more than once and stacking it for a very tall cake, then dowels would certainly be a good idea. Happy baking!
I love this cake flavor and texture but I notice every time I make it it shrinks about a 1/2 inch around (I use 8 x2 pans). Any suggestion to prevent this ?
Hi Delilah, If a cake shrinks around the edges it may have been overbaked. Next time try checking the cake for doneness a few minutes earlier!
Delicious! My family and I are obsessed
Hello ~ My daughter is wanting to use this recipe but use it to make a Froot Loop Cereal cake. I’m wondering if you thought that substituting some “cereal milk” (milk that has had cereal soaked in it) would mess anything up? Thanks!! We love all of your recipes that we have ever used : )
Hi Johannah! What a fun idea. You could use the cereal milk to make a diy sour milk replacement (detailed in the recipe notes) in place of the buttermilk. The only issue I can foresee is that the cereal milk will have extra sugar in it and may make the cake more sweet. Let us know if you give it a try!
Hi Sally,
I only have one 9 inch square pan, and this what I plan to use for an upcoming baby shower. Can I fill it and then slice into 3 layers instead? Or do I bake one layer at a time? This might be a one time thing so I don’t plan on buying a new pan.
If I were to dye the batter, should I use gel, and should there be adjustments made to the recipe?
Thank you!
Hi Cate! This should be just the right amount of batter for 2 layers in your 9×9 pan. You can reference this cake pan sizes and conversions guide to make sure. We would bake the layers one at a time, letting the second half of the batter sit at room temperature while the first half bakes. We’re unsure of the exact bake time, so keep an eye on the cakes in the oven. They’re done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. We recommend using gel food coloring, no other adjustment are needed. Would love to hear how it goes!
So, I went to a friend’s house for dinner last night. She has three teenage skiers living with her this winter and the one from Sweden LOVES to bake. He says nothing is the same without Swedish butter, but he still bakes. He made this cake last night and oh my goodness, it is definitely the best iced vanilla layer cake I have ever had and I am old! I make all my cakes from scratch so I was really impressed when I got there and saw this young man working away and following your recipe exactly. I can’t wait to make it myself. And I did NOT think the icing was too sweet. It was perfect.
I did this for a school project, and I thought it was delicious. My only problem was that even at room temperature, the butter didn’t cream properly in the frosting, and it was kind of buttery.
Hi Abbie! Were there pieces of butter in the frosting? Make sure to beat the butter to a creamy consistency before adding the other frosting ingredients. Hope this helps!