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.
Print
Best 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.
Is cake flour the same as regular flour?
Hi Kriss, no, they are different. Cake flour has a lower protein content and guarantees a supremely soft, fluffy crumb. We do not recommend using all-purpose flour in its place—the cake will be very heavy and dense.
Hi Sally! I made this recipe and my batter didn’t rise at all. Did I do something wrong?
Hi Maria, were your baking powder and baking soda fresh? We find they start to lose their effectiveness after about 3 months, even if not technically expired. Was your batter over mixed by chance? When the batter is overmixed, cakes can bake up squat and dense without much rise. Hope this helps for next time!
If I wanted to make a 10″ layer and 8″ layer (keeping the 3 layers for each), I know a 10 inch would be 1.5x this recipe but I’m not sure how to size down for the 8″ cakes. I am also planning cupcakes too so extra batter can be used there. What would you recommend?
Hi Kari, you can use this recipe with 8 inch cake pans for slightly thicker layers in a three layer cake. You may need an extra minute or two of bake time since they layers will be thicker – use a toothpick to test for doneness. Or, you can fill the 8 inch pans a little less and use the leftover batter for some cupcakes as you mention.
So moist and amazing and tangy! YES
I’m looking for a recipe to make my daughter’s wedding cake. She is requesting Lemon cake with Raspberry filling. My question is, can I substitute lemon extract for the vanilla in this recipe?
Hi Jill, you could use lemon extract here, or here is our lemon layer cake recipe instead. Hope it’s a hit!
Hi Sally,
Just wondering if it would work to spread this over 4 8inch pans instead of three 9inch?
Hi Beth, you can do that for thinner layers. Bake time will be slightly shorter, so keep a close eye on them and use a toothpick to test for doneness.
I made this three-layer cake for two birthdays following your recipe and helpful directions! Absolutely the best tasting and held it’s moistness for leftover slices after four days covered in the refrigerator. The family loved the amount of frosting! My 13 y/o grandson says this beats any local bakery cakes.
I made this recipe today! The cake looked amazing! But it ended up being drier than I would have liked. I spooned/leveled the flour and then weighed it. My scale said 383 grams after measuring the flour, so I added additional flour until I reached the grams listed on your recipe. Do you think that’s why it was dry? Interested why my flour weighed so much less?
Hi Erika, Overmixing can also cause the cake to become overly dense. This post on how to prevent dry and dense cakes may also be helpful to review. Hope this helps!
Hi I am looking to bake a thinner vanilla cake than what you have pictured. I see this recipe yields 8 cups of batter: do you think it would be possible for me to quarter the recipe and bake two thinner cakes using 1 cup of batter each? Obviously I would adjust the bake time. Does that seem feasible OR should I half the recipe and try two 2 cup batter cakes? I am looking for a cake thinner than what you have pictured but not quite as thin as the Smith Island cake, for example. I have checked out your 2 layer white cake recipe, but as that yields 7 cups of batter, it seems harder to size down. Thank you!
Hi Vera! Perhaps you could use the batter from our one layer strawberry shortcake cake in two pans for two quite-thin cakes.
Thanks for answering my comment Trina. Wouldn’t that be more of a shortcake consistency though? I really like the vanilla cake as it is. Do you think tweaking the measurements in this recipe would work at all or not?
We haven’t tested reducing this recipe by that much, but you certainly can! The cake base of the strawberry shortcake cake is just a vanilla cake. It’s lovely!
This recipe is great
Hi there! Made this recipe this week and it was fantastic! Any tips or tricks on making it a little fluffier – mine was a tad on the harder side. Is that normal? It stands up well but wasn’t sure if it should have been more moist? Let me know.
Hi Amanda, we’re glad it was a hit! If the cake was lacking moisture, it’s possible it was simply over baked. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which can dry out the cake. Overmixing can also cause the cake to become overly dense. This post on how to prevent dry and dense cakes may also be helpful to review. Hope this helps!
We enjoyed baking this cake, however I did not have buttermilk so I used a substitute of yoghurt and milk. When we cut our first slice it looked dense and moist inside.
I definitely made sure it cooked through but I’m guessing the buttermilk substitute didn’t work out as well as I hoped.
I’m making this cake for a friend who can’t have dairy and I used lactaid with lemon juice for the buttermilk and earth balance for butter. The batter doesn’t look how the ingredients describe. It looks like normal cake batter but not thick. Should I sprinkle some more flour in it? I suspect the substitute butter is the culprit. I doubt you’ll see this in time but it’s worth a try. I love all your recipes. Your website is a godsend. Lol
Hi Kelsey, it sounds like the the plant-based butter and buttermilk substitute may be contributing to the thinner batter. We wouldn’t add more flour for fear of drying out the cake. Let us know how it turns out for you!
The cake tastes delicious and is very light, but there are lots of air holes in mine. I did tap in multiple times before putting it in the oven. There were a number of times where the recipe said to mix in high, any idea where I might have gone wrong?
Hi Angelica, we’re so glad you enjoyed this cake! Small bubbles in cakes are normal, but if you have larger bubbles or holes in your cakes it could be from any number of reasons. Some common causes of air bubbles are over-mixing the batter, not having all of your ingredients at room temperature, using too much leaveners, or adding the eggs all at once instead of one at a time. Hope this helps for next time!
Loved this!! Made it today for my daughter’s birthday. Was real hit. So moist added white choc ganache and caramel in between the layers. Was delicious!
Delicious every time! I made it for my daughters birthday party and everyone loved it. I made it again for my husbands birthday but with chocolate buttercream! So good
I made this for my sons birthday and it was way too soft. The batter filled 2 x 8 inch pans and a small muffin tray. The cupcakes just crumbled and the cakes took 40 minutes and we’re still so soft that they all fell apart. Im now trying to find a last minute birthday cake. I’m so disappointed after reading the reviews.
Hi A Y, there is too much batter for 2 8-inch pans. 3 8-inch pans could work, but the recipe calls for 3 9-inch pans. I’m not surprised the cakes didn’t turn out, and took so long to bake.
Hi Sally, I just leared my granddaughter wants me to bake her a vanilla cake with chocolate icing. I decided to try this recipe but could I use the chocolate cream cheese icing instead or do you recommend another icing (not overly sweet)
Hi Denise, our chocolate cream cheese frosting would be lovely with this cake! Let us know how it goes 🙂
Been wanting to try my hand at cake pops and I like using a lot of your recipes. Would this be okay for cake pops? And do you have a frosting commendation at all?
Hi Whitnie, here is our homemade cake pops recipe. Happy baking!
I just felt like making a cake yesterday, so I chose this recipe. It was awesome. I followed the recipe exactly, and the cake was fluffy, moist and delicious. I used your chocolate buttercream and it was just wonderful. Thank you!
Worst recipe I’ve ever tried. It’s been in the oven for 30 minutes now, and is still absolute soup in the middle.
What absolute WASTE of money and time and effort.
I followed the instructions exactly, and am absolutely FURIOUS to have tried this recipe over others.
I will never, ever, ever, try a recipe from this website again.
Disaster. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME AND MONEY ON THIS ONE.
Hi,was wondering, could I substitute the buttermilk, for regular milk..Will it taste the same.thank you
Hi Barbara, buttermilk (or the DIY version in the recipe Notes) is really best here. It’s necessary to help activate the baking soda and it helps create an extra moist cake crumb. You could try a combination of sour cream and regular milk (like we do for the bottom layer of our homemade wedding cake), but the crumb will be denser. Hope this helps!
Sounds like you messed up something
Sounds like you messed up something. This cake was phenomenal
It stinks when a recipe we are trying doesn’t come together as expected and I’m sorry you had that experience. I have tried numerous recipes from this website and they’ve never let me down. In fact this is my go to site when I want to try something new and adventurous. I strongly recommend you try another recipe. Don’t give up on Sally’s!!
You should give some of her other recipes a try. Sally has some of my all time favorite cookies!
I made this for the bottom tier of my wedding cake! (making 1.5x recipe adapted perfectly to 10″ pans). I did a practice version with substitutes for both cake flour and buttermilk, and that was pretty good, but I made no substitutions for the final and wow, the texture and flavor difference it made can’t be overstated. I paired it with vanilla Italian meringue buttercream, and all my taste testers and guests were in love with the results. Perfect recipe.
So glad to hear this, Mary!
I have a big birthday coming up, my wonderful husband is baking me a cake which he wants me to choose the recipe — this is the ONE!!! Needing a two layer cake, could you possibly provide me with the measurements to that size?
Baking is so much more delicious when it’s one of your recipes — every time!
Hi Sally! For a two layer cake, we recommend using our 2 layer white cake batter instead. Both use similar ingredients and produce a deliciously light vanilla cake. Or, if you decide to use this recipe, fill your 2 pans half way and use the leftover batter for a few cupcakes. Let us know how it turns out for you!
Great recipe, easy to follow! And tasted amazing!
I’ve made this cake several times with gluten free cake flour and love it, but always bake a little longer (30-35mins keeping an eye on it). This time I used the same gf flour, but needed to substitute the dairy too, so I used vegan butter (same amount) and cashew yoghurt instead of buttermilk. Turned out great!
I am wanting to make a layer cake and I noticed you have a favorite white layer cake and the best vanilla cake. I am wondering out of these two recipes which is less dense and fluffier.
Hi Tonya, the white cake is made with only egg whites for a pristine white crumb. It’s just ever so slightly a bit lighter. Both are fantastic, can’t go wrong with either!
I made this recipe for best vanilla cake after reading through all the verbiage and followed directions exactly. it did not rise as it should and turned out more like a pound cake than the light fluffy cake described. any idea why? it still tasted good but was actually tough to cut due to the density
Hi Mona, an overly dense cake is usually from overmixing the batter. Be sure to mix until everything is just combined. Here are more tips on how to prevent dry and dense cakes. Thank you for giving this recipe a try!
Could I mix in chocolate chips to this batter?
Hi Nicole, Absolutely! Fold 1 cup (about 180-190g) of mini chocolate chips into the batter before pouring into the cake pans.