The Best White Cake Recipe
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Today I’m so excited to be sharing the very best white cake recipe! This recipe yields a fluffy, snow-white cake that’s light and soft but still sturdy enough to stack or cover with fondant. Read on for plenty of tips for making the perfect white cake, completely from scratch!
We’ve covered chocolate cake, vanilla cake (one of my most popular recipes, thanks to you guys!), and even pineapple upside-down cake, but up until today we’ve been missing a critical flavor: a classic, delicious, white cake!
This is a classic cake flavor and a personal favorite of mine, so when I say up in the intro that I’m excited to share this recipe with you, I really, really mean it. This cake is delicious, and honestly so easy to make… even if you’ve never beaten egg whites before I’m going to walk you through that below so you too can enjoy a perfect, from-scratch white cake.
In case this white cake recipe seems familiar to you, I should probably mention that it is essentially my Funfetti cake recipe, only scaled down to be just two layers (so if you want a 3 layer white cake recipe, just head over to my Funfetti recipe and leave out the sprinkles!).
Let’s dig in to what makes this cake so incredible.
As I mentioned, this cake is fairly simple, but there is an important technique that I want to discuss regarding the egg whites. To keep this cake pure white, we’re not using any egg yolks and instead we are going to beat our egg whites to stiff peaks (if you’ve made my meringue cookies, you’ve beaten egg whites to stiff peaks before). Let me explain how:
How to Beat Eggs Whites to Stiff Peaks for White Cake
- Place your egg whites in a completely clean and grease free bowl. It’s best to separate your whites and yolks in a separate bowl first, that way if a small bit of yolk escapes you don’t have to start over. Even the smallest bit of grease or yolk can ruin your egg whites and keep them from reaching stiff peaks.
- Reaching stiff peaks will take several minutes, just keep beating and you will see them start to take shape!
- Stiff peaks are formed when the whites have increased in volume (see visual below) and, if you pull a beater straight out of the mixture, a peak forms that does not recede back into itself — its holds its shape. Once you reach this point, stop beating, as it is totally possible to over-beat your egg whites.
Fold your egg whites gently into the rest of your white cake batter. I always recommend doing this part by hand. Make sure that you stir enough so that the egg whites are well-incorporated into the batter, but use a light hand so that you don’t deflate the egg whites, or you’ll end up with a dense cake.
While the cake is baking, don’t be alarmed if it seems that the surface is turning too dark. The outside of the cake will actually bake up to a golden brown in the oven, but don’t worry, the cake will be pure white inside once you go to actually slice into it.
What Kind of Extract Should I Use for My White Cake?
I use clear vanilla. Regular (caramel-colored) vanilla extract will work just fine and your cake will still come out mostly white (check out my above-mentioned Funfetti cake, that one was made with standard vanilla extract), but for this white cake recipe I opted for clear extract for a cake with a pure white interior.
Many white cake reicpes also call for almond extract. None of my family members are huge fans of almond extract, so I leave it out, but if you like the taste you can substitute some of the vanilla extract for almond… since almond extract is quite potent I wouldn’t personally recommend using more than 1 1/2-2 teaspoons for this recipe, but feel free to experiment!
Can I use 9″ Cake Pans Instead of 8″
Yes! The baking time will be reduced, though. Start checking your cake at 30 minutes.
Can I Make This Recipe Into Cupcakes?
Yes! Fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 full (don’t over-fill) and bake on 350F for about 18 minutes (for mini cupcakes, bake for 14-15 minutes). This recipe will yield approximately 30 standard sized cupcakes.
Enjoy!
How to Make White Cake
The Best White Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 Tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup (160 ml) avocado oil, canola oil or vegetable oil
- 2 cup (400 g) sugar
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 2 ⅔ cup (345 g) + 2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (235 ml) milk, room temperature preferred
- 6 large egg whites, room temperature
- Double batch Vanilla Buttercream Frosting, (click link for recipe)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and prepare two 8-inch round cake pans by lining the bottoms with a round of parchment paper and generously greasing and flouring the sides. Be sure to shake out excess flour.
- In a stand mixer (or using an electric mixer), beat butter on medium-low speed until creamy.6 Tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- Add sugar and oil and beat until all ingredients are well-combined and creamy.⅔ cup (160 ml) avocado oil, canola oil or vegetable oil, 2 cup (400 g) sugar
- Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then stir in your vanilla extract.1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- In separate bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, and salt.2 ⅔ cup (345 g) + 2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Measure out your milk.1 cup (235 ml) milk
- With mixer on medium speed, gradually alternate between adding the flour mixture and the milk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Stir until each one is almost completely combined before adding the next.
- Pause occasionally to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
- In separate bowl combine your egg whites and using a hand-mixer on high-speed beat until stiff peaks form.6 large egg whites
- Using a spatula, gently fold your egg whites into your batter. Take care to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so that ingredients are well-combined, and take care not to over-mix.
- Evenly divide cake batter into prepared pans.
- Bake on 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake layer comes out clean or with few crumbs (should not be wet). For best results, rotate your cake pans halfway through baking to ensure even baking.
- Cakes will be a light golden brown when done baking.
- Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the inside rim of each pan and invert each onto a cooling rack.
- Allow to cool completely before covering with buttercream frosting*. I used a double batch of my recipe (linked above) to thoroughly cover and decorate this cake.Double batch Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
When making a colored cake, is it best to add the gel coloring before folding in the egg whites? I want to use a white cake recipe so the color of the cake will be more vivid.
For this case yes, I would add before folding in the egg whites. Enjoy! 🙂
Is it ok to use buttermilk instead of regular milk for the cake?
Yup! Enjoy!
Would this work as a bundt cake?
Hi Cindi! I don’t see why not. Make sure to grease/flour the pan thoroughly so it doesn’t get stuck though!
Hi,
I have a plan to double this recipe into a 6-layer rainbow cake using my 8 inch pans. If I divide the recipe into 3 pans, do you think each cake will be too thin or just has average height? I am nervous if each layer might be too thin if I divide 1 recipe into 3 pans.
Hi Maria! I think the safest route here would just be to increase the recipe by 50%. I would be worried the layers would be too thin for you.
I am making 2 10” rounds cakes. What would the bake time and would doubling the batter work?
Hi Cindy! This batter can be doubled without problem. I have not baked as 10″ rounds so I’m not sure how long the bake time will be, unfortunately.
Can I make this recipe in a 9×13 pan? For a sheet cake?
Hi Stephanie! That will work fine. 🙂
I volentered to make wedding cake can I double or triple receipe because of the size of pan? Pan is 18 round and 3 deep
thank you heather
Hi Heather! I think you would need to double the recipe, and that should work fine for this cake. 🙂
Can you use ready egg whites from the carton
Hi Isabella! They don’t necessarily whip up as well, but as long as the carton does not say “Not good for whipping” or something similar, then the egg whites from a carton will work just fine. 🙂
For A 14 inch round pan, how many batches will I need?
Hi Ann! This recipe will make about 8 cups of batter. One 14 inch pan typically holds close to 12 cups of batter, so it would need to be increased by 50%. 🙂
I’m sorry but this recipe with 2 2/3 cups of flour will make 8 cups of batter ?
An 8 inch pan typically holds about 4 cups of batter and this will fill 2 8 inch pans. 🙂
Ok, thank you. But if there is another recipe could you tell me where to find it. Please and thank you
Unfortunately I don’t have another recipe for the size cake you are asking to make. You just need to multiply all of the ingredients by 1.5 to get the amounts needed, and the steps are all the same. Bake it on the same temperature, but I am not sure how long it would need to bake for.
Alright, will do and thanks again 🙂
Flavor wise it was good, although I did add an extra tsp of vanilla. Overall it was a little dense and had the texture of eating corn bread. So that was weird.
Hi Gwen! Most likely if it was dense the cake was over-beaten or over-baked. The whipped egg whites especially keep this cake nice, light, and fluffy 🙂 I hope that helps!
This is the 2nd time I’ve made this recipe, and it never fails to disappoint. The recipe is perfect in every way. I use one 9-inch and one 8-inch as I don’t have two of them, and it works fine. I also use milk instead of double cream in the frosting. Thank you so much for this family favourite! My parents keep asking me to make this whenever we entertain.
I’m so glad to hear this! Thank you so much for letting me know how it works for you, Ben, I really appreciate it! 🙂
Thank you so much for putting the g/mL amounts on there as well. I used this recipe for class and that’s how I’m supposed to measure. Saved me some work converting. 🙂 It’s a wonderful recipe. I’m using it for a tiered cake and I think it’ll turn out wonderfully. 🙂
You are very welcome! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed the white cake, Madison! 🙂
I live at 5000ft elevation. Do I need to make any adjustments to recipe since I live at high altitude?
Unfortunately I am not familiar with high altitude baking, I am hoping that someone who is can chime in, though!
I’m at about 6000 ft altitude. The only adjustment I made was 1/3 cup oil and 1/3 cup sour cream instead of 2/3 cup oil. It came out moit and super light and fluffy. It was delicious.
Thank you so much for the feedback Tatiana! 🙂
What would the cooking time be for 2- 6inch pans?
Hi Katherine! I have not baked this in 6 inch pans, so I am not sure of a bake time. I’m sorry. If you try it, I would love to know how long you bake it for. 🙂
Trying today with 3 6inch. Guessing 25 mins in my gas oven.
I’m guessing 20-25 minutes. Maybe up to 30.
Can I use salted butter?
Yes, I’d reduce the salt in the recipe to 3/4 teaspoon. Enjoy!