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 ½-2 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 ¾ 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
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Haley
Can I use buttermilk most cakes I make have called for buttermilk and I only have that and fat free
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Haley! Substituting buttermilk will be fine. 🙂
Ana
Wow! This recipe was a great find. The cakes came out golden brown and looking beautiful! One thing that shocked me though, is that looking through the comments, there were a few different people who had issues with the cake caving in. I had the exact opposite issue. My cakes came out of the oven with a dome on the top. Luckily, this is an easy fix and didn’t affect anything. This recipe was great!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cake, Ana! I am sorry that you experienced a dome top but happy you were able to easily fix it. Thanks for commenting. Enjoy! 🙂
brit
are there any alterations to the recipe I should make for high altitude baking (over 4k ft.)?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Brit! Unfortunately, I don’t have experience baking at high altitude so I can’t give you any personal recommendations. I hope someone else will chime in who has made this recipe under those conditions. 🙂
Carrie
I am making my own wedding cake. I wanted a perfect white cake. I will try this recipe as I practice. Will this cake hold up to a butterscotch ganache as a filling and a butterscotch butter cream frosting?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Carrie! So many have used this recipe for a wedding cake and have enjoyed it. I hope that you do too. As far as icing goes, it should do just fine with a butterscotch buttercream frosting and ganache. Keep me posted. 🙂
Sarah
Since I discovered this recipe on your blog it became my favourite cake recipe- I’ve made it probably a hundred times since then! The only problem I had with it was that despite having an amazing flavour and texture, the centre of the cakes always collapsed a bit whilst cooling leaving the top of the cakes concave. I noticed that other commenters also had this issue- I’ve finally solved it by reducing the baking powder down to 2 tsp total- it works perfectly as the cake still has the same fluffy texture but the top no longer droops inwards after cooling. Hope that helps!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much for being such a fan of my blog, Sarah! I appreciate you trying my recipe and taking the time to review it. I am happy that you have been able to adjust the recipe to end up with the perfect cake. Thanks again for the helpful feedback. 🙂
Chris
Can cake flour be used?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Chris! Yes, cake flour can be used. I hope that you enjoy the cake. Happy Baking. 🙂
Jean
Hello again, Well, I tried this cake and it was easy and delicious and cutting the ingredients in half worked perfectly. However, like one of the reviewers above it fell a bit when checking with a cake tester and sunk in the middle a bit as it cooled. Still delicious but it’s going to take more practice…tough job I know 🙂 As you say, cakes can be tricky (which is probably why I’ve not baked a lot of them)!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you for trying my recipe, Jean. Cakes can be tricky for sure. If the cake sunk in the middle two things come to mind… over mixing and oven temperature. Over beating the batter and incorporating too much air can cause a collapse. Second, the temperature of the oven could be too high causing the cake to rise too rapidly. If you have not checked your oven temperature with a thermometer I highly recommend doing so. I recently purchased a new oven and found it was cooking 15 degrees hotter than what was indicated. Regardless, I am so glad that it tasted delicious. Best of luck on your next attempt. I do hope this helps. 🙂
Brittany Scherich
Can I cut this recipe in half ? I will be making cupcakes and I don’t need 30( even though I’d probably eat them!)
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Brittany! Yes, you can cut this recipe in half. 🙂
JoAnne Shaw
I was wondering if this recipe could be used to make a sheet cake. If so, what do you recommend for the baking time? Thanks
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, JoAnne! This recipe will fit well in a 9″ x 12″ baking pan. Others who have tried it reported that it took 30 minutes to bake. I hope that helps. 🙂
Blossom
Can I cover the cake with fondant?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Blossom! Others who have tried fondant with this cake have had success. I hope that it works well for you too! 🙂
Ginnie
Can you use almond extract instead of vanilla? Thanks in advance for your help
Sam
Hi Ginnie! Yes you could, please see the notes in the post.
Christine Goggins
Can I use coconut oil instead of veg/canola oil? I do not use those oils for dietary reasons.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Christine! I personally have not tried so I am not certain how it will do. Since it is a neutral oil, I think that it should work. If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out for you. 🙂
Genie
I bake a cake every month and this is by far the best one I’ve made! It taste just like my wedding cake. Wouldn’t change a thing.
Sugar Spun Run
I love that you bake a cake every month, Genie! Thank you for selecting one of my cake recipes to try, I am so glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for commenting. I hope that you try more of my recipes. 🙂
Laura
This turned out great! very tast. I used two 9” pans. Then iced them with a buttercream icing.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so happy to hear that the white cake turned out perfectly for you, Laura! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Kellie
Have you ever made this recipe into cupcakes? If so what was the baking time you used?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Kellie. Yes, you can! 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. I hope that you enjoy them! 🙂
Kellie
Awesome thank you so much! I’ll be trying it out today. Will comment back later 🤗🧁
Sugar Spun Run
Happy Baking! I hope that you enjoy it, Kellie! 🙂