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.
Nisrine
Hi! U think it would be nice to add fresh strawberry layer in the middle? I wanna make it for my son’s birthday and cover it with fondant for firetruck design. I thought strawberry will give it a summer feel plus the red color! Also will it be enough for 4 adults and 4 kids? 😁 thanks
Sam
I think a strawberry layer would be awesome! It should definitely be enough for 4 adults and 4 kids unless you like reallllyyy big slices of cake. 🙂
Erica
Hello! I love this recipe! Thank you for sharing! I wonder, how tall are the 8″ layers of cake baked?
Sam
Hi Erica! I have 2 inch tall cake pans so each cake is a little less than 2 inches tall. 🙂
Chatty Kathy
My college age daughter and I made this together for dessert for a friend’s birthday dinner party that we hosted at our home. We followed the recipe exactly and used gel color to make several different shades of light mint green buttercream (ombre design on the cake) and then topped it with chocolate sprinkles. It was amazing! It was by far the best cake I have had in years! Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Rachelle Faulds-Zehe
I need to make a 13 x 19 cake. Would you think I should double the recipe? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Rachelle! I believe you would end up needing 2.5 times the ingredients. If you end up with too much batter make sure not to overfill your pan. 🙂
Jessica R Fluhmann
Love this recipe!!! My daughter wants rainbow cupcakes for her 5th birthday. Would this recipe allow for gel food coloring to be added to make the colors of the rainbow?
Sam
Hi Jessica! This recipe would definitely be good for adding food coloring. Stir them in briefly at the end. 🙂
Hannah Booker
I made this recipe for a friend’s 30th birthday yesterday. I made a three layer six inch cake and used the leftover batter for some cupcakes! They were all AMAZING. White cake is my favorite and will definitely be using this recipe over and over! Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the cake so much, Hannah! Happy birthday to your friend! 🙂
Lindsey
Can I sub the milk for almond or oat milk? I just don’t drink milk so that would be less wasteful for me 🙂
Sam
Hi Lindsey! It should work here, the cake may just not be quite as moist. 🙂
Tonya
Hello,
I was just curious which type of flour you use. Did you develop this recipe using AP flour with a moderate protein content like Gold Medal, or with a slightly higher protein content like King Arthur? From my experience these two flours seem to cause cakes to rise differently depending on the recipe.
Also, how many grams do you consider a tablespoon of baking powder to be?
Thanks!
Sam
Hi Tonya! I typically use a store brand or gold medal flour, really whatever I have on hand. For the baking powder I have not actually ever weighed a tablespoon. I will have to pay attention the next time I try it. 🙂
Tonya
Thank you! I never weighed baking power either until I saw it on King Arthur’s conversion chart! Never even occurred to me. So I tried it just to see if my teaspoon was the same as theirs, and came up with different measurements depending on how much I shook the container or stirred it. They show a teaspoon at 4 grams. I came up with 2, 3 and 4 grams, lol. No idea how much of a difference that makes.
Sam
It’s really easy to get different weights for the reason you said there, maybe one scoop was packed more tightly than the other. I always bake with weights so I have standardized them on my site. Something as small as a single gram most likely wouldn’t cause too much issue though. 🙂
Kristi
What would the cooking time be if I use a 9×13 pan?
Sam
Hi Kristi! Unfortunately I haven’t tried baking it in a 9 x 13 but I would think around 30ish minutes would probably work. 🙂
Mary-Kate O'Brien
Does it matter what kind of milk I use to make this cake? Could I use whole milk?
Sam
Hi Mary-Kate! I recommend using whole milk here. 🙂
Torii
Loved this recipe and is absolutely delicious with cream cheese frosting. I was actually wondering if the butter can be substituted with vegetable?
Sam
Hi Torii! I am assuming you mean vegetable oil here, if so, you can substitute the butter for vegetable oil. The cake will be more moist, but won’t be as flavorful. 🙂
Jessica A Felkel
Made this cake for my sons 2nd Birthday. It was so incredible that I made it again a few days later in cupcakes to finish my frosting! Thank you! I would post a pic if it would let me. ❤️
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Jessica! I have a Facebook Group you can join to share pictures if you’d like. 🙂
Ntombi
I made your vanilla sponge cake for my birthday, i enjoyed it and so did my family. Will definitely try this one out next time
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the cake so much! I think you’ll love this one too. 🙂
Kasey
Hi,
What can I use to replace the eggs? Please do help!!!
Sam
Hi Kasey! Unfortunately I do not have a good suggestion for how to substitute the eggs here. 🙁
Sophia
This cake was amazing, very fluffy and white. I added some almond extract and made it for my sister’s graduation 😉 thanks for sharing the recipe!
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed it so much, Sophia! Congratulations to your sister! 🙂