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.
Chrisana
Hey, I love this recipe! How could I adapt it to make 4 eight inch cake layers in 6.5cm depth tins? If I double would it be enough to get good height layers?
Sam
Hi Chrisana! The cake pans I use are about 2 inches deep (5cm) The height of the cake ends up being slightly less than that. If you double the recipe you will have enough for 4 layers at 5cm each. 🙂
Ana
Could I use almond milk instead of regular milk?
Sam
Hi Ana! I would be worried the cake would be a little bit dry, but others have used it with success. 🙂
Morgan SCott
Hi I am super excited to try this out as I am making a 4th of July swirl cake and wanted the initial batter to be a pure white. (Dividing into three parts, so the other two are red and blue;) The 4th of July cake is actually supposed to be a bundt cake, do you know if this batter will transfer and hold up well in a bundt pan? (Previous bundt cake recipes for me take about 1hr 15min @ 325) Thanks so much for this recipe!
Sam
Hi Morgan! That cake sounds AWESOME!!!! The cake should bake fine in a bundt pan, but you may need to increase the batter by about 50% to fill the pan up enough. 🙂
Morgan Scott
Thank you! Good suggestion!
Charlotte
Can I use a 9 x 13 pan ?
Sam
That should work fine here, but I am not sure of how long it would need to bake. 🙂
Brett
What about a 9×13 pan?
Sam
Hi Brett! This will fit in a 9 x 13 pan, but I am not sure what the baking time will be. Enjoy! 🙂
Amy
Does this recipe work for cupcakes? If so, is the time and temp for baking the same?
Sam
Hi Amy! This will work as a cupcake. It will need to bake on the same temperature for about 17 minutes. 🙂
Amy
Thank you! Sorry if you’ve said this already somewhere else. I looked and couldn’t find it. Thanks so much!
Sam
You are welcome. Enjoy! 🙂
Deloris
Hi Sam is there a reason why the sugar is more than the flour?, I was wondering if I could cut down on the sugar.
Sam
It just ends up being that way for the best results. I suppose you could cut some of the sugar, but it will definitely change the taste. Enjoy! 🙂
Mandy
What if you use cake flour instead of all purpose?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Mandy! Yes, that will work fine. To substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour. I hope that you enjoy it! 🙂
Patsy
Beautiful recipe…. Made it as I had to use up some egg whites leftover. I cut the sugar back to 100g instead of 400g and it still turned out fine (and better cos we don’t like it too sweet)… Will recommend this recipe cos its so easy to follow!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Patsy, thank you so much for commenting! 🙂
Kass
What kind of flour did you use ?
aaron
number nine . what do you mix the egg whites with? the wording is a little confusing for me.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Aaron! You will use an electric hand mixer to mix the egg whites until stiff peaks form. I demonstrate this process in the video that can be found just above the ingredient list. I hope that helps. 🙂
Kennedy
Hi! I’d love to use this for a wedding cake I’m making for my friend. How many batches of batter should I make to fill a 6” x 3” cake pan and a 8” x 3” cake pan? Sounds so delicious!
Kennedy
Sorry I meant 8” x 3” and 10” x 3”. I need three layers of each tier about an inch high after leveling.
Sam
Hi Kennedy! A 3 inch tall 8 inch cake holds about 5 cups of batter, and a 10 inch holds about 8 cups of batter. This recipe as is will make somewhere between 6-8 cups of batter so I think doubling it will provide you with enough batter for your cakes. 🙂
Joshua Gittens
Will this recipe work for a 9inch pan?
Sam
Yes it will work fine in a 9 inch pan, you will probably just have to bake it for a few minutes less. 🙂
Anna
Just curious, does this batter stay for a few hours? Or even 1 hour after it’s put together?
Sam
Hi Anna! I think it will be ok to leave it out for an hour. 🙂
Wanda
How many cups of batter does this recipe make?
Sam
About 8 cups of batter. 🙂