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.
Muffy
Hi Sam! Made this delicious cake this today. Icing is great but the cakes came out thin. Were they supposed to? I am a good cook and love to bake as well. This has never happened to me before. Can you tell me why?
Thanks
Muffy
Sam
Hi Muffy! What size cake pans did you use?
Robin
Can you use a 9 x13
Sam
Yes, the baking time will vary though
Heather
Pretty sure you left out a step with the sugar and oil mixture. It said too mix in the flour and milk together, but didn’t say to add the milk to the sugar mix first. I ended up with a ball of dough. 😐
Sam
I don’t think so… are you referring to step 5 where the sugar and oil are mixed together? Or step 7 where you alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk mixture to the sugar mixture? All of the steps are there.
Sam
Oh, wait a minute, I see what you did, you combined the flour and milk. No that’s not what you are supposed to do. Please re-read step 7, it explains that you alternate adding flour and milk to the sugar mixture while stirring after each addition, you are not supposed to combine the two together like that at all.
Arlene
Will be making this cake today. Using canola cream for frosting. How will the cake n icing be? It won’t be too sweet, will it? I don’t usually make cakes from scratch, so I’m excited to try this one. Thank you for this recipe. Let you know how everyone likes or loves it.
Sam
Hi Arlene! I’m actually not familiar with canola cream frosting so I’m not sure.
Akistar
I’ve been looking for a recipe like this forever!! Only one snag… diabetes. Can sugar be replaced with a sub? I’m just wondering if it will change the texture of the cake?
Chelsea
This recipe is a winner. I made it yesterday and it came out perfect. Delicious cake!
Sam
So glad to hear it! Thank you for commenting, Chelsea!!
tafadzwa
hi so this receipe is totally without the egg yolks
Sam
Yup! No egg yolks.
Alma Rodriguz
Can I use salted butter for this recipe??
Sam
Yes, just reduce the salt called for to 1/2 teaspoon. Enjoy!
Kristin
Thanks for this recipe! Took awhile for me to learn it but it was fun! I haven’t even put the frosting on and it tastes delicious! Can’t wait for my son’s birthday party tomorrow to see everyone’s reaction! Thank you!!!
Sam
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it Kristin! Thank you so much for commenting! <3
Mike g
What size cake pan.
Sam
2 8″ round
Amber
Do you how many times this recipes needs to be doubled if I’m baking a 8” round and 10” round?
Sam
Maybe increase by 50%? I’m not sure, though, that may be too much batter.
Louise
Wow! This recipe is excellent! I’ll be using it regularly. Thank you for sharing.
Sam
So glad to hear it!! Thanks, Louise!
Mandy
Hi Sam,
Are you able to substitute “liquid egg whites” (aka egg whites in the carton) for this recipe? I’m definitely willing to use regular eggs, but would prefer to not waste a bunch of yolks if I’m not baking something else that’s calls for them soon afterwards.
Thanks!
Mandy
Sam
Hi Mandy! I totally understand not wanting to waste the yolks, I think that using liquid egg whites would be totally fine, enjoy! 🙂
Mandy
Hi Sam!
Just wanted to update – I did use the liquid egg whites and they worked great! Cake wars moist and delicious and light!
Sam
Wonderful, I’m glad to hear it! Thank you for letting me know, Mandy!
Lindy
I like to add coconut extract to white cake and serve it with macerated strawberries!
Sam
Yum, that sounds so good!!
Angelica
I want to try this recipe, it looks really good!!! I just have one question. What brand of flour do you recommend using? Thanks!
Rebecca V.
I just made both the white cake and the vanilla butter cream. They both came out great. The cake is moist but dense enough so that everyone can tell it’s homemade and the frosting is light and smooth. I added some lemon zest and a few drops of pure lemon extract to some of the frosting and raspberry purée to some. Frosted them 3 different ways. Nice addition to my recipe collection.