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.
Shauna
Can I use this recipe in a 9×13 pan?
Sam
Hi Shauna! I think that should be fine you will just need to adjust the baking time. 😃
Sara
If I want a cake and cupcakes do I need double this recipe?
I’m so excited to try this recipe!!!
Sam
Yes you would need to double it Sara! Enjoy!! 😃😃😃
Melissa Stewart
I tried this recipe once before to make mini cakes and it was absolutely delicious. I am now going to make a full size cake for my daughter. I want to make a cake that feeds about 25 people. Do you suggest I double the recipe?
Sam
Hi Melissa! The original recipe yields about 12 servings so doubling it would make about 24. Hope that helps! 😃
Samantha
Hi! I was curious how deep you 8″ pans are 2 or 3 inches I’m trying to see if I need to adjust the recipe for my 8″ x 3″ cake pans.
Sam
Hi Samantha! If you just want to use the 8×3 pans with the current recipe everything would be the same. The batter just won’t fill up as much of the pans. If you wanted it to fill the the 3 inch pan, you would have to adjust the recipe increasing it by 50%. The cakes of course would then have to bake longer. I’m not sure how much longer they would need to cook for as I have not tried doing this. 😃
Marie
What is the largest pan size you’ve tried with this recipe?
Sam
9″ rounds
Louise Beard
So glad for your plain talk for a recipe…..this sounds perfect too…..
Sam
Hi Louise! You’re welcome! I hope you try it out and love it! 😃
Mahala
Can you add almond extract?
Sam
Hi Mahala, yes there are suggestions in the post on how much to use. 😃
amanda
Hi will swiss meringue buttercream work with this? I was trying to find something a little less sweet for my son.
Sam
It will work; another option if you are looking for something a little less sweet would be my cream cheese frosting recipe.
Sheryl
I used your recipe to experiment with a mild strawberry flavored cake. I substituted the vanilla extract for strawberry extract and added a few drops of pink food coloring gel. The recipe posted yielded three 6 inch cakes that baked up almost soufflé like in 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Very easy recipe to follow, thank you!
Sam
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Sheryl Pardo
It was a huge hit!!! Not a crumb left by morning. Thank you again.
Anita
I normally don’t comment on how a recipe turns out, I should buy I don’t. This recipe for a white cake is not only by far the BEST cake I have ever tasted, it is a wedding cake! I followed the recipe exactly like you said except for one thing, I didn’t have AP flour so I used SR flour and left out the baking powder an salt. I will never, Never, NEVER use another recipe. For everyone out there baking this cake, don’t ask questions, don’t add egg yolks, just make it like she said an I guarantee you will not be disappointed. I put your cream cheese icing on it and put it in the freezer and that’s how we ate it, frozen. Delicious!! I’m making another one for our church homecoming tomorrow and I’m going to use your chocolate cream cheese icing for this one. Thank you very much for great recipes!!
Sam
Thank you Anita!!! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the cake and the frostings! 😃😃😃😃
Jessica
I have a question. This will be my first time trying to bake a cake from scratch and decorating it completely. When you took the cake out of the pans did you flip the cakes upside down then cut the top off? And did you use buttercream frosting in-between the two cakes?
Sam
Hi Jessica! I wish you luck in your first from scratch cake! These cakes cook up pretty level so there is not much need for leveling them off and yes there is a layer of buttercream frosting in between the cakes. I used my Vanilla Frosting recipe. 😃
Allie
Hi, Sam!
I chose to make these as cupcakes and did not get a good rise. Would swapping out the baking powder for baking soda make a difference? The taste is perfect, just hoping for a better shape!
Sam
Hi Allie! This batter is not supposed to rise too much which is why you didn’t see a large rise. I would not recommend swapping the baking powder for baking soda.
Shelly
Hi Sam, can I use whole eggs or does it have to be just whites?
Sam
Just the whites for this recipe 🙂 It won’t work with whole eggs
Rae
My 12 year old daughter and I made this cake today. Very nice texture and she got to learn a new technique with the egg whites. This recipe is a keeper! Thanks!rae
Sam
Thanks for the kind words Rae! I am glad everyone enjoyed it!
Renee woodall
Does the 2 Tablespoons of flout go in the cake mix also or is this to flour the pans? Just want to be clear I am baking this first time for my son’s birthday yikes lol
Sam
It goes in the cake. Enjoy! 🙂