A classic vanilla cake recipe, made completely from scratch! Ditch the box mixes — you’ll love how easy, moist and fluffy this homemade vanilla cake is!
I’m back in cold, snow-covered Pennsylvania after a long, wonderful (if not very warm… we arrived in the midst of a cold spell!) weekend in Florida with family. My cousin and my sister both ran in the Disney marathon and I nearly screamed a lung out on the Tower of Terror 😱.
My sister had a bad cold for the trip but still managed to run the Disney marathon and beat her own time, despite being barely able to even talk. I caught the cold on the way back home and don’t seem to be able to muster up the energy to change out of sweatpants or cook myself anything other than vanilla cake. The endurance gene skipped right over me, I swear.
Orrrrr, maybe it just exhibits itself in different ways. There’s no way I could run a marathon, but I can endure recipe fail after recipe fail after recipe fail until I land on the most perfect vanilla cake recipe there ever was.
Completely cloaked in chocolate frosting, naturally.
This vanilla cake recipe has been a long time coming. The journey began with my pineapple upside-down cake and was continued with my marble cake recipe — if you recall it took me almost a dozen attempts to get the vanilla cake base of those recipes right. A few more tweaks were still needed to make this a perfect standalone vanilla cake recipe, but, after a lot of wasted ingredients, we have arrived.
Looks like I can endure after all.
Tips for making the perfect vanilla cake recipe
- It’s best if all of your ingredients are at room temperature. I like to set out my butter, eggs, and buttermilk early in the morning so that they have reached room temperature by the time I am ready to bake.
- Don’t switch out the oil for more butter. This vanilla cake recipe uses both butter and oil because it gives it the best possible taste while still preserving the soft, fluffy texture that you want. Using all butter will actually likely make your cake more dense and dry. You can, however, substitute vegetable oil for the canola oil without issue.
- Make sure that your vanilla cake cools completely before frosting! If it’s warm at all, it’s likely to melt the frosting, leaving you with a big mess (ask me how I know…).
- Store your finished vanilla cake in an airtight container (like an airtight cake carrier). It will keep at room temperature for several days, or longer if stored in the refrigerator.
Be sure to check out my most recent video where I walk through all the steps to make the perfect vanilla cake, completely from scratch (printable recipe is just below the video).
Make sure that you also check out my favorite chocolate cake recipe!!
Enjoy!
How to Make Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (113g)
- ½ cup canola oil* (120ml)
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar 300g
- 4 eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/4 cup buttermilk room temperature preferred (300ml)
- 1 batch Chocolate Frosting
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and prepare two deep 8" round cake pans** by lining the bottoms with parchment paper and lightly greasing the sides. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl using an electric mixer) cream together the butter, canola oil and sugar until creamy and well-combined.
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Using a spatula and gently hand-mixing, alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with flour mixture and mixing until just combined after each addition. The batter should be smooth and completely combined, but avoid over-mixing.
- Evenly divide batter into your prepared cake pans, and bake on 350F (175C) for 30-35 minutes. When the cake is done, the surface should spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the center should come out mostly clean with few moist crumbs (no wet batter).
- Allow cakes to cool in their cake pans for 10-15 minutes before inverting onto cooling rack to cool completely before frosting.
- Frost cake using my chocolate frosting (or see notes for other favorite frosting options) and decorate with sprinkles (if desired).
Notes
Frosting Options
The chocolate frosting I linked to in the ingredients is my favorite pairing with this cake, but here are some other great options:How to Make Into Vanilla Cupcakes:
Fill cupcake liners no more than 3/4 of the way full. Bake on 350F for 17-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs or clean. This recipe will make approximately 24 cupcakes.Nutrition
Nia says
Hi, can I add sprinkles in the batter? I know you have a birthday cake recipe but I find this recipe seems a little easier. Thank you
Sam says
Yes you can! Gently fold them into the batter at the end. Enjoy!
Simone says
Can I use evaporated milk instead for this recipe?
Sam says
I wouldn’t recommend it, sorry Simone! 🙁
Yolandi says
Hi!
When you say buttermilk, do you mean low fat butter milk or full fat buttermilk? Also, is “Cultured buttermilk blend made with whole milk” the same as full fat buttermilk, or is that something different?
Sam says
Hi Yolandi! I use full fat buttermilk. I have never seen the “cultured buttermilk…” but I think that would work just fine 🙂
Liza says
Hi!
Can I use cake flour for this recioe, instead of the AP?
Sam says
Hi Liza! You can, but make sure to use the proper substitution. You need 1 c + 2 TBSP of cake flour for every cup of flour. 🙂
Coco says
I followed everything to a T, but the end result was disappointing. The cake turned out so dense it reminded me of a pound cake. Tasted great (albeit sweeter than I liked) but was too firm. If I made it again, I would add more buttermilk or regular milk to ensure the batter is liquidy.
Sam says
Hi Coco! The results you’re describing are a result of either the flour being accidentally over-measured or the batter being over-mixed. I would not add more liquid to this recipe, if the batter was thicker than shown in video it sounds like the flour was the issue. I hope that helps!
Lilly says
You have to use a whisk attachment and more salt. The paddle attachment will make the frosting dense. Hope this helps!
Dianne Gentry says
I have another question- do you grease your cake pans with butter or lard?
Sam says
I use shortening, Crisco specifically 🙂
Dianne says
Hi, Sam, Just wondering what is the difference in the classic vanilla cake and the perfect vanilla cake.
Thanks,
Dianne Gentry
Sam says
Hi Dianne! I’m not sure what you mean? This is my favorite vanilla cake. 🙂
Tolu says
Best recipe ever!!! Cake is moist and delicious! Tweaked mine a bit by substituting butter milk for sourcream and evaporated milk. The rate at which am already going at the cake, it might not last a week.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Brendi says
Hello, how much sour cream can you use for this recipe, where I live is hard to find butter milk
Sam says
Hi Brendi! I would recommend using my buttermilk substitute if you don’t have buttermilk readily available. 🙂
Val says
Hello Sam,
I’m making this cake for my future daughter-in-law also named Sam!
May I substitute self rising flour; or, what adjustments should be made to use self rising flour? Thank you
Sam says
Hi Val! If you use self rising flour you will need to adjust the baking powder and salt, but without having done it myself I can’t give good guidance on exactly how to do it.