A perfectly plush, soft, classic vanilla cake recipe made entirely from scratch! It’s so simple to make, and tastes much better than a box mix! Recipe includes a how-to video.
A Classic Vanilla Cake, Made Entirely From-Scratch
Every baker needs a solid vanilla cake recipe in their repertoire, and today’s recipe is just that.
It’s soft, plush, and perfectly moist. Not to be confused with my white cake, this recipe is a beautiful pale golden color and distinctly vanilla flavored. It pairs beautifully with any frosting, although a traditional chocolate frosting is my favorite finish!
Like my chocolate cake, this has been one of my most popular recipes for years (and you may recognize it as the base for both my pineapple upside-down cake and my marble cake). It’s a simple, classic, and incredible vanilla cake. So many of you have tried and loved this recipe, and while the recipe remains exactly the same, I thought it was about time for a facelift with new photos and a new video.
The flavor and texture of this cake is so much better than box-mix, and the preparation is almost as easy. I’ve included a few tips below to help you be successful, so make sure to read all the notes before you get started.
What You Need
After testing many versions and combinations of ingredients, I’ve found that a good vanilla cake needs the following ingredients:
- Oil AND butter. A blend of these two ingredients gives the cake the best possible flavor and texture. Butter provides flavor while oil adds moisture and keeps it from being too dry. A cake made with all oil would be moist but lacking in flavor, and an all-butter cake may have a more buttery taste, but would be more dry. Any neutral cooking oil will work here, but I typically recommend using either vegetable or canola oil. For the butter, unsalted is best so we have maximum control over the flavor of the cake
- Sugar. Plain granulated sugar works best. Brown sugar would add moisture, but would detract from the classic vanilla flavor and even weigh down the cake a bit.
- Eggs. You’ll need four eggs, and it’s best if you bring them to room temperature before adding them (this helps them incorporate into the batter more evenly).
- Vanilla. You can’t have vanilla cake without vanilla! I recommend using a good quality vanilla extract, so if you’ve got a batch of homemade vanilla extract, use it here!
- Flour. I developed this vanilla cake recipe to be work with all-purpose flour and that’s what I always use. However, you *could* use cake flour instead. To substitute by weight, you would use the same amount, but if you are using measuring cups you will need to substitute your flour properly.
- Baking powder. I know a tablespoon of baking powder may seem like a lot, but that’s not a typo. Always make sure your baking soda is fresh and avoid using a generic brand, which I’ve had mixed results with in the past.
- Salt. You can just use plain table salt.
- Buttermilk. I strongly recommend using full-fat buttermilk for the best flavor and texture. While I do have a buttermilk substitute, it doesn’t really make this vanilla cake quite as moist and flavorful as I like it to be, so now I strictly recommend using real buttermilk. And no, you do not *need* to have baking soda in a recipe in order to use buttermilk; we’re using it for its moisture and flavor here!
SAM’S TIP: One of the biggest mistakes you can make with this recipe is neglecting to measure your flour properly. If you over or under-measure your flour, your cake will not turn out right! Use the right method, be as precise as possible, and use a kitchen scale if you have one.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Vanilla Cake
- Cream the butter, oil, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, add your vanilla and stir to combine.
- Combine your dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add about ⅓ of the mixture into your bowl. Use a spatula to gently stir until just combined. Follow this with about ½ of your buttermilk, and stir again until just combined. .
- Add ½ of the remaining dry ingredients stir, and then add the remainder of the buttermilk. Finish with the final portion of dry ingredients and use your spatula to make sure the batter is smooth–do NOT overmix!
- Divide the batter evenly into two greased baking pans.
- Bake, then use a toothpick to test for doneness. Let the cakes cool in their pans a bit before inverting onto a cooling rack, where they’ll need to cool completely before frosting.
SAM’S TIP: While a toothpick that comes out clean indicates a fully baked cake, an over-baked cake will also yield a clean toothpick. It’s best to pull your vanilla cake out of the oven when a toothpick shows moist crumbs!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This vanilla cake recipe will make 24 vanilla cupcakes. I’ve included instructions for cupcakes in the recipe notes.
A cake that has been over-baked or one in which too much flour was used will be crumbly when cut into. If you invert the cake too soon or try to handle it while it’s too warm, this could also make it break.
Cakes made from scratch require a bit more care and technique than those that come from a box-mix. When making any cake from scratch, take care to not over-mix, over-bake, or use too much flour, or the cake can end up tasting like cornbread. This applies to any cake that is made from scratch, not just this recipe!
What causes dry cake?
Dryness is typically the biggest complaint bakers have when making a cake from scratch, so I thought this FAQ deserved its own space. There are three main causes for a dry cake: over-measuring the flour (addressed above), over-mixing, and over-baking.
- Do not over-mix your batter! Mixing the batter properly can be tricky and this is often where most mistakes are made with homemade cakes. To avoid over-mixing, thoroughly cream together the wet ingredients, particularly the butter, sugar, oil, and eggs. I highly recommend using an electric mixer for this step! However, once you get to the point of combining your wet and dry ingredients, you need to be gentle and fold by hand using a spatula. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, folding thoroughly, but not aggressively. The batter will be smooth and mostly cohesive; there may be some small lumps remaining, but that’s fine! Also, remember that while over-mixing can make your vanilla cake both dry and dense, under-mixing has its own risks and should be avoided as well!
- Do not over-bake your cake! Even a minute too long in the oven can cause a cake to be too dry and dense. When baking, place your cake pans on the center rack of your oven and always make sure your oven is running at the proper temperature (most ovens do not, so keep a thermometer in yours!). Don’t check your vanilla cake too early (that can make it sink!), but do keep an eye on it. When your cake is ready to come out of the oven, the center should spring back if lightly touched–it should not deflate or appear jiggly. You can also use the toothpick test to check for doneness. To do this, simply insert a toothpick in the center of your cake; it’s done if the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter). Once your vanilla cake is done, let it cool in the pan for only 10-15 minutes before running a knife around the edge and inverting it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
SAM’S NOTE: Under-mixing your cake batter, not baking the cake for long enough, or opening the oven door too frequently while the cake bakes can cause the cake to sink as it cools.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (120 ml) avocado, canola or vegetable oil¹
- 1 ½ cup (300 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour²
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cup (300 ml) buttermilk room temperature preferred
- 1 batch Chocolate Frosting click link for recipe, or use one of the other frostings recommended in the notes below
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and prepare two deep 8" round cake pans³ 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.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (120 ml) avocado, canola or vegetable oil¹, 1 ½ cup (300 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until thoroughly combined after each addition.4 large eggs
- Stir in vanilla extract.1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour², 1 Tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon 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 thoroughly combined, but there may be some small lumps in the batter and avoid over-mixing (and do not use your electric mixer or stand mixer for this step).1 ¼ cup (300 ml) buttermilk
- 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).1 batch Chocolate Frosting
Notes
¹Cooking oil
You may use any neutral cooking oil instead of vegetable or canola oil. I generally don’t recommend olive oil, which is heavier and has a distinct flavor that could affect the end taste result of your cake.²Cake Flour
You may substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour. Use 3 ⅓ cups or 375g of cake flour.³Different size baking pans
- 13×9″ pan: This recipe makes enough for one 13×9″ baking pan. Readers have reported the approximate bake time is 30 minutes.
- Two 9″ pans: Readers have reported this cake takes approximately 25 minutes to bake in 9″ pans.
- Bundt pan: Readers have reported this cake takes approximately 40-45 minutes to bake in a bundt pan
Vanilla Cupcakes:
This recipe will make approximately 24 vanilla cupcakes. Fill cupcake liners no more than ¾ 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.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:Video note
In the video I mistakenly say to add more buttermilk than is necessary. The written recipe is correct with 1 ¼ cups of buttermilk.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.
Lisa
Ok taste was amazing and your frosting turned out amazing too! However, I would love to know what you think I did wrong for the cake ….Mine was so dry that I really couldn’t make up for it even with a scoop of ice cream on top! Any ideas on why mine turned out so dry? I followed the recipe to a T but am wondering if I over stirred or over baked even though it didn’t look burnt at all.
Sam
Oh no, that’s disappointing that it was dry! While over-stirring is possible, over-baking could be your culprit even if the cake didn’t look burned, I usually prefer to have a few moist crumbs when I do my toothpick test rather than a clean toothpick, which usually gives me a nice moist cake as it will continue to bake a bit as it cools out of the oven.
Other than that, could the flour have possibly been over-measured? If you’re not using weight measurements I recommend spooning and leveling off the flour rather than scooping the flour directly into the measuring cup and then leveling it off, that could have potentially led to a dryer cake, too (and sorry if that is basic information to you, I just like to include it just in case!).
My favorite thing about this cake is how soft and moist it is, so I’m disappointed you didn’t get to experience that! 🙁
Stephie Scat
Hi Sam. I made this cake and had high hopes (because of the combination of oil), but my cake was dry as well! I started testing at 28 minutes with a toothpick and there was wet batter. I tried every minute, up to 32 minutes (when toothpick came out clean), so I don’t believe the cake was overbaked. I substituted cake flour, also thinking it would make for a lighter cake, but it was just dry Also, I didn’t overmix. (I folded in flour by hand..I watched your video). Any idea as to what caused the cake to be dry? In your video, you said that there should not be any wet batter when checking with a toothpick, which is why I let it cook longer, even though it appeared to be cooked (started releasing from sides of pan). Any help would be appreciated…. Thank you.
Sam
Hi Stephie, I’m sorry to hear that it came out dry for you! My favorite thing about this cake is that it is always so moist and soft!
You definitely don’t want any wet batter on your toothpick but a few moist crumbs are fine, and even preferable to the toothpick coming out clean, but it sounds like you were watching it carefully and I don’t know that it was over-baked from what you are saying. I was wondering, did you do a 1:1 substitution of cake flour for the all-purpose flour?
The more I think about it the more I wonder if the cake flour was the problem, this recipe was designed to be made with all-purpose so I’m wondering if that was it.
Mary
How many regular size cupcakes do you think it would make? Would baking time be similR
Sam
I haven’t actually tried it as cupcakes yet but I would think about 18-24 cupcakes, and as for the baking time I would definitely decrease that. Start with 18 minutes and then keep an eye on them, I can’t imagine they’d take longer than 25 minutes total and I’d use the toothpick test to see when they are done.
Teresa
Hi there, I’m looking to make cupcakes. Does this recipe make 12 or 24?
Sam
Hi Teresa! It would make closer to 24, I hope you love them!
Dola
Hi. Can I make these as cupcakes? If so, do you know how many it will make?
Sam
While I haven’t made them as cupcakes I know others have, it would make about 18-24 cupcakes and would need to bake for less time, I’d guess around 18-25 minutes (I’d use the toothpick test to check that they’re done).
Lindsay
So I tried this in a 9×13 pan first and cooked for about 40 min. and it turned out great, very moist even 2 days later (covered of course) I will be making my daughter’s B-day layer cake with this recipe this week and I know it will be perfect. It’s very good and has lots of flavor!
Sam
I’m so glad to hear it turned out in the 9×13 and that you enjoyed it! Thank you for coming back to let me know how it turned out for you, Lindsay!! 🙂
Lindsay Hawkins
Also, I made the B-day cake and it was perfect!!!
Keira
This recipe was great. I did three different vanilla cakes and got my friends to taste them and yours came out the winner. My new go to recipe! Thankyou. I was wondering.. I prefer to do 3 x 6 inch cakes… I’m thinking this recipe would be a little to much? Should I half it?
Sam
Ah I love hearing this!!! I’m glad it was such a hit, thank you for letting me know how it turned out, Keira! I think that this would actually probably work pretty well as 3 6″ cakes (assuming your cake pans are deep enough), if you do have leftover batter you can always make a few cupcakes out of it (that’s what I always do) but this recipe can also be halved, too!
Deb Burre
Looks so moist!!!!! Do you think I could make cupcakes instead ?
Sam
Sorry for not seeing your comment sooner, Deb! I haven’t made this recipe into cupcakes but I think it would be fine and would probably yield about 18-24 cupcakes. I’d bake for less time, probably around 18 minutes or so (just keep an eeye on them). I hope you love the recipe!
Kathy Bedard
I’m sorry Sam, did I miss where you posted the Chocolate frosting recipe that goes on the very best vanilla cake recipe? It looks delicious!!
Sam
I’m sorry Kathy, it should’ve been linked in the recipe but it looks like the link disappeared. Here is the link for my Chocolate Frosting: https://sugarspunrun.com/favorite-chocolate-frosting-recipe/
and I’m going to try to get that fixed in the recipe, thanks for pointing that out to me!!
Alyssa
I was so happy with how this turned out! Definitely my go to vanilla recipe from now on 🙂 Do you think this would work in a 9×13 pan?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! I honestly haven’t tried it in a 9×13 pan but I think it would work fine, I hope you’ll let me know how it turns out if you try it! 🙂
Sarah
Oh my goodness, Sam! All of your recipes are amazing!! You are beyond talented. Thanks so much for sharing your posts and step-by-step videos. You are the best.
Sam
I am so glad that you are enjoying them, Sarah! Thank you for commenting, it means a lot to me! <3
Jo Ellen Washburn
I made this and really love the cake. It is moist as promised. I can’t vouch for the frosting (had trouble with that), but the cake is great.
Sam
I’m so glad you liked the cake!!! Is there anything I might be able to help with re: the frosting? It can be a bit tricky with the melting chocolate but once you get a knack for it I promise it’s SO GOOD (my favorite).
Joanne
This looks like the perfect vanilla cake! How do you keep your cakes from getting a dome top?
Sam
Thanks Joanne! This recipe bakes up fairly flat just because of how it is designed (at least it has baked pretty flat for me every time, flat enough that I had no need to level it off before icing). I don’t use any tricks (I’ve heard of people wrapping the pans or placing something on top of the baked cakes — I’ve never tried that), so I hope this cake would bake just as dome-free for you! 🙂
Clem
It soooo gets a dome top in a regular oven. I should have used water as I always do but I trusted the above comment. Other than that, nice and soft, my daughter liked it for her birthday.
Sam
Hmm, I have a regular oven and haven’t had that issue. How do you use water? I am glad that you otherwise enjoyed!
Linda
I don’t use vegetable or canola oils. Can I use coconut oil?
Sam
Hi Linda! Hmm, I’m super unfamiliar with baking with coconut oil but I found this link that suggests it would be fine if you melt the coconut oil first. I haven’t tried it myself and would love to hear how it turns out for you if you do try it!
Sheenam
This looks perfect! Is there any substitute for buttermilk here?
Sam
Hi Sheenam! Here is an easy buttermilk substitute!
Laura
I made this as soon as I got the email and I can vouch that It really is the best! Thanks for another great recipe Sam.
Sam
So glad to hear that you enjoyed it, Laura!!! 🙂