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.
Kelley
This cake came out extremely dry. I followed the recipe using 9 in pans , sub veg for canola, and baked 22-25 min. Can you tell me what causes the cake to become dry?
Sam
Hi Kelley! There are a few things that can make a cake come out too dry (and homemade cakes from scratch can be tricky), here are the most likely culprits:
1) The cake batter may have been over-mixed, make sure that you fold together the wet and dry ingredients gently by hand and NOT an electric mixer (same with the egg whites, fold them in by hand).
2) The cake may have been over-baked by even a minute or two, this can really dry out a cake. Also if the cake was baked too close to the heating element (I recommend baking in the center rack) or if your oven is running hotter than it lets on (a very common problem with ovens, why I recommend an oven thermometer) that could cook the cake too fast and make it dry.
3) The flour may have been accidentally over-measured.
I really hope that helps but am happy to help troubleshoot more! I also have a video in the recipe card that might be helpful, too!
Molly
Hi! If I were to change the vanilla extract to a different flavor, will it be the same measurement? I was searching for an Ube Cake recipe but they mostly are Chiffon type and I am not really a fan haha.
Sam
Hi Molly! So, not necessarily the same amount. I’m not sure what the flavoring you are using is like, but some extracts are much more potent than vanilla (and some may be weaker). For example, mint extract and almond extract are very potent and I would not recommend using a full Tablespoon. If it is an Ube extract I’m not sure exactly how potent that is, you may need to experiment and flavor it to taste. If it’s often used in Chiffon cakes of the same dimensions you would probably be safe to use the same amount or a little bit more than is called for in those recipes. I hope that helps!
Molly
Ube extract is Purple Yam! It doesn’t taste like Taro but they are similar in color and I think part of the same plant family. Anyway, thank you! I will experiment first.
Cathryn
This cake tasted very good! But, it was also dense and dry. Do you know what I may have done wrong to cause it to be dense and dry? I followed the recipe exactly.
Sam
Hi Cathryn! There are a few things that can make a cake come out too dry (and homemade cakes from scratch can be tricky), here are the most likely culprits:
1) The cake batter may have been over-mixed, make sure that you fold together the wet and dry ingredients gently by hand and NOT an electric mixer (same with the egg whites, fold them in by hand).
2) The cake may have been over-baked by even a minute or two, this can really dry out a cake. Also if the cake was baked too close to the heating element (I recommend baking in the center rack) or if your oven is running hotter than it lets on (a very common problem with ovens, why I recommend an oven thermometer) that could cook the cake too fast and make it dry.
3) The flour may have been accidentally over-measured.
I really hope that helps but am happy to help troubleshoot more! I also have a video in the recipe card that might be helpful, too!
Cathryn
Thank you for the response! I definitely think I over-mixed the batter and possibly cooked it a couple of minutes too long.
Priya
Can I make this in two 6 inch pans?
Sam
Hi Priya! You will have batter left over if you do, I would not fill each pan more than 2/3 – 3/4 of the way full.
Priya
Thanks!
Mntaj
Can I bake this in a 9×13 inch pan? Is the baking time different?
Sam
Yes it can be baked in that size pan, I believe people have reported that it usually takes around 28 minutes or so. Enjoy!
Andrew
Can i do half the ingridients?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Andrew! Yes, you can! I hope that you enjoy the cake. 🙂
Andrew
If i use half as i said, how will the baking time change?
Thanks for answering so fast ! ❤
Sugar Spun Run
That will depend on what size pan you will be using. If you use the 8″ pan that is listed the baking time will be the same. If you use another size pan you will just want to keep an eye on it. You will bake it until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs or clean. 🙂
Megan
Hi. I’ve made this cake twice and absolutely love it!! The first time, whenever it gets cold it tastes a little too much like vanilla extract so i changed it to 1 tsp vanilla extract. Now it tasted a little too much like baking powder. It’s still a 10/10 I just have to figure out how to equalize it. One question i did have was how to reheat it properly/ make sure it doesn’t get cold. (more like two questions) Although it’s a 10/10 out of the oven, It’s a 3/10 once it’s cold.
Sam
Hi Megan! I usually do not refrigerate the cake, could you store it in an airtight container at room temperature?
Suzanne
I made a homemade whipped topping and now I referent because I have to refrigerate. The cupcakes came out soo good. Did I ruin by refrigerating?
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cupcakes. No, you should be ok. 🙂
Brandon pazmino
Hello! Would you say the chocolate frosting goes better with this cake or your chocolate buttercream frosting? Or is just a matter of preference?
Sam
Hi Brandon! It’s really a matter of preference here. The buttercream is pretty sweet. The frosting listed with the cake is less sweet, but you can’t go wrong with either. Enjoy! 🙂
Lily
Hi,
My cake pans are about 3 inches thick, would that work?
This is my first time baking a cake, and while researching online I’ve seen some people say that their cakes come out uncooked in the center and burnt on the edges when baking in deep pans. I’m new to this, so I’m not sure what to expect. Does this happen due to overfilling the cake pans? If I only fill it halfway then will the cake sink? I just need a little clarification.
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Lily! If you have two pans that are 8 or 9″ round then yes 3 inches deep is plenty, just evenly divide the batter between the pans. I do have a video in the post that might be helpful! I wouldn’t fill any pans more than 2/3-3/4 of the way full.
Barbara
Hello,
Can I use whole milk in this recipe instead of buttermilk, if that’s what I have on hand?
Thank you!
Sam
Hi Barbara! I really recommend using buttermilk here. I have an easy buttermilk substitute you can use that uses whole milk. 🙂
Barbara
Thank you so much for your quick response! I can’t wait to try your recipes!
Barbara
Thank you so much for your quick response! I made buttermilk just as you suggested.
Update: My teenage son and I made your cake and chocolate frosting tonight and it turned out great!! We enjoyed the bonding time and of course taste testing along the way.
Thank you!
Sam
I am so happy to hear this! Barbara! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out! 🙂
Michelle Hamilton
First time trying baking “A CAKE” and it’s looks and taste absolutely delicious… thank you!!!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Michelle! 🙂
Dana
Yum
Elizabeth
Before I make this recipe… about how many cupcakes does it make?
Just wondering!
Sam
Hi Elizabeth! It will make approximately 24. Enjoy!
Elizabeth
Thank you so much! I want to make cupcakes for my mom’s two friends and this recipe looks perfect
Hilary
Just took these out of the oven and they smell/look great. Wanted to leave a comment to let others know that my cake batter when in to the pans VERY thick – so thick that it was a struggle to spread it to the edges of the two round cake pans before popping them in the oven. I was nervous that this would affect the bake but they were perfectly done at 30 minutes. If you find the batter thicker than expected, don’t panic 🙂
Sam
Thank you for commenting, Hilary!
taylor
i made this cake, followed all intstructions, but it still doesnt look right and tastes wayyyy too sweet. im not sure where i went wrong
Sam
Hi Taylor! I’m happy to help troubleshoot. This isn’t an overbearingly sweet cake so I’m wondering if maybe an ingredient might have been accidentally over-measured? What did the cake look like?
Carlos
Thank you. It’s an amazing recipe.
Sam
You’re very welcome, I’m so glad you enjoyed, Carlos!
Brianne Yennie
My pans are like an inch I think, just about
Sam
Hi Brianne, I would recommend using deeper pans for this recipe.