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.
Ava
Can I use two 6in round pans for this? If I can how should I change the recipe?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Ava! This recipe is designed to bake (2) 8″ pans, roughly 1 1/2″-2″ thick layer(s). How deep are your 6″ pans that you plan to use? How thick would you like the layer to be?
Ava
About 2.5 thick. Im just making a small cake.
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Ava! To make sure you have enough batter and to achieve a 2.5″ thickness, I would keep the recipe as is. You will have some extra batter (not much) that you can use either toss or make cupcakes for yourself. The bake time will be different than what is listed so I would keep an eye on your cakes. Keep me posted on how it turns out. 🙂
Srp
Do i need frosting? My kids dont like it. Will it work with adding chocolate chips or will it be too dry? Also…can i make in a bundt pan? Thanks!
Sugar Spun Run
No, you do not need to make frosting for this cake and you can add chocolate chips to the batter! To prevent the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the pan, I reccomend that you toss them in flour before adding them. This will help suspend them in your batter. As far a using a bundt pan that will work as well. Someone who recently used a bundt pan for this recipe reported that it took approximately 40-45 minutes to bake. I would keep an eye on it. I hope that your kids love the cake, Srp! 🙂
Aline
Can I use regular whole milk instead of buttermilk?
Sugar Spun Run
Yes, you can, Aline! I also have a buttermilk substitute if you wish to try that. Either will work. 🙂
Amena
I want to use this recipe to make a layered rainbow cake (6 layers). Can you advise on how much to increase the ingredients by to get the perfect amount of layers.
Thank you
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Amena! What size pan will you be using?
Amena
9”
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Amena! Since you will need 6 layers and will be using a 9″ pan, you can either triple the recipe to achieve 1 1/2″-2″ colored layers, or you can double the recipe and have thinner colored layers. To achieve equal layers, I would divide my batter into 6 bowls based on weight/amount and then add coloring. Since the amount of batter added to the pans will be different than what is listed you will want to keep an eye on the cake(s) while they bake. One thing to think about is that the vanilla cake batter has a yellow-hue to it so your colors may not be as vibrant. I do have a white cake recipe that will achieve the best results if you wish to use that recipe instead. I hope that this helps! 🙂
Gwenn
Hi,
I want to make this for my daughters birthday. At which stage should I add food coloring to the cake. Also, I wanted to do 6inch cake pans but only have 2. Should I let the remaining batter sit in the refrigerator or at room temp while I wait for the cakes to cook?
Thanks!
Sugar Spun Run
Happy (early) Birthday to your daughter, Gwenn! If you wanted to add color to the batter you will do so at the end, just before you divide your batter into each pan. Please keep in mind that this batter has a yellowish hue to it so your colors may not be as vibrant as if you were using a white cake recipe. While your cakes are baking you will store the remaining batter in the refrigerator. I hope that she loves her cake! 🙂
Allison
Is there any way I could sub sour cream for the buttermilk?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Allison! Yes, that should work fine. You can make a sour cream buttermilk substitute, by combining 3-4 tablespoons of regular milk plus enough sour cream to equal 1 cup. Whisk well to combine and you have a buttermilk substitute! I also have a buttermilk substitute that uses lemon juice and milk that will also work! Enjoy! 🙂
Gaby Delro
I don’t usually post comments on blogs, but this deserved it. I was going crazy with so many recipes online of vanilla cake, but something told me I should do this one. Best. Decision. Ever. I made it yesterday for my birthday, and I frosted it with a cream cheese frosting. Also, I added a cup of chocolate chips just for fun. My family (who don’t have a sweet tooth like me) LOVED IT. They said that the cake was really fluffy and not too sweet! Perfect! Thank you so much for this recipe.
Sugar Spun Run
Happy Birthday to you, Gaby! I am so glad that you enjoyed the cake and I hope that you had a wonderful day too! Thanks for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
hibah
hi! can i use this in 3 6inch pans? thank you
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Hibhah! Yes, that will be fine. Please keep in mind that since you will be using different pan sizes than what is listed the bake time will also be different so you’ll want to keep an eye on it. I hope that you enjoy the cake! 🙂
Shamarmaye
Before I tried out this recipe, I never liked vanilla cake, but once I put that cake in my mouth, I apologized to my taste buds for thinking vanilla cake is “gross”. I LOVE THIS CAKE!!! it so moist, and light and it doesn’t sink!! i would give this cake a 6/5 stars if I could!!!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that this cake was able to change your mind and you loved it, Shamarmaye! Thank you so much for giving my recipe a try! 🙂
Brandon
Can I add blueberries? How much should I add?
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Brandon! Yes, you can! How much will depend on how many blueberries you’d like in your cake. I would suggest using 1 cup and adding more if needed. Since you are a blueberry fan, I have a blueberry cake recipe that you may also want to try. 🙂
Sugar Spun Run
I am really sorry to hear that your cake turned out dense, Mariya! That is should not be the case. If you did not overmix your batter, or add too much flour, then it could be possible that it was overbaked slightly. Regardless, I hope that it was delicious. 🙁
Angela Cicarelli
Hi. Plan on baking a cake for my son’s birthday. Just curious about using a bundt pan and how long to bake. I’m leaning toward a chocolate ganache to finish it off. Thanks!!
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Angela! Someone recently used a bundt pan for this recipe and reported that it took approximately 40-45 minutes to bake. Having not tried it myself, I would reccomend keeping an eye on it. This pairs perfectly with a chocolate ganache as well. I hope that your son has a nice birthday and enjoys the cake! 🙂
Lily
If you’re baking with 9 inch pans, I’d recommend checking the cakes at the 22 min mark, maybe even sooner. I baked mine for 28 min and the cake turned out extremely dry and dense, like a bad pound cake. I didn’t have buttermilk so I used the lemon and milk mixture as a substitute and I also used veg. oil instead of canola, but I don’t think these contributed to the poor outcome of the cake.
I was careful to not over mix the batter and as I am now reading through other comments and Sam’s troubleshooting tips, I know I should have baked the cake for a good 3-5 mins less than I did. Happy baking!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you for sharing, Lily. I am sorry to hear that the cakes turned out dry as a result of it. I hope that you give this recipe another try. 🙁
Joy
Can this recipe replace the box mix that’s used for other cake recipes?
Sam
Hi Joy! It really depends on the recipe so I can’t say for sure.
Ev
Hi, can I bake in a 9×13 pan instead? I don’t have round cake pans.
Sam
Yes that will work fine. I would check the cake at about 30 minutes. 🙂
Nina
Hi! I want to make this cake today in a 9×9 pan. I am already going to divide the recipe in half. How long should I bake?
Sam
Hi Nina! I would just keep a close eye on it. Since I haven’t baked it in a 9 x 9 I don’t know how long it would take to bake. 🙂
Nina
Hi! I baked it for 25 minutes and it came out well
Sam
Thanks for the feedback! 🙂