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You are here: Home / Desserts / Cake / The Best Vanilla Cake Recipe

The Best Vanilla Cake Recipe

January 10, 2018 Updated March 13, 2018 BySam 4,877 Comments

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Vanilla Cake

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!

Vanilla cake recipe

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.

Vanilla Cake from scratch -- covered in chocolate frosting

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.

Vanilla cake batter

A freshly baked golden vanilla cake layer

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.

A slice of vanilla cake

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

Slice of yellow cake with chocolate icing on white plate

Vanilla Cake

A classic vanilla cake recipe -- made completely from scratch!
4.84 from 675 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Cake, Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: easy vanilla cake, vanilla cake, vanilla cake with all purpose flour
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings: 12 slices
Calories: 725kcal
Author: Sam Merritt

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

*You may substitute vegetable oil or another neutral oil instead
**You may use 9" cake pans instead, but watch the cooking time as they may need less time in the oven.

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:
  • Buttercream Frosting
  • Cream Cheese Frosting
  • Ermine Frosting
  • Swiss Meringue Buttercream

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

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 725kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

A large slice of vanilla cake

Filed Under: Cake

Related Posts

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Previous Post My Favorite Chocolate Frosting Recipe
Next Post Nutella Swirl Blondies

Comments

  1. Christina Nickerson says

    July 9, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    Canola oil, yikes!! Can you use butter instead?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 9, 2020 at 4:31 pm

      I don’t recommend the butter here it is going to dry out the cake. You can use any neutral oil you’d like. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Mandy says

    July 8, 2020 at 8:45 am

    Can u use applesauce instead of oil with the same effect. I don’t care for oil and try to substitute it when possible.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 9, 2020 at 10:04 am

      Hi Mandy! It could work, but the cake would probably be a little more dense. 🙂

      Reply
      • Tracy says

        July 9, 2020 at 11:31 pm

        Can you add some applesauce in addition to the oil?

      • Sam says

        July 10, 2020 at 12:01 pm

        I’m not sure how it would turn out. 🙁

  3. Natasha says

    July 7, 2020 at 1:37 pm

    Hi. If I want to make this cake in a single layer square 9 x 9 pan ( just my husband and I), should I cut the recipe in half?

    Thank you.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 8, 2020 at 5:23 pm

      Hi Natasha! This recipe should fit into a 9 inch square pan as it is. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Harry says

    July 7, 2020 at 12:06 pm

    Hi, was just wondering if you could substitute coconut extract for the vanilla extract to make a coconut cake

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 7, 2020 at 12:17 pm

      Hi Harry! You can but you will want to use significantly less coconut extract. Alternatively I do have a coconut cake you could make. 🙂

      Reply
      • Harry Logan says

        July 7, 2020 at 12:19 pm

        Thank you

  5. Smriti Edwards says

    July 7, 2020 at 10:29 am

    Hi, would I need to change quantities for a 9×13 sheet pan? I am hoping to make a 4 shaped birthday cake for my son next week and would love to use this recipe. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 7, 2020 at 11:25 am

      This recipe as is will fit in a 9 x 13 pan. 🙂

      Reply
      • Smriti Edwards says

        July 7, 2020 at 12:41 pm

        Perfect! Thank you! Can’t wait to try it 🙂

  6. Abby says

    July 6, 2020 at 10:20 pm

    I don’t have buttermilk! Is there a way to make it without?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 7, 2020 at 11:47 am

      Hi Abby! Please refer to my post on how to make buttermilk. You should make this cake with buttermilk. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Josselyne M says

    July 4, 2020 at 11:02 pm

    Would you be able to do this with a paddle attachment? Why does it have to be a spatula?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 5, 2020 at 10:41 am

      Hi Josselyne. You want to do it by hand so you don’t over-mix the batter. If you over mix the batter your cake will come out dense and not taste right.

      Reply
  8. Patricia says

    July 4, 2020 at 4:33 pm

    Love your recipes and videos. Can I make these ahead or time and freeze? Would I leave parchment paper on when freezing?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 5, 2020 at 10:52 am

      Hi Patricia! You can freeze these cakes. You don’t need to leave the parchment paper rounds on them, just make sure to wrap them tightly so they don’t dry out in the freezer. 🙂

      Reply
  9. Jill says

    July 4, 2020 at 3:58 pm

    Getting ready to make this but I don’t have round cake pans. How should I adjust the bake temperature and time for a 9×13 glass pan?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 5, 2020 at 10:51 am

      Hi Jill! You won’t need to change the temperature but the bake time will change. I have had someone report a 30 minute bake time in a 9 x 13, but that was with a metal pan, so just keep an eye on it. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Makenna says

    July 4, 2020 at 1:27 pm

    Hi!would this be suitable for kids to make?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 5, 2020 at 11:46 am

      Hi Makenna! I have several younger children bake this cake. Of course some supervision is probably necessary, but they can definitely do it. 🙂

      Reply
  11. Michiko says

    July 4, 2020 at 9:54 am

    4 stars
    I love this recipe! After many dry and dense cake failures this one was so fluffy and moist! My only concern is that I can taste the baking soda taste a little bit I’m the cake. Would using both baking soda and baking powder help with that (and decreasing amount of baking soda )?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 4, 2020 at 10:31 am

      Hi Michiko! You shouldn’t taste any baking soda here. If you do your baking soda may be bad. I would not try adding baking soda here. 🙂

      Reply
  12. Roh says

    July 4, 2020 at 5:57 am

    5 stars
    I followed your recipe and my cakes were really soft and yummy. One of them cracked and spilt into two. I wonder why. But the other one was just flawless. I joined the cracked cake with some buttercream frosting I made and used it as a bottom layer. But overall the cake with vanilla buttercream frosting was just too good. Thank you. So grateful.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 6, 2020 at 1:33 pm

      Hmmm it’s so weird that one of them cracked but not the others. Did you bake them all on the same rack? Maybe the one that cracked was a little more shallow? Was it dried out by chance? All I can think is that it was over-baked, but I’m glad you were able to enjoy it! 🙂

      Reply
  13. Reena says

    July 3, 2020 at 10:03 pm

    Hi, for the butter and sugar there’s no need to cream them? Just mix together is it?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 4, 2020 at 10:41 am

      Hi Reena! Please refer to step 2. You need to cream them together. 🙂

      Reply
  14. Vanessa says

    July 3, 2020 at 3:56 pm

    Hi, I am trying to became a baker myself but does this recipe with 6 inch pans. Or how much thing I’ll need like cups and stuff?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 4, 2020 at 10:55 am

      Hi Vanessa! This recipe will make enough batter to fill at least 3 6″ pans. Baking time will be shorter though. Make sure you don’t overfill the pans. 🙂

      Reply
  15. Dave says

    July 3, 2020 at 10:02 am

    Can I substitite regular milk for buttermilk?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      July 4, 2020 at 11:00 am

      Hi Dave! I would recommend making my buttermilk substitute instead of using just plain milk here. 🙂

      Reply
    • Isabel Correa says

      July 6, 2020 at 3:01 pm

      Hi, I’m from Brazil, and it’s extremely hard to find buttermilk here. Can I use just plain semi-fat milk?
      Thanks, I look forward to making that cake!

      Reply
      • Sam says

        July 6, 2020 at 3:25 pm

        Hi Isabel! If you don’t have access to buttermilk I recommend using my buttermilk substitute. 🙂

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The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

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