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.
Jessica
I don’t have buttermilk on hand at the moment. Is there a substitution you could reccomend
Sam
Hi Jessica! I do have a buttermilk substitute you can make. It’s really simple. 🙂
John
Made this for my son’s 5th bday party and it was a hit. The cake was delicious and not overly sweet, but wasn’t as moist as I hoped for, but that could have been an ingredient issue on my end. Making it again for Christmas eve to use with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream. Definitely recommend this one.
SUSAN
I followed the recipe exactly ( i did make 1.5 times the ingredients), and although it tastes good, it seems a bit dense to me. Any ideas what i did wrong? I cooked in two 10″ pans for about 40-45 min. Until batter was cooked in middle. I made your Ermine frosting and that turned out great! Thanks
Sam
Hi Susan! There are a couple of things that can cause a dense cake; over-mixing (which is easier to do when increasing the recipe) or over-baking. I’m glad you enjoyed the frosting. 🙂
Sonja
Yay, finally a vanilla cake recipe that turned out and uses ingredients that you generally have at home! I made 3/4 of the recipe and baked it in one 9 inch pan for 35min, I also made the buttermilk substitute following your recipe and it turned out great. Thank you,very happy.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Sonja! 🙂
Mae
Hi! I’d love to bake this recipe but I really want to do it in my 10×2 inch heart shaped cake pan! Do you have an recommendation on what time I should bake it for?
Sam
Hi Mae! Unfortunately I have never baked with this shape pan so I’m not sure how long it would take to bake the cake. I would recommend keeping an eye on it. It’s important to not over-do this one. 🙂
David
I want to make a three layer cake. Can I decide the batter into 3 cake pans? Also, how much will I need to reduce the baking time?
David
Sam
Hi David! You can divide the batter between the 3 pans but the layers will be pretty thin. I am not sure what the bake time would be if you did that. I would recommend increasing the recipe by 50% to have 3 layers. 🙂
Gina Marie Villani
Seriously, the best!! I used a whipped cream frosting, topped with fresh strawberries (I also put frosting and strawberries between the layers) and everyone loved it! I’ll definitely be making again. And again. And again!
Hwa G
This is the best chocolate icing cake ever!!! I loooove the icing and the cake is so good too. I put less sugar in the icing. We already made this cake 3 times in a month. Highly recommend this cake!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂
Ciana
Hello! So I love this cake recipe. I wanted to use this vanilla cake recipe to make 2 – 6 inch layers and am using different cake flavor for the other layers. Is it possible that I can half this vanilla cake recipe and get the same results? Or even double the recipe if I wanted to make more layers?
Sam
Hi Ciana! You should be able to half or double this recipe without issue. The only thing I caution you on doubling it is to not over-mix the cake. 🙂
Gabby
Is there a way to replace the caster oil in the recipe
Sam
Hi Gabby! Do you mean canola oil? Any neutral oil will work here. 🙂
Asia
I have made this cake several times and it always comes out perfectly. I sometimes add moringa powder for a healthy green.thank you.
We love it.
Elliott
Hi there! Just wondering, can this be baked in a 13×9 inch pan?
Sam
Hi Elliot! This will fit in a 9 x 13. I have had other readers report a 30 minute bake time. 🙂
Laura
These are amazing!!!
marina
Hallo Sam ,
can i use caster suger instead of granulated suger ? And will it be the same grams ?
Thanks
Best Regards
Marina
Sam
Hi Marina! You can use the caster sugar here and yes you will need the same weight in grams. Enjoy! 🙂
Michael
Is it okay to use salted butter instead of unsalted?
Sam
Hi Michael! You can use salted butter just reduce the salt by 1/4 teaspoon. 🙂
Nawal
Hello.
I am.quite now to baking but was very successfully able to use this recipe to make a pink and white checkerboard cake for my daughter’s girls only playdate.
I did reduced about half a cup of sugar as we prefer a not too sweet cake, and it was perfect for us.
I cannot get over the tender and moist cake and I am still having difficulty believing that I was able to bake something like this..
Thanks a lot for this recipe, I will be coming back to this for sure.
Do you have a chocolate cake recipe with a similar tender crumb? Or a chocolate version of this cake? If you do then my search for the perfect chocolate cake cake would just stop.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! I do have a chocolate cake recipe as well. 🙂
Miriam
First time i ever made a cake from scratch and this recipe was easy and delicious! I did use only 1 cup of the sugar and 1 1/2 of butter, but followed everything else as listed and it was perfect, moist and creamy and had plenty of the icing for 24 cupcakes. Thank you!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Miriam! 🙂