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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 4,873 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

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

Comments

  1. Julia Groeneweg says

    January 6, 2021 at 4:00 pm

    5 stars
    I was in Arizona at a rental house on vacation when that need to bake something hit. We had limited baking ingredients so it was a bit of an adventure and challenge. We had baking soda and not powder, no buttermilk, no dry measuring cups or spoons – so needless to say I was surprised this worked.
    I used your buttermilk substitute with lime juice, and for a baking powder substitute I used 3/4 tsp baking soda and 1 1/2 teaspoons of lime juice.
    Then I decided to top it with cinnamon and sugar and swirl it in.
    These came out AMAZING! They were so good – and they definitely helped the need to bake and to eat baking😂
    I love your blog!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      January 7, 2021 at 9:48 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Julia! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Kaylee says

    January 5, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    It was very good recipe, and it turned out really good!!

    Reply
  3. Nikki says

    January 4, 2021 at 11:47 pm

    Hi, this looks good, but I was wondering why you use only baking powder as the leavener rather than adding some baking soda to take advantage of the acidity from the buttermilk. Wouldn’t a combo like 50/50 or 67/ 33 baking powder/soda be a better option, or did you have a reason for doing all powder? Thanks!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      January 7, 2021 at 9:55 pm

      Hi Nikki! Originally this was also my thought, but after lots and lots and LOTS of testing, I found this was the best combination. While the baking powder isn’t reacting with the buttermilk, the buttermilk does provide a much better flavor and texture. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Sherry says

    January 4, 2021 at 10:39 am

    hi can I use a 9×13 pan

    Reply
    • Sam says

      January 4, 2021 at 9:01 pm

      Hi Sherry! This fits in a 9 x 13. I haven’t tried it myself but others have reported a 30 minute bake time. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Alina says

    January 4, 2021 at 3:10 am

    Hi, I’ve been wanting to try this recipe, but we don’t have full fat buttermilk only low fat is that ok

    Reply
    • Sam says

      January 4, 2021 at 10:33 am

      Yes that will be fine! Enjoy 🙂

      Reply
  6. Danielle says

    January 3, 2021 at 12:42 am

    5 stars
    I made half the recipe to test it out. It baked up beautifully with a nice dome, but deflated when I took it out of the oven. I’m sure it was user error, but not sure what I did wrong. It tastes wonderful, just dense because it collapsed. Any idea what could have happened?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      January 3, 2021 at 10:08 pm

      Hi Danielle! There are a couple of things that can cause this. The batter may have been over-beaten or the cake may have been slightly under-baked. Make sure to take it easy mixing when adding the eggs. I hope it turns out better next time. 🙂

      Reply
  7. Crescence says

    January 1, 2021 at 10:52 pm

    5 stars
    I made this cake for my mother’s 88th birthday. I’ve never baked a cake before but this one turned out to be so good and all were surprised. The recipe is so simple yet the end result is awesome. Thanks Sam for helping me bake my first cake.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      January 2, 2021 at 8:38 pm

      I am so glad you enjoyed it so much! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Jenn says

    January 1, 2021 at 1:27 pm

    I don’t have canola oil, only avocado and grapeseed lol can I double the butter? And if using cake flour how much? I know you mentioned the measurement is not 1:1?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      January 2, 2021 at 8:52 pm

      Hi Jenn! I haven’t tried either but I know others have had success with avocado oil. Doubling the butter will make the cake more dry. For the cake flour you need to use 1 c + 2 TBSP for each cup of all purpose flour so here you will need 3 cups + 6 TBSP. 🙂

      Reply
      • Caroline says

        January 7, 2021 at 10:50 am

        Can we use vegetable oil for the cake?

      • Sam says

        January 7, 2021 at 11:07 am

        Yes that will work fine here. 🙂

  9. Adam says

    December 31, 2020 at 10:41 am

    5 stars
    Good.

    Reply
  10. Nell says

    December 30, 2020 at 5:51 pm

    5 stars
    Wonderful cake recipe. Everything turned out perfect. It will definitely be my go to recipe! Thank you!☺️

    Reply
  11. Polita says

    December 30, 2020 at 1:53 am

    Hi there, I want to bake this today for my hubby’s birthday! Can I use cake flour instead of all purpose?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 30, 2020 at 10:42 am

      You can use cake flour, but make sure to use the proper substitution as it isn’t a 1 for 1. Enjoy! 🙂

      Reply
  12. VLFH says

    December 27, 2020 at 4:54 am

    Can i use your ermine frosting for this cake?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 27, 2020 at 11:05 am

      Sure thing! 🙂

      Reply
  13. Aditi says

    December 26, 2020 at 1:13 am

    5 stars
    I always make this cake but have never rated the recipe. Am sorry. It is indeed the best vanilla cake recipe. It just melts into the mouth.
    Thank you so much for sharing!!

    Reply
  14. amanda says

    December 25, 2020 at 6:17 pm

    can i use the blue bonnet btter that comes in a tub, i ran out of stick butter

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 27, 2020 at 11:47 am

      I have never tried it myself, I think it could work but if you try it would you please let me know how it turns out for you?

      Reply
  15. Cel says

    December 23, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    I forgot the canola.oil! My cake is now baking! 🙏 It will still turn out ok 😩

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 23, 2020 at 8:37 pm

      Unfortunately I am worried it will be dry as the oil adds moisture to the cake. Once it’s cooled you can try leveling the cake and tasting the scraps to see how it tastes.

      Reply
    • Elle says

      December 26, 2020 at 9:58 pm

      I’m guessing it will still taste delish, just not as moist. When I’ve done something similar, I give up on the idea of a frosted cake and do something like top with sliced peaches or berries and whip cream. Those both have enough moisture that no one really knows I goofed except me.

      Reply
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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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