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!
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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: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
Harout says
Hi I was wondering if I could substitute yogurt or sour cream for the oil? The recipe is amazing, I just prefer dairy over oil where it’s possible
Sam says
Hi Harout! Unfortunately I don’t think it would work as well :-/
Beth says
I don’t have round cake pans. Will this work in a 9×13 pan and how would I adjust the baking time?
Thanks!
Sam says
Hi Beth! This will fit in a 9 x 13. I have had others report a 30 minute bake time. 🙂
Lorri says
Hello, I live above 10,000 ft. How would I modify this recipe for high altitude?
Sam says
Hi Lorri! Unfortunately I am not very familiar with high altitude baking. 🙁
Lanqueen says
Hi, Can I use 1/2 cup oil instead of butter cause I am allergic to butter.
Sam says
You can use oil you will just lose a little bit of flavor. 🙂
Jessica says
Hey! So i made this cake and it seemed to be dense? Do you know what went wrong because all the comments are saying it’s fluffy!!
Sam says
Hi Jessica! I’m so sorry this happened. Most of the time when this occurs it’s either from over-mixing or over-baking. I hope this helps. 🙂
Ebonee says
I ordered whole buttermilk, but was given low fat. Will that be okay?
Ebonee says
The original question is mine. So…maybe all buttermilk is low-fat?? I’m new to baking so forgive my ignorance.
Sam says
Most of the buttermilk you can find in stores is low fat buttermilk so it works here. 🙂
Sam says
That will work just fine here. 🙂
Gina says
Hie Sam. Can i half the recipe?
Sam says
Sure thing! 🙂
Grace says
Could I use cake flour instead of plain flour to give this cake a softer crumb? Have you tried replacing with cake flour before?
Sam says
Hi Grace! To use 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. 🙂
Maddie Reece says
This cake is amazing and I 100% recommend! I use this recipe for every vanilla birthday cake and it is gone within seconds.
Sam says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much, Maddie! 🙂
Emily says
Hi! I was thinking of making this, and I was wanting to do three 6 inch cake pans, so do you recommend I half the recipe or keep the regular recipe?
Sam says
Hi Emily! This will make slightly more than you need for 3 6 inch cakes but I would just make the recipe as indicated and make sure to not overfill the pans. You may end up with a little excess batter. 🙂
Lori says
When I have leftover batter, I make mug cakes!! A minute in the microwave 😉
Sam says
Great idea! 🙂
Julia says
Hi! I have a question. I only have one 8 inch cake pan, can I put all the batter there or should I wait until the first half is done and then bake the other one? Thanks!
Sam says
Hi Julia! You will definitely want to wait and bake two separate cakes. The cake will overflow your pan if you try to bake it all at once. 🙂
Rita says
Amazing cake ! so yummy moist and fluffy . I did it for my son’s birthday with your chocolate icing recipe and it was a hit. It melts in the mouth and just too good . thanks for both recipes 🙂
Elliana says
OMG, I like how you decorated that cake. I’m looking forward to seeing more of your baking videos.
Love
From Elliana
To Sam
Sam says
Thank you so much, Elliana! 🙂
Audrey says
Can you add a box of lemon pudding and extra lemon extract to make a lemon cake?
Sam says
Unfortunately without having tried it I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. I do have a lemon cake recipe, though, if you’d like to try that!
Melissa Shelton says
It’s a question , not a comment.I want to try this recipe for my daughter’s cake but do not have buttermilk . Can I use milk or heavy cream instead?? Thanks!!
Sam says
Hi Melissa! I wouldn’t recommend heavy cream, but you can use your milk to make my buttermilk substitute. 🙂
TAMAMI HONMA says
you can add 1 tablespoon of vinegar per one cup milk (wait a few minutes til a little thicker) to make buttermilk for recipes:)