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
Sahar
Hi dear Sam♥️Is your vanilla cake and also your marble cake sturdy enough for carving and also for sculpted cakes?I love your recipes they are really wonderful and perfect and I want to make your marble or vanilla cake and carve it but not sure if it is sturdy enough?
Sam
Hmmm these cakes are softer and fluffy so I’m not sure how they will do being sculpted, but if you do try it I would love to know how it turns out. 🙂
Chimya
This is my go to vanilla cake. I love it
Vero
Hi! When you say deep pans, how deep are we talking about?
Sam
I use 2 inch deep pans. 🙂
Arrti
Hi Sam, could you please advise how much better is needed for two six inch pans. CN this cake be covered with fondant. Will it hold itself
Sam
2 6 inch pans requires just over half of the batter so you could cut the recipe in half and just make slightly smaller layers. This cake will hold up to fondant. 🙂
Arrti
Many thanks
Josi
Absolutely delicious! Very moist and sweet. Will be making again!
Eva
Hi! Is there something i could replace the buttermilk with? I have sour cream or should I just make my own buttermilk with the vinegar method?
Sam
Hi Eva! I would make my buttermilk substitute. 🙂
Renee
Hi! I have a couple questions.
1) if I wanted to use less butter how would I adjust the recipe to still stay moist?
2) if I add add 1/2 cup of sour cream or yogurt is there a chance it can be even more moist or maybe too dense?
3) do you think melting the butter instead of whipping it could effect the texture of the cake?
Sam
Hi Renee!
1) You would need to substitute an equal amount of oil. You may lose some flavor this way.
2) It will change the texture of the cake, without having tried it I honestly can’t say for sure how it will turn out.
3) Yes, it will most likely make the cake more dense. While I like melting my butter in some recipes (like my chocolate cake), whipping it hear adds some lightness to the crumb, which I prefer here 🙂
I hope that helps!
Renee
Amazing!
I did a half batch of your recipe as is. The only changes I made was making them into cupcakes, putting them at 400° for 7 minutes and 325° for the remainder of time. The cupcakes were so moist, soft and fluffy. I think I found my staple for vanilla cakes! 😀
I did fear I may risk over mixing. Can this recipe be done in the reverse creaming method and still get the same results?
Also, do you think beating the egg whites could do any good as well?
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed it so much! You could reverse cream this cake. I haven’t tried experimenting with the egg whites in this recipe but it would be worth a shot. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Holly H
Should flour be sifted?
Sam
Hi Holly! It’s not necessary here. 🙂
Marmcgee
Will the height be significantly different when using 9” pans instead of 8”?
Jennifer
Made this recipe in 9” cake pans and it was so delicious thank you! I ordered 8” cake pans but they are 8×2 – wondering if they are deep enough?
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Jennifer! I only use 2 inch deep cake pans so they should work great. 🙂
Kristan
Can i cut the recipe in half for a smaller cake i plan to do layers with chocolate?
Sam
Sure thing! Enjoy! 🙂
Lyn Entrekin
I followed exactly, but came out very dense and dry. Not sure why.
Sam
I’m so sorry this happened, Lyn! Most of the time the cakes becomes dense and dry from over-mixing or over-baking. 🙁 I hope you’ll give it another try. It’s a really great cake. 🙂
Karlina
Hi Sam, I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time. I have a question, can I use 3 pans and still rise as high as the one in the picture. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Karlina! It should be just as tall no matter how many pans you bake it in. Your layers will just be a little bit thinner. 🙂
Chaya
Hi Sam
What’s the difference in texture with this recipe and your vanilla cake from the coconut cake recipe? I’ve made the vanilla cake but it seemed to be a bit on the dense side.
Sam
Hi Chaya! They are pretty close. The vanilla cake should not come out dense. Make sure to take it easy when stirring it together and don’t over-bake it.
Chaya
Thank you!
How long do you cream the butter and sugar for? I think that may have been why my cake came out dense.
Sam
I just cream it until combined. You can over-beat the butter and sugar but it’s not likely. The over-mixing occurs when you fold the dry and wet ingredients together. 🙂
Gina
Is it okay to bake one cake first then the other? How do i keep the batter while waiting for the other one to be done?
Sam
Hi Gina! The batter will be fine to sit on the countertop while the first cake bakes. Enjoy! 🙂
Selena
Hi, I only have one 9” pan. Do you recommend that I bake half the batter first then wait and bake the second cake?
Sam
Hi Selena! That will work just fine. The bake time will be slightly less in a 9 inch pan. 🙂
Kimberly Lukas
What would happen if I used cake flour instead of regular flour?
Sam
Hi Kimberly! Cake flour gives the cake a different texture. It’s not a 1 for 1 substitution here unless you are using weights. If using cups you need 1 c + 2 TBSP of cake flour for every cup of all purpose flour. 🙂