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.
Bre
Could you tell me how to add cherries/cherry juice into this recipe?
Sam
Hi Bre, I’m sorry but I haven’t ever tried with cherries or their juice so I really can’t advise on this. I’m hoping someone else can chime in if they’ve tried this cake that way.
Bea
Hi the recipe calls for 113g butter (I’m in the UK so don’t use cup measurements) but the video shows a much bigger block that looks closer to our 250g ones. Am I missing something? I had planned on doubling the ingredients to make two 10” cakes so don’t want to make a mess of it
Sam
In the video it is just the 113g of butter. The bar is shorter but taller that’s why it looks so big. 🙂
Navya
This was one of the best cakes that I have made. I had made it into 3 layers . I had use chocolate frosting one one and freeze dried strawberry frosting on the other and frosted the whole cake with chocolate frosting. It was an amazing yet basic and easy cake. Thank you for sharing ur recipe. It was chocolaty and had a nice fruity kind of a taste.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed the cake. 🙂
Bela
Can I make cupcakes with this recipe or will the texture come out differently?
Sam
Hi, Bela. You can make cupcakes with this batter. It will make about 24 cupcakes. Bake it on the same temperature for about 17 minutes, and be sure not to fill the liners up more than 3/4 full. 🙂
Fatma
I’m very interested in making this cake.
can I reduce the sugar without affecting the texture of the cake?
thanks for sharing ❤
Sam
I think you could cut it a little bit, but I am really not sure before it alters the texture. 🙂
Fatma
Thank you so much. I will let you know
Kyle
Wow so cool
Kathleen
Hi I’m about to bake this for my daughters first birthday on sat
If I bake tonight and let cool completely then wrap in seran wrap and decorate Friday, do you think it will still taste fresh?
I don’t want to do everything Friday bc I’ll have family in town
Sam
Hi, Kathleen. Yes I think it would be perfectly fine. Just as you said, make sure they are cooled completely before storing so you don’t trap any excess moisture. 🙂
Sandhya
I tried baking vanilla cake at home for the first time by following this recipe from #Sugarspunrun# and it came out excellent. Thank you so much for the beautiful recipe.
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Sandhya! 🙂
Nadirah
My 5-year-old daughter wanted to bake a cake. I decided to try out a new recipe this time and it landed me here. I’m so glad! Found a new one worth keeping. To be honest with you, we didn’t even use buttermilk, we used normal full cream milk as we were too lazy to add a bit of vinegar. Also, buttermilk costs a bomb in Malaysia. Ahaha. But it turned out great! Our cake came out moist and fluffy! The most important thing is it’s not too sweet. I set my oven at 170° because mine is hotter than most ovens I’ve used (important to get to know them. Lol).
Sam
Hi, Nadirah! I agree it is SOOO important to know how your oven cooks. Mine runs 10-15 degrees cooler than what it says depending what you set it to. SO FRUSTRATING! I am so glad you were still able to enjoy the cake. 🙂
Jen
Excellent recipe with good directions for someone like me who bakes once a year! I recommend watching the video too. Really moist and delicious. I wrapped in plastic wrap ten min after I took it out of the oven and put the cakes straight into the deep freeze. Defrosted a couple days later and covered with vanilla frosting recipe from this site and covered with sprinkles. I took the plastic wrap off half way through defrosting at room temperature and it was easy to add the icing. Easy to freeze and make ahead!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Jen. 🙂
Bryonna
This cake came out so delicious. I had made a really sweet vanilla buttercream and the cake really balanced my buttercream out. My family enjoyed it so much for the holidays! Thank you for sharing this good recipe! Hope to try more of yours!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear it was a hit! Thank you for commenting, Bryonna! I appreciate it 🙂
Rachel
Hi! Could I use a rectangular baking dish to make this like a sheet cake?
Sam
Yes, but the baking time will vary. It will bake a lot faster that way so keep an eye on it in the oven.
Julia Pomeroy
If you go on the ‘web’ you can compare the size of the circular cake tin with your rectangular one, you can even find out what the best rectangular size will be which is comparable to the circular cake. It is amazing what you can find out these days!
Jane Nobles
I have been baking my kids and grand kids birthday cakes for almost 50 years. This cake (for my son’s 47th BD dinner) was my worst experience ever. Cake was extremely dry and hard. I followed the directions exactly and cooked 2 9″ layers 28 minutes, used Gold Medal AP flour and Wesson Oil. I even went back and watched the video again. I can’t imagine what went wrong. Everyone said the icing was delicious.
Sam
I’m so disappointed to hear it didn’t turn out for you, Jane. My favorite thing about this cake is how moist and fluffy it is. If it came out dry and hard here are my best guesses as to the most likely problems:
1) Could your oven temperature be running too hot? Many ovens run hotter or cooler than they indicate, if your oven was running even 15 degrees hotter than it said then the 28 minutes would have been too long and could have made the cake dry and hard. I actually keep two inexpensive oven thermometers in my oven to make sure mine is at the correct temperature at all times.
2) Could the flour have been over-measured? If you scooped the flour directly into the measuring cup it could have packed the flour in and you could have ended up with more than the recipe required, resulting in a dry cake. I recommend spooning the flour into the measuring cup and then leveling off the measuring cup
3) Could you have over-mixed the batter? This cake should be mixed until the ingredients are just combined, over-mixing will yield a dense and dry cake.
Since you are an experienced baker I am guessing that #s 2 and 3 are less likely and I’m wondering if maybe your oven is running too hot.
Either way I’m very disappointed to hear it didn’t work out for you. This is one of my most popular recipes and I’m very proud of the cake it yields, I’m sorry to hear you didn’t have the same experience.
Julia Pomeroy
We had our first slice of the cake with the chocolate frosting this evening. YHummy. However the frosting is just a tad sweet for our English taste buds. I do not have 8 inch cake tins so did the cake in two 7 inch tins and cooked for 40 mins in a fan-assisted oven at 170 deg C just under 350 deg F. It worked out perfectly. Also buttermilk is unheard of here in Cyprus so used fresh lemon juice (citrus fruit grow freely here) and the milk curdled in no time! As we are ancient one of the cakes at a time is enough for us so the other one was frozen for another day.
By the way if anybody is concerned about melting the chocolate in the microwave you could use a bain marie – in the UK you can buy a pan which stands inside another pan but not all the way in and so you can put boiling water at the bottom and if the water does not touch the inner pan the chocolate melts in no time. At least there is no worry of the chocolate being overcooked.
One other sadness here in Cyprus you cannot buy fresh cream for love or money it’s all UHT stuff!
Julia Pomeroy
I am just about to make this cake and I wondered, have you ever made your own vanilla extract? All you need is a quarter bottle of vodka and about a dozen vanilla pods. Add the pods to the vodka and shake each day and use after 2 months – works out a lot cheaper! Any strong liquor which has no flavour should do. I will get back to you as to how the cake turns out.
By the way I am based in Cyprus but some lovely American friends of mine have given me the sort of measures you use in America.
Sam
Hi Julia! Yes I LOVE making my own vanilla extract, I actually even have an old post on it 🙂
I hope you love the cake!
Julia Pomeroy
Once the ‘frosting’ had chilled it was and still is lovely, thank you!
Denise
Can you use milk instead of buttermilk for the vanilla cake?
Sam
Hi, Denise. You can use regular milk, but it won’t turn out nearly as good. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, check out my Buttermilk Substitute to make your own. 🙂