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
Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature (113g)
- ½ cup canola oil* (120ml)
- 1 1/2 cup sugar 300g
- 4 eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (390g)
- 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 and decorate with sprinkles (if desired).
Video
Notes
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.Nutrition
Amanda says
Is the temperature for fan-forced ovens?
Sam says
It is for a conventional oven.
Gita Jugurnauth says
Hi Sam,
I will be making this cake fro my daughter’s birthday on August14th (that is tomorrow!). I am wondering whether I can use the same amount of batter to make a single layer instead of two? I am not planning on frosting it inside. Any advice please?
Thank you.
Sam says
Hi Gita! You would need a pretty deep pan to accomplish baking it as a single cake and your baking time would definitely be longer. 🙂
Gita Jugurnauth says
Hi Sam,
Sorry for the delay in responding. Boy! It was an amazing cake! I did frost it in between the 2 layers. I received a lot of compliments!!!! The cake was fluffy and moist. Best cake ever!
Thank you tons.
Gita
Sugar Spun Run says
Thank you, Gita! I so happy that everyone enjoyed it! Adding frosting between layers was a perfect addition! 🙂
Rita says
Would using lowfat buttermilk be a problem?
Sam says
Hi Rita! I don’t recommend using lowfat. It could make the cake a little dry. 🙂
Dani says
I made this and followed the directions perfectly. This is the first time in all my time baking that my cake turned out like cornbread and not a cake. It was so gross. Not sure what went wrong. I even went and bought the buttermilk instead of making it this time. Any suggestions?
Sam says
Hi Dani! I’m so sorry this has happened. The cake should not be dense like a cornbread. Was there too much flour in the cake? If you over-bake it, it can also mess with the consistency. The last thing that could happen is the batter was over-mixed or under-mixed. I hope you have better luck next time.
Tara says
What other oils could be used in place of canola? My preferred fats are coconut oil and butter, how would these more saturated fats affect the cake?
Sam says
Hi Tara! I recommend using a neutral oil. Butter will probably make the cake too dry. I haven’t tried coconut oil, but there is a chance it will work. Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Tonya says
hi Sam, I like to review recipes only if I’ve actually done them lol ;p
I made this cake for my son’s birthday 😉 it wasn’t overly sweet which was wonderful. For buttermilk I just squeezed some lemon into milk & stirred/set. I’d never used oil in a cake but it really did lighten things up + it was actually white vs my ivory colored vanilla cakes haha.
For frosting he wanted just a buttercream which went well and was yummy.
really good, thank you dear!!! <3
Sam says
Thank you so much, Tonya! I am so glad you enjoyed the cake! 🙂
Billie Jean says
You’re cake looks great and I can’t wait to try it!!!! I was wondering how many 6in round cake pans this recipe would make?
Sam says
Hi Billie Jean! I think it would make about 3 with a little left over. 🙂
Billie Jean says
Awesome! Thanks!
Reba says
Can fresh vanilla bean be used in place of pure vanilla extract? If so, how much?
Sam says
Hi Reba! I would use one whole vanilla bean here. 🙂
Jana says
Can I cook in a square pan? How long?
Sam says
I don’t see why not! It depends on the dimensions of the pan, I would watch closely and look for a toothpick inserted in the center to come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. I hope you love the vanilla cake, Jana!
Alma says
Would I need to triple the recipe for a 12” pan?
Sam says
Hi Alma! This batter should make enough to fill one 12 inch round pan. 🙂
Alma says
Thank you so much!!!!
Amanda says
How can I make into cupcakes? My daughter LOVES cupcakes and this recipe is 😋 Should I just watch the time more?
Sam says
Oven temp will stay the same, they’ll need to bake about 17 minutes. Enjoy! 🙂
Amanda says
Thank you! I baked them and they took about 18 minutes for my oven. We’re delicious! 😋
Courtney says
Would there need to be any changes to time if baking this cake into cupcakes? I’m excited to try this!
Sam says
This cake works well as cupcakes, they’ll need about 17 minutes (but keep the oven temperature the same). Enjoy! 🙂
Barbara LV says
Just did this recipe for a layered rainbow cake! One recipe was the prefect size for 4 colours.
A big Thanks.
It was yummy and perfect.
Sam says
I am so glad you enjoyed the vanilla cake, Barbara! 🙂
Zoe says
Do you have any suggestions for high altitude? Can’t wait to try it!
Sam says
Hi Zoe! Unfortunately, I am not familiar with high altitude baking. Maybe someone else can chime in with any pointers. 🙂
Maci Baney says
Nghsisgdtbwidgryrhvkifjcbhbhjhhhhhhhhhhhbit is amazing
Zoe says
Would this work in a bundt cake pan? I want the texture of this cake but I need the shape of a bundt pan…
Sam says
Hi Zoe! You could bake in a bundt pan, but I’m not quite sure you would have enough batter for the pan. Also the baking time would change.