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I am so excited to share this recipe for a Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cake with you today! It’s a cake I’ve been making for years, but wanted to tweak and it’s finally ready!
For those who know me and see me regularly, they know that I play with vanilla recipes like it’s my job. I kind of feel like you are only as good as your best vanilla cake. It is super important to have a wonderful one, and yet it seems to be the hardest for people to find. Plus everyone has their own idea of what makes it “the best”. I think I might have made it my life’s mission to make the best vanilla cake for everyone. It may not be that there’s one “best” recipe for all, but maybe a couple recipes that you can choose from. Bottom line – I make a lot of vanilla cake. And it’s all for you. 🙂
So let’s talk a little about this recipe. You may or may not have seen/made my vanilla cupcakes. They have been quite popular and it’s a recipe I go back to time and time again. I love it and so many others love it too.
But it always amazes me how people love different things about cakes. Many people have agreed that they are perfect, moist and fluffy and it’s their new favorite. Yet some think they are too dense. To be fair, when you bake it as a cake, it is fairly dense. And yet, every time I do a taste comparison with a larger group (usually our church group), it’s their favorite – whether a cake or cupcakes. Funny, right?
But I am someone who likes options. I don’t want to feel limited and I’m sure I’m not the only one. And since I’ve loved this cake for so long, I decided it was time to share it so you could have more options. 🙂 The only reason I haven’t shared it sooner is that I wanted to tweak a few things. One thing being that the original recipe didn’t do well as cupcakes. They separated from the liners as they cooled, so I wanted to fix that (and I did!).
Of course, now it begs the question of how this recipe is different from the other one. Neither is necessarily better than the other. That really depends on your preference. But any time I see multiple options for a particular flavor (like vanilla) on someone’s site, I’m always curious about the differences so I know which one I want to try. So I want to break down some of the differences and similarities for you.
First, let’s talk about the ingredients. Just like with the other recipe, I wanted to have simple ingredients that most people usually have on hand. The original recipe calls for cake flour and I wanted to replace that with all purpose flour. That, plus some other tweaks to account for the change, and you now have a pretty normal ingredient list. Score!
Second, there’s the mixing method. The other recipe is very simple. Basically a throw everything together and mix method, which is wonderfully easy. This cake uses the creaming method. The steps are more involved and definitely need to be followed.
Third is the final cake taste and texture. Again, this is very subjective in terms of which is better. I love them both. They both have excellent vanilla flavor. This cake is flatter on top when baked. As for which is denser, or fluffier, I think they’re both fluffy and dense. Confusing, right?
This cake manages to be a little denser-seeming, as there aren’t as many air pockets in the baked cake. But when you bite into it, it actually has a super fluffy taste and feel to it. I feel like the other recipe is actually the denser one, especially when made as a cake, but it has more air pockets and also manages to seem fluffy. Both are very moist.
Personally, I like the other recipe for cupcakes (they’re still my perfect cupcake!) and this one for a cake. But both can be used as a cake or cupcakes and both are delicious.
Hopefully that explanation was more helpful than confusing. 🙂
The bottom line is that you can’t go wrong with either, though you might end up preferring one over the other if you try them both.
I love the texture of this cake. It is absolutely wonderful when layered and iced and I find it very hard to not want to eat the entire cake. It really is a very soft and moist cake. I recently shared it with a friend who wanted to make a vanilla cake for her daughter’s birthday and they loved it!
So there you have it – another vanilla cake/cupcake recipe. Decisions, decisions. If you give them both a try, I’d love to know what you think. 🙂
SHOP THE RECIPE
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Moist and Fluffy Vanilla Cake
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 33 minutes
- Total Time: 53 minutes
- Yield: 12-14 Slices, or 36 Cupcakes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is a cake I’ve been making for years, but wanted to tweak and it’s finally ready!
Ingredients
CAKE
- 1 1/2 cups (336g) salted butter, room temp (I use Challenge Butter)
- 2 1/4 cups (466g) sugar
- 4 egg whites
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups (390g) all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 2 3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups (360ml) milk
FROSTING
- 1 1/2 cups (336g) salted butter
- 1 1/2 cups (284g) shortening
- 12 cups (1380g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 6–7 tbsp (90-105ml) water or milk
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (176°C). Line three 8-inch cake pans with parchment paper in the bottom and grease the sides.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl on medium speed about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Add the egg whites and vanilla and beat on medium speed for about 1 minute, no more. The texture of the batter will change and become thicker and may seem a little curdled.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda and baking powder in a medium sized bowl.
5. Add about one-third of the flour mixture to the batter and beat on medium speed until incorporated.
6. Add about half of the milk and beat on medium speed until incorporated.
7. Continue alternating adding dry and wet ingredients, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, and beating until incorporated after each addition. There should be three total additions of dry ingredients and two total additions of milk. End with the dry ingredients. The batter will be thick and glossy.
8. Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans and spread evenly.
9. Stagger the cake layers on the oven racks so that no layer is directly over another. Bake for 30-33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Don’t be alarmed if the tops are a little browned, that is normal.
10. Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool for 3-5 minutes.
11. Remove cakes from pans to cooling racks and cool completely before frosting.
12. To make icing, combine butter and shortening and mix until smooth.
13. Add 6 cups of powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
14. Add vanilla extract and 4 tbsp of water or milk and mix until smooth.
15. Add remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth.
16. Add more water or milk until desired consistency is reached.
17. To assemble cake, place first layer of cake on your cake stand or plate. NOTE: The cake layers shouldn’t have a rounded dome on top of them, but if they do, cut them off before stacking.
18. Add about 1 1/2 cups icing and spread into an even layer.
19. Add second layer of cake and another 1 1/2 cups of icing.
20. Top cake with remaining layer of cake.
21. Use the rest of the icing to ice the outside of the cake. For instructions on icing a smooth cake and the piping, here is a tutorial on How to Frost a Smooth Cake.
TO MAKE CUPCAKES:
Follow instructions above through number 7. Fill cupcake liners about 1/2 way. Bake at 350 degrees for about 16-18 minutes. Allow to cool in pan for 2-3 minutes, then remove to cooling rack to cool completely. Recipe makes about 36 cupcakes.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 1200
- Sugar: 123.7 g
- Sodium: 419.1 mg
- Fat: 66.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 146.3 g
- Protein: 8.8 g
- Cholesterol: 119.2 mg
Filed Under:
Recipe modified from this recipe.
Enjoy!
Can you let me know how pink icing is done? Did you add food color? Thank you for helping me!
You add pink gel icing color. It’s available most craft stores and Walmart.
The recipe says 12 cups sugar for the icing, but the instructions say 6. What is the correct measurement?
6 cups are added at first, then the remaining cups are added a couple steps later.
Tried this recipe and the cake tasted great! Although, one thing I would recommend is to use less baking soda, using what the recipe says makes a denser cake and makes the batter almost like cookie dough. The end result almost tasted like cornbread, but with a little frosting I was able to save it and it tasted delightful!
Hi Lindsay!!! Thank you for this recipe!!
I made it and it tastes REALLY GOOD. However there is a little bit of a flour taste ????????????. That has been the issue with all the vanilla recipes I’ve been trying to find! Plz help
I’m not really sure what you mean by a flour taste, but you could try one of these – this one, this one (a cupcake that can be doubled for a cake) or this one (the cake layers)
I see the recipe for the vanilla buttercream icing. Will this be enough to cover this cake?
The frosting recipe listed with this cake is the amount I’d recommend. You could reduce it if you like.
I guess that I am wondering which cake I should try? Moist vanilla or moist and fluffy vanilla. Both recipes are great, but if you have read my prior post, which would you suggest? Also, in reading your frosting recipe..wow..that’s a lot of powdered sugar!!! I have never used more than 4+ cups. Does this recipe make a ton of icing that is thick when complete on the cake? Thank you for your replies. 🙂
Yes, I saw your earlier comment. I feel like the layers are normally a little more than 1 inch for all of them, but I don’t actually measure them. You might want to try them out. You could also use 1 1/2 of the recipe and possibly make 9 inch cakes. For the powdered sugar, the standard decorators buttercream (which is what I use), uses a ratio of 4 cups of powdered sugar to 1 cup of butter (or butter and shortening, in this case). You can always reduce the amounts though, if you prefer.
I recently found your site and am so impressed with your cakes and decorating skills! I have read many of the comments regarding this cake because I have been searching for my favorite “white” cake for soooo long. I can make a “vanilla” cake, but to me, they often taste too buttery, or I say, like a buttermilk pancake. I am looking for a white cake recipe, that won’t taste buttery or too much like vanilla. I have used a boxed mix (white, then added a bunch of ingredients), but I prefer scratch. I am fine with egg whites only, as I use the yolks in homemade lemon curd. I am hoping to find a great white cake recipe that I can pair with my homemade raspberry puree and lemon curds. Do you think this might be it? Also, I see that you use 3 8″ rounds. Can you give me a guess as the the height of your layers? I love tall cakes!! Thanks so much!!
You could certainly try this cake and see. I’m sure it’s a bit of a preference thing. There’s also the cake layers of this cake, which I tend to think are more white. Generally the layers are around an 1 inch or so each. I hope you find one you love!
Best cake ever. Made numerous times. My tips would be always line tin with paper & freeze before leveling & icing. My 2 sons are obsessed with this cake.
So glad to hear that!
I want to make a marbled rainbow cake. If I use gel food coloring will this vanilla cake still work?
It should work fine.
The taste is absolutely amazing but i faced a few problems. First of all, I followed the quantities and instructions to the letter but at 33 minutes of cooking all three cakes were still in batter state, even though I didn’t put the one under the other. I actually had to double the cooking time. When i got them out they were cooked but still nice and moist.
But the cakes themselves are extremely fragile.. they fall apart while i put the frosting on. Such a shame because the cakes taste divine. It was supposed to be by daughter’s birthday cake for tomorrow but I don’t know if i can salvage it..
I can’t speak for the baking time – it’s accurate in my oven. But if the cakes were difficult to frost, consider thinning out the frosting a bit. You should definitely be able to frost the cakes without an issue.
Thank you. I’m thinking next time I’ll try freezing the cakes for an hour before frosting them..
Hi Lindsay, the cake was delicious, it turned out really well, but how do you level a cake, because when my cake came out i only level the top because the bottom is flat but when i levelled it with a knife some parts of the cake crumbs came out which made a lot of holes in the cake. Is there anyway i can make it levelled well?
I just use a long serrated knife for leveling. It does reveal the air pockets in the cake when you level it, but that shouldn’t cause an issue. If cutting it is tearing up the cake, you might need a sharper knife.
Ok so ive made this cake numerous times and its deiicious except that when i make it its so stuck to the pan that it breaks on me. So its the most moist cake i have ever made but I’m thinking could it be the sugar that is causing it to stick. I have to make a cake in two weeks and this is by far my fave recipe I don’t want to have to look for another last minute. Also i did not use parchment paper as i never really do i butter or grease my pans. so edges are to hard and center is to moist i need this a bit sturdy to pull out of the pan. Please help!!!
I’m sorry it’s been sticking. I always use parchment in the bottom of the pan and baking spray to ensure cakes don’t stick, so that’d be my best advice. At some point, you might also want to try this new vanilla cake.
looks very nice and yummy
Do you sift the dry ingredients together?
I don’t typically sift, I just combine everything and whisk it all together. But I also bake all the time so my flour doesn’t sit for long.
I don’t use my flour often at all so should I sift it then? Would it change anything about the cake?
Sifting wouldn’t hurt. The main thing you’re trying to achieve is the right measurement of flour. Not everyone measures cups accurately. If it’s packed too much, you’ll end up with more flour than you should. That’s why I also include the weight measurements (which is what I actually use when baking). Weight is more accurate than volume. That said, you can either sift it or give it a really good stir and then scoop out the flour and you should be fine.
I just want to say to save others from this, i made this cake choosing this recipe quickly as i was on a time crunch, i took it to my little brothers birthday party 15 people were there and every single one including myself thought this was the worst cake they had ever eaten, wow it was so terrible and since im known for baking awesome cakes this was so embarrassing for me. i made the recipe exactly as written, dont make this cake unless you can make a test cake before the event learn from my mistakes ended up throwing it away immediately.
I wonder what went wrong i have made this cake 6 times and about 12 people i gave to try are obsessed. I did sift the flour and make sure to use butter not margarine.
Hello! I am baking a baby shower cake for 30 or so people, and I would love to use this recipe.
How many slices could I get out of this recipe if we did thin slices?
What this recipe work for a 9×13 cake pan? If so, do you have any idea what the time adjustments would be.