I’ve tried several vanilla cake recipes over the years, and this will always be my favorite. It’s delicious, moist, and best of all, it keeps its shape!
This recipe is a butter cake recipe which means it has a denser texture than a sponge cake, but is also more tender.
It also means that you don’t have to worry about whipping up egg whites, or carefully folding in dry ingredients.
In fact, this recipe is so easy to make, I call it a fool-proof recipe! My vanilla cake recipe comes together in one bowl!
The butter and buttermilk in the recipe give it an amazing taste. I now use this as my go to white cake base recipe, and color or flavor it as needed.
This vanilla cake recipe is made in one bowl, and is super moist! One batch makes 3, 8-inch cake layers, and is frosted with vanilla buttercream frosting.
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This vanilla cake recipe is made in one bowl, and is super moist! One batch makes 3, 8-inch cake layers, and is frosted with vanilla buttercream frosting.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 3 cups granulated sugar (600g)
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder (10g)
- 1 tsp fine salt (6g)
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temp (226g)
- 1 cup egg whites from a carton or about 7 egg whites, room temp (235g)
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk, room temp (360g)
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (30g)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract (8g)
- gel food coloring – if desired
- 2 cups unsalted butter, room temp (452g)
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (12g)
- 1/2 tsp fine salt (3g)
- 7 cups powdered sugar (875g)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or whipping cream (60g)
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line four 7″ or three 8″ pans with parchment rounds and grease with non-stick baking spray or homemade cake pan release.
- Mix 3 cups all purpose flour, 3 cups sugar, 2 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1 tsp salt together in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or hand mixer until fully combined.
- Mix in 1 cup of room temperature, unsalted butter slowly into the dry ingredients on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large chunks of butter remain, and the mixture looks like moist sand.
- Pour in 1 cup of egg whites and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in 1 1/2 cups buttermilk in two installments, on a low speed.
- Add in 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil and 2 tsp of vanilla extract and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. If you plan to color your cake layers, add in the gel food coloring with the oil and vanilla.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then beat on a medium speed for about a minute to make sure everything is properly mixed together. This also helps lighten the texture of the cake layers a bit.
- Divide the batter evenly between your prepared pans. I like to use a scale to make sure each pan has the same amount of batter and will bake up to be the same height.
- Bake for 33-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- Let the pans cool for 10 minutes, then run a small offset spatula around the perimeter of the pan to separate the cake from the pan.
- Place the cake layers into the freezer for 30 minutes to accelerate the cooling process. Once the layers are fully cooled, carefully flip the pans and remove the layers.
- Use a serrated knife to level the tops of the layers right before you plan to assemble your cake, or you can wrap and freeze them if youre making them in advance.
- If you make these cake layers in advance and freeze them, let them thaw for about 20 minutes before making your cake. The cake layers should still be slightly cold to the touch, which will make it easier to assemble your cake.
- While the cake layers bake and cool, make the vanilla buttercream frosting.
- Beat 2 cups of unsalted butter on a medium speed for 30 seconds with a paddle attachment until smooth.
- Mix in 1 Tbsp of vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp salt on a low speed.
- Slowly mix in 7 cups of powdered sugar on a low speed. Add 1/4 cup of heavy cream halfway through to make the frosting easier to mix.
- Continue to mix on a low speed for a few minutes until the desired consistency is reached.
- If the frosting is too thick, add in additional cream (1 Tbsp at a time). If the frosting is too thin, add in more powdered sugar (quarter of a cup at a time).
- If you plan to color the buttercream, add in the gel food coloring once the frosting is fully made, and beat on low until it reaches the desired color.
Tips for Making the Best Vanilla Layers
- Properly measure your flour!! Spoon into the cup measure then level or use a kitchen scale to measure your dry ingredients.
- Use a serrated knife to level your cake layers once they’re fully cooled, to make it easier to assemble and frost your cake.
- Chill your cake layers in the freezer for about 20 minutes before assembling the cake. It makes it so much easier to stack and frost.
- I do NOT recommend using this recipe to make cupcakes! Instead, I highly recommend trying my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe. I like the texture better for cupcakes!
- Use my small batch vanilla cake recipe to make a 6-inch layer cake.
- If your cake layers turn out less than perfect, please check out my cake troubleshooting guide.
How to Make a Layer Cake for Beginners
FAQ
What type of cake is best for stacking?
What is layer cake made of?
What is the most layers cake?
What kind of cake mix should I use?
In short: any flavor you’d like! You can use a boxed cake mix, or a recipe made from scratch, whichever you’re most comfortable with. If you’re new to baking layer cakes, you may wish to stick to something basic to start, like my Moist Vanilla Layer Cake (recipe included in the card further down) or Easy Chocolate Cake.
What can you fill a layer cake with?
You can fill a layer cake with all kinds of things! If you like, you can use the frosting that you choose as the filling. Or you could use jam, curds, whipped cream, fresh fruit, or even pastry cream. Cake filling options are endless! And changing up the filling is the perfect way to create different flavored cakes!
What type of frosting do you use for a layer cake?
Buttercream frosting is the most common type of frosting used for a layer cake. In this tutorial I used a classic american buttercream frosting. You can see that the frosting is not perfectly smooth and this is what will happen when you use this type of buttercream. It crusts over quickly and it is difficult to get it very smooth.
Can you make a layered cake with only one Pan?
Since you bake several cakes you can either stack them and frost them to make thick layers, or slice each cake in half horizontally to make even more thin layers. You can make a layered cake with only one pan, but it will require patience and time, as you’ll need to bake each layer separately, one at a time. Make the cake batter.