Made from scratch basic Vanilla Cake – buttery, tender, and full of vanilla flavor. Its moist and fluffy texture makes it a great base cake for all occasions!
This recipe yields tall and sturdy vanilla cake layers that are great stacking.
Do you need the chocolate version? Head on to Sturdy Yet Moist and Fluffy Chocolate recipe.
great for wedding cakes and tiered cakes
I’ve been looking for a great basic vanilla cake that can be my go-to vanilla cake recipe whenever I make tiered cakes. I tried many and never found one that is for keeps, until now.
I’ve used this recipe to make a 3-tiered wedding cake so I can say that while it is soft and fluffy, it is firm enough to use in multi-tiered cakes. As we know, for tiered cakes, it is suggested to stay clear of softer, less stable cakes and filling like chiffon cake, pastry cream, and whipped cream.
Are you thinking of doing a DIY wedding cake? I’ve shared all the recipes, timeline, resources, and tips in this DIY Wedding Cake post.
thick layers for tall cakes
This recipe yields a tall vanilla cake, around 3.5 – 4 inches high per cake round (before torting and levelling), that’s why you would need a cake pan that is at least 4 inches in height.
If you don’t have a tall cake pan, you have two options:
Option 1: Line some parchment paper around the pan for extra height. If you wish to have thinner cake layers, simply divide the recipe ingredients in half.
Option 2: Another option is to use pans that are 2 inches in height (e.g. 6×2, 8×2, 10×2) then divide the batter into four pans instead of two.
I wanted to save some baking time since I was doing three tiers, so I opted for option 1.
The photos you see here were taken while I was doing my final cake for my cousin’s wedding. Unfortunately, I have forgotten to take a photo of the cake right out of the cake pan.
I then further cut each round into half to give me a total of 4 layers, which is what you see in the photos.
ingredients for vanilla cake
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- fine salt
- unsalted butter
- granulated white sugar
- vanilla extract
- eggs (large size)
- fresh milk (whole / full-fat)
tools and equipment you’ll need
Ditch your cups and weigh your ingredients – it will give you consistent results every time. Try it and you will never look back on using cups again!
There are a lot of reasons why you should measure by weight and entirely a topic of its own. This recipe uses a lot of flour – measuring it incorrectly would greatly affect the outcome of your cake.
I use and recommend Fat Daddios brand. They heat faster and cools quicker, preventing overbaking. I love that they have straight sides for perfect layers! If your existing pan’s height is below 3 inches, see recipe note no. 1.
- mixing bowls and spatula
- toothpick or cake tester
how to make this vanilla cake
Preparation:
- Preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C).
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature.
- Grease the bottom of two 8x 4 round pans, then line with parchment paper (Note 1 in recipe card).
Make the vanilla cake batter:
Making this cake involved 3 parts: Creaming the butter and sugar, adding the eggs, and adding the remaining dry and wet mixtures alternately.
In a bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer bowl, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5-8 minutes.
RELATED: Stand Mixer Speed Guide
Add eggs to the mixture, two at a time. Blend until incorporated and scrape the sides as needed.
Add the flour mixture in four parts alternating with the milk in three parts, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Remember to add the next flour or milk until just incorporated; be careful not to overmix!
Bake the vanilla cake
Pour the cake batter into prepared pans and spread it so that is it smooth and flat in the pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes.
Cool the cakes on a wire rack before removing them from the pan.
Torte each cake into 2 to get 4 layers like in the photo below.
do I really need to sift the dry ingredients?
The process of sifting breaks any lumps in flour that would weigh down the batter so your Vanilla Cake will yield a tender (not delicate) crumb. When flour is sifted with other dry ingredients, such as baking powder, sifting helps to combine them evenly before they are mixed with other ingredients. It is important not to skip this step!
why do I need to cream the butter and sugar?
When creaming the butter and sugar together, the sugar is like punching little holes in the butter and those holes, in turn, will capture air. These little bubbles capture the gases released by your leaveners when baked, giving your cake a lighter texture. A properly creamed butter and sugar should have the color of pale yellow, not white.
Using a stand mixer, I typically whip the butter and sugar on medium speed for 5 minutes.
my cake came out dry. what did I do wrong?
There are several possible reasons why your cake came out dry. One common mistake is NOT measuring your flour correctly. If you’re still using cups to measure your flour and other baking ingredients, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of using a food scale !
Baking is an exact science, so one ingredient that’s not measured correctly can totally break the outcome.
Another common reason is overcooking them. As not all ovens are the same, remember to treat the cooking time stated in any recipe as a guide.
Your cake is perfectly done and needs to be removed from the oven when the toothpick/ cake tester comes out either clean or with a few dry crumbs.
Always begin checking your cake at the earlier doneness time specified in the recipe. I like to set my timer a few minutes earlier than the shortest baking time called for.
You can always bake something longer, but over baked or burnt products are ruined! Always check for doneness about 5 minutes before the suggested bake time.
ADAPTING THIS VANILLA CAKE RECIPE TO DIFFERENT PAN SIZES
The photos you see at the beginning of this post are the 6-inch, 8-inch, and 10-inch vanilla cake, with all the layers sliced and leveled.
Here is a chart of the amount of ingredients you’ll need depending on pan size.
NOTE: This is on the assumption that the height of the cake remains the same – only the circumference of the pan changes.
Follow the same procedure as written in the recipe but you may need to adjust the baking time. Remember that the time indicated below is only a guide as not all ovens are the same.
It is a good habit to check for doneness 5 minutes earlier than the shortest baking time called for. If the cake isn’t done yet, check again after 3-4 minutes.
what frosting goes well with this cake?
I recommend pairing this vanilla cake with swiss meringue buttercream. I love swiss meringue because it’s smooth, silky, and not tooth-achingly sweet! It can be used on a variety of cakes and cupcakes as it can easily be flavored.
You might want to try:
Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Quick and Easy Cheater’s Swiss Meringue
Sturdy Yet Moist and Fluffy Chocolate Cake
Fluffy and Buttery Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
- 625 grams (22 oz, 5 cups) all-purpose flour
- 18 grams (1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons) baking powder
- 6 grams (1 teaspoon) salt
- 454 grams (16 oz, 2 cups) butter, unsalted, at room temperature
- 533 grams (19 oz, 2.75 cups) white granulated sugar
- 9 grams (2 teaspoons) vanilla extract
- 8 whole large eggs, at room temperature
- 488 grams (17.2 oz, 2 cups) whole milk
Instructions
- PREPARATION. Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C). Grease the bottom of two 8x 4 round pans, then line with parchment paper (Note 1).
- PREPARE THE DRY INGREDIENTS. In a bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together: flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- CREAM THE BUTTER, SUGAR AND VANILLA. In a stand mixer bowl, cream butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 5-8 minutes.
- ADD EGGS TO THE MIXTURE. Add eggs to the mixture, two at a time. Blend until incorporated and scrape the sides as needed.
- ADD THE DRY AND WET INGREDIENTS. Add the flour mixture in four parts alternating with the milk in three parts, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Remember to add the next flour or milk until just incorporated; be careful not to overmix!
- BAKE THE VANILLA CAKE. Pour the cake batter into prepared pans and spread it so that is it smooth and flat in the pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes. Cool the cakes on a wire rack before removing them from the pan. Divide each cake into 2 to get 4 layers.
Notes
(Note 2) This is quite a tall cake. After torting and leveling, you’ll get 4 thick layers. Half the recipe if you wish to have thinner cake layers.
Measurements Note: All baking recipes in this site have been developed using weight measurements. Although US volume measurements have been included for your convenience, it is highly encouraged that you weigh your ingredients using a kitchen scale to get the best possible results. Due to the sensitive nature of baking, kitchen scales are proven to yield more accurate and consistent results than measuring cups. Enjoy!
Hi, do you have the Vanilla Cake Recipe below in ounces/cups? I have an upcoming wedding cake id like to test it for.
Thanks in advance!
CheddyCakes
Hi, CheddyCakes! I’ve updated the recipe, though I highly urge you to measure by weight – it’s easier, more accurate, and ensures consistent cakes. 🙂 Hope you’ll like the vanilla cake!
Pieces of egg. Do I assume 1 piece is one egg? Thanks.
Yes, you are right! 🙂
Are you sure that it takes 5 cups of all-purpose flour? That sounds like a lot of flour to me.
Yes, the measurement is really 625 grams or 5 cups at 125 grams per cup. This is quite a tall cake, as I’ve mentioned above. The height of each baked round (before torting and leveling) is around 3.5-4 inches. You can definitely half the recipe if you wish to have thinner cake layers. Hope this helps!
I find there is a lot of variance with egg sizes and usually weigh my eggs and then use an equal weight of butter … how does this recipe compare. Does the weight of butter equal the weight of the 8 eggs. Could you give me an idea of the total weight of the eggs you use if the weighing is so important to the success of this cake. Many thanks.
Hi, Linda! From where I am, large eggs (without shell) weigh from 50 to 53 grams. For the 8-inch recipe above, my 8 large eggs had a total weight of 412 grams. Hope this helps!
Do the instrucrions also go for the 6 and 10 inch cakes just using their ingredient measurements? And does the ingredient recipe make 2 each of their cake pans also ?
Hi, Destiny. Yes, the instructions are the same for the 6 and 10-inch cakes. You would also need 2 6-inch and 2 8-inch pans which will yield to 2 layers each pan.
Could i bake this on a sheet pan ?
yes! You can use download the free conversion chart so you can adjust the amount of ingredients for the pan size that you have.
Can this recipe be used for a half sheet cake?
Hi, Donna! Yes, you can. Download the free baking pan conversion chart so you can adjust the amount of ingredient for 13×9 pan or whichever pan you have.
Maybe I misunderstood the recipe but this does not make 4 layers, each 4 inches thick? After re-reading the instruction it seems you get 4 inches per pan, two pans. So 2 inches per layer if you then cut each pan into two.
I made it but I halved the recipe since I only wanted two thick layers. That was before re-reading so now I have two not-particularly-thick layers. Still a great cake though! Just won’t be as tall as I expected.
Marubi, thank you so much for the feedback and I’m glad you liked the cake! This recipe yields around 3.5 to 4 inches thick per pan. So it should yield around 1.75-2 inches per layer if you cut each pan into two.
Helloo….if i have baking powder double action, should it changed recipes? Thanks
Hi, Lina! The regular baking powder I buy in the grocery is always double acting powder so it should not change the recipe. =)
Can this cake be used to cover fondant?
Hi, Pat! I have never tried but I don’t see any reason why fondant will not work. =) But I think you need to cover the cake with a thin layer of buttercream to help the fondant stick to the cake.
Hi, I am in the uk. Not sure where you are based. Should I use granulated sugar or caster sugar for this recipe? Many thanks x
Hi, Angela. I use granulated sugar. But if you’re measuring the ingredients by weight, you can use either granulated or caster sugar. That’s the beauty of weighing ingredients – 500 grams is 500 grams regardless of how fine or coarse your sugar crystals are. =) Hope you’ll like the vanilla cake!
Hi, Thanks for sharing this recipe. I was wondering if I can use buttermilk instead of whole milk?
Thanks!
Hmmm, I haven’t actually tried replacing milk with buttermilk for this recipe. I would think when you replace the milk with buttermilk, the acidity of the cake batter will increase slightly so to balance it you have to replace some or all of the baking powder with baking soda. Sorry, I’m not much of help with this one but I would love to know the results if you’re going to try it out!
Hi!! Your recipe sounds and looks amazing, could you please help me how to adjust it for high altitude or is it safe to bake over 2800 over sea level. I asume at sea level won’t be a problem. Thx in advance. Eve
Hi, Eve! I’m terribly sorry but I have never tried baking at high altitude so I won’t be of any help. I found an article though that discusses the adjustments when baking at high altitude. https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
8 pieces of eggs? Dose this mean 8 whole eggs? Thank you for sharing ur recipe I can’t wait to try it!!
Hi, Karen. Yes, it’s 8 whole eggs. Hope you’ll like the vanilla cake! =)
Cupcakes?
It’s in the oven for 35 min so far and it looks wonderful, I can’t wait to taste the final product!
I used one 12×3 pan and it’s almost to the top!
Yay! That’s a big cake! How did it go? =)
you mentioned that chocolate or lemon etc. can be added to the icing , how much of each do I add and what type? for instance for the chocolate would I add chocolate chips to the mixture over the heat to melt? How much lemon juice would I add?
Are you referring to the Swiss Meringue buttercream that is linked from this page? If yes, for that recipe, add 85 grams (3 ounces) of milk chocolate (melted and cooled) as the last step, and you’ll have a milk chocolate buttercream. To make it a lemon swiss meringue buttercream, add lemon zest, lemon juice, or lemon curd. I usually start with a small amount and then add as I taste the buttercream. If I want just a hint of lemon then I’ll just go for about a 1 teaspoon of lemon zest and 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice.
I tried this recipie and the recipie gave me two 8×3 round cakes. The flavor is amazing, this is exactly what I’ve been looking for! I measured all my ingredients with a scale.
Oh thank you for letting me know, Nancy! You just made my day! 🙂
Could I use this receipt for cupcakes?
Yes. Half the recipe for the 8-inch cake and that should give you around 24 regular size cupcakes. You may need to adjust the time though. Bake at 350 F and start to check at about 17-minute mark.
CAN I REPLACE BUTTER WITH OIL
Hi, Rose. For this specific recipe, I don’t recommend replacing the butter with oil. This cake is made by the creaming method – beating butter and sugar to give the cake a lighter texture. Oil is not a suitable substitute as it cannot be beaten to incorporate air.
Hi… Can i use evaporated milk instead for the whole milk?
I haven’t actually tried, sorry. But I would love to know how it turns out!
Hi, I have been using bf this recipe for my first attempt at a wedding cake. The 6” and the 8” have been amazing but the 10” literally looks itbhas been soaked in butter. I’m not sure what to do?
Hmmm…I double-checked the measurements posted here and they should be correct. I am thinking maybe an ingredient hasn’t been measured correctly? Like too much butter or less flour? Using my free baking conversion chart and the 8-inch recipe as the base, I just multiplied all the ingredients by 1.56 to get the measurements for the 10-inch and .56 to get the measurements for the 6-inch.
Hi i jist want to know if i can add preservative like alcohol to this recipe
Hi, Tana. I’m pretty sure you can add alcohol as flavoring to this recipe, but I am not sure with the amount since I haven’t tried. Sorry, I won’t be of help with your question. I would love to know though in case you’d try!
Hi! I am working with only one set of 10-8-6 inch pans. Can I make the recipe work for those pans? Do you have a suggestion for the amount of batter in each pan?
Hi, Kaily. Yes, it would definitely work if you have only 1 set of 10-8-6 pans. You just have an extra waiting time because you need to let the cake cool down a bit before releasing them and washing them again for the 2nd batch. Are your pans about 4-inches high? If not, make sure to add parchment paper to the outsides of the pan so it will not overflow.
For the amount of batter in each pan, I would weigh the batter and equally divide them into 2.
Can I use cake flour instead of all purpose flour?
I haven’t actually tried, but I would think it’s ok to use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour. However, if you’re going to make tiered cakes I suggest to stick with all-purpose flour because we need its higher protein content for structure. Cake flour would make the cake more tender and crumbly, which might not be enough to support tiered cakes.
Hi!!! I want to make de 8″ recipe but instead of vainilla I want it to be chocolate flavour. How much of cacao powder do I have to add and how much of flour do I have to take ?? thanks for the recipes!!
Hi,
I love the flavor of this cake i made it for a wedding and it came out perfect, had to play around with the pans since i had too much batter. My question now is I want to try it for a tres leches cake, will the consistency work with the milk soaking? Thanks
Glad you liked the cake! They’re great for tiered cakes, right?
About the milk soaking, I’m sorry I haven’t tried it yet with this cake so I won’t be of much help. I would love to know your results though!
Hi, your recipe sounds good but does it rise with plain flour?? What happens if I use self raising flour instead of plain flour??
Yes, it rises with using plain flour or all-purpose flour because we also add baking powder.
Self-raising flour has baking powder and salt already mixed together so you could omit those ingredients. It also has lower protein content so the outcome of the recipe might slightly change. I haven’t actually tried using self-raising flour for this recipe though.
Hi, this is the best recipe I’ve ever come across. Here in Ghana is hard to come by all purpose flour and so I use soft/pastry flour and it still comes out great. Thanks a lot Trish
Thank you, Barbara. That is so great to know! 🙂
Hello,
I would like to make this cake for my friends wedding 6”, 8”, 10”, 14”… how many days in advance should I make the cake? And can I freeze the cake?
Thanks!
Angel
You can make this up to 1 week again and then freeze the cake layers, though the closer to the event date the better. When I made this for a wedding cake, I made these vanilla cake layers 2 days ahead and stored them in the fridge, tightly wrapped in plastic cling wrap. I then assembled and frosted the cake 1 day before the wedding day. Hope this helps!
Hi Trish.
I want to make a 9×13″ cake but when trying to do the calculation for the ingredients I got a bit confused. It seems I would need to do almost 1 1/2 times the 10″ cake size. That seems like an awfully big cake using like 10 cups of flour. Could you help me figure out the measurements?
Thank you so much for your help.
Sincerely,
Angelina
Hi, Angelina! My short and simple answer is to use the ingredient amounts listed for the 6-inch cake.
And this is my long answer if you’re interested. =) Converting this recipe from 8×4 round to 9x13x2 rectangular cake is quite tricky because the conversion formula assumes that the yield and height of the cake stay the same. Note that this recipe yields 2 8-inch round cakes that are about 4 inches high each; this is quite a tall cake! So the reason why the amount of ingredients are extremely big is because the conversion assumes you will also be baking in 2 9×13 rectangular pans that would yield a cake around 4 inches in height (for each cake) as well.
Here are my thoughts…If I were to convert this recipe to make only 1 layer of cake in a 9x13x2 pan, I would first divide each ingredient the recipe calls for into 4 before multiplying it with the conversion factor which is 2.33. So for the sugar, you would need 310 grams (533 / 4 x 2.33).
Fill your 9×13 baking pan up to two-thirds full so the batter doesn’t pour over the sides; you might have a bit of batter left. Hope this helps!
Can I make that vanilla cake recipe under my Fondant cake?
Yes, you can!
Lovely recipe. Came out perfect. Thank you very much
Yey! Thank you so much for letting me know, Patricia!!!!
Thankyou so much for this. I was looking for this type of recipe and conversations for almost a year now, i tried it and it turned out amazingly though I’d also like to know what formula should i use to convert a recipe for round pan to heart shaped pan?
I’m glad it worked for you, Dee! I haven’t tried making this in a heart-shaped pan so I’m not really sure. But if I were to do it, I would use a round pan that is closest to the size of my heart-shaped pan. Then I would half the recipe for that pan size since this recipe yields a tall cake – definitely more than 2 inches. Most heart-shape pans I see are only around 2 inches in height.
Hi there, I have also tried the 10 inch cake, as a single layer, using 487 gr flour, but it is butter soaked. I have been unable to download your pan converter, can I get that info anywhere else?
Would a longer, hotter bake help, do you think?
Oh my, sorry that happened to you! It’s hard to say what specifically went wrong since I don’t see your actual batter. I am thinking maybe butter was not measured correctly? or there are lumps of butter not mixed well or needs more mixing for the butter to fully incorporate? There are many things that could go wrong, sorry I’m not much of help. How about you try a single layer of the 6-inch first and see from there?
Were you able to check the spam folder? =) Sometimes it goes straight there. If not there, just let me know and I’ll gladly resend it to you.
just a bit confused! does the recipe make just one 8×4 inch tall cake??? just doesn’t seem enough for 2 8x4inch tall cakes
This makes 2 8-inch cakes and each cake is around 4-inch high. I then torte/cut each cake into 2, giving me 4 layers (as you see in the photos).
Hi, if i half the recipe do I half the baking time too?
Nope. If you half the recipe, you would need just 1 baking pan instead of 2 but same baking time.
Can this recipe be altered to make a chocolate cake? I absolutely love this recipe. Finally found my ultimate vanilla cake recipe. Thank you.
Glad you love the outcome! Thank you for trying this recipe and sending me feedback. =) The chocolate version is in the works. The difference is not just in flour to cocoa ratio. Please watch out for it soon.
Can you make a chocolate cake using this recipe? And if so what would the flour to cocoa ratio be?
I spent ages weighing out correctly as I usually use cups and the butter grease thing has happened to me too 🙁
oh no! so sorry to hear that…I wish I was there to see your batter. Did you use the recipe for 8-inch? Were all your ingredients at room temperature?
Great recipe! Can’t wait to try it!! I was wondering if I could use salted butter instead of unsalted butter?
Use unsalted butter so you can control the amount of salt. =)