Homemade Vanilla Cake Recipe

This homemade vanilla cake is soft, fluffy and full of classic vanilla flavor. It’s an easy from-scratch layer cake with a tender crumb and finished with creamy buttercream.

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Ingredients Needed

This classic vanilla cake recipe is soft, sturdy, and easy to dress up with almost any frosting. It’s a reliable choice for any celebration that calls for a homemade layer cake.

Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.

• Flour: I use cake flour in this recipe as I find it lends a softer texture, however, you can use all-purpose flour. You’ll end up using less all-purpose and may find the cake is slightly denser, but either choice is great.
• Granulated sugar: A dessert needs sweetness! 
• Baking powder: A leavening agent that will react so nicely with the acid in the buttermilk. It will help to keep it light and fluffy.
• Fine sea salt: We’re using unsalted butter which allows us to control the amount of salt we use. It helps to bring out flavors.
• Unsalted butter, at room temperature: It needs to be soft enough to cream, so if you’ve forgotten to take it out of the fridge, here are some tips on how to soften butter. 
• Buttermilk at room temperature: A sour tangy milk that adds richness and moisture to all kinds of baked goods including this cake. Here’s how to make buttermilk using any milk you have on hand. 
• Pure vanilla extract: Since the vanilla flavor shines through it’s important to use a good quality pure vanilla extract, that doesn’t have an overpowering alcohol flavor. You can also use vanilla beans. The flecks of vanilla throughout the cake are just a bonus!
• Eggs & egg whites: Using both whole eggs for binding and moisture along with egg whites for a light, fluffy, airy consistency to the cake batter results in the perfect balance of softness and structure.

How to Make Vanilla Cake

The best part is this cake all comes together in one bowl, no creaming butter and sugar separately.

• Combine dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. If using a hand mixer, whisk that together on low speed. 
• Add wet ingredients. We are using a reverse creaming method for this cake (more information on this reverse creaming). Turn the mixer up to medium and beat in the butter for 1 minute until it’s combined and coarse. Mix in the buttermilk and vanilla on low speed until combined. Then you’ll add in 1 egg at a time followed by the egg whites until the batter is smooth.
• Pour batter evenly. Pour into both prepared cake pans and smooth out the tops to ensure a level cake. 
• Bake for 25-30 minutes. Bake the batter until golden brown around the edges. Insert a toothpick into the middle of them. If it comes out clean, they’re done. Let them sit and cool for 5 minutes in the pans before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Recipe Tips

Follow these tips for the best vanilla cake recipe:

• Only spray the parchment paper on the bottom of the pans with spray, not the sides. Otherwise, they’ll become too dark too quickly.
• Wait until the cake has completely cooled before frosting it. Then, once it’s frosted, put it in the fridge to set.
• Level the cakes before frosting. If you have a cake leveler it may make your life a bit easier, but if not, I’ve got you. Use a serrated knife to carefully slice off that rounded top of the cake to ensure a flat-level surface. This makes it much easier to stack the cakes once you’ve added frosting.
• Frost the cake using an offset spatula which will help with an even smooth layer of frosting without taking any crumbs off with it.