A perfectly plush, soft, classic vanilla cake recipe made entirely from scratch! It’s so simple to make, and tastes much better than a box mix! Recipe includes a how-to video.
A Classic Vanilla Cake, Made Entirely From-Scratch
Every baker needs a solid vanilla cake recipe in their repertoire, and today’s recipe is just that.
It’s soft, plush, and perfectly moist. Not to be confused with my white cake, this recipe is a beautiful pale golden color and distinctly vanilla flavored. It pairs beautifully with any frosting, although a traditional chocolate frosting is my favorite finish!
Like my chocolate cake, this has been one of my most popular recipes for years (and you may recognize it as the base for both my pineapple upside-down cake and my marble cake). It’s a simple, classic, and incredible vanilla cake. So many of you have tried and loved this recipe, and while the recipe remains exactly the same, I thought it was about time for a facelift with new photos and a new video.
The flavor and texture of this cake is so much better than box-mix, and the preparation is almost as easy. I’ve included a few tips below to help you be successful, so make sure to read all the notes before you get started.
What You Need
After testing many versions and combinations of ingredients, I’ve found that a good vanilla cake needs the following ingredients:
- Oil AND butter. A blend of these two ingredients gives the cake the best possible flavor and texture. Butter provides flavor while oil adds moisture and keeps it from being too dry. A cake made with all oil would be moist but lacking in flavor, and an all-butter cake may have a more buttery taste, but would be more dry. Any neutral cooking oil will work here, but I typically recommend using either vegetable or canola oil. For the butter, unsalted is best so we have maximum control over the flavor of the cake
- Sugar. Plain granulated sugar works best. Brown sugar would add moisture, but would detract from the classic vanilla flavor and even weigh down the cake a bit.
- Eggs. You’ll need four eggs, and it’s best if you bring them to room temperature before adding them (this helps them incorporate into the batter more evenly).
- Vanilla. You can’t have vanilla cake without vanilla! I recommend using a good quality vanilla extract, so if you’ve got a batch of homemade vanilla extract, use it here!
- Flour. I developed this vanilla cake recipe to be work with all-purpose flour and that’s what I always use. However, you *could* use cake flour instead. To substitute by weight, you would use the same amount, but if you are using measuring cups you will need to substitute your flour properly.
- Baking powder. I know a tablespoon of baking powder may seem like a lot, but that’s not a typo. Always make sure your baking soda is fresh and avoid using a generic brand, which I’ve had mixed results with in the past.
- Salt. You can just use plain table salt.
- Buttermilk. I strongly recommend using full-fat buttermilk for the best flavor and texture. While I do have a buttermilk substitute, it doesn’t really make this vanilla cake quite as moist and flavorful as I like it to be, so now I strictly recommend using real buttermilk. And no, you do not *need* to have baking soda in a recipe in order to use buttermilk; we’re using it for its moisture and flavor here!
SAM’S TIP: One of the biggest mistakes you can make with this recipe is neglecting to measure your flour properly. If you over or under-measure your flour, your cake will not turn out right! Use the right method, be as precise as possible, and use a kitchen scale if you have one.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Vanilla Cake
- Cream the butter, oil, and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then, add your vanilla and stir to combine.
- Combine your dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then add about ⅓ of the mixture into your bowl. Use a spatula to gently stir until just combined. Follow this with about ½ of your buttermilk, and stir again until just combined. .
- Add ½ of the remaining dry ingredients stir, and then add the remainder of the buttermilk. Finish with the final portion of dry ingredients and use your spatula to make sure the batter is smooth–do NOT overmix!
- Divide the batter evenly into two greased baking pans.
- Bake, then use a toothpick to test for doneness. Let the cakes cool in their pans a bit before inverting onto a cooling rack, where they’ll need to cool completely before frosting.
SAM’S TIP: While a toothpick that comes out clean indicates a fully baked cake, an over-baked cake will also yield a clean toothpick. It’s best to pull your vanilla cake out of the oven when a toothpick shows moist crumbs!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! This vanilla cake recipe will make 24 vanilla cupcakes. I’ve included instructions for cupcakes in the recipe notes.
A cake that has been over-baked or one in which too much flour was used will be crumbly when cut into. If you invert the cake too soon or try to handle it while it’s too warm, this could also make it break.
Cakes made from scratch require a bit more care and technique than those that come from a box-mix. When making any cake from scratch, take care to not over-mix, over-bake, or use too much flour, or the cake can end up tasting like cornbread. This applies to any cake that is made from scratch, not just this recipe!
What causes dry cake?
Dryness is typically the biggest complaint bakers have when making a cake from scratch, so I thought this FAQ deserved its own space. There are three main causes for a dry cake: over-measuring the flour (addressed above), over-mixing, and over-baking.
- Do not over-mix your batter! Mixing the batter properly can be tricky and this is often where most mistakes are made with homemade cakes. To avoid over-mixing, thoroughly cream together the wet ingredients, particularly the butter, sugar, oil, and eggs. I highly recommend using an electric mixer for this step! However, once you get to the point of combining your wet and dry ingredients, you need to be gentle and fold by hand using a spatula. Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk, folding thoroughly, but not aggressively. The batter will be smooth and mostly cohesive; there may be some small lumps remaining, but that’s fine! Also, remember that while over-mixing can make your vanilla cake both dry and dense, under-mixing has its own risks and should be avoided as well!
- Do not over-bake your cake! Even a minute too long in the oven can cause a cake to be too dry and dense. When baking, place your cake pans on the center rack of your oven and always make sure your oven is running at the proper temperature (most ovens do not, so keep a thermometer in yours!). Don’t check your vanilla cake too early (that can make it sink!), but do keep an eye on it. When your cake is ready to come out of the oven, the center should spring back if lightly touched–it should not deflate or appear jiggly. You can also use the toothpick test to check for doneness. To do this, simply insert a toothpick in the center of your cake; it’s done if the toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs (not wet batter). Once your vanilla cake is done, let it cool in the pan for only 10-15 minutes before running a knife around the edge and inverting it onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
SAM’S NOTE: Under-mixing your cake batter, not baking the cake for long enough, or opening the oven door too frequently while the cake bakes can cause the cake to sink as it cools.
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Vanilla Cake
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (120 g) avocado, canola or vegetable oil¹
- 1 ½ cup (300 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour²
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cup (300 ml) buttermilk room temperature preferred
- 1 batch Chocolate Frosting click link for recipe, or use one of the other frostings recommended in the notes below
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and prepare two deep 8" round cake pans³ 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.½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (120 g) avocado, canola or vegetable oil¹, 1 ½ cup (300 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs, one at a time, beating until thoroughly combined after each addition.4 large eggs
- Stir in vanilla extract.1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.3 cups (375 g) all-purpose flour², 1 Tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon 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 thoroughly combined, but there may be some small lumps in the batter and avoid over-mixing (and do not use your electric mixer or stand mixer for this step).1 ¼ cup (300 ml) buttermilk
- 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 (or see notes for other favorite frosting options) and decorate with sprinkles (if desired).1 batch Chocolate Frosting
Notes
¹Cooking oil
You may use any neutral cooking oil instead of vegetable or canola oil. I generally don’t recommend olive oil, which is heavier and has a distinct flavor that could affect the end taste result of your cake.²Cake Flour
You may substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour. Use 3 ⅓ cups or 375g of cake flour.³Different size baking pans
- 13×9″ pan: This recipe makes enough for one 13×9″ baking pan. Readers have reported the approximate bake time is 30 minutes.
- Two 9″ pans: Readers have reported this cake takes approximately 25 minutes to bake in 9″ pans.
- Bundt pan: Readers have reported this cake takes approximately 40-45 minutes to bake in a bundt pan
Vanilla Cupcakes:
This recipe will make approximately 24 vanilla cupcakes. Fill cupcake liners no more than ¾ 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.Frosting Options
The chocolate frosting I linked to in the ingredients is my favorite pairing with this cake, but here are some other great options:Video note
In the video I mistakenly say to add more buttermilk than is necessary. The written recipe is correct with 1 ¼ cups of buttermilk.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Maya
This cake turned out to be amazing and the instructions were easy to follow. I’m not a baker, but this recipe got me a lot of compliments from my family. I opted for no frosting and instead made homemade whipped cream with some strawberries. It was perfect. Super delicious even without the frosting.
Kristen
So moist and yummy. really appreciated the amount of ingredients being in the instructions. That was so helpful not to be scrolling up and down, such a timesaver. Thank you, that was awesome
Joji
Hi! Would this vanilla cake go well with your Oreo buttercream frosting? They specially asked for vanilla cake so would want to make this one vs your white cake. Please let me know your thoughts! Thanks in advance!!
Sam
Hi Joji! That sounds good to me. 🙂
Ashley
Does this recipe work to double or more it?
Sam
Sure thing! Just be careful not to over-mix it. 🙂
Ashley
Thank you, I should have asked in the first question, but can I split it as well? To make a half batch?
Sam
That will work just fine. 🙂
Leuanna
This was a great find Sam. I like your feature of the measurements being in the recipe itself so I did not have to scroll up each time. The cake was delicious. Next time I’ll try a little rice flour because I like my cakes on the dry side. My family did enjoy the moistness of it though. Great homemade recipe!
K C
What adjustments would you recommend for baking this recipe at 9500 feet in elevation? Oven temp, changes in liquid amounts or leavening or other modifications.
Sam
Unfortunately I am not familiar with high altitude baking so I can’t recommend any alterations. If you do try it, I would love to know how it goes. 🙂
K C
Thank you for the reply. I made your recipe last night with the following adjustments for my elevation of 9500 feet. It came out pretty good. Maybe a little dry as may have overbaked it slightly. I’m pretty new to this.
Altitude Adjustments
• Oven at 375F
• Cooking time – reduce by 5-8 minutes or 22-25 minutes total
• Sugar – Reduce by 1.5 tablespoons
• Liquid – Increase by 3-4 tbsp
• Flour – Add 5 Tablespoons extra
• Baking Powder – decrease 3/4 tsp
Sam
Thank you for the feedback! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Katie
New Favorite Yellow Cake Recipe!!
I made a 2 layer cake, 9 inch rounds. Took longer to bake, but that varies on oven etc. Followed the recipe and cake came out moist and delicious! Family loved it! Thanks for a great recipe!
Dana
Do you think adding lemon extract instead of vanilla would work??
Sam
Hi Dana! Lemon extract is much more potent so if you do use lemon extract, you will want to use less. I do have a lemon cake you could try. 🙂
Dana
Sweet!! Thank you!!!
Caro
Thanks for the recipe. I’ve just started baking with cups and I’m having trouble understanding. When it says 1 1/4 cup, is it 1 cup + 1/4cup?
Thank you in advance for your answer.
Sam
Hi Caro! That is correct. 🙂
Rosemary
Hi Sam. I am going to make this cake tomorrow. Do you rotate your cake pans half way through cooking? I’ll be using two tins sitting next to each other on the same shelf, and I know the air flow and heat won’t be entirely even, but I also don’t want to cause my cakes to sink by opening the oven too soon.
Thank you 🙂
Sam
Hi Rosemary! I do not rotate my pans in the oven. Enjoy! 🙂
NA
I would like to divide this recipe into 2 6″ pans and use the remainder to make a few cupcakes. I’m just wondering am I able to put them all in the oven at the same time and quickly remove the cupcakes when they are ready and continue baking the cakes. Or would you bake the cupcakes first for 18 minutes and then bake the cakes separately when the cupcakes are done. Is the cake batter ok sitting for 18 minutes before baking? or if baked all at the same time will opening the oven to remove the cupcakes quickly ruin the cakes?
Sam
I would probably bake the cupcakes first and then put the cakes in the oven. The batter will be fine to sit for a few minutes while the cupcakes cook. 🙂
pamela
your such an awesome cook baker i just love your recipes yum and soo easy to follow
thank you
love from saltspring island bc canada
NA
Can I divide this in 3 6″ cake pans. How long to bake?
Sam
This will fit in 3 6 inch pans. I haven’t done it myself so I can’t say for sure how long they would need to bake. I would make sure to keep an eye on it as it bakes. 🙂
Jordan
Hi! What Vanilla do you recommend? 😄
Sam
Hi Jordan! I make my own (here’s my guide on how to make homemade vanilla extract, if you’re interested), but have had good experience with most store bought brands of real vanilla extract. I hope that helps!
laura
was delicous
Bailey
I’m making this for the first time tonight! (eating tomorrow evening) What is the best way to store for 24 hours to keep fresh?! Should I wait to frost? Thank you!
Sam
Hi Bailey! Typically I would frost the cake and then store at room temperature in an air tight container. You will be fine to not frost the cake as well. You would just want to wrap the cakes tightly with cling wrap so they dry out. 🙂