Vanilla Cake

This Vanilla Cake is soft and fluffy with a moist loose crumb, and a great buttery vanilla flavor. It makes a perfect birthday or any occasion cake. It’s also great with any flavor of frosting.

Vanilla cake is my all time favorite cake, but not just any vanilla cake. I want a vanilla cake that’s moist and fluffy with a great flavor and a great frosting. If you love vanilla cake, then keep reading!

My favorite cakes are white & vanilla, vanilla being #1. Almost 2 years ago, I finally got around to posting my Favorite White Cake recipe, and now it’s 1 1/2 years later, and I’m finally posting this Vanilla Cake. You would think that my favorite recipes would be the first things I would post on my blog.

Loose versus fine crumb

When I made my white cake, I was looking for a fine delicate crumb. Therefore, I used cake flour in the recipe. I wanted moistness and flavor, so I used both sour cream and butter. I also used the reverse creaming method which results in a slightly flatter cake with a tighter crumb. That’s because that’s the type of cake I wanted. By the way, it has been one of my most popular recipes on my blog.

This time I didn’t want any of the above. I wanted a soft, fluffy cake with a loose crumb. I wanted to beat lots of air into my butter and sugar to give my cake more volume and a looser crumb. Therefore, I didn’t use the reverse creaming method. I creamed my butter and sugar first, (the standard way of mixing cake batter). Then I added buttermilk for moistness, butter and vanilla for lots of flavor, and plenty of leavening for lift. I wanted a cake that would be the perfect all-occasion cake, birthday cake, etc.

Whats the difference between yellow, vanilla, & white cake?

Do you ever wonder what the difference is in these three cakes? It can be confusing, so I’m going to try and clarify it for you.

Vanilla cake is made with whole eggs and the usual, oil, sour cream or buttermilk, vanilla, etc. The color of the cake is an off white or very pale yellow color due to the eggs.

Yellow cake is basically vanilla cake too. However, if butter is used instead of oil, many people refer to it as yellow or butter cake. The butter adds more of a yellow color to the cake, and of course it has a much more buttery flavor than oil cake. Both of these cakes contain vanilla, therefore, you can technically call both vanilla cake. Cakes made with butter are usually not quite as fluffy as cakes made with oil.

White cake is made with egg whites only…no egg yolks. It’s made a couple different ways depending on how pristine white the baker wants the cake to be. I don’t care about mine being pristine white, I go for flavor. Therefore, I add part butter to my white cake. Most wedding cakes don’t use any butter. They want the whitest cake possible. Therefore, they use oil, and usually imitation clear vanilla.

Okay, now I’ll get down to business…how to make this cake business! 🙂

Cake Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spoon & leveled
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup full-fat buttermilk, room temperature

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Cake Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two 9-inch round cake pans with a round of waxed or parchment paper. Grease and lightly flour the pans, tapping out the excess flour. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Set aside.
3. Add the butter to the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or use a hand mixer. Beat the butter on high speed for about 1 minute, until it looks light and creamy. Add the sugar on medium speed and beat for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is very light and fluffy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. 
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed after each addition until each one is fully incorporated. Mix in the vanilla.
5. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, (1/3 flour, 1/2 buttermilk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 buttermilk, and 1/3 flour). Mix just to incorporate the flour. Do not over mix.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans, spreading the batter out evenly with an offset spatula.  
7. Bake the cakes on the middle oven rack for 25-38 minutes, or until a toothpick test comes out with just slightly moist crumbs on it. The tops should be golden brown. Leave the cakes in the pans for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen cakes. Invert the cake layers onto wire racks to cool.

Check out this neat article on How to Slice a Cake Like a Pro. This is how I always slice my cakes.

I decided to frost this cake with a classic vanilla buttercream frosting. However, if you’re a chocolate frosting fan, here’s an excellent chocolate frosting recipe. I used it on my Salted Caramel Cake, and it’s not overly sweet.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Instructions

1. Add the butter to the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the butter on high for about 3 minutes, until it’s very light colored and creamy. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
2. Sift 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar into a large bowl. Turn the mixer to low. Re-measure the powdered sugar and slowly add it to the mixing bowl, one cup at a time. Stop after two cups, and add 1 tablespoon of your milk, so that it doesn’t become too thick at one time. 
3. Once the sugar is incorporated enough so that it doesn’t splatter out of the bowl, turn the mixer to medium speed and add the salt, vanilla, and and remaining milk. Mix on medium high speed for about 1 minute, until all ingredients are well combined. If the frosting seems too thick, add a tiny bit more milk, one teaspoon at a time, until you have the perfect spreading or piping consistency.  
4. TO FROST: Place one cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread about 1 1/2 cups of the frosting over the layer, stopping about 1/4 inch from the edges of the cake layer. Place the top layer over the frosting. Spread the remaining frosting over the sides and top.

You might also like Light & Fluffy Yellow Cake.

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Vanilla Cake

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• Author: Cindy @mycountrytable
• Prep Time: 15 minutes*
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 0 hours
• Yield: 12 servings 1x
• Category: Cakes/Desserts
• Method: Bake
• Cuisine: American

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Description

This Vanilla Cake is moist and fluffy with a loose crumb. It’s finished with a classic vanilla buttercream frosting, and it’s perfect for an occasion.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

CAKE

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spoon & leveled
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup full-fat buttermilk, room temperature

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk or half & half (more if needed)

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Instructions

CAKE

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line two 9-inch round cake pans with a round of waxed or parchment paper. Grease and lightly flour the pans, tapping out the excess flour. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. Set aside.
3. Add the butter to the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or use a hand mixer. Beat the butter on high speed for about 1 minute, until it looks light and creamy. Add the sugar on medium speed and beat for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is very light and fluffy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. 
4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium speed after each addition until each one is fully incorporated. Mix in the vanilla.
5. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour, (1/3 flour, 1/2 buttermilk, 1/3 flour, 1/2 buttermilk, and 1/3 flour). Mix just to incorporate the flour. Do not over mix.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the two cake pans, spreading the batter out evenly with an offset spatula.  
7. Bake the cakes on the middle oven rack for 25-38 minutes, or until a toothpick test comes out with just slightly moist crumbs on it. The tops should be golden brown. Leave the cakes in the pans for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to loosen cakes. Invert the cake layers onto wire racks to cool.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

1. Add the butter to the mixing bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the butter on high for about 3 minutes, until it’s very light colored and creamy. Stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
2. Sift 4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar into a large bowl. Turn the mixer to low. Re-measure the powdered sugar and slowly add it to the mixing bowl, one cup at a time. Stop after two cups, and add 1 tablespoon of your milk, so that it doesn’t become too thick at one time. 
3. Once the sugar is incorporated enough so that it doesn’t splatter out of the bowl, turn the mixer to medium speed and add the salt, vanilla, and and remaining milk. Mix on medium high speed for about 1 minute, until all ingredients are well combined. If the frosting seems too thick, add a tiny bit more milk, one teaspoon at a time, until you have the perfect spreading or piping consistency.  
4. TO FROST: Place one cake layer on a cake plate or stand. Spread about 1 1/2 cups of the frosting over the layer, stopping about 1/4 inch from the edges of the cake layer. Place the top layer over the frosting. Spread the remaining frosting over the sides and top.
5. Place cake in an airtight cake container and leave at room temperature. 
6. Cake will stay fresh for up to 3 days. If you want to refrigerate the cake leave it covered and set it out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before serving it. 

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Notes

• *Prep time for cake doesn’t include prep time for the frosting. 
• If you don’t have a 1/8 teaspoon measuring spoon, simply fill a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon half full.