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Favorite Vanilla Cake recipe
A cake that is rich, moist, and bakes and stacks well? Check, check, check and check! Here's my Favorite Vanilla Cake Recipe!
Servings: 16 servings
Calories: 368kcal
Equipment
- Cake leveler (optional; these layers usually bake fairly flat and don't require much leveling!)
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake Layers
- 3 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter (or 2 sticks, room temperature)
- 1 cup egg whites (about 7 eggs; or use carton egg whites to avoid wasting yolks! If you don't mind a slight yellow tint to the cake layers you can substitute 5 whole eggs.)
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (room temperature)
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
- 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Instructions
Vanilla Cake Layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare three 8-inch round pans with baker’s floured spray (or grease and line with parchment rounds).
- Mix together all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt) in a stand mixer with a paddle (or mixing bowl with a hand mixer or whisk) until fully combined.
- Mix room-temperature butter into the dry mix a tablespoon at at time on a low speed. Continue to mix until no large lumps of butter remain, and the mixture looks crumbly.
- Pour in eggs and mix on low until just incorporated. Mix in the buttermilk on low speed. Add in vanilla and oil, and mix at a low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, then beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds.
- Divide batter evenly between the prepared cake pans (I find a kitchen scale helpful for this part). This guarantees your layers will bake to be the same height.
- Bake for 34-37 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Allow cake layers to cool for 10-15 minutes on a wire cooling rack before removing from pans. Cool completely before frosting. Set in the fridge or freezer to accelerate the cooling process if desired.
- Once the layers have fully cooled, they can be leveled and any caramelized bits can be trimmed from the sides / top of the cake using a serrated knife if desired. (Be sure the layers are completely cooled or chilled first – if these layers are cut while still warm, they may crumble or break!)
Video
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 368kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g
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Favorite Vanilla Cake Layers (1/2 batch; makes 3 6″ cake layers)
- 1+2/3 cups cup all-purpose flour
- 1+½ cups granulated sugar
- 1+1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter (or 1 stick) room temperature
- ¾ cup egg whites (about 5 eggs, or use egg whites from a carton to avoid wasting the yolks)
- ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoons clear vanilla extract
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
(Use 6-inch instead of 8-inch pans; otherwise follow instructions as written in recipe card above)
Favorite Vanilla Cake layers: (1.5x; makes 3 8-inch and 2 6-inch cake layers)
- 4 7/8 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 ½ cups granulated sugar
3 3/4 t. baking powder - 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cup unsalted butter (or 3 sticks), room temperature
- 1 ½ c egg whites (about 10 eggs, or use egg whites from a carton to avoid wasting the yolks)
- 2 ¼ cups buttermilk, room temperature
- 1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
- 3 Tablespoons cup vegetable oil
(Use 3 8-inch and 3 6-inch pans; otherwise follow instructions as written in recipe card above)
Did you make this Vanilla Cake Layer recipe?
Let me know how it went – or make my day and find me on Pinterest or on Instagram and tag @IntensiveCakeUnit in your photo!
You can also add a comment or a recipe rating at the bottom of the page! 🙂
