recipe

Vanilla Cake: a beautiful, tasty buttercream cake for any occasion

Total time: 65 Min

Difficulty: Low

Serves: 10 people

There's no denying with its buttery, tender crumb, rich vanilla flavor, and decadent vanilla buttercream that vanilla cake is always a winner. In fact, vanilla cake might be one of the most elegant yet versatile cakes out there. It's perfectly sweet, with layers of soft cake and creamy frosting.

Vanilla buttercream cake is an amazing homemade dessert that can be baked for everything from birthdays to anniversaries, weddings, holidays, and more. Making the best vanilla cake is easier than you might think, and is a great way to show off your baking skills!

The Best Tips for Making Perfect Vanilla Cake

One of the secrets to baking the best homemade vanilla cake is to get your measurements right. When measuring the flour, spoon it into your measuring cup, then level off the top or use a kitchen scale. You don't want to use too much flour or you'll end up with a denser cake.

To make the best-ever vanilla cake recipe, use cake flour and buttermilk. Both ingredients help give the cake its tender crumb, and buttermilk adds a subtle tanginess that nicely complements the sweetness of this heavenly dessert.

For a lighter, less rich buttercream, use whole milk instead of heavy cream.

Use room temperature ingredients. This will help prevent overmixing the batter and ensure the cake bakes evenly.

Don't overmix your cake batter! It will ruin the fluffy, lighter-than-air texture of the vanilla cake.

Your cakes are done baking when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and free from crumbs.

If the buttercream is too thick, add more milk. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it's too sweet, a pinch more salt.

Chilling the cake is a simple hack to ensure it will hold its shape when it's time to cut and serve.

How to Store Vanilla Cake

Cover and store your vanilla buttercream cake in the fridge. Enjoy within 4 to 5 days.

Ingredients

for the cake

cake flour

3 2/3 cups

salt

1 tsp

baking powder

2 tsp

Baking soda

3/4 tsp

unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cups

Granulated sugar

2 cups

Large eggs

Egg whites

pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp

buttermilk at room temperature

1 1/2 cups

for the buttercream

unsalted butter at room temperature

1 1/2 cups

powdered sugar

5 1/2 cups

heavy cream

1/3 cup

pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp

salt

1/8 tsp

How to Make Vanilla Cake

For the cake

Step 1

Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease three cake pans with cooking spray, then line with parchment paper and spray the parchment paper.

Step 2

Sift the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda into a bowl.

Step 3

In a second bowl, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until smooth.

Step 4

Beat in the eggs, followed by the egg whites and vanilla extract.

Step 5

Pour in the buttermilk.

Step 6

Switch the mixer to low and whisk in the flour mixture until just combined.

Step 7

Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Step 8

Evenly pour the batter between the cake pans.

Step 9

Bake for 23 to 26 minutes, then remove the cakes from the oven and set on racks to cool completely.

For the buttercream

Step 10

Cream the butter in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt until the buttercream reaches your desired texture.

To assemble

Step 11

Once the cakes have completely cooled, take a serrated knife and slice off the top of each cake to create a level surface. Set the first cake on a serving platter. Coat the top of the cake with 1 1/2 cups of frosting.