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This Homemade Vanilla Cake Recipe is one of the best homemade cakes ever and will quickly become your new favorite. A simple recipe with a tender and moist crumb and just the right amount of sweetness. Delicious with vanilla buttercream or cream cheese frosting!
Why You’ll Love Homemade Vanilla Cake
Being a true vanilla lover, I’ve tried my fair share of homemade vanilla cake, cupcakes, sheet cakes…you name it. It’s my go-to flavor and dare I say I like it more than chocolate cake? It took me several weeks to develop this particular recipe, yielding an end result that is tender with a moist crumb and just the right amount of sweetness. I’m confident that if you don’t like vanilla cake, you haven’t truly had a GOOD one. So friends, meet my vanilla cake recipe.
Simple Cake Recipe ingredients
- all-purpose flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
- salt
- milk
- vanilla extract
- butter
- vegetable oil
- granulated sugar
- whole eggs + egg whites
How to make Vanilla Cake from Scratch
Making a scratch vanilla cake is easier than you think! Just make sure you don’t over-bake! Dry vanilla cake is NOT delicious. For full recipe details with an ingredients list, exact measurements and baking times see the printable recipe card below. Here is step by step what you can expect when making this cake:
Prepare Your Cake Pans
1. Preheat your oven.
2. Line baking pans with parchment paper and/or spray well with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. (I spray my round cake pans, add the parchment paper circles in the bottom and spray lightly again.)
Whisk Dry Ingredients
3. In a large bowl, whisk dry ingredients together to combine (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt). Set aside. Whisking helps aerate the ingredients and works well in place of sifting.
4. Measure milk and vanilla separately and set aside.
Make the Vanilla Cake Batter
5. In a separate large bowl, mix butter, oil, and sugar together until combined.
6. Mix in eggs and egg whites, one at a time, until the mixture becomes very light and fluffy. You want to incorporate a lot of air at this point. Because we aren’t separating the eggs and whipping the whites separately, you want to whip the eggs well.
7. Alternate adding in flour mixture with milk mixture, being sure to start and end with flour.
Time to Bake Your Cake!
8. Divide cake batter between two (8 or 9″) round baking pans, as evenly as possible, smooth the tops and bake on the middle rack in the oven. Cakes will be done when the edges look golden and the middle of the cake comes out clean when tested with a toothpick.
9. Cool 15-20 minutes in pans or until you can handle the warm pans with your hands. Turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely.
Vanilla Cake Recipe Tips for success
After lots of trial and error, here are my best tips and tricks for making a delicious vanilla cake recipe the first time around.
- Follow the recipe. Use the listed ingredients in the recipe card below.
- Use room temperature ingredients. Believe it or not, using butter, eggs, egg whites and milk all at room temperature yields you a smoother, better incorporated cake batter and thus, a better cake.
- Do not over-bake. Moist vanilla cake comes with just the right amount of time in the oven. Start checking your cake for doneness after 30 minutes and then go from there. Every oven is different (some run hotter than others) so be sure you are checking your cake for doneness every few minutes once you’re getting close to it being completely baked.
- Line baking pans with parchment paper. Parchment paper is my favorite kitchen tool. Your cakes will come out with ease!
- Cool completely before frosting. Frosting is primarily made up of butter and the butter will melt if your cakes are not cooled completely.
How to Bake Flat Cakes
Here’s a little trick for getting flat cake tops! The tops of my cakes actually weren’t all that flat, but when I flipped them out of their cake pans, the bottoms certainly were! So that’s why they look so flat. You’re seeing the bottoms of the cakes! So when I frost them, I place them all upside down to have flat “tops” to my cake.
If you overmix your batter, you will tend to have more of a peaked top. If you are wanting to frost a two or three layer cake, use a serrated knife to cut off the tops to achieve that flat, level cake.
Vanilla Cake Recipe FAQs
You bet! This recipe will make:
1- 9×13 thick cake (bake for 40-55 minutes)
2- 8 or 9-inch round cakes (40-50 minutes)
24 cupcakes (bake for 18-20 minutes)
Regardless of how you bake this cake, be sure to use lighter colored baking pans (or glass). Using a darker pan will give you darker, crispier edges which doesn’t really have a place in vanilla cake, in my humble opinion.
The purist in me would recommend making this cake with this Vanilla Buttercream Frosting Recipe but this chocolate frosting would be equally delicious. Both frostings will make you fall in love with vanilla cake, possibly more than you’ve ever loved it before.
For more frosting options, check out these recipes: Cream Cheese Frosting, Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting, Reese’s Frosting, and Poured Chocolate Frosting.
Decorating Vanilla Cake
Decorate your cake with homemade frosting and any embellishments you choose. Here are some frostings that go well with this vanilla cake:
- Vanilla Buttercream
- Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Chocolate Sour Cream Frosting
- Reese’s Frosting
- Poured Chocolate Frosting
How to store Vanilla Cake
The best thing about making this recipe (and really any baked cake) is they store beautifully if you make them ahead! Here are a few storage options:
Storing at Room Temperature
Once your cake has been baked and cooled, wrap them in plastic wrap and store at room temperature overnight. Prepare the frosting, then cover and store in the fridge overnight as well. When you are ready to assemble and decorate, set the frosting out at room temperature to soften for about 30-45 minutes. Give it a quick mix to loosen it up in your mixer for about a minute, then frost away! (You may have to add a splash of heavy cream or milk to bring it back to life.)
Storing in the Freezer
If you want to make this Vanilla cake even farther ahead of time, consider freezing it! Baked vanilla cake can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap baked cake layers well in two layers of plastic wrap and one layer of heavy duty foil and store flat in the freezer. To thaw, transfer from the freezer to the fridge overnight and then bring to room temperature before decorating.
Love Vanilla Cake? Try These Other Cake Recipes:
You really don’t need a reason to make this vanilla cake but it goes without saying this would be the perfect birthday, anniversary or holiday cake. Maybe you had a rough day. Someone else had a rough day. You had a good day and want to celebrate. Basically, this recipe is perfect for any occasion.
If you make this delicious Vanilla Cake, I would SO appreciate if you would give it a star review and leave me a comment below. Printable recipe card with directions and increments is below! Happy baking, friends!
What others are saying about this Homemade Vanilla Cake Recipe:
This has become my go to vanilla cake recipe. I love making it! ~ MaryJo
This is the best recipe ever. Vanilla cake came out wonderful… ~ ID
This is now my go to Birthday cake. The cake is simple to make and the taste is amazing. ~ Sonia
Made this yesterday…came out beautifully…the cake was moist and flavorful…my family devoured it. ~ Laura
I have combed through the internet, baking through every recipe I could find. This is by far the best one I have made (after 3+ years of trying). ~ Amy
i am just 9 years old and i made it all by myself it tasted so good and sweet ~ Deborah
This is the best homemade cake I have ever tasted. My 11 year old daughter made it for us, and the whole family LOVED it so much. Thank you, we are making it again, tonight! 🍰💛 ~ Amanda
More Favorites from Lauren’s Latest
Simple Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/3 cups milk whole
- 1 tbs vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 whole large eggs
- 2 whole egg whites
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325° F. Line baking pan with parchment paper and/or spray well with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. (See notes)
- In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together to combine. Set aside.
- In a liquid measuring cup, stir milk and vanilla together. Set aside.
- In a separate large bowl, mix butter, oil and sugar together until combined. Mix in eggs and egg whites, one at a time, until mixture becomes very light and fluffy. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again briefly.
- Alternate adding in flour mixture with milk mixture, being sure to start and end with flour. Scrape the sides and mix again to ensure a smooth batter.
- Divide evenly between baking pans and smooth the top. Bake 30-40 minutes in the lower ⅔ of the oven. Cake will be done when a toothpick comes out clean or mostly clean with a few moist crumbs.
- Cool 15-20 minutes in cake pans before trying to invert on cooling racks. Cool completely before frosting and decorating.
Video
Notes
- 1- 9×13 thick cake (bake for 40-55 minutes)
- 2- 8 or 9-inch round cakes (40-50 minutes)
- 24 cupcakes (bake for 18-20 minutes)
Hands down the best cake that I ever baked. I have been baking for years and years. I do not know how to create recipes so I am always on the pursuit of recipes. I have always wanted to be able to bake a cake that tasted like a professional cake. This recipe is it. Lauren’s vanilla cake and chocolate cakes are the most amazing recipes. Fluffy, yet structurally sound for decorating. They taste soft all week, no drying up. I have never tweaked thr recipes once and every single time the perfect cake comes out.
I am thirteen years old and it turned out a little brown it overall good
Love the flavor and texture. 😋 Delicious and thank you for sharing your talents
Very nice and easy
Thanks for sharing
Lauren, is there any substitute for vanilla extract? Will the cake taste fine without it?
If I wrap the cake without frosting in plastic how long will it stay good in the fridge?
I added a teaspoon lemon extract and fingers crossed
I’ve made this cake recipe several times already. It is so delicious! I must say that if you make cupcakes with the batter it makes MORE than 24 cupcakes.
This cake was perfect. My hubby requested a homemade cake, and this recipe was perfect. He LOVED it. He doesn’t like cakes that are too sweet, but I do. This cake was just right. I paired it with another strawberry icing recipe I found. It was delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Incredible recipe
Could I use coconut oil instead of vegetable oil?
Yes! I’ve used Avocado oil and coconut oil. I prefer coconut oil to give it a slightly nutty taste.
very good cake thanks
loved this vanilla cake! such a moist cake with a wonderful crumb, and great flavor! we followed the steps of Homemade Strawberry Cream Cake Recipe but swapped the whipped cream out for cream cheese frosting because we needed to be able to freeze the whole thing for transport, and it came out SO GOOD! huge hit
this was always my go to recipe. However, the last two times I made it it did not come out well! Has there been changes made to this recipe? I noticed it was updated in August? Thank you.
mm
Just the pictures were updated, mm. The recipe was not changed.
I had tried 2 other vanilla cake recipes but the top always feels damp & sticky when completely cooled . I was careful not over mixing the batter & did a skewer test. Do you have any advice on this problem ? I had to shave off the top of cake bf I frost it. I had no problem baking chiffon cakes though
I will try your recipe soon, thanks.
Doesn’t have written measurements and baking time and degrees!!!!
Ana, those can all be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. Would love if you would give my recipe a star rating AFTER you’ve actually made it. Thank you!
Didn’t work for me. My round cakes turned out very dense. 🙁
This is sooooooo good. Me and my family loved it
Excellent recipe. Nice and moist.
What is temperature for baking
It’s delicious i loved it texture is perfect
This was an excellent recipe for vanilla cake. I make a strawberry cream cake every year for my mother on her birthday and have been trying different recipes that got good reviews. I’ve finally found the one I, and everyone else, love, so thank you. I would suggest listing your flour amount in grams as well cups so people use the proper amount. Depending on how people measure their flour, there can be a huge difference in the amount they wind up with, which will obviously affect the recipe (ie ‘batter too thick’ comments). I used the King Arthur All Purpose flour equivalent of 3 cups which was 360 grams. It was perfect. I also used Whole Milk since I had it on hand which I’m glad I did since you use enough of it to have the higher fat content make a difference. Also… I always use crisco shortening along with parchment paper (and then more on top of the paper) when I make cakes. They never stick. (That was for the people who had sticking issues)
Best vanilla cake recipe!
This cake is delicious! Made it for my boyfriend’s birthday. We ate the whole cake in a week. I made two round tins. Layering one on top of the other. You will need a TON of icing.
Cake gave me a very medival vibe. Not your typical “fluffy” cake, super moist but not super fluffy. Delicious to say the least, not super sweet aswell. It was 10/10 easy to make aswell.