Vanilla Cake Recipe
This vanilla cake recipe is the ultimate cake recipe: light, tender, moist, layered, and covered with decadent vanilla frosting. It’s easy to bake and super versatile. No matter the occasion, this is one of those recipes I keep going back to.
Everybody needs a basic vanilla cake recipe. This one is simple yet delicious, making it a great place to start if you are new to baking. Yes, you! 🫵 You can make the best vanilla cake recipe from scratch, no problem!
Honestly, not only is it the epitome of ease, but it’s also incredibly versatile. You can turn it into a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and decorate it with fresh sliced strawberries (or any other fruit you love). Or switch out the vanilla frosting for chocolate and drizzle it with homemade caramel sauce.
Seriously, the sky is the limit when frosting and decorating this cake!
The Difference Between White, Yellow, and Vanilla Cake
Many vanilla cakes call for egg whites (no yolks) and shortening to keep them nice and white. Yellow cakes include the yolks and heap in the butter for a tender, flavorful cake with a rich yellow color.
Usually, white cake, yellow cake, and vanilla cake recipes are all technically vanilla cakes. This recipe has a gorgeous yellow tint because we’re going all-in with eggs and butter! 😋
How to Make Vanilla Cake
Follow along with my easy instructions to see how to make vanilla cake in your own kitchen.
Make the Cake
- Grease two 9-inch cake pans generously with baking spray and set aside. You can use cake pans lined with parchment paper.
- Cream – Next, using a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter, canola or vegetable oil, and sugar for about 3 minutes.
- Sour Cream – Add the sour cream and continue mixing until it is fluffy and starts looking white, 2 minutes or more. (Photo 1)
- Eggs – Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well between each addition. (Photos 2-3)
- Dry Ingredients – Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined. (Photo 4)
- Final Touch – Finally, add the milk and vanilla extract and continue mixing until fully combined. (Photos 5-6)
- Divide Batter – Pour cake batter between the two greased cake pans in equal parts. (Photo 7)
- Bake at 350℉/177℃ for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (Photo 8)
- Cool – Take them out of the oven and let them cool for about 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from their pans onto a wire cooling rack and let cool completely. Frost when cooled.
Make the Vanilla Frosting
- Mix – Place the butter in a medium-sized bowl. Then, sift in the powdered sugar a little at a time. Mix using a wooden spoon or electric mixer.
- Add Vanilla – Pour in the vanilla extract. Gently add milk a little at a time until the frosting is easy to spread.
- Frost the cake and decorate it however you like. Cut and serve.
Recipe Variations
- This cake can easily become vanilla cupcakes! Simply pour the batter into cupcake holders in a cupcake pan, bake them for 12-15 minutes, and frost once they’re cooled.
- Feel free to add any delicious spices you love to this cake to give it a spiced flavor. For example, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom would make a chai-tasting vanilla cake. Mmm!
- Make the cake boozy by adding your favorite liquor. You may need to adjust the amount of milk to compensate for the extra liquid.
Tips and Tricks
- This layer cake can easily become cupcakes! Simply pour the batter into cupcake holders in a cupcake pan, bake them for 12-15 minutes, and frost them once they’re cooled.
- Spice cake. Feel free to add any delicious spices you love to this cake to give it a spiced flavor. For example, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom make a chai-tasting vanilla cake. Mmm!
- Make the cake boozy by adding your favorite liquor. You may need to adjust the amount of milk to compensate for the extra liquid.
- Add a tablespoon of grated orange zest and replace the milk with fresh orange juice for an orange creamsicle cake.
- Replace the vanilla frosting with cream cheese or buttercream frosting for extra decadence.
Make-Ahead Instructions
You can make this cake three or four days in advance. Refrigerate it in an airtight container and whip it out when ready to serve. Wait until right before serving to add any additional decorations to the frosting to keep it looking neat.
Serving and Storage Instructions
You can definitely chill this cake for easier slicing, but it is totally servable even at room temperature.
Keep leftover cake in the refrigerator in an airtight container for 5-7 days. You can also freeze this cake for 3 months. Let it freeze completely uncovered to conserve the frosting, and then wrap it carefully with parchment paper before storing it in a ziplock bag or another airtight container.
FAQs
Cake is NOT for dieters coz fat makes it better. But hey, if you’re making vanilla cake, you’re probably not on a diet. 😉 I use butter and oil in this recipe to make the cake extra moist and tender, with a lighter crumb.
Sour cream also keeps this cake super moist. Consider it my secret ingredient. 😉
Baking powder and eggs lighten this cake beautifully. But also make sure you use room temperature butter and don’t over-mix the batter. When you mix until just combined, the baking soda creates bubbles, and the butter traps them for a fluffy cake with plenty of air bubbles.
Absolutely! Use any pan of a similar size or make it a sheet cake. Just add a little more baking time if the pans are smaller and deeper than a standard 9-inch, or reduce the time if they’re larger.
What Goes With Vanilla Cake
Make your cake fancier by topping it with candied pecans, caramel sauce, or homemade whipped cream. I love a slice of cake with a hot drink. Try pairing this cake with a chai tea latte or a cup of ginger tea. So good!
More Decadent Cake Recipes to Try
- Carrot Pineapple Cake
- Black Forest Cake
- Angel Food Cake
- German Chocolate Cake
- Passion Fruit Pudding Cake
- Buttermilk Pound Cake
Watch How to Make It
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This blog post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated with additional tips, new photos, and a video
Vanilla Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- ½ cup (118ml) canola oil
- 1½ cups (300g) sugar
- ½ cup (115g) sour cream
- 4 large eggs at room temperature
- 2½ cups (312g) all-purpose flour
- 1¼ teaspoons (5g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3g) salt
- ½ cup (122g) milk
- 2 teaspoons (8ml) vanilla extract
Vanilla Frosting
- 1½ cups (340g) butter, softened
- 5-6 cups (625-750g) icing sugar (confectioners or powdered sugar)
- 2 teaspoons (8ml) vanilla extract
- 2-3 tablespoons (30-45ml) milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉/177℃. Then grease two 9-inch cake pans generously with baking spray and set aside.
- Cream the butter, canola or vegetable oil, and sugar using a hand mixer for about 3 minutes. Then add sour cream and continue mixing until it is fluffy and starts to look white – about 2 minutes or more.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined.
- Then add the milk and vanilla extract. Continue mixing, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl, so everything gets mixed in.
- Divide the batter between the two greased cake pans equally. Bake at 350℉/177℃ for 18-20 minutes or until a tester inserted in the cake's center comes out clean.
- Remove the cakes from the pans, transfer them to a wire rack, and let them cool completely before frosting with your favorite frosting. In this recipe, I used vanilla frosting.
Vanilla Frosting
- Add butter in a medium bowl then sift in the powdered sugar a little at a time. Mix using a wooden spoon or electric mixer. Pour in the vanilla extract.
- Gently add just enough milk to make the frosting easy to spread. Adjust the thickness of the frosting with more powdered sugar if it's too thin. If too thick, add more milk.
- Proceed with assembling and frosting the cake, then (if desired) decorate it with sprinkles.
Tips & Notes:
- Don’t forget to preheat your oven for a beautiful browned top
- If you don’t have sour cream, you can substitute it with the same amount of Greek yogurt or buttermilk
- Avoid overmixing your cake batter to avoid a dense cake. Mix the batter just long enough for the ingredients to be completely combined.
- Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature for better mixing. Set out all the ingredients about an hour before beginning.
- Cool the cake layers completely before assembling. Even semi-warm cake layers melt the frosting.
- If you have a deeper cake pan or a bundt pan, you can turn this into one cake.
- Refrigerate the cake after frosting for at least an hour to let the frosting set and the crumb tighten.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on the products used.
Hi, could I substitute the sour cream for buttermilk?
Also, just wondering if I could add some white chocolate to this batter?
Thanks
Yes you sure can.
This recipe is great, i tried it and it came out great . I am a bit confused with the recipe, i use cup for my measurements and 1 cup is equivalent to 250ml but the measurement you gave for 1 cup varies with the ingredients example 1 cup of your flour is different from 1 cup of sugar. Please could you please explain, thanks so much
Thanks. It is best to measure ingredients by weight , especially if you are not using standard U.S measuring cups. Some ingredients weigh more than others.
HI imma I like ur website n it has been of great help in my baking. Kindly how can I measure ingredients for a 2kg cake separated n 1kg cake?
Glad to hear this Liza. Sorry I can’t give you an exact measurement without actually trying it out several times.
Thanks Imma for ur reply I will keep on trying. God bless the work of ur hands n you too for the good work u do. Ur recipes are good.
Just tried this recipe and it came out great. Well done Imma for always sharing. Your recipes are incredible.
Hi imma,your recipe is so lovely ..but I want to ask cAn the butter be melted ? As I know you love using melted butter for your recipes ..
Hi Adanna! For this recipe, I recommend using softened butter for creaming and then adding vegetable oil. The vegetable oil adds moistness to the cake so you really want to keep that part. Hope this helps.
Hi,
Just discovered your website and I already tried a few recipes… turned out very well. Thank you for your amazing recipes. I want to make the vanilla cake, but will just make one layer. Can you please provide the meaurements in grams? I know your receipe is for 2 layers. Many thanks
Hi Tina. If you have a deeper / bigger cake pan or even a bundt pan, you can make this as just one cake. If not, feel free to go ahead and halve the recipe. Also the measurements in grams are indicated in parenthesis in the ingredient list. Do let me know how this works our for you. Happy Baking 🙂
I love all your recipes. I’m looking forward to trying this one. If I use a Bundt cake pan. How long should I bake the cake?
Thanks so much!! The baking time for a Bundt cake can vary depending on a few factors such as the size of your pan, the depth of the batter, and your oven. However, here are some general guidelines:
Preparation: Preheat your oven to the temperature specified in the vanilla cake recipe. Most cakes bake well at around 350°F (175°C).
Baking Time: For a standard Bundt pan (about 10-12 cup capacity), a vanilla cake typically requires around 45-60 minutes to bake. It’s important to start checking at around the 45-minute mark to prevent over-baking.
Testing for Doneness: To check if your cake is done, insert a skewer or toothpick into the thickest part of the cake. If it comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs (but no wet batter), your cake is ready.
Cooling: Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting it onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Remember, every oven is different, so it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your cake as it bakes, especially if it’s your first time baking this recipe in a Bundt pan. Enjoy
I don’t know how I found this recipe but I did in March 2019. And Since then, I have rejected every other vanilla cake recipe. This is the best recipe. I make my own modifications and substitutions esp. for the sour cream bit. N I must say, this is like a piece of heaven esp when left overnight in the fridge and warmed the next day before eating. I also put choco-coconut butter ganache as frosting and its heaven! Thanks, Imma. God bless you! Lots of love.
Hmm… that choco-coconut butter ganache sounds Delish!!!! I am so glad you love this recipe. Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Ms. Imma,
I LOVE your recipes and THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR SHARING THEM!!
I need to ask a favor of you. Please can you turn the Servings: by # of slices calculator back on? It’s truly helpful.
Thank you.
Awww… Thanks, Sabrina :)! Will work on getting the calculator back on.
Thank you!!
You’re welcome, Sabrina :)!
Hi imma
Thanks a lot for your recipes
I used this recipe although I doubled everything. My cake was a bit dense and it seemed it had this egg taste to it too.
I’m not sure where I went wrong.
How will I know if my cake is over mixed
Hello Laura. Sorry to hear your cake didn’t turn out great. Cake recipes are a little complex in that the ingredients have to be carefully measured out, whether you are doubling the recipe or using it as is. I would recommend you use the metric measurements so that you get the exact amounts. You would also have to consider other factors like long you cream your butter, how long you beat your eggs and even the depth of the pan you will use versus what is recommended.
Also, overmixing your cake batter cake could make it dense. Mix the batter just long enough for the ingredients to be completely combined. I hope this helps 🙂 !
My kids loved this cake. Thanks Imma
You are welcome! Glad they love it .
I baked this today and it’s exactly what I have been looking for in a vanilla cake! I am so excited! Thanks Imma, I LOVE your recipes.
Yaaay! So happy you love it, Kelly. Thanks for trying it out.
Thanks for all your delicious recipes! I tried this recipe;Tasted good but the cake was not spongy-It was very heavy inside I used Greek yogurt. Not sure what i did wrong. Any thoughts?
Hello Bess. Sorry to hear about that. Did you follow the recipe notes at the end of the instructions? Please do try again. I am sure it will turn out better the second time around!
Hi Doi, Sorry to hear about that. Did you follow the recipe ? Hope it works out better the second time around. Do let me know how it works out .
I just made this cake for my mother’s 92nd birthday party. It was a great hit!! I’m sure I wil make it again.
Awesome! Thanks for the feedback Sandra.
It looks delicious. Not sure of the cup measurements though. What would they be in grams and mls
Hi. Thanks for dropping by. I already updated the recipe box and wrote the conversion units beside each ingredients to be visible instead of toggling the metric conversion link below. Happy weekend! 🙂