rich, moist, and flavorful vanilla cake
When it comes to cakes, I'm a real stickler for flavor. So much so, that I would rather take the time to make my own cake than buy 80% of the cakes out there. There is nothing more disappointing than craving a piece of cake, finding a beautiful slice and then find out it is dry and lacking flavor. So, trust me when I say, if I'm sharing a cake recipe with you, it is TRIED & TRUE. I only believe in delicious, moist, flavorful cakes that will be the best cake you've ever had.
Life is too short to eat boring cake that doesn't taste good.
Make sure to save this delicious vanilla cake recipe.💕
Grab your ingredients, stand mixer, cake pans and parchment paper.
Now, I get down with the get down... so if I'm making a cake, I'm MAKING a cake. The cake pictured in this blog was made using three 6 inch cake rounds.
I roll out some parchment paper and trace the outside bottom of either a dedicated 6 inch cake board or the cake pan itself. Cut out the circles to use in the bottom of the cake pans. This will ensure a smooth and easy release from the pan. Find a good cooking spray you like (I use Pam or a similar off brand) and spray the pan liberally. Place the circle of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan and spray the cooking spray again on the top of the paper. To bake, make sure you divide the batter as evenly as possible between the three rounds to create even layers for your cake.
You may be able to find a craft store that sells pre-cut parchment rounds as well. Either option would be fine, it's just a bit cheaper to trace and cut them out yourself.
Set your prepared pans to the side and get ready to make the cake batter. Preheat the oven to 350F.
(This recipe can be used in varying cake pan sizes and shapes, you may just have to play with the cooking times. The recipe in this blog works perfectly for a three layer 6 inch round cake, a double layer 8 inch round cake, or a single layer 12 inch round cake. Baking times may vary depending on the size of the pan.)
This recipe uses the creaming method. You will cream the butter and the sugar together, add the eggs one at a time, and alternate adding the flour/dry mixture and the liquid mixture.
It will make a big difference in the texture and fluffiness of your cake, so make sure you take your time to get it right. I like to cream the butter and sugar together for about five minutes on a medium-high speed with my standing mixer. Make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl one to three times during this process. You want to make sure they are pale and fluffy before adding the eggs. For best results, make sure all of your ingredients come to room temperature before you begin.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. For best results, use the spooning method for your flour. Instead of scooping and compacting the flour, you want to take a spoon and gently spoon the flour into a measuring cup. This helps prevent a dense, thick cake.
I would also recommend sifting your flour. More so to add air and lightness to the flour than preventing clumps. I know it seems like a small detail, but it does make a difference in the mouth feel and texture of your cake.
Set your whisked & sifted flour mixture aside and get ready to add your eggs to the fluffy creamed butter and sugar.
Slow down the speed of your mixer and add your room temperature eggs in, one at a time. Make sure they are mixed well, scraping down the bowl as needed. After the individual addition of each egg, add in your vanilla extract.
Once you have your eggs and vanilla fully incorporated, begin to alternate adding the whisked flour mixture and your room temperature buttermilk. Do this in a three to two pattern: flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour. Mix until just combined to avoid a tough or overmixed batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula one more time and mix briefly to ensure everything is combined well.
Divide the batter evenly between your prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. A couple of crumbs on the toothpick is fine. Oven times and temps may vary, so keep an eye on your cake so that it stays nice and moist.
After some practice making cakes, you can actually smell when your cake is ready. There is a distinct moment when you can tell its ready to come out.
Place your cakes, in their pans, on a cooling rack after baking. Leave for about 10 minutes before attempting to remove from the pan.
Place your hand on the center of the cake and flip the pan over. It should just slide right out if you sprayed the pan well enough. Remove the layer of parchment paper and place the cake on the rack to continue cooling. If you have any difficulty removing it from the pan, use a plastic knife to gently move up an down the sides of the pan to loosen any spots that may be stuck.
Make sure your cakes are completely cooled before you begin trying to assemble with frosting/buttercream.
I like to do my cakes and make my buttercream one day and then assemble and decorate the cake the next day. That way I know that everything has had ample time to rest and is ready to work with. I typically wrap each individual layer with a cling plastic wrap and then stack them one on top of the other. This helps prevent them from sticking together and will slightly compress the air pockets in the cake. This will help when you go to assemble your cake and prevents a "bubble" from forming between the layers. Sometimes when you assemble your cake it will push out some of the buttercream and will ruin your clean and straight edge.
If you are not planning to leave your cakes out overnight, you can reuse your parchment circle to separate the layers and prevent them from sticking together as they are "compressing."
Wait until your cakes are completely cooled to remove the rounded top. This will also help with creating a flat, leveled cake. You can use a "cake leveler" (that you find in craft stores), but I find a nice serrated bread knife works best. You have more control over shaping the cake how you want.
There should not be much to remove... use the edge of the cake as a guide. You may need to turn the cake if your knife is not long enough to slice through the whole cake at once. Take off small pieces at a time to watch your progress and ensure you keep it level.
Grab a small amount of your buttercream and place a dot on your cake board, plate or cake stand to "glue" the bottom cake layer to the surface. This helps prevent sliding as you decorate and move the cake.
Add a large dollop of buttercream to the center of your first cake layer. Use a decorating spatula or an angled spatula to spread it out evenly across the cake. Allow for overlap past the edge of the cake to use as the outside "crumb" coat.
Repeat this process for the second layer. With the top layer of the cake stacked, add about twice the amount of buttercream as before. This will cover the top and be worked down the sides of the cake.
After you've smoothed the top layer, use a bench scraper to smooth out the sides. It will be messy at first and you will clean it as you go. Try to work the buttercream down the cake to cover the sides. It helps if you have a separate bowl to scrape off the bench scraper into. Use this scraped off buttercream to create your crumb coat. Don't re-dip into the "clean" buttercream that has not touched the cake yet.
Once you have established your crumb coat and are happy with the base layer, refrigerate your cake for 30 minutes before adding another layer of buttercream. Once your cake is chilled, remove from the refrigerator and add another layer of buttercream. Smooth it out and decorate however you choose. I decided to keep my cake as it is, because I was using it for a rustic, outdoorsy cake, as pictured below.
That's it! I hope you enjoy this delicious, moist, classic vanilla cake. It is my go-to recipe for vanilla cake, and can be a great base for additional cake recipes, or an easy cupcake batch. Don't forget to save this blog for reference! I'd love to see your creations and know what you think. Click the button below to subscribe to my email newsletters, so that you never miss an issue.
Classic Vanilla Cake Recipe:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs (at room temperature)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk (or whole milk at room temperature)
Preheat your oven to 350F. Spray three 6 inch round cake pans (or two 8 inch round cake pans). Line the bottom of the cake pan with parchment rounds and spray again for the top of the paper.
In a separate bowl, sift your flour and whisk together with baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream together your butter and sugar in a stand mixer, until pale, light and fluffy. (About 5 minutes)
Add in your eggs, one at a time until fully incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl in between each addition. Add in the vanilla extract and mix one more time.
Alternate adding flour and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. (Flour, buttermilk, flour, buttermilk, flour.) Making sure to fully incorporate each time. Be careful not to overmix.
Pour into prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.
Place pans on a wire cooling rack. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before flipping over and removing from pan. Remove parchment paper round and allow to cool completely.
Once the cake has completely cooled, you can cut off any excess roundness on top. Stack the cake and decorate as desired!
Vanilla Buttercream:
1 cup butter softened
4.5-5 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
Whip softened butter in a stand mixer for 5 minutes until light and fluffy; scraping down the bowl occasionally.
Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, building up consistency.
Add vanilla extract and heavy whipping cream. Mix for an additional 5 minutes or so on a medium speed.
To achieve a bright white buttercream, use clear vanilla extract flavoring.