I adore vanilla cake. I have such fond memories of it, and well, it just tastes so perfect and simple. I still remember every year as a little girl, I would have a heart-shaped vanilla birthday cake with the yummiest, sugariest, pastel-coloured frosting. There are so many types of vanilla cake recipes out there, and I know this because I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect one. Just when you thought vanilla cake was simply vanilla cake–there are butter cakes, sponge cakes, genoise cakes, and more. I’m working my way through many different vanilla birthday cake recipes to determine a favourite. My philosophy, though, is that there really are no bad vanilla cake recipes, so when I say favourite, it’s really just personal preference for me and, well, my husband Grant. He, for some reason, doesn’t eat dessert as a rule (yes, almost unthinkable), and he really doesn’t have much to say one way or the other when it comes to dessert, with the exception of vanilla cake–the man has put some serious thought and emotion into this. And, under no circumstances, would he go anywhere near chocolate cake. I won’t hold that against him, though, because for the first 30-ish years of my life I too chose vanilla over chocolate. I now love them equally and unconditionally. Maybe it was a scientific shift that occured when I had my babies, because since then, I simply cannot live without chocolate cake. Now that I’ve got that out in the open, let’s talk vanilla cake…
I’m pretty familiar with baking butter cakes, because it’s predominantly what I use for my fancy fondant-covered cakes. As far as classic frosted birthday cakes go, though, I really haven’t experimented that much yet, so I am eager to see what type of vanilla cake is the biggest birthday crowd-pleaser. My first experiment was with this classic butter cake. I pretty much knew what to expect, but rather than using my existing recipe, I searched for a popular alternative. I came across this recipe from the Joy of Baking website. It was pretty straight-forward and similar to my recipe, but uses the combination method of mixing (when you whip the egg whites into a meringue and fold them into the batter, in order to get more volume and a lighter texture) and calls for cake flour, as opposed to all-purpose flour, so I was curious to give it a try.
Once the cake was baked and cooled, I layered it and filled/frosted it with a fluffy buttercream frosting that I tinted a pastel blue (Grant’s favourite icing colour). The truth is, I don’t often make this kind of sugary frosting for cakes. I’ll admit that I’ve become a bit of a buttercream snob, and am quite partial to the gorgeous consistency and sophisticated flavour of Swiss Meringue Buttercream (an icing that is made from whipping vanilla and copious amounts of pure butter into a fluffy meringue base) for cakes–there’s simply nothing better, in my opinion. It’s what’s widely used for filling/frosting most wedding cakes, occasion cakes, and even cupcakes in many cases, because of its buttery flavour and silky texture. It’s not super-sweet, it compliments almost any type of cake, and it can be flavoured with pretty much anything and still tastes amazing. That being said, my husband simply loves sugary blue frosting on vanilla cake, so that’s what I made for this birthday cake.
The verdict: Grant and I both loved it and thought the vanilla flavour that came through was especially amazing in this cake. As far as texture goes, I did really love it, but I always notice a very cakey density when cake flour is used. You could replace the cake flour with all-purpose to give it a slightly different texture, if desired. Actually, you can also play around and experiment by switching the milk for yogurt or sour cream, just to see what happens. Some of my best recipes are a result of experimenting with existing ones.
Classic Vanilla Butter Birthday Cake {click to print}
Yield: three 8-inch round cake layers
Ingredients:
4 large eggs (separated), at room temperature
3 1/2 cups (420 g/14.5 oz) sifted cake flour
4 teaspoons (20 g) baking powder
1/2 (3 g) teaspoon salt
1 cup (227 g/2 sticks/8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups (400 g/14 oz) granulated sugar, divided
2 teaspoons (10 mL) pure vanilla extract
1 cup (250 mL) milk, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) cream of tartar
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180° C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour three – 8 inch (20 cm) round cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and grease and flour parchment paper.
2. While eggs are still cold, separate the eggs, placing the yolks in one bowl and the whites in another bowl. Cover the two bowls with plastic warp and allow the eggs to come to room temperature before using (about 30 minutes).
3. In a mixing bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). Add 1 1/2 cups of the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and beat until combined. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and milk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.
5. In a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. With a rubber spatula gently fold a little of the whites into the batter to lighten it, and then fold in the remaining whites until combined. Do not over-mix the batter or it will deflate.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the three prepared pans and smooth the tops with an offset spatula or back of a spoon. Bake in preheated oven for approximately 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.
7. Cool the cakes in their pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of the cake pan and invert, lifting off the pan gently. Once the cakes of completely cooled, wrap in plastic and place the cake layers in the freezer for at least an hour (to make filling and frosting the cakes easier).
1 cup (227 g/2 sticks/8 oz) unsalted butter, softened
6 cups (750 g/1 lb + 10 oz) icing sugar (confectioners’)
1/2 cup (125 ml) whipping cream (35%)
2 tablespoons (30 mL) pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon (15 mL) water
a pinch of salt
Method:
Stunning photos! Especially the one with the slice cut out! Love it!
Beautiful colour and fab photos too.
This is so gorgeous, I hardly care what it tastes like! But I am glad the taste was good too. Wow, I am just stunned by the pictures and how amazing and perfect that cake looks.
that’s pretty darn perfect! love the color blue of the frosting and love the few little jimmies on top!
Beautiful
That it such a beautiful cake! The frosting color is just perfect. Just lovely!
This photo of your cake caught my eye on Tastespotting. SO lovely and elegant, but there is something sweet and childlike about it:) The sprinkles maybe!? Love it. Beautiful.
I wish you would come to my house and make my birthday cake! Your cake is so pretty.
Laura
i love the color of your frosting. your cake came out so lovely!
Thank you so much!
Oh my gosh! Your cakes are amazing! I just found your blog and I love it! I’ll have to make a beautiful cake like this one, I think!
I made the buttercream frosting for birthday cupcakes this weekend. Sugary Birthday Buttercream is the perfect name for it – so sweet and what a hit with the kids! Looking forward to making your delicious looking vanilla cake soon!
That is just the prettiest cake I have ever seen! Lovely
I am new to this and not very educated in my flours. But may I ask – what is cake flour?
How do you convert this for the Neapolitan layer cake? Will the same amounts work for 2 9″ rounds?
Hi Ashley,
You should have enough for 2 x 9″ rounds (plus a bit leftover for cupcakes, etc) if you use the recipe for the Classic Vanilla Butter Cake. Good luck & enjoy!
I think I can’t choose between a chocolat or a vanilla cake, it really depends on my mood ! The colour of your icing is really nice and I love the white jimmies on top ! The icing is classic american buttercream ? I’m just like you I prefer swiss meringue buttercream : I tried the recipe once and I never made american buttercream ever since :o)
Your cakes are absolutely AMAZING!!!! The colors are just beautiful!!!!
I need to make 24 cupcakes will this give me enough batter? Also your beautiful vanilla sponge cake with the 24K gold decoration… Does it fill well? I’m considering that one for my cupcakes. Final question if I divide this classic vanilla butter cake will it give me just enough for 2 8in pans. I don’t think we can handle a 3 layer cake yet. :)
I just love the color of this cake–like a Robins’ Egg.
This is the second cake from your site that I have baked. I love cakes! This cake was absolutely delicious; so tall and beautiful and sweet and just the perfect cake to make, serve and eat. I also love vanilla, so your white cakes are just sinfully delicious! Perfect! Your blogs are just wonderful, I love the entire site. It just makes me so happy to see such beautiful pictures and wonderful recipes. Thank you!
Hi Rosie,
I live in England and have just stumbled across your blog…it it absolutely amazing!! I just have a quick question and I am guessing you get this all the time….but I am sooo confused on the conversions of your cups to our grams and would love some help. I’ve tried looking it up on the net but it seems that every different ingredient has a different amount per cup. Please could you help as I would love to try out most of your recipes!!
Thank you xx
Hi Emily! Thanks so much for the sweet words. Conversions are definitely tricky with all of us using different systems. I’m working on getting a baking conversion chart onto the blog, but what I’ll do when possible, is try to measure things as I go, so everyone can use the recipes. Was there one in particular you were hoping to make and couldn’t convert?
I tried out this cake!
It was delicious!Thank you very much!
Hope you come out with more recipes for beginners like me!^^
Hi Rosie, I discovered your blog some days ago and I am so happy I did!… Your photos are drop-dead-beautiful; your work is so neat and creative… and I luv the entire concept of your site, because it’s not only a business site, but educational as well. Great job!!! Looking forward for your next post… ;))))
AMAZING! The colors are beautiful!)))
umm…. i’m kind of new to this, so is there an alternative for cream of tartar
Baked this yesterday and it was a hit at the party today. We had a crowd, so I put the whole recipe into one 10X15′ pan. It worked well. we did this twice for a layer cake with Birdseye custard in between layers. It was very rich and fairly dense, but not too dense (I should mention I didn’t use cake flour, but I did substitute a 1/2 cup of white flour with rice flour to lighten it a bit). Thanks so much for the great recipe and inspiring photos.
GORGEOUS cake, great job!
Oh Rosie what did you do, this is the only cake my husband will eat now and I had to make it 3 times now and making it for his 30th birthday tomorrow. He refers to it as ” THE CAKE”. Will try to make fluffy vanilla cake cupcakes as well, recepie looks amazing! Thanks for sharing all your great recepies with us!
I am about to make this for my daughters first birthday today!! I am so glad I stumbled across it!! Thank you!
This cake is so beautiful, I’m going to make it for my birthday party in a few weeks but I prefer a lighter, spongier (but by no means dry) cake and by the sounds of it this one is quite dense.
Apart from using all purpose flour, is there any other recommendations you have to make this even lighter?
I like the idea of using yoghurt instead of milk but that would make it heavier, would it not?
And also in my recent experience, a lot of my cakes have turned out very moist and sticky. All I can think to fix this is to reduce the amount of sugar.
But what do you think? Should I go with this recipe or find a lighter sponge?
Thanks!
Oh never mind, I just found your Very Vanilla Butter Sponge Cake.
It’s the one.
Sorry if this is a *duh* question, but what combo did you use to make that EXACT color? Do you know? It’s PERFECT for my 43rd birthday on the 13th! :)
Hi Ann! I think I used just a few drops of AmeriColor gel color in “turquoise.” I hope that helps!
And, I’m sorry I’m not 100%, but it was last fall, and for some reason I don’t have that written down! I’m pretty sure that’s what it is, though.
What brand and color(s) you used to get this exact blue? I love it!
Thanks Faygie! I believe I used a few drops of AmeriColor gel color in “turquoise.” Good luck!
Thanks so much! I actually just ordered some of that today – perfect!
This looks yummy! I might make this for my 17th b-day thats in a few weeks. The only thing is I only have have 9″ round pans. Is that okay?
I tried this out for my daughters second birthday yesterday, the cake part came out dry and I am not sure why. I made cake Tuesday and froze then iced Wednesday and refrigerated over night. When icing I even brushed layers with simple syrup, so not sure why so dry. Maybe the freezing? It looked pretty though.
The recipe have promis, BUT, it is so overcomplicated. I have to us 6 bowls, and never end up mixing the egg yellow mixture with the flour mixture – or at least, this is never mentioned. I think your directions can be much easier. I’ve baked many years, and it is always about the best way, which are usually also the easiest way, and that way you know your recipe is fail proof.
Elsa, I appreciate the comment, but so you understand, I bake cakes many different ways, and I like to experiment with different recipes. This version is from Joy of Baking, and I have many methods of baking cakes that I use often. If you read my directions, you will see that I do include when to add the egg yolks, which is one of the first steps.
hi rosie!
when you said you doubled the recipe, do you mean you doubled the recipe you posted, or that the recipe you posted is the double the original? thanks so much :)
Hi Kelly! Sorry if that was confusing–I’ve changed the recipe info to include the yield, which is three 8-inch round cake layers. The recipe provided was the doubled quantity. Hope this helps!
Thank you! Now, if I wanted to just do two layers so I could make some cupcakes as well, could I split those two layers? I learned the hard way that I should ask that before I assume I can!
I am planning on making this cake for my parents anniversary and I really look forward to it, I know they’ll love it too. My question is how you make the icing so smooth, is it the icing recipe or the way you put it on?
Hi Naomi,
You can achieve this smooth look pretty easily, but it does require a few small tools. I will be doing a short video tutorial soon, but in the meanwhile you can check out this wonderful post by my friend, Kaitlin (Whisk Kid), on the topic. I hope this helps! http://www.whisk-kid.com/2011/02/how-to-frost-cake.html
I have been a big fan of your recipes. Tested your fluffy vanilla, your dark and rich choc cake, as well as your smb. Love them all, and all along I have been receiving praises whenever I bake the fluffy vanilla cake.
How do I modify this recipe to make it into orange buttercake.
Do you think this icing will work for doing ruffles? We have a guest with an egg allergy so I’m a little leery of making the swiss meringue buttercream for our party that you suggest for your ruffle cake. I can’t wait to try it!
Hi Mary! Truly, the icing would technically ruffle okay, although it wouldn’t be as silky in finish, but the only issue is that it’s so sweet compared to the Swiss Buttercream. I can see your dilemma though, with the egg allergy as an issue, so if the slices were thin and there wasn’t too much frosting as filling, I imagine it would work! I hope this helps in some way. Let me know how it goes?
Hi,
The cake looks beautiful! I’d love to try this buttercream sometime, but I’ve a doubt. Can we keep the frosted cake @ room temp, if so for how long? Thanks.
Hello… First time to your website…. its awesome… no words..:d n the pics r too good.
I need a small suggestion. How can I alter the recipe for a 10″X 2″ round cake? please advice.I need to have a 2 layer cake. how much should I add or deduct for this recipe… please guide.
This cake looks beautiful! Is this the closest recipe that you have to a “yellow cake?” I didn’t see any recipes on your blog that were explicitly called “yellow cake,” but I’m looking for one and was wondering if this recipe would be what I’m looking for.
Thanks!
OK guys, need some help! I need to make an octopus cake!!?? I’m picturing a tiered cake and then an octopus wrapped around the bottom/spreading up the cake… I need a foolproof vanilla cake recipe that isnt too fluffy so it is dense enough to hold a fondants… TIPS?! Even if anyone has done something similar… kids birthday cake characters would love some help!!!!!!
Hi Rosie! First of all I adore your blog & all the darling photos! :) Second, I just got my first stand mixer & this was the recipe that my broke in my new baby. I did 2 8″ cakes and cupcakes. The cupcakes were rather dry and ended up getting hard after about 30 minutes. The cake itself feels super soft still but I am worried about the dry texture still. This was my first try with cake flour so I’m not sure how the texture is supposed to be for this cake. Is the cake supposed to be on the drier side?
Hi Whitney! Congrats on the new mixer–I know how exciting that is! So sorry to hear that you found the cake dry. Just a note that the cupcakes will take much less time–usually about 18 minutes or so, so hopefully you will enjoy them if you try it again. As for the cake, it shouldn’t be dry, but rather a nice, tender cake crumb–it’s a very classic scratch vanilla butter cake in that sense. If you baked the cakes just until a toothpick came clean, and not much longer, it shouldn’t be dry. Let me know how it goes!
PS. Thank you for the kind words!
Hi again Rosie! I wrote you about this cake yesterday after some sort of a user error (me- ha ha!) caused the cupcakes to be dry. Apparently I did something wrong with the cake as well, because regardless of how utterly perfect & beautiful it looked, it was still on the dry side. My first theory of error was that the oven was probably preheated 30-45 min before baking, so even though baking it for the recommended 25 minutes, maybe it should have come out in 20? Or maybe since this was my first experience with cake flour and the style of crumb cake, maybe…just maybe am I being too critical and am not used to the texture? I would describe it as after the first bite, I immediately felt the need to grab some milk for the sake of being parched, as this was very dense and crumby, which to me = dry.
My second issue was the icing, and I solved my own issue with the texture because I did go with the option to add the extra teaspoon of water; however, 1 teaspoon turned into 3 and needless to say, it ended up getting slightly runny. My question for you is for an icing beginner, do you have any tips, tutorials, or videos for getting that smooth surface on your cakes? I have a turntable, bench scraper, and offset spatula already. Maybe it will just come with practice, but any tricks from you would be honored and appreciated!
Always excited for more treats on your blog, xo, Whit
Rosie I just wanted to say what a completely perfect recipe this is. I am no expert baker and yet when I found this in May to make for my husband’s birthday, even my (very) difficult mother in law said it was ‘the best cake’ she had ever had. Wow!
I’ve returned since to gawk at the amazing photos and today I am using the recipe again. Thanks!! :)
Beautiful site!
I made the cake tonight (it’s in the oven) but unfortunately I didn’t read the whole thing, and I used it for a rainbow cake. Which means the beautiful merengue = flat when having to stir in the different food colourings.
Oh well, fingers crossed…
They were delicious! But flat :(
But I knew that was going to happen, so I’m excited for next time when I do it right! :)
Hi there Rosie! I made this cake this past weekend for my daughter’s 5th birthday! Though it was a beautiful creation something must of went terribly wrong lol! that cake was very dry and tasted like a corn bread cake in a way so I am not sure what happen exactly?
Just curious… is the cream of tartar necessary in this recipe? What exactly does it do?
hi rosie…i am a home baker from uk and simple adore your blog….amazing photos and your colour schemes are so beautiful……i am making a birthdaay cake for my daughter…it would be rasberry and white chocolate…..am planning to use this butter cake receipe as sponge then frost it with you SMB ….adding raspberry puree as filling and white chocolate as topping….then i want to cover with fondant….i havnt done it before so just wondering if these plans are fine…lol…i mean u think this would work without spoiling my cake….i tried to email you on rosie@sweetapolita.com but it didnt go through…..hope to hear from you soon…..thanks alot in advsanc…ne help from you would be appreciated…n if you have better options or anyother recepies please let me know..really want to try something from your blog:)
This is so sweet and delicious looking!
Hi, My name is Christine. I am contacting you from half the way across the Globe from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I have started my home based business a year ago baking cakes, cupcakes, cookies and more. I am self taught and I am learning a lot throughout the process before I open my own shop.
I have been told recently that my cakes are heavy and a bit dry. I have been looking online and stumbled across your work. I loved it and I loved how you are sharing your recipe with people. What do you recommend me to use for Vanilla and chocolate recipe especially when I cover my cakes with fondant. I need something that is light and soft yet strong enough to withstand the weight of fondant. I hope you can help. If not, I totally understand. Love, Christine
Tried this, the actual sponge was disgusting. A bitter after taste. The icing was nice though
Hmm, that’s too bad, Bev–I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you. I’ve honestly never heard anyone say it had a bitter after taste, or any after taste at all, for that matter. It sounds as though something went wrong. I make this one often, and as it comes from Joy of Baking, it’s a very classic and well-tested recipe.
I just made this today for my daughter’s birthday cake and Oh My Goodness it is DELICIOUS! I used pink food colouring for the icing and piped stars around the bottom and edge of the top… quite simply one of the best sponges I’ve ever made and the buttercream is heaven!
I baked this cake for my boyfriend for valentines day, its DELICIOUS!! It has a very sugar-cookie-ish taste, but without the heaviness. Soooo good:) the only problem I had was with the frosting, it was dripping and melting all over the place, so it didn’t look nearly as pretty as the one pictured. It tasted amazing though:)
I made this cake (with different frosting) for a friend’s baby shower and it was delicious. The only problem I had was that on cooling the cake shrunk a lot (about 4cm), which wouldn’t have been a problem except that it was a tiered cake. Is there anything I could do to minimise the shrinkage, maybe by how I cooled the cake?
Hi Rosie,
I’ve been a fan since my 4 y/o saw a picture of your ruffled celebration cake more than a year ago and she requested one for her 5th birthday. We all loved how really tasty and beautiful it turned out. Should have told you back then (mea culpa, please forgive me?) but today I made your vanilla cake recipe as cupcakes tinted green for our St. Paddy’s celebration and OMGoodness I just HAVE to say this is really a wonderful recipe! I grew up not much of a cake fan..though you are definitely converting me with REAL cake recipes…and most especially NOT a vanilla cake fan. But your cake recipes are so good and this particular recipe was so incredibly delicious it has changed my mind about vanilla cake. As a choco-holic I must say, who knew vanilla anything could be SO good? Gracious sakes, I have eaten the majority of the cupcakes! So thank you, thank you, Rosie, for sharing your Sweetapolita recipes and baking tips (though admittedly, my hips are refusing to join in these accolades) and also for the exquisite photography of your beautiful creations. (Tho personally, I always like the ones that include your gorgeous daughters :)) Blessings upon you and keep up the excellent work!
I made this for Easter (with pale pink frosting…very beautiful). The butter cream was perfect. I don’t even particularly like frosting that much, but this was delicious. I can’t wait to try your other recipes. Lots of beauty and inspiration here!