8640 minutes, 144 hours, 25 loads of dishes, 7 recipes, 8 pounds of butter, a few tears, a couple of happy children, and 1 relieved husband later, I have finally found it: a new favourite classic vanilla cake recipe! The perfect fluffy vanilla cake and creamy vanilla frosting–sounds simple, right? Well, yes and no. Or no and yes. Or not at all. As a matter of fact, I think I need a hug. I must confess: I baked and frosted a delightful vanilla cake last Tuesday with every intention on blogging about it that night. I think I even promised a few people it was coming, when they asked if I had the ultimate vanilla cake recipe. But then something happened. Something sort of frustrating, really. And then it happened again. And again. And again. And, while I’m being honest–again! Oh, and one more time after that. All with different vanilla cake recipes every day over the course of the past week.
After I baked, frosted, and then ate some (it’s been known to happen) of each cake, I thought I’d succeeded in finding a really light and fluffy cake, but, then upon second taste, I was a bit disappointed with them and I wasn’t inspired to share them with you for that reason. See, for as long as I can remember, I’ve been searching for the lightest, fluffiest, and yummiest white scratch cake I can find. True, I have shared several vanilla cakes with you so far over the months, and I stand behind those cakes completely– they are all classic recipes that yield moist and flavourful vanilla cakes.
The thing is, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a recipe out there that yields a fluffy vanilla cake, you know, one that is as close as can be to the boxed white cake we all love so much (yep, I said it!). You know I love to bake, and, if you’ve been visiting me here, you likely know that I bake everything I can from scratch. The truth is, though, that boxed white cake tastes so good! The bad news, is that they are filled with whiteners and chemicals that make them super white, super light, and super moist. The same thing goes for the canned frostings, but man, do they taste good. So creamy and rich, but not too thick. The good (or even great) news is that, this morning I baked one last vanilla cake. Alas, it was the best of all, and officially my new go-to vanilla cake recipe when I want something fluffy and moist. It definitely still has the homemade taste, and will never be as pure white or airy as a boxed cake, but for my taste, it’s pretty delicious. And…the frosting. Oh, the frosting!
Here’s what’s kind of interesting about both the frosting and the cake recipes, even though they aren’t adapted from the same source: What makes them particularly amazing is in the method, even though the ingredients and ratios are all very standard. The cake recipe has all of the typical ingredients in a vanilla cake: cake flour, butter, milk, egg whites, baking powder, salt, and vanilla. The difference, though, is rather than creaming the butter and sugar together and alternating the wet and dry ingredients, the dry ingredients are combined, followed by the addition of the butter and partial milk for a few moments, and finally the gradual additionn of the remaining milk/vanilla/egg white mixture in 3 even batches.
This is a method you will find in the amazing and must-have book by cake guru, Rose Levy Beranbaum called The Cake Bible
The frosting I adapted from a Donna Hay recipe, and let me tell you how incredible it is. You’ve probably caught on that I do love the wonderful and not-so-sweet Swiss Meringue Buttercream, but sometimes the world (and my husband) just needs a creamy, sweet vanilla frosting and fluffy vanilla cake. It’s also great for kids’ cakes, and for days when you want to just whip up a quick frosting/filling. Again, the ingredients are those of a very standard frosting: butter, icing sugar, milk, and vanilla (I used vanilla bean too). But…it’s a whipping frenzy! It’s fabulous. The first step is the whipping of the butter, and right then and there I was in love. When butter is whipped for several minutes (in this case, 8), it becomes very pale and fluffy, which is a gorgeous base for a frosting. Once the remaining ingredients are whipped up for another 6 minutes, it turns into the most incredibly light and creamy frosting I have ever seen or tasted. For some inexplicable reason, it tastes exactly like homemade vanilla ice cream so, in other words, sweet heaven.
If you have a vanilla cake recipe that you feel is the lightest and fluffiest cake out there, I’d love for you to share a link in the comments section. I’m kind of vanilla-cake-obssessed right now, and although it’s freaking me out a little, I can’t let it go quite yet…
Before I go, I wanted to talk a little bit about transporting your baked masterpieces. I’ve had several people ask me what is the best way to get cakes and cupcakes from A to B, and so I thought it may be helpful to share what I do. As with anything, everyone has their preferences, so this is just what I do. There may be even better ways out there, but this seems to work for me:
Transporting Cakes
1. When I know I have to bring a cake somewhere, I always build the cake on a thin silver cake board (3/16″ thin boards, not the 1/4″ cake drums) the same diameter as my cake, such as PME Sugarcraft Round Cake Board – 8″
2. If my cake is only 1 tier and standard height, I will take it with me in a bakery-style cake box that I buy from my local cake supply. They are relatively inexpensive and come in many sizes and even fun bakery colours, such as pink and turquoise. Kind of fun when bringing a cake to a dinner party and small events.
2. If my cake doesn’t fit in a cake box (which is often the case with my frequent sky-high cakes), I use my Wilton Cake Caddy
3. To get my cakes from the cake plate to the box or caddy (or from any plate, turntable, etc.), I always use this handy tool: Wilton Cake and Cookie Lifter
4. Once my cake is safely in the box or caddy, I then clear a flat space on the car floor or trunk, with a big square of the same rubber mesh between the floor and box/caddy. If you give it a little test move with your hands, you’ll feel that it’s pretty solid. Incidentally, this is the same way I transport wedding cakes on the cake drum (thick board) – in the back of my truck on the rubber mat with a layer of the rubber mesh on top, then the cake. It’s amazing how secure this method really is. Someday, when we know each other even better, and you care to hear about some of the crazy stories I have up my sleeve, I’ll tell you all about our 6-tiered wedding cake that didn’t quite make it to our wedding in one piece. Ouch! But, yes, believe it or not, even I know that a cake is just a cake, and we lived to tell the story!
That being said, it would be ideal to get your cake, whether it’s big or small, fancy or homespun, to its destination in one piece…
Transporting Cupcakes
1. If I’m transporting more than 3 dozen, I will use designated cupcake bakery boxes and always with the insert (such as Goldas Kitchen Cupcake Insert – Standard – Holds 12 – 10 pack
2. If I’m transporting 3 dozen or less, I use my cupcake courier Cupcake Courier 36-Cupcake Plastic Storage Container, Petal Pink
A Final Note About Transporting Cakes & Cupcakes: In the warmer weather, I always run the air conditioning in our vehicle as cool as we (my husband) can tolerate. If I’m transporting a smaller cake that needs refrigeration (such as a whip cream covered cake, or other delicate frosting), I usually place it on the front passenger’s side floor and have the a/c blow straight on it. If the sun is shining onto the floor, I will cover the box/caddy with a black garbage bag.
I hope this helps!
Here’s the recipe for the Fluffy Vanilla Cake with Whipped Vanilla Bean Frosting (click to print):
*September 14, 2011 update: It seems that many of you are having some issues with the batter curdling. Because it’s a liquid-heavy batter, it is seemingly touchy, so I’ve altered the recipe for a more consistent batter. I’ve made any quantity changes bold in the recipe below. For images and more info re: making this batter, you can view this recent post An Epic Tale of Vanilla Cake:
Fluffy Vanilla Cake
Yield: One 2-layer, 8-inch round cake
Ingredients
5 large egg whites (5 ounces/150 grams) at room temperature
3/4 cup whole milk (180 mL/6 liquid ounces), at room temperature
2 1/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (9 grams) — I use Nielsen-Massey Vanillas 8-oz. Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract
2 3/4 cups cake flour, sifted (11 ounces/315 grams)
1 3/4 cups sugar (12 ounces/350 grams)
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder (19.5 grams)
3/4 teaspoon salt (5 grams)
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (6 ounces/170 grams), at room temperature and cut into cubes
Method
1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease, line with parchment, and flour two round 8-inch pans.
2. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the egg whites, 1/4 cup of milk, and the vanilla. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients together on low speed (I use the “stir” setting on my mixer) for 30 seconds.
4. Add the butter and remaining 1/2 cup of milk, and mix on low speed until just moistened. Increase to medium speed and mix for 1 1/2 minutes.
5. Scrape the sides of the bowl and begin to add the egg mixture in 3 separate batches; beat on medium speed for 20 seconds after each addition.
6. Divide the batter in two, spreading it evenly with a small offset palette knife. If you have a kitchen scale, weigh to ensure 2 even layers.
7. Bake 25-35 minutes or until a cake tester comes clean when inserted into the center. Be so careful to not overbake. Check cake at 20 minutes, but not before, and once you feel it’s almost ready, set the timer for 2 minute intervals. Let cool on racks for 10 minutes before loosening the sides with a small metal spatula, and invert onto greased wire racks. Gently turn cakes back up, so the tops are up and cool completely.
8. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature for up to 2 days, refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. Best eaten the same day as baked.
*Slightly adapted from Classic White Cake recipe on Baking Bites
Whipped Vanilla Bean Frosting
Ingredients
3 sticks + 2 tablespoons (375 grams/13 ounces) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
3 cups sifted (480 grams/1 lb + 1 ounce) confectioners’ sugar (icing, powdered)
3 tablespoons (45 mL) milk
1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 teaspoon (5 mL) pure vanilla extract — I use Nielsen-Massey Vanillas 8-oz. Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract
pinch of salt
Method
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed (I use “4″ on my KitchenAid). Butter will become very pale & creamy.
2. Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.
3. Best used right away.
4. You can eliminate the vanilla bean and use a total of 1 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.
*Adapted from Donna Hay
Vanilla Cake Assembly
1. Place bottom cake layer on cake plate or 8″ round thin cake board.
2. Place 1 cup of frosting on top, and spread evenly with a small offset palette knife.
3. Gently place 2nd cake layer face down on top. Place a generous scoop of frosting on top, spreading evenly with a small offset palette knife and working your way down the sides until you have a thin layer of frosting over the entire cake. Chill until set — about 30 minutes.
4. Remove from refrigerator and repeat step 3.
5. Store in a cake keeper at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in refrigerator for up to 5 days. Best eaten day 1.
Good luck & enjoy! Now, excuse me while I go make something chocolate…
The first thing that makes me so incredibly happy about this post is that I adore white cake and white icing! But maybe the best part of this post is the first photo! It looks like a cake I can actually make! All of your cakes are so incredible looking. This cake looks more…approachable. Like a cake that could be your best friend or something. So thank you! I’m excited about trying this one!
Thank you Rosie for doing all of the leg work to find us the perfect vanilla cake! I will be making this tonight. Your blog always delivers.
I so love you. That is all…
Ok it’s not all. I love everything you do and make. It just looks so perfect and beautiful. I love that I can look at your blog and escape reality for a little while and relax. So glad I found your blog…all the way from the other side of the world!
I sure love reading your blog and recipies :) would this cake hold up under fondant?
Or should I say, hold up to beimg carved umder fondant?
Jen, I haven’t tried it under fondant yet, but it seems very stable and just a bit lighter than a typical butter cake. I think it will work well under fondant, but I will let you know officially once I’ve done it. Hope this helps!
Have you tried it under fondant yet? I would love to make this cake for my brothers wedding but it is this weekend and I don’t want to make it unless I am sure it would do well. Thank you!
Oh…I love that slice of delicate and gorgoeus cake! What lovely clicks.
Hi Rosie – Thanks for the wonderful vanilla frosting recipe! It’s nice to have a frosting to whip up quickly for a batch of cupcakes, can’t wait to try it!! I have a similar chocolate frosting recipe where you whip everything for about 5 minutes, and it makes a gorgeous chocolate frosting that is a big hit with both husband & kids :) I love my cupcake courier too, and I have used it for transporting tall cakes as well, I just pop the cupcake holders out, then you have a nice tall carrier for a cake.
I look forward to your posts every week, always so pretty and something new to try and bake. My husband is begging me to stop baking at this point!
Can you please share whith us your chocolate frosting recipe
Hi there,
Here is the recipe, very easy and delicious! I really don’t remember where I got this, but found it online somewhere after googling for chocolate frosting recipes. I haven’t tried making this using the method of whipping the butter first like Rosie’s vanilla icing recipe above, but that would probably make it even better! Enjoy
Chocolate frosting recipe
Ingredients
250g unsalted butter at room temperature, chopped
1 1/2 cups (240g) icing sugar, sifted
1/4 cup (25g) cocoa powder, sifted
2 tablespoons (40ml) milk
Method
• Place all ingredients into a small bowl of an electric mixer. Turn on slow speed until just combined.
• Beat on high speed for 5mins.
• Stop and scrape down the beaters and bowl twice during this stage. Just to let you know the frosting will darken in colour on standing.
Thank you so much
Why, oh WHY am I reading this right before bed?? Now all I want to do is march myself over to the kitchen to try this one out. I too am constantly on a quest for the perfect vanilla cake and frosting. Something tells me this might just be it – and I’m super excited to try out a new method too! THANK YOU Rosie! I second Mim’s comment: I so love you. That is all… :-)
I feel like I have been searching for the PERFECT vanilla cake made from scratch! This is an answer to prayers :) I can’t wait to try it!! :)
Vanilla is the best and I am sure heaven tastes of it :) I can’t wait to try this cake, from one who has been on a search for the perfect fluffy and light cake with many a cake trail under my belt. Thank you.
I’ve known people that have looked for the perfect vanilla cake for years. I am thinking this is it. I always say, I am no cake baker, but every time you post I love just taking a quiet moment and savoring it. This is BEAUTIFUL. No bells and whistles, just plain beautiful!
This looks heavenly!
Thank you so much for sharing the tips on transporting cakes! That always gives me the bigges headache. And your cake looks absolutely delicious!
Thanks for the transporting tips Rosie :) The cake looks delicious!
Great tips for travelling with cake and cupcakes! I always have a hard time figuring out what to do. This cake looks wonderful, glad you found the texture and taste you were looking for! I can’t wait to try it.
Everything about this cake SCREAMS me. Love this!
Vanilla bean, MMM, love your photography!
Such a beautiful cake! And, as a Brit, thank you so much for including the weights of your ingredients :)
That cake looks really fluffy, now I have a question: who ate all the other vanilla cakes you baked? :)
Hi Rosie, this looks incredible! I am just wondering if this cake batter would work well done in a cupcake?
Thanks, Shannon! I think it would make for a great cupcake, but just a more delicate version. I’ll give it a try next week and see how that goes!
Hi Rosie,
I just tried to make cupcakes then but used plain flour as it is hard to get cake flour here in Australia. They taste great and are light and fluffy, but I must’ve done something wrong (other than the flour substitution) as the bottoms are more dense and seem to want to stick to the cupcake patty cases. Any idea why? I’m guessing that it was because my batter wasn’t smooth and properly incorporated as there were tiny bits of butter lumps in it still by the time I finished mixing – other than the flour substitution, I promise I followed your recipe to a tee! :) If I’ve made a cardinal sin by substituting flours and baking a non-smooth batter, please forgive me as I’m very much a novice baker!
Vanessa, you can sub all purpose flour for cake flour by adding 2 tbsp of corn starch to a 1 c measure and then fill the rest with the all purpose. :)
Hi Vanessa!
They sell Cake Flour in both Woolies and Coles! It’s usually a bit hard to see, and it’s on the top shelf but it’s definitely there, even in the small ones. The brand is Anchor – look for a blue and white box with a lighthouse on it. http://www.anchorfoods.com.au/go/products/flour/specialty-flour I always use it when recipes call for Cake flour, and it turns out brilliantly! They also sell a bread and pizza flour which is great, but sometimes the supermarkets put them in the wrong place, so double check the label. Happy baking!
I too just made cupcakes with this batter, they are in the oven as we speak, and my batter too looked unsmooth with little flecks of butter all throughout it. I am assuming thats what makes it fluffy when its done? Well just see in about 10 mins…..
Rosie, is the batter suppose to look kinda butter flaky??
Amanda, hmm, there shouldn’t be any flecks of butter. Your batter should be really pale, airy, and smooth. I suspect your butter wasn’t quite at room temperature. It should be out on the counter, cut into cubes for about 30 minutes or more. Also, just be sure to mix it for the full 1.5 minutes on medium, so about 5 on the mixer, then again for the 3 intervals of 20 seconds when the egg mixture is added. Hope this helps for next time!
Hi Vanessa,
I’m not sure where you live in Australia, but you can buy real American (Swan’s Down) cake flour from USA food, they are based in Melbourne and they do mail order. I have tried substituting cornflour and also tried the Anchor cake flour, definitely not the same as the American Cake flour, the texture is very different. It is worth buying the Swan’s Down Cake flour.
Thanks all for your help and suggestions! I’ve since tried this recipe 3 times substituting cake flour with 85% plain flour + 15% cornflour and have noticed that as long as the butter is adequately softened so that it blends well into the flour mixture to resemble wet sand, my batter won’t be lumpy like it was the first time and the end result has been very well received from all who have tasted it – thanks again Rosie for sharing another great recipe! :)
I made the cupcakes and used a tablespoon of cornstarch per cup of flour instead of cake flour and it worked great! They were the fluffiest, moistest, BEST homemade cupcakes I have ever had! Tasted almost exactly like cake mix but I agree it has that homemade vanilla-ey taste. And the frosting… so good! Not too overly sweet and SO fluffy!
Will definitely be trying this out, thanks for the recipe and breakdown on the method. Seeing that the frosting is all butter based, i’m i correct in thinking that it will not hold out well in the heat?
Joanna, it’s definitely a delicate frosting as far as heat goes, but at room temperature it held up beautifully for several days. Hope this helps!
I can’t wait to try this!
I’ve been on the same hunt as you for the basic yellow cake, not as persistent mind you, but when I need a basic yellow cake I’ve tried a few things. They always seem fine and the family thinks it’s grand but after the initial excitement of having cake in the house, I’m kinda deflated that it never lives up to what I had in mind. And yeah, to admit that the measure is a boxed cake is sorta crazy I know, but that’s what I want.
Yay for the perfect white cake recipe! I know how crazy busy you are girl. Same deal over here! xo
This is a fantastic post, Rosie – absolutely packed with great information. Thank you for doing all of the recipe testing for us so we can just go straight to making a gorgeous vanilla cake with lick-your-fingers frosting.
Simply gorgeous! I, too, love a “plain” white cake though I can even see that there is noting plain about this one. Nicely done.
thank you so much for the helpful hints on transportation!! I have been wondering about that and this was such a big help. Thanks for the cake recipe too – can’t wait to try it :)
I think you srsly might get a MILLION honest thank yous for this post, so instead of just screaming THANK YOU ROSIE!!! I will also {{{{{{HUG}}}}} you (I envision your arms pinned to your ribs and your head cocked to the side away from my gushing mug, stranger that I am, but I have no shame =). I have been searching for the perfect fluffy white cake recipe for years and hate to admit that I always resort back to the box because I’ve been so devastated so many times. I did love the flavor of your vanilla bean cake that you frosted with latte buttercream, but that one was a tad heavier than I hoped it’d be. This sounds perfect, for as strange as the method might be. And why did I never think of using those rubber mesh pads for transport?!?! This is why your blog is on my favorites tab. ;-) You’re the best, and your hard work in recipe testing is very much appreciated. LOVE ~ Kristi
I think you just performed a massive public service. I think many of us have been through the same frustrating process, only to emerge unsuccessful. thank you, thank you, thank you!
Confession: I like vanilla more than I like chocolate. There. I said it outloud. Oh – and I *NEED* that cake lifter in my life!
rosie, can i just say that i am so proud of you!?
i have been on this same quest for about a year now so i understand how hard it is to get white cakes from scratch fluffy and perfect (and it is so true, boxed white cake is soo good!) this recipe is amazing though so thank you sooo very much for coming up with this and congratulations on your success (:
That looks delicious! I tried the technique (with a modification or two) with a snickerdoodle cookie recipe I love, and they are far and away the best snickerdoodles I’ve ever had! Thanks for the great tips!
Man, I can’t remember the last time I had a white vanilla cake! This looks so good, and that bowl of frosting looks like heaven.
Oh what a beautiful cake. You have provided SO much incredibly useful information in this post both in regard to the many cakes you made to get here but also the tools you use. I’ll be doing a bit of shopping and baking real soon as a result of this post. Thank you for sharing!
Sometimes a simple vanilla cake, when done with good ingredients, can be better than one that’s been all dolled up. I just adore everything about this recipe and I have no doubt this is a winner!
You can’t go wrong with classic vanilla.
It really IS hard to find a great vanilla cake recipe. I have gone through that quest myself. Although I finally found one I like, I can’t wait to try yours out as well.
Oh, and I totally agree that the “reverse creaming” method is genius. I have started making almost every cake with this method now.
Thank you Rosie – it seems you and I have been on the same quest! I’ve tried dozens of vanilla cake recipes but they all seem to fall just a little bit short – too dry, not enough flavor, or too dense. It was always something! But this looks fantastic and I will be trying it in cupcake format this week!
This looks amazing! I’ve been looking for a recipe to make for my sister’s bridal shower. But I’m planning on making cupcakes, how long do you suggest I bake them for? Thank you Thank you!!!
So glad you guys are as excited as I am! I’d love for you to bake it too, and let me know your thoughts. xo
Thanks so much Rosie! I am always on the hunt for “the” perfect vanilla cake and chocolate chip cookies :) When I saw this post today I knew I just HAD to make these. I was NOT disappointed at all! Nice, fluffy and just perfect. I made them into cupcakes and did a rufflish frosting job. I will add this to my recipes! Thanks for the inspiration :)
why are you making those cakes that i can never get to taste? :(( they’re all gorgeous i’m gonna die!!
Beautiful cake!!!
Ans sending a hug your way too :)
Simply wonderful!
That looks absolutely delicious! I will be right over! I can’t wait to try this recipe out at the weekend…
Rosie. This. Cake. Is. FANTASTIC!!!
I too (among many others I see!) have been on the fluffy vanilla cake quest for so long now!!! Thank you, thank you! :)
I to have been searching for the perfect vanilla cake recipe and I am very optimistic with this one! I can not wait to cut into this!!! I made it for my mother’s birthday today and so far so good! I used extra vanilla bean in the frosting because, well who doesn’t just love extra vanilla beans? I really love seeing it in there, a lot! LOL! I’m dying to try it tonight and it smells divine! Eight minutes was a great idea on the butter, you can really tell the difference! I’ll let you know of my opinion on the cake tonight or in the morning! Thank you so much for sharing, you totally rock! :-D
My five year old, upon tasting the frosting, declared it tasted like ice cream too! Although a fan of Swiss Meringue Buttercream myself, the few swipes I took of this frosting were very yummy!
This looks 1,000 times better to me than a chocolate cake (yawn!). I’d reach for this EVERY time and it sounds wonderful!
I just came upon your blog and I’ve absolutely fallen in love. I adored your Mad Tea Party post and I never thought of making roses with a 1M tip but yours are lovely! When I get a stand mixer, I will have to make Swiss Buttercream Frosting instead of regular buttercream, your cake decorations are just absolutely stunning!
To the wonderful Miss Sweetapolita:
I was recently directed to your blog through an old post in Bakerella. Since that fateful day 3 months ago, I have made it my quest to try to make every cake that you post. And so far, I’ve put a dent in all of the cake recipes you’ve posted! I made this Fluffy Vanilla Cake yesterday, and I LOVED it! It really does live up to its name; sweet, light and EXTREMELY fluffy! I have made several of your white cakes, and this is so far my favorite. It came out of the pan very well, and did not crumble when I frosted it, which is something that most fluffy cakes do. All in all, I am so impressed with this recipe! I love your blog, and all of the tips and photos that go with it! Thank you so much for inspiring me to bake more. You’re the best!
:)
Making this today! I happened to have 6 egg whites leftover from making pastry creme yesterday, this is the perfect use. Although I’m making cupcakes, and may have filled the tins too high. Any recommendations? I plan on filling the cupcakes with my leftover chocolate pastry creme and topping them with your vanilla frosting. Yum!
I can’t wait to try this! I have never found a vanilla cake I love. I need something for next month, so I’ll give this a try in the next week or so.
I love your cakes. They are gorgeous.
What a brilliant post! I read this from start to finish which, for someone with the attention span of a goldfish, is saying quite a lot! After such a highly praised recipe if i ever need to make a white cake i wouldnt dream of trying another one, it seems you have taken the hard work out of finding the perfect recipe for all of us and I trust your judgement entirely! :) Thank you for sharing it
Rosie – I tried this recipe as cupcakes last night and it was fantastic! You know how cake flour gives a certain “smell” in a recipe? It’s very specific to cake flour. But when I made this recipe, I didn’t smell the cake flour or taste it either and that’s saying A LOT! That was one of my pet peeves with white cake recipes. It didn’t seem to matter how much vanilla or the quality of the vanilla used, I could still taste the cake flour. My cupcakes didn’t rise as high as I normally would have liked, but the taste far outweighs the slight flatness. Thanks again!
Regarding using this recipe for cupcakes — what do you think the yield would be and how long would you bake them?? Thanks!!
Hi Rosie
I have just stumbled across your website this week – we have had combined family jet lag for the last week (not fun with a toddler and bub!) so have spent a lot of time awake in the middle of the night and learning more about cake (a recent infatuation!) in between settling children. Coincidentally, I had come across a recipe for chocolate cake using hot water and oil, similar to your Dark choc cake and made it earlier this week – yum. So when I was thinking about a birthday cake for this week, I read most of your blogs in preparation, and this is what I came up with! A 5 layer cake (was going to be 6 but one layer was no good!) with chocolate cake alternating with a malt cake. I made this using the chocolate cake recipe but swapping the cocoa powder for Nestle Malted Milk powder – the effect was fantastic, tastes a little bit like the inside of a malteser, malty and a little bit caramely. It doesnt rise as much as the chocolate version and is denser, but that may have been because by the time I got to baking the second batch is was late at night and my timing and oven temp may have been off. I sandwhiched the layers with blackberry jam and just a little butter cream then covered it in a maple syrup and cinnamon (amazing combo!) swiss meringue butter cream – it was my first ever attempt at SMB (having only heard of it this week) and I was amazed at how well it came up – thanks for your great instructions. After flavouring it, I called over my 2.5 year old and gave her some on a teaspoon – her response: ‘Wow Mum. More please?”. The actual cake decorating leaves a little to be desired but as a first attempt I am happy with the look – a little more obviously homemade than your cakes but I am looking forward to more practise. We are having it today so will let you know how it tastes.! Thanks for your help!
Oh yum..white cake with vanilla bean icing??!? That sounds amazing–I am going to have to try and make this soon!
Hi sweetapolita, I absolutely adored the look of this cake! So the other day, I rolled up my sleeves and got the cooking scales out. I was veeery picky about going through the recipe very carefully and precisely, however it turned out very dense, moist and ‘eggy’ in texture, much like an omelette or quiche. What do you think went wrong? The only sacrifice I had to make was the cake flour, which was substituted with the manufacturer’s guide of cornflour and other powders. Thanks
Hi there! When you say you substituted the “manufacturer’s guide of cornflour and other powders,” I’m not sure what you mean. What/how much did you use in place of the cake flour? The cake flour is one of the main reasons the cake is so light in texture, so aside from substituting the cake flour for all-purpose flour, any major substitutions will definitely affect the final result of your cake. I hope this helps!
Hi Rosie!
I also replaced cake flour with all-purpose flour and followed the recipe to the tee. But with the last egg addition, it started curdling. Then when it went into the oven, the middle sank around 15 minutes into baking. That’s okay, but once the baking was over, it was suuuuper fragile and too moist. Wonder what might have gone wrong?
Hi Rosie,
Viyan my cakes did the same thing! I’ve just finished baking and am about to turn them out of the baking tins. Although I didn’t change anything about the recipe… hmmm what do you think Rosie?
Thank You for the transporting tips!! I’m going to go out and buy some rubber mesh right away. I just delivered a girlfriend’s birthday cake yesterday. I rode 30 miles with the carrier on my lap, while my boyfriend drove the car. I found your blog this week and I know I’ll be back often.
I’ve tried a few which cake recipes and wasn’t satisfied with them. I have a Birthday cake and about 200 cupcakes to make this week so I was looking for a great recipe. I didn’t want to use boxed mixes. Thank goodness for Google! lol I came across your site and was gonna try the butter vanilla recipe I saw first but glad I found this one! The picture looks PERFECT! And that cake….OMG! lol Can’t wait to try this out! Thanks for an amazing website and sharing all of this with everyone! *Happy Baking!
This is the best cake I have ever made!!! Melt in your mouth holy smokes yummiest!!! Thank you for the recipe!!!
This cake looks incredible! I dont often make vanilla cake and vanilla frosting as they never seem to taste that good but really looking forward to trying this recipe.
Can i ask you what would the british equivalent to cake flour be?
Hello Rosie I am your new biggest fan.I love your blog and recipes.I was wanting to make this cake for my nieces Bday and was wondering if you thought this icing would work for using a tip and doing the ruffles method for icing the cake.Thanks for all your post you are great.
Hi Amy! Thanks so much for the sweet words! As for the ruffles, I feel that this icing would be much too light and fluffy. I definitely recommend using the Swiss Meringue Buttercream for ruffles. I hope this helps!
My goodness, you are killing me here! Hah, I already have at least four of your vanilla cake recipes bookmarked to try and now I’m adding this one to the list. I was planning on doing the Baked super white cake this week but now I may give this one a go instead. Preferences between the two?
Thanks, Aaisha! I love both recipes, but I really love this one because of its lightness. I hope this helps!
Awesome! Ok I’m going to try this tonight. One last question – Do I measure 2.25 cups of flour and then sift, or is it 2.25 cups of already sifted flour? I think it means sifted flour, but I want to make sure before I start. Thanks again!
Something went wrong :( My batter looked gorgeous, but when I added the egg whites to the batter, it became curdled. I baked it anyway with my fingers crossed, but it doesn’t look right. Do you think it’s because the egg whites were still too cool? I used bottled egg whites instead of separating real eggs.
Aaisha,
I have noticed that the batter tends to curdle when the egg whites are added too quickly. The best bet is to add them very gradually and then, if it does become a bit curdled, beat for a moment or so, and then continue adding the remaining egg whites. Once the flour is added, that usually solves the issue because there is then enough dry ingredients to balance out all of the egg white liquid. As for temperature, cool egg whites will really just minimize your cake’s volume once baked, so it’s best to have them at room temperature. I often use liquid egg whites in cake, and they have worked just fine. Fresh egg whites from the egg, are always a great way to go, but I don’t believe the liquid egg whites will cause a problem. I hope this helps!
Hi Rosie,
What do you mean by “when the flour is added”? In the instructions you say that the egg white mixture is added to the dry ingredients (i.e. flour etc.)??
Hi Viyan,
Sorry for the confusion! You did the correct method, as listed in the directions. My observations about vanilla batter curdling when the egg whites are added too quickly or the egg whites are too cold are from my experience with the more standard creaming method, but felt it may be in even a slight way the culprit for Aaisha’s results. It was my instinct to explain it this way above, but I should have realize that may sound a bit confusing considering this recipe has a different method. If you experienced curdling in your batter, is it possible that your egg whites were too cold? When you made the cake, did you weigh the ingredients or did you measure by volume? I ask because if there is too much liquid added to the batter, I’ve found the curdling also seems to happen. Hopefully we can figure out what the issue was with your cake. Hope this helps!
Hi Rosie,
Thanks for your super quick reply! I did weigh everything in grams, except for the milk, which I measured in my 1 cup-cup. The egg whites had been out at room temperature for 2 hours, so I don’t think so. Also I have an oven thermometer and it read exactly 180. I just tried assembling the cake, and it cracked :((
Hi Aaisha,
Sounds like you’ve likely already made this, but to answer your question for going forward, I always weigh/measure the flour and then sift. If you have a substantial amount of flour bits remaning that weren’t sifted, then you can add the difference and sift it as well. Does that make sense? Good luck!
Thanks! Hah I ended up making it again that same night because I was determined to taste this cake. This time around I made sure my eggs were room temp and it came out fantastic! I used a slightly different mixing technique, but it was still really good. I served it with strawberries in the middle and this cake went FAST! Usually my chocolate cakes go quickly, but everyone loved this vanilla. Thanks again for sharing this recipe!
Oh no! Everything was going to well. I was putting in the third egg/milk mixture into the smooth batter and the batter just curdled. Doesn’t look so pretty. I stuck it in the oven and then did the whole thing all over again, but the batter started getting curdle-y by the second egg/milk addition. Also, the cakes fell in the middle and came out too moist and dense. Reading Viyan’s comments above, I think I had a similar experience. In my case, my butter was really softened, so that isn’t the issue (unless they are too soft?). I also made my own cake flour (for every cup of all purpose flour, replacing two tablespoons with cornstarch). Not sure what else I did wrong.
For the frosting, I used and electric handheld mixer, but I’m not sure if the speed was right because my frosting didn’t quite turn out white and fluffily like yours; just creamy and glossy, but good still.
Ack! Is the frosting not supposed to go in the fridge? I just checked on it and now it’s totally solid! I’m such an amateur! I’ll leave it on the counter to see if it softens back up.
Hi Rosie,
Everything you create looks so pretty! I am always on the hunt for standard recipes. I wanted to know if this icing has a grainy texture? I have converted to meringue buttercreams for a while now, and do not want to go back to icing sugar “buttercreams” but will if the texture is as smooth as SMBC.
Thanks,
Carrie
Hi Carrie! What I love about this frosting is that is super-silky for a sugar-frosting. I’m like you in that I love SMBC for its smooth and satiny texture, but I really adore this one!
Can you tell me if this satiny texture of buttercream crusts after sitting at room temperature for a while. Thank you.
Nom nom nom nom nom nom NOM!
Something so nice about a plain white cake. And you have mastered making it light and fluffy – how awesome!
I love your blog it’s amazing you are so so clever.
Thanks for sharing it!
This comment stream just proves how AMAZING your blog posts always are! And this particular post only shows what makes your baked creations so divine…you are an incurable perfectionist! Lucky us!!! Thank you so much. :-)
Thank you so much for sharing such an amazing recipe and being so thorough! I’ve used many other recipes and only had one turn out pretty good so I’ve been using the same one for all my vanilla cakes. However, I was never 100% satisfied with it. I’ve been searching through a tonne of recipes online to search for a vanilla cupcake recipe. I somehow stumbled on your website and found this recipe. The picture looked delicious and the description/instructions and recipe looked like it was going to taste great… I was actually a little skeptical of how the results would turn out though. Sometime pictures have been too good to be true plus I was wanting a cupcake recipe. So, I continued my search for a few more day and could not find anything that seemed nearly as appealing as what what your site had to offer. I came back to your website and decided to try it out. Boy am I so glad I did! It smelt so good as it was cooling in my dinning room and after I iced them, I tried one and FINALLY! This is it! I found the prefect recipe… what I’ve been looking for the last couple of years. This is it and I’m going to be sticking with it. I followed your instructions to the “T” and wow… did they ever turn out! Way better than my expectations! The cupcakes were not dry one bit. They were moist and most of all LIGHT and FLUFFY! Just like the store bought ones or the ones from a cupcake shop! I’m so excited use this recipe again and bake a cake this time! Thanks again soooo sooo MUCH for sharing this recipe! It’s so hard to find a good one online as you have to weed out so many and experiment with so many. My co-workers are going to be so pleased at our potluck tomorrow. :)
YUM! I’m going to make this today for my birthday tomorrow. I love to bake so that’s why I’m doing it myself. I’m also going to fill it with homemade lemon curd and throw on some SMB ruffles! Wish me luck! Thanks for all the recipes!
Thank you!!! I made your fluffy vanilla cake for my sister’s baby shower this weekend and it was a huge hit! I followed the recipe exactly (even weighing out the ingredients) and made your SMBC flavored with passion fruit puree and fresh strawberries. It was still fluffy the day after! Best white cake recipe ever! Do you think it can be tweaked to make yellow cake?
This cake looks so yummy! I followed all the instructions but when I pulled it out of the oven, the middles had dropped; it still smells heavenly & I’m having trouble keeping the hubby away from it until it’s all done. Not quite sure why the middles dropped, any tips to prevent this? And do you think this cake would work for Rainbow Doodle Birthday Cake?
I’m in love with the vanilla bean cake from Sky High. I did a comparison between the white cake from Rose’s Heavenly Cakes, the Cooks Illustrated white cake and Sky High, and I’m in love with the one from Sky High. I’m going to try this frosting though when I want something quick. Thanks!
Definitely gonna try this! I’m always on the look out for a good vanilla cake :)
Thanks for this recipe. I tried it tonight and it is 100% what I was looking for… a moist, white (not yellow), cake with a fine and fluffy texture! I am making a friend’s wedding cake and I have finally found my recipe!
This recipe was perfect. Many thanks!
Rosie, I’m just seeing this post now…I can’t wait to try this recipe out, I love love love vanilla!!! xo
Thank you so much for sharing such an amazing recipe and being so thorough! I’ve use so many other ones and only had one turn out pretty good however I was never 100% satisfied with it. I’ve been using my one recipe for every vanilla cake I’ve made these past years but I was searching though tones of vanilla cupcake recipes and somehow stumbled on yours. The pictured looked delicious and the description/instructions and recipe looked like it was going to taste great…. I was actually a little skeptical of the results as it looked like something that looks too good to be true and I was wanting a cupcake recipe. After a few days more of searching for the perfect cupcake recipe, I still could not find anything more appealing than what your site offered so I decided to try it out tonight! It smelted so good as it was cooling in my dinning room and after I iced it it tried one and FINALLY I found the perfect recipe! This is it! I followed your instruction to th “T” and boy did it turn out better than expected! The cupcakes were not dry one bit! They were moist and most of all light and fluffy! Just like the store bought ones or the ones from a cupcake shop! I’m excited to use this again to bake a cake this time! Thanks so much again for sharing this recipe! My co-workers will def be pleases at our potluck tomorrow.
Rose,
Just found your post of about finding the right fluffy cake and I can relate. I am in the process of finding a fluffy cake that I can make for less formal occassions. I recently tried a recipe and it was pretty good, but I feel more research is required so your recipe is next. I’ll try to post results. thanks for blogging for us folks that can’t find the time to set up a page and keep up with it.
I’ve been intimidated by the prospects of making a cake from scratch, and have been delaying the attempt, but I’m ready to try it. Your vanilla cake looks like a good basic one to start with. I’m a little nervous. Not sure why, since I’m the only one who will be seeing and eating it; nevertheless, I still nervous.
My issue: I don’t have an electric mixer so will be doing everything by hand. Is this going to make it very very very hard for me to get a good final result, especially with the frosting? I tried whipping up chantilly cream last week (twice) using a glass bowl and metal whisk. First attempt curdled and the second just tasted watery and gross.
Daniel
Hi Daniel! I agree it may be a little tricky to get the best results for this recipe by hand, but just to confirm, you mean that you don’t intend to use even a handheld mixer, right? If not, then I would say you could possibly get away with it for the cake, but the frosting will just not as fluffy. I have made this kind of sweet buttercream by hand, and with sifted confectioner’s sugar and a good wooden spoon, it can be very good, just not as light. Does that make sense? I’d love it if you’d come back and comment about your results if you do make it by hand, just in case others are curious too? Thanks and I hope this helps!
Hi Rosie. I made the cake this weekend and brought it to my office. Everyone fell in love with it and couldn’t believe it was homemade (from scratch, no less!). The frosting was a hit, and I think it was because I invested in an electric handheld mixer. My first attempt at the frosting was with a wooden spoon and I felt like my arm was going to fall off, and it never got as “fluffy” as with the electric mixer. Overall, for a first attempt, I’m pretty happy :-)
Here are some of the issues I had (which you’ve mostly addressed in the comments above):
1. Batter curdled when I added the egg white/milk liquid. The liquid was room temperature, so am not sure what happened. I poured it in three batches, but maybe I poured it too fast? Would it help if I mixed the batter faster while slowing dripping in the liquid, or will that create too much gluten and result in a dense cake?
2. Cake rose and fell in the middle when baking. I have no idea what that was about. It just came up, and then fell into a dent.
3. Cake flour. Cake flour is hard to find here (I’m in Shanghai), so I created my own using cake flour using the following formula: 1 cup all-purpose and replaced 2 tablespoons with cornstarch (from http://www.joyofbaking.com/flour.html)
4. Frosting. No problems. Loved it!
Thanks for everything. I’m looking forward to trying this cake, and all your other cakes, again.– Daniel
The search had finally ended for a fluffy white cake!! Made these into cupcakes and I can’t tell you how excited I was that I finally found a white cake recipe that was not dense! THANK YOU!! BEST FROSTING EVER too! You are truly inspiring and I love just getting lost in your photography as well. Thank you again!
Hi Rosie,
You answered in one of the comments that once the flour is added to the egg whites, they won’t curdle any longer – but is that what you write in the instructions? I understand that you add the egg white mixture to the flour. Pls clarify because my result was really bad :(
Viyan, I addressed your comment under your other earlier comment above. Hope this helps!
How does this compare to your pink vanilla birthday cake recipe? I used that one for my wedding cakes last month, and have never tasted a better vanilla cake. In fact, I often find myself craving it throughout the day. I so want to try this one, but I’ll have to overcome my cravings for your vanilla birthday cake first!
Melissa, this one is similar in taste, but really just much fluffier and lighter in texture. It really is my favourite vanilla cake, for that reason. I hope that helps!
Hi Rosie, thanks for another wonderful recipe! I am actually baking it as we speak, however I experienced curdling also. I have read some of the others’ comments regarding this. I measured everything using my digital weighing scales, plus used room temp eggs, milk and unsalted butter. Everything looked perfect until the addition of the egg mixture…I did do them as you said, three batches and at least 20secs before adding the following batch. I don’t know why it curdled…I’ve run out of eggs so can’t try again today, but it’s still baking in the oven…hopefully they turn out ok. Any ideas as to why this curdling occurred that you haven’t already mentioned?? Thanks xo
Hi Jackie,
I made this cake again today, to see if I could get it to curdle, and to learn more about why it may be giving some people trouble, but not others. I increased the milk just slightly, and I could see it was on the brink of slightly curdling, although it baked up perfectly. I truly feel that the recipe is very dependent on the exact measurements, simply because it does have a lot of liquid ingredients. Had I increased the milk even a touch more, I believe it would have curdled quite a bit. When making this next time, I would take extra care that your egg whites weigh no more than 180g (you could even do 170g) and that your milk is exactly 8 liquid ounces. It does sound as though you were really particular about your measurements when you made it, but I wonder if there was still somehow a bit too much liquid. I really beleive it’s the liquid/dry ratio that causes this recipe to be a bit fragile. It’s so worth the effort to perfect it, though, because it really is so light and yummy! I hope this helps!
Hi Rosie. I made it again this past weekend but this time I ignored measuring using my scales, just to see the difference. This was scary because I know how adamant you were about making sure everything’s precise. I tell you, the cake came out perfect! I don’t know what it was, but it worked! I will have another go at the ‘precise’ method and see if this time it turns out okay. Maybe something’s wrong with my kitchen scales? LOL. Anyway, thanks again for the wonderful recipe! It tasted just as you described, light and fluffy!! xo
Hi Rosie
I just wanted to say how wonderful this cake was. I brought it to work with me today and I had grown men fighting over the final pieces. It was divine with what I think is the best buttercream ever. Love your blog. Thanks!
Just tried the recipe… UMMMMMM YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! Wow! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Hello Rosie!
First I want to thank you for doing the hard work of testing recipes and then posting them on such a lovely blog for everyone to benefit in the efforts of your labor.
The first time I made this cake I must have done something wrong it came out kind of dense not fluffy. I tried it again last night for cupcakes they were really good. There is something I am wondering about. When you add the butter to the dry mixture are you adding the 3/4 cup of milk at exactly the same time? I have seen recipes that have you mix the butter with the dry first to make it into a sand like texture and then adding the milk and eggs. Your cake looks so devine…I would love it f you could do a step by step tutorial for this recipe. Your cake looks so fluffy and amazing I am dying to get the same result :-)
Hi Evie! So, when I add the butter and 3/4 cup milk, I basically add them at the same time and mix for the 90 seconds (exactly). Then I go ahead and add the egg white/milk/vanilla mixture in 3 batches, mixing for 20 seconds each. If you ended up mixing it for any longer than that, it can definitely cause an issue for the texture, and come out sort of dense and dry. I think I will do my best to do a step-by-step for this cake, as you requested, because there have been some questions about different aspects of the method. I hope this helps!
You are fabulous! Thanks so much for the quick response. I think I definitely over mixed :-(
Thanks…I will let you know when I get it right ;-)
Hi Rosie….I tried the recipe again last night and it came out perfectly! Very light and fluffy super delicious. I think the first time my measurements were off….probably from a lack of sleep ;-) Thanks again for this fabulous recipe!
Just had to leave you another comment letting you know I made this cake for a triple birthday celebration this past week and it was AMAZING. Everyone loved it – light and fluffy and just delicious.
This looks soo amazing! I’ve tried this recipe twice. The first time it came out so dense it was inedible, the second batch is in the oven right now. The curdling was even worse the second time! I replaced cake flour with 200 g all purpose and 25 g corn starch. Keeping my fingers crossed! It is SO hard to find good vanilla cake recipes.
I see I am far from the only one on the hunt for the perfect vanilla cake…so, I found this one, read ALL the comments and decided to make it. Except I needed to double the batch. So I doubled the quantities, measuring on an electronic scale, had all my room temp ingredients at the ready. I swear I followed the recipe..
And there it was: a not-quite-curdled batter (I may have been looking too hard for it to go given the comments…) and then it baked, rising nicely with a pale color, turning golden…and then falling in the center. Heartbreak.
I am using an 11×15 pan and doubled the recipe. After it fell, I kept checking for doneness…and took it out. I’m tempted to try it again but without knowing what went on…I’m afraid to.
Hi, for the frosting, if you make before assembly, can you store in fridge and let it get room temp before assembling, or ?
Hey just want to ask before I make this lovely cake, whether it can be kept in the fridge? Will it ruin the texture of the cake? And will the frosting harden?
ok so I just went ahead and made the cake anyway and it fell apart, twice!! what am I doing wrong?
Hi Rosie,
This is the best vanilla cake ever!!!! just made it today loooooove it, the thing is that my cake took close to an hour to be cooked; weird right??? I did everything has u said but I guess with our 35ºC maybe we ahve a too hot weather and the butter was too “room temperature”?? lol
let me know :)
the frosting amazing!!! Ü
Hey! I absolutely adored the pics so I decided to bake this into cupcakes! They turned out super awesome except they were super fragile. If I sub some flour for cocoa powder and use the same proportion of ingredients except use the standard creaming method (for added volume and stability), could it bake some delish chocolate cupcakes that are more stable or do these ingredients just not work for the standard creaming method? I don’t want to change the ingredients because the ratios here are so perfect! I’d love ur thoughts on this and I’ll let you know how they turn out in case ur not sure!!
I followed this recipe to a tee, and it turned out perfectly delicious. Beautiful white cake. The frosting was fabulous. I could have eaten this whole cake. Perfect. thank you
Absolutely love your recipes & photos. I tried you fluffy vanilla cake on the weekend with Swiss Meringue Buttercream, as a trial run for my daughters 1st birthday but found that it turned out dense & not like the one in your photo. Although the taste of it was amazing. The mixture curdled after adding the egg mixture, same comments as above. All ingredients were at room temperature & were precisely weighed. The only thing is I baked it in a teddy bear novelty pan by wilton, that requires a 2 layer cake mix. The cake took close to 40 minutes to bake. I made the buttercream the day before & refrigerated it. Left it out at room temperature & mixed as suggested but had curdled/melted & turned yellow in colour. I think i might have left it out for too long!! I added cold butter & continued to whip. Turned out fluffy but was yellow & found it very difficult to pipe with. Please help!!! I want to make this again in the next few days, as i’m running out of time. Thanks
Thanks, Angela! I hope I can help in some way. To start with the vanilla cake, it is definitely a very liquid-heavy recipe, which is why I believe it wants to curdle from time to time if there is even a smidge too much liquid. I am going to post a more detailed step-by-step for this recipe, because there are a lot of questions but also so much interest. In the meanwhile, here’s what I recommend doing: Use 5 egg whites, and not 6. If you’re measuring in grams, I would keep it at the 180 grams. I find, though, that 6 egg whites, although they average 30 grams, can end up being much more, which would throw the batter off, particularly with so many eggs. I would also take the 1 cup of milk down to 3/4 cup. Keep everything else the same, and you should be good. The teddy bear pan shouldn’t be an issue, if the batter has come together the way it should. Just be sure to not overmix–so, the 90 seconds on medium speed, then the milk/egg/vanilla mixture in 3 separate additions, for 20 seconds each on medium speed. Re: the SMB, I truly don’t know why it would separate or turn so yellow. It should be ivory, satiny, and a dream to pipe. I believe the butter could be the culprit there, Angela. Perhaps try with a different brand? Let me know how you make out! Good luck!
Oh my I’ve just discovered your blog and love, love, love it. I really should be working right now but can’t seem to switch off the internet and switch on the spreadsheets and email!
I am so excited to see this recipe mentioned in your daughter’s birthday cake post. I cannot wait to make this cake! I have receiving your blog posts since the end of July and didn’t receive this. Been backlogged so I haven’t read past posts. I hope mine turns out as amazing as yours! :)
do you beat the whites at all?
Hi, I just want to say your blog is amazing! I just tried your swiss meringue buttercream, it came out perfect!
For the whipped vanilla bean frosting, I don’t have vanilla bean but I do have vanilla bean paste. How much should I put for this frosting recipe?
Thanks,
Lorie
I am so glad that I found this recipe. My daughter’s birthday is next week and I always feel like the vanilla cakes that I make are too dense for kids. I am excited to try it. Thanks!
Thanks so much for a great recipe! I need to make a vanilla cake for this thursday and I found yours! perfect timing.
I do have a question:
I would like to make this in a 9 x 13″ pan. would it still be at 350 for 35 minutes?
Thanks again. I can’t wait to try it out.
Glen Mills, PA
I’ve now made this cake three times. i cannot begin to say how much I love it. it’s really my favorite cake, and I’m usually a chocolate girl. Kudos, it’s just perfect.
I just made this cake following the newer recipe, with five egg whites and 3/4 cup milk. I was pretty disappointed to find that it curdled on me when I added the egg white mixture. Even though I thought I follwoed the instructions and added the egg white mixture in three parts. I have the cake out of the oven now but it doesn’t look very healthy. Kind of shiny and when I tasted a bit of the edge, it was hard and stuck to my teeth like candy. But the cake inside looks spongy and maybe okay. I can’t get through the shiny outside to the inside to taste it, without messing it up. I tried whipping the other half of the batter but it just made the curdles smaller without fixing the batter. I need to make a wedding cake tonight and was planning to use this cake recipe.
Question: Why aren’t the egg whites whipped into a meringue for this cake? Wouldn’t that maybe help them to be more stable and not have the bad curdling reaction?
Lydia, the cake definitely shouldn’t be soggy or shiny. Once it curdles too much, there isn’t much you can do, sadly, but to try again. Did you weigh your cake flour? I wish you luck with your next attempt!
I just posted earlier that i didn’t make the cake right and it curdled. I didn’t understand until I looked on baking 911 and realized that I was trying to make an emulsion of fat and liquid and I wasn’t careful enough. I think my milk was too cold. Now I know that I really have to have the milk at the same warm temperature as the butter and eggs. I made another easier cake tonight and found that adding the flour with the milk to butter that was already creamed was easier because i could use the flour to sort of sop of the extra milk as it was being mixed in. I want to try again with the reverse creaming method used for this cake another time, when I am not pressed for time.
Hi Lydia,
This cake is definitely a little more fussy, but it’s worth it in the end. You’re exactly right about the emulsion of fat and liquid, which is why we add the liquid gradually. Room temperature milk is also very important, as with any cake. The sponge cake method of whipping the egg whites and folding into the batter is wonderful, but more of a reverse creaming method butter cake. I personally really enjoy the making cakes with the reverse creaming method, and I find the results to be so light and lovely. Good luck with your next attempt! If it helps, I have made this cake recently with some process photos: http://sweetapolita.com/2011/09/an-epic-tale-of-vanilla-cake-and-my-1st-blogiversary/
I tackled this recipe yesterday while trying to keep my two little ones from interrupting me in the kitchen. It seemed to work surprisingly well. But! I followed your instructions step by step and the ingredients very thoroughly with my new digital scale. The end result was slightly curdled. As a last measure I added some more cake flour. This made all the difference! I like this recipe, but it honestly is a bit too spongy for me. Will try some of the other white cake recipes as well, but really like the Bakers White-out the best. Love following you Rosie!
I am making this cake for my little brother’s birthday today! I have a question though, instead of cracking eggs and wasting the yolks, could I use liquid egg whits (in the carton)? Would the cake come out the same?
This cake was amazing. I really appreciated your detailed instructions, they were easy to follow – and helped me to make my “best birthday cake, ever!” The kids loved it, and I felt so happy knowing that I had given our family such a wonderful treat on a birthday.
Thanks for posting this recipe. I made this cake today for my sister’s birthday and everyone loved it. Very tasty!
I just found you awesome website and decided that I would try yet another white cake recipe to see if I could find a winner…
Well i baked your recipe as cupcakes tonight, following it to a tee. They baked for 20 minutes (24 cupcakes) rose perfectly, lightly browned. Took out of the oven to cool and then tasted one..
They tasted like cornbread. just barely a hint of sweetness and semi-dry and crumbly. I took another bit and it seemed better, and so on. but I want a cake to wow on the first bit through the last.
Any suggestions.
thanks in advance.
Hi Darlena,
Sorry to hear that the cupcakes didn’t turn out for you. I really can’t figure out why they would taste like cornbread and not sweet, etc. Did you happen to weigh the ingredients, or were you using volume method?
Thank you for getting back with me. I measured by volume. So I think I will try it again by weight. I will let you know how it turns out.
first of all … WOW.. WOWW. WOW.. delicious!! this was the 1st time I baked with a vanilla bean.. suprisingly .. becasuse I love vanilla.. but seriously $11 for 2 beans.. it was worth it though..
it came out lovely… and the frosting it to die for…
I love your site…
thanks for a wonderful recipe… :-)
Just made this Vanilla Bean Icing with your Rich Dark Chocolate Cake and what a combination! I know my 14 year old and his friends are going to love this cake at his birthday dinner. Using the icing for the filling and crumb coat. Deciding on the final icing flavor, but have to get to bed. It is 2am here (but lucky me, it’s only 1am now because of Daylight Savings!) LOL
hi there, was wondering if this cake could be used as a giant cupcake or is it too light and crumble under weight of the top?
Hi, I just made the cake and it taste WONDERFUL!! I would have to say its one of my favourite vanilla cakes. I couldn’t find any vanilla beans tho… So instead I just made a regular vanilla frosting. I assume it taste marvelous :) thank you so much!!
Thanks Rosie. I tried your vanilla cake recipe this weekend and it was lovely. The mixture prior to baking was not as firm as in your photos though, it was quite runny. Also, am in a country where people prefer less sugar, so I am going to try and reduce the sugar and see if still tastes gorgeous. I will also try out my first SMB and let you know how it goes. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us
Hi Rosie! Full disclosure: this may be ridiculously simple question but I’m a non-baker so I thought I’d ask the expert! I am going to make this cake for my husband’s birthday this weekend, but I wanted to add some berries to the recipe, since those are his favorite. Any suggestions? I don’t want over-power the gorgeous vanilla flavor, so I was thinking I could add some sliced, macerated strawberries to the middle layer and then perhaps a few on top for decoration. Would you do the same, or would you do something to different to add the berry element? Thanks so much for your help, and for adding so much DETAIL to your recipes!
By golly!!! its really easy to make!!!! mine is in the oven right now, it was so hard to make myself put it in because the batter tastes AMAZING!!!!!! i just wanted to sit and eat the batter! haha!!! cant wait till its out and ready to eat!!!! this cake is truly Heaven on Earth!!!! I urge everyone to try this cake, and also dont forget to lick the bowl…. DELICIOUS!!!!!
Hi Rosie,
I was so excited to find your blog and this recipe in particular! I’ve also been seeking the perfect white cake and every time I think I’ve got it perfect, I change my mind a day or so later. I have this one in the oven now with fingers crossed!!! I have one question though, I notice the recipe calls for 3/4 Whole Milk. You use 1/4 C with with egg whites and vanilla and reserve the rest which should be 1/2C but then in step 4 it says Add the butter and remaining 3/4C milk. I saw in the original recipe on Baking Bites that they use 1 C milk and that you modified this so it is in bold. I am wondering whether it should be the full cup or 3/4 and step four is just a typo? I sort of went right in between to be safe. If you could clarify, that would be awesome!! Thank you so much for posting, I am so glad to have found you!!
This is the perfect vanilla cake recipe!! It’s just divine, I too, have tried many recipes but they all come out either too dry or just too buttery, this one has the perfect consistency and is just amazing.
Thank you for coming up with this recipe, my family are also thankful!!!
Hi Rosie,
I have been on the hunt for the perfect vanilla cake recipe for a long time. Every time I make one they always come out so dry and if it is one thing I hate it’s a dry cake. This recipe is the best by far!! The batter itself is heaven! Thank you so much for finally providing the perfect vanilla cake recipe!!
what do you do with the 5 egg yolks
I used them in a different recipe :D Or alternatively
You can…
Egg yolks don’t freeze too well and can dry out after a day in the fridge alone. The best way to store them is by mixing them with a bit of water first (you can probably keep the yolks whole in the water if you are careful and simply remove them whole when ready to use), before putting them into a covered container in the fridge. They’ll keep for 2-3 days this way.
Hi Rosie! Congrats on such a fantastic blog and great recipes! I was thinking of baking this cake for my beloved with swiss meringue buttercream frosting which I so love. I’m wondering what to do with all the yolks of the eggs as the cakes and frosting use up only the whites and I don’t want to throw them out. What do you usually do with them…any advice? Thanks!
Thanks, Yaya! I love to use the yolks for citrus curd, since it’s so versatile, freezes well, and tastes so good. Hope this helps!
I’ll second the lemon curd idea. But the other thing I do with a few leftover egg yolks is make hollandaise. I’m a sucker for eggs Benedict.
I made this cake for my sweetie for our anniversary last week and I filled it with lemon filling (with about double the lemon of your standard recipe), frosted it with Swiss meringue buttercream and liberally sprinkled it with sweetened coconut flakes. It was amazing. Next time I will probably try actually filling it with the lemon curd, assuming I can ever make a batch that turns out right.
I’m so happy to be able to stop trying new vanilla cake recipes, I’m not a cake girl unless it’s a Really good cake but in my husband’s eyes there’s no dessert better than a cake. With recipes like this I may be able to develop a taste for cakes!
I was so enticed by the picture, I just had to try to this recipe. It came out amazing! Thank you so much for sharing! :]
Just seen yr post, this I must try, thing is in the UK I’m not able to get the right flour as we have plain or self raising would you suggest the cornflour substitute? Thanks so much for sharing yr valuable knowledge x
Thanks for the recipe. I love a beautiful white cake or as I always called them a “wedding cake”. I would request “wedding cake” for my birthday every year. Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and a place for a great multi-level chocolate cake but NOT on MY birthday!!
One note on transport: wouldn’t it be better to use a white trash bag to place over the cake box to keep the sun away since black absorbs heat and white reflects it? Seems the cake would have less chance of having a melting issue…just a thought.
BTW…HAPPY NEW YEAR…almost:)
Hi, I’m just wondering if this frosting will tint with gel colors added? I’ve had problems with frosting not tinting in the past and would hate to whip up a batch and have happen. :( If anyone knows, please feel free to respond. THANK YOU!!
Hi < ur recipe looks awesome!! my daugther's birthday is on thursday and i am definitely planning to try ur recipe of cake as well as Butterceam recipe. I am planning to make Buttercream roses for decorating the cake. would the roses hold their shape if I follow ur buttercream recipe
Arsheen, I am wondering the same thing. I am trying tomorrow and will let you know. Did they work for you?
I stumbled upon one of your cakes on foodgawker and had to check the rest of the recipes out! I made this cake for a friend’s birthday (and new years eve) the other day and it turned out sooo well! It tasted amazing! However I made coconut swiss meringue buttercream for the frosting and piped roses all over it. I love your blog so much and aspire to be as good as you are someday! Can’t wait to try out more of your delicious recipes and see more beautiful creations!
This looks absolutely amazing… and perfect for my sister’s birthday this week! She is the one person in the family who doesn’t like chocolate cake. Question though… could I split this in to 3 layers? Would the baking be affected? Or am I better off baking 2 and cutting in to 4? Also, is there a simpler frosting you would recommend haha, I don’t know if I have that much skill yet to attempt success with that in one try.
Oh. My. Goodness. I just made this frosting, and I could not believe how amazingly smooth it was! I nearly always make Swiss Meringue buttercream because I love the silky texture, but I never imagined a powdered sugar based frosting could be so creamy! This will be my go-to powdered sugar icing from now on!
Also, I just discovered this blog a few weeks ago, and I’m in LOVE!! I just want to make everything, everything on it! You’re genius, and I think you’ve replaced Anne Heap as my new cake crush ;)
Hi Rosie,
I just found this blog, and have been baking vanilla cupcakes for the past week. Every single time something was wrong with them. They had no taste, too heavy,looked like cornbread,just plain nasty. I threw all of them against the wall after tasting each recipe. True story! I guess I’m just an angry baker. So…. If these workout for me you will be a god in my eyes! Thanks! can’t wait to try them.
Thank you so much Mrs Sweetapolita.
I want to be a baker when I grow up and I am Canadian too.
Your blog is beautiful and you are an excellent writer as well.
Hi :) I wanted to try this cake as it looks amazing however, living in U.K I cannot find cake flour!
What could I use instead?
Thanks.
This is basically my icing recipe too. Not even sure where I found it, but instead of milk, I use whipping cream. My family loves it!!!!!!!!
This sounded AMAZING for a wedding cake order I got so I did it for a birthday cake to try it out. Well, I’m in culinary school and I have always used weight on my cakes,more efficient, but this time while I was making this, I went only by the weight and thought the measurements where a bit odd…is that just me? My cakes clearly had too much suger, but again I followed the recipe.How did you get the mesurements? I had to convert them all into ounces if they werem’t already to make it easier..I’m sad for my cake!hehe Just wondering thx!
Okay so I went and checked on the cakes, so the tops say they have too much suger, but after cutting and trimming I think all will be well :D
First of all thank you Rosie for putting such a beautiful blog together and being so generous with your recipes as well as lovely tips.
I am bit confused with the measurements though. I usually use both methods (gram and cups whatever the recipe requires), so today noticed that the measurements don’t equal?
You mention 1 3/4 cup sugar, when I weigh this, it’s over 400 gram? Same with the flour, the cup size is way more than the grams in the recipe? You mention 2 1/2 cup flour however when I weigh this, it’s about 350 gram instead of your 285grams.
Quite confused, so just wondering how they don’t equal.
BTW, the reason why I noticed this, is because I was trying to substitute the cakeflour with Flour+cornstarch and needed both measuring sizes.
Please just tell me that I am bit slow today and my brain is not functioning clearly.
Thank you.
I finally had a chance to make this cake again tonight and I’m really excited! Though I didn’t know how to do it right the first time I tried, this time I was sure to let all my ingredients come to room temperature, and the batter was BEAUTIFUL. It was easy and tasted great. The cakes have come out and are cooling. I can’t wait to taste them! I took a little bit and it tastes as awesome as batter, which I haven’t found a cake before that tasted as good as batter.
I have made four other white vanilla cake recipes recently, and I was disappointed in ALL of them. They would have lovely batters but after being cooked, would be too heavy or too dry. One tasted so much like baking powder I couldn’t eat it. THIS CAKE is the ONLY white vanilla cake I have made yet that I even would want to eat!
I can say that because a few months ago, I tried making this cake for a wedding but I didn’t let the milk and eggs warm up. It curdled but I cooked it and set it aside, using a heavy cake for the wedding cake. To my great surprise, I ate a piece of the “curdled” cake later, and even WITHOUT ICING, it still tasted better than the other white cake I made! I should have stuck with the recipe and tried again.
Anyway, this cake looks and smells great and I can feel that it’s light. It looks moist too.
I also made the icing, though the vanilla beans are expensive, it’s a unique flovor and aroma. The icing looks and tastes good, but I’m hoping it will hold up until my mom’s birthday tomorrow and I’m curious to see if I will be able to pipe anything on it and if it will crust like other buttercreams.
To check back in, Yes I was able to pipe on the frosting. It held the designs fine. It stayed shiny and did not crust.
Unfortunately I would have to say that the advice on eating the cake and frosting Day 1 is definitely true. The cake smelled and looked delicious yesterday, and the little warm piece that I broke off was great.
Today, it was dry, hard and had almost no flavor at all. The frosting, which I was trying to stop myself from eating by the spoonful yesterday, today had very little taste and surprisingly, not a lot of sweetness either. The expensive vanilla bean specks didn’t register on my tongue becuase it was just coated with butter, and butter was basically all I could taste. I was really disappointed.
I would make this again to eat immediately, but I would not use it again for something the next day. I made it in the middle of the night so it didn’t even last 24 hours. My little niece ate her whole piece but that was the only positive response. I didn’t get any compliments on it, instead the chocolate cake I made on the side stole all the compliments.
HI Rosie, I made this cake on the weekend for my husbands birthday and I did everything by the book with the digitally weighed measurements and I didn’t over bake it. At 26 minutes in the oven I checked it a couple of minutes later so 28 minutes in total and I still found that the cake was slightly dry. The weird thing though, is that the cake sunk in the middle and when I carved it to make the layers even it was quite doughy in spots. Any ideas why that would happen and the sinking in the middle too? I had all my ingredients at room temperature and my oven nice and hot so I don’t know the reason for that, plus why it could be dry yet the middle not baked well enough. thanks for shedding any light on this matter.
Hi Rosie! Hahah I found it pretty cool that we had similar names. I’m 16 years old, and I was wondering how much time do I bake this recipe for if I am converting this recipe into cupcakes? Also, how many cupcakes would this make? Thank you!
I followed your recipe exactly and as soon as I took the cakes out of the oven, they sunk in the middle. The cake was dry, so I’m guessing it was over baked, but why the sunken middle? My baking powder is not old.
Rosie, thank you! This recipe is soooo good. Just what I was looking for – a light, moist white cake recipe. Thanks again!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes. Today was a day of firsts for me: First time I ever did a Crumb coat, First time using REAL Vanilla and my first ever 4 layer cake, actually a Purple ombre cake. I used this actual recipe and it was delicious. However, I was hoping it was going to be more white than it turned out. Should I have used a clear vanilla extract instead of the Madagascar Bourbon vanilla?
has anyone tried to make this recipie into cupcakes?
im looking for super moist light and fluffy cupcakes recipe(like the cupcakes you get from the store)if so give me a heads up and i will try :D thanks
I made this recipe recently for a fundraiser and it was absolutely perfect! It was fluffy and moist with a very delicate crumb. I made it as cupcakes, just a note, they do jump quite a bit and I ended up with tops that ran together just a bit. I would suggest filling the cups closer to 1/2 full rather than the more common 2/3 or 3/4. The recipe easily makes 2 dozen!
Thanks for such a lovely recipe!
Hello,
I love the recipe for the whipped icing! Question about the cake though: I thought I had cake flour, turns out I didn’t. So I looked up substitutes for cake flour, and one thing I found said to use 2 tablespoons of cornstarch for each 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour. So the cake ended up being very dense instead of light and fluffy. Is it the case that there really is no good substitute for cake flour, or what do you suppose went wrong? Other than that, I followed the directions exactly.
Thank you,
Jeanette
Thank you, thank you, thank you for the weights. It drives me nuts when I make something and don’t know how the baker measured the flour. I always have to try to guess from their writing style, are they the type to scoop and level, to press it level against the side of the container, or do they spoon the flour into the cup and level? I usually just run with a 4.5 ounce cup, but I know sometimes I’ve guessed wrong.
Thanks again, from one precision-obsessed baker to another. :)
Would this cake work as a chocolate cake?
Carli, I think you would be better off using a chocolate cake recipe that was intended for chocolate.
Found this beautiful cake on Pinterest today – already have it book marked to give it a try. Your work is beautiful!
Would this cake work under fondant??
Thank you x
Hi Rosie!
What a beautiful cake:)
I’m making a cake for my father in-law this Saturday and I’d really like to try this particular one, would it keep well if I made it on Friday, I got a bit scared after reading one of the posts above about the cake being hard after a day or so?
Thank you:)
Btw, love your blog
Hi Rosie! I just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work and for putting up this recipe. I’ve made it twice and everyone has loved it! Thank you and take care. :)
Hi there,
Inmade this cake for my son’s 3rd birthday this past weekend. He specifically requested vanilla so I was on a mission to find a good recipe rather than use a mix. When I saw this one on your blog, I had to try it. Although I did end up over baking it slightly (I really need to get an oven thermometer…) and I baked it in a 9 x13 pan, it was amazing. The kids lobed it and actually came back for seconds, which in my experience, rarelybhappens. They usually lick off the icing and the cake goes to waste. It was so gratifying to see them actually eating the cake! And I loved the icing…not too sweet. Perfectly perfect.
Thanks for all your hard work and for sharing your fantastic recipes and all your tips. I know I truly appreciate it.
Rebecca
Hi Rosie,
What a gorgeous recipe. I’m going to try it tonight for the in-laws who are coming over this weekend. Wish me luck!! Love your blog BTW, found it on pinterest… It’s so fun and girly, LOVE!!
http://tastynchic.com
THEE best scratch cake I have ever made!!!
Ahhh, so I made it, even though it did start to curdle ( just a bit) at the end of mixing, it did turn out to be exactly what I hoped it would be, AWESOME, I will be making it really soon again, for no reason, just because:)
And for somebody that bakes at least twice a week, just for the love of baking ( and eating it:D), I do recommend anybody to try this recipe
So glad to hear it, Anna–thanks so much for letting me know!
Thanks for sharing your recipe! I tried these tonight, but gluten & dairy free… I used light vanilla soy milk instead of the whole milk, vegan butter for the butter, and then used a mixture of rice flours (brown, white, and sweet) along with some xanthan gum! They turned out well- lighter than my usual vanilla cupcake but not too dry. I’ll update if they dry out quickly (as some gf cupcakes do)!
THANKS :)
Wow, Nikki, that’s amazing! I’d love to give that a go in your vegan/gluten-free version. Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi — I wanted to ask a question since I’m always seeking a good white cake. I did everything (I think) the way I was supposed to and the batter tasted so good!! But my cake sunk in the middle around the time it was ready in the oven??
The only thing I could think of was that the eggs were a little cooler than room temperature. I microwaved the milk and butter just a tiny bit so they’d be cool instead of cold, but the eggs were probably colder. Do you think that could be why the cake sunk??
Also, I sprayed my pans with PAM but the cakes stuck a little at the bottom. It tastes good, but it’s flopped…..
Hi Rosie,
I tried your cake tonight, and for the 3rd or 4th time in a row, my cake didn’t rise in the middle… My last cakes (different recipes) have either sunk/shrunk/collapsed dramatically after rising properly, or just not rose in the middle, including this one… I am slightly discouraged since this has never happened to me. I have done some research about the subject. I always respect the measurements and use my scales for everything and everything is at room temperature. I always use the recommended heat for the oven, I don’t open the door of the oven before 20-25 minutes. I have been using a new package of baking powder and according to the test I made, it is “active”. (I and it is supposedly good until 2014 (is it possible?) I find that sometimes the cakes have a slight bitter taste even though the texture is very fluffy, but my batter was fluffy and tasty.
Do you have any idea what I am doing wrong? Could my baking powder be too active and be getting of the way of the structure of my cake? (This would explain the bitter after taste) Or is because I didn’t sift the flour or used a hand mixer?
I know it’s hard to tell, but I loved the sweetness and texture of your cake and would be willing to try it again if I knew what to change to have better results, but after 4 different sinking/shrinking/collapsing cakes, my confidence and excitement are sinking too!
Thank you for help and your wonderful blog and recipes. They are absolutely amazing!
Just popped it in the oven, hoping it comes out great!!
Hi There,
I searched and searched for months before coming across this recipe you’ve revised for fluffy vanilla cake and this, by far, seemed like the best recipe I could find. I have to say, this is the BEST, and my most favorite cake. I made it for my brother’s birthday last week and brushed each layer with vanilla simple syrup, filled it with fresh strawberry filling, whipped cream frosting, frosted it with a whipped cream frosting and topped it with berries. It was amazing! I made this cake again today with a couple of changes and I thought they were worth noting. The first time I used Pilsbury Softsilk cake flour which is *gasp* bleached. The cake, to my surprise (because normally I wouldn’t even think of using bleached flour, but it was what was in the house), was light, fluffy and, of course, very white. This time I used King Authur cake flour blend, which is unbleached. The flour is a bit more dense and I had to use the full cup of milk. The cake itself is obviously less white. I liken it more to a cross between a yellow and vanilla cake in terms of taste and texture. It’s heavier and doesn’t highlight the vanilla as much as the former cake. They are both delicious, but per my taste, I prefer the Softsilk for this particular cake. Your cakes are gorgeous and divine. I look for to trying many more. Thank you. <3
Hi Rosie,
I can’t tell you how happy I am to have found your website. i am an absolute newbie in the world of baking and for me to bake this amazing recipe was a big honour. And boy did it turn out great. not only did it look amazing it tasted heaven. The only thing I did was made a fresh cream and summer fruit filling instead for my hubby’s birthday and he was the happiest man on earth. Thank you so much for the lovely recipe. looking forward to making your other recipes as well.
love.
Mrs Syed xxx
how many people is this receipt for?
Looks yummy…I too have been on the hunt for the perfect, moist white cake. Do you know if it holds up to carving or fondant? Also, could I sub out the milk for coconut milk for a coconut version? Thanks so much…I just discovered your blog and love it!
I don’t think it would carve well…it’s very soft & moist…. but covering it in fondant would probably work OK because it gets a little bit of a crust on the outside ~ my concern would be the weight of the fondant…(thin vs thick)
Just made this recipe today…for cupcakes. It yielded 24 cupcakes and they taste…amazing!
The batter was silky and smooth….the cupcakes had a slight crispy top and a soft, moist center.
Thanks for a terrific recipe…and thanks for sharing it!! =)
hi -
I have been searching for a great white cake myself – found two, but they are too heavy.
I am in the Denver area, so I need high altitude adjustments. Any thoughts on this recipe for high alt. ?
thank you!!
Hi Rosie, I too have been searching for a perfect vanilla cake recipe and I came across yours. I just made it but for some reason mine turned looking deflated. Actually, it just didn’t rise at all in the middle at all. Do you have any suggestions for me? I do love the flavor, though. It’s amazing and I want this to be my go to recipe. Thank you so much!
I just found your site. Love it. I made this cake today & everything looked great. Then when it was all done the middle didn’t rise at all. totally fell. Do you have any tips or ideas of why this might happen? I am in high altitude & am not sure if that would affect it or not! Thanks for any help you can give. Oh, it does taste fabulous though!
This was so great! I used it for rainbow cake!
i am so excited to try this! rosie-is this recipe for a 2 layer cake or a 1 layer?
this sounds like it is as white and fluffy as an angel food cake!cant wait!;D
I thought they were alright. they turned out kind of tasting like sugar cookies. Maybe I did something wrong?
Anyway, the texture is great.
Hello,
I came across this recipe for vanilla cake and frosting and I was wondering if this would be a good cake recipe to use for a small two tier bridal shower cake. I want to fill the layers with a raspberry filling and then cover the cake with the vanilla frosting. I want a moist cake, but I too have fallen victim to a moist wedding cake transport disaster. I will not be traveling with this cake, but it will be a centerpiece for several hours before we eat it. Do you think it would hold up to an 8 inch round with a 6 inch stacked on top? Thanks for all your ideas! So glad I found you and this recipe! Also, how do these cakes freeze??
it looks yummy !!
thanks for the great recipie
but can i substitute the cake flour with all purpose flour ?? and what will be the difference ?
thanks alot
Hi Rosie,
I was going to make a Rainbow layered cake for my daughter’s birthday, the magazine said to use butter cake but I wanted something a little bit more special.
How would your Vanilla cake recipe go with addition of colour? Would I need to vary the amount of fluid in the recipe and substitute with the colour (my colours are paste & liquid form) or would it be fine to just add them in as with the buttercake?
Thanks
Liz
Hi Liz, I just made this a few hours ago and made mine rainbow as well (6 layers/colors). I used the wilton food coloring which is more pasty than “liquidy” and it turned out great. I don’t think that the coloring changed anything in the recipe. I made sure not to over mix the batter while mixing in my colors. Good luck with yours!
I’m making a large birthday cake for my son. Should I make 5 different cakes or can I 5x this recipe?
Thanks
Hi Again,
I’ve commented before and wanted to add a quick update. This morning I used this recipe again to make a coconut cake for a friend who requested one. Only I replaced the milk with 3/4 cup coconut milk and 1/4 cup whole milk, plus I added just over 1/2 cup freshly grated coconut. I have to say, this vanilla cake is phenonmenal and totally versatile. I haven’t frosted it yet, but did taste the cake and I think my friend will be in heaven. Thanks again.
I am so glad you posted this! I am making a coconut cake for Easter and was hoping I could use coconut milk. :)
YUUUUUUUUUM! This is the best and fluffiest vanilla cake. I have been looking for ages to try and find the right recipe and here it is! I have mad it over 10 times and its always amazing. Made good cupcakes to! Thanks Rosie i love your blog!! :)
Hello,
I’m so new to the cake world. How much would I make if I wanted a two layer 1/2 sheet cake (a sort of biggie? – like the costco size)
This looks so good I want to do it for a party!
Hi Rosie, I am looking for a light, smooth and creamy vanilla frosting that will pair well with your “ruffled chocolate cake”. I made the cake last month for my daughter’s 9th bday and it was sooooooooooooooo delicious! I almost didn’t want to share it with our guests:-) I did try the frosting that goes with that cake (egg whites, sugar, vanilla, milk) but it didn’t come out well. The mixture was a runny and seemed to seperate, so I ended up throwing it out and just making a regular buttercream frosting….which wasn’t too bad. Do you think this frosting will go well with the chocolate cake?
Thanks,
Ok I just barely pulled this cake out of my oven!! It smells awesome and it raised up really nice! I can’t wait to frost it abd eat it! My husband has already poked at it lol I did use all purpose flour tho and also had chunks of butter but I think I mixed in the lumps, or I also mix everything by hand because I’m too poor for a mixer lol :-) it still looks beautiful!! I’ll have to post again on how it taste ect after dinner! Thanknyou so much for this recipe!!
Now that you/we found the best Vanilla Cake recipe would you mind sharing with us your best Yellow Cake and Chocolate Cake recipe. Thank you very much. I love your blog!
I turned this into Vanilla Bean Cupcakes today!! It’s DELICIOUS, thanks for sharing, I was looking for a great vanilla cake for a while!
So glad to hear it, Melina!
Hi
I made these as cupcakes for today as we are having a goodbye luncheon for a co-worker.
It’s 8:51 am eastern and four of the cupcakes are already eaten!
I did find that the cupcakes need to watched carefully so they don’t burn. I would start watching them at 15 minutes instead of 20.
Thanks fro the great recipe!
Melissa
Cake’s in the oven! Mixed up like a dream. Started to seperate just as I stopped mixing. I think maybe overmixing is the culprit here. It’s a beautiful batter, can’t wait to taste it!
Hi Rosie,
I have been wanting to make this cake for ages, and it was worth the wait! Loved the flavor of it, but I ended up overcooking in :-( . It seemed like the outer part of the cake cooked very quickly, but the interior was still liquidy well after the time you allotted for it. Any suggestions?
Also, is it easy to double this recipe? I want to make this for my parents’ anniversary party, but need to make it in a 9-inch cake. I’d love to achieve the same height that I got from the original recipe. Thanks!
Hi Rosie,
This recipe looks like the answer to all my prayers. I’m wanting to bake this cake, but am wanting four layers and am wondering if you recommend doubling the quantity, or just dividing the current mixture between four pans, not two.If you suggest to divide the current quantities, what would the adjusted bake time be?
Thanks, Sarah
Thanks, Sarah! You know what I would do to get 4 layers, would be to double the recipe (if you’re using 9″ rounds) and bake in 4 pans. If you’re using an 8″ pan, or even if you want slightly shorter layers (4 layers with 3 filling can make for a really tall cake in a hurry!), I would increase the recipe by 50% and then bake among 4 pans. Do you know what I mean? The bake time if you double it among 4 pans would stay the same, but if you increase by 50% among the 4 pans, then I would start to check the cakes after 20 minutes (but not before). Hope that helps!
Could you make this a yellow cake by keeping the egg yolks? If so how many whole eggs would you use?
Hi Rosie
I made this cake the other night, and boy did it come out great! I followed your every direction, and I’m still munching leftovers from the fridge every now and then. ;)
My boyfriend helped me whisk everything and I was very careful. Key to success here is precision!
Only problem I had was not greasing the pans enough, which made my cake stick to the bottom, but as I assembled it and had my hands covered in buttercream, I eventually got it to look circular and pretty again.
Very fluffy, very delicious.
THANK YOU! :)
Those little dots of vanilla bean in the icing will be the death of me. Looks so yummy!
Question, do you think this vanilla cake recipe is suitable to cover in fondant? Or will it be too crumbly?
Thanks for this …i made this for my niece birthday and she loooooved. The only thing i did different was add pink food coloring because all little girls love pink lol
Oh dear! This is heaven. I have such a sweet tooth and love cakes, I’ve been known to have cake for breakfast once or twice. Thank you for this recipe I will be trying it out ASAP!!!
AmoreAlways.blogspot.com
i have also been testing various recipes to find a good vanilla cake to make for my children’s birthdays. i was never happy with the victoria sponge as husband complained too sweet and texture too hard, especially after a day or two and refrigerated. so now i am creating my own cake recipe based on the traditional chiffon cake method, and i am happy with the results.
thanks for sharing and i would love to try your recipe some day soon!
hi! i just made ur cake tdy and it turns out to be the most fluffiest and moist cake i ever had. it didn’t curdle and had a smooth glossy batter which is something that i’m really happy about since this is my first cake..thank you! however, there was a slight problem,the top part of the cake peeled off when i tried to invert it back onto a plate,as i wanted to frost it..i did let it cool for abit after taking it out from the baking pan lined with parchment. why did that happen? i was a bit afraid that the bottom part of the cake would stick to the plate,and it breaks easily too..was it because its too soft and fluffy?
Maybe I did something wrong, but this was not a great cake. It wasn’t moist at all. If by “fluffy” you mean “dry and crumbly” then it was a success. The taste was good, but too dry for me and I don’t think I overbaked it (22 minutes). The frosting was outstanding though.
Hi Rosie,
I just took this cake out of the oven. Looks AWESOME….I just wanted to ask you if I can use less sugar…a lot less…it is too sweet. The recipe calls for 350grams of sugar…35grams more than flour…Do you think I can just use 1 cup of sugar and have a fluffy cake?
Thanks…..
Elleing
Hi There,
I have been looking for a good fluffy white cake recipe. Most I have tried were too heavy. So far this one seems ok. Have not cut it yet. Its cooling now. :) The batter curdled just a little bit, but my milk and eggs were cold. Next time I will bring them to room temp. When I get reviews I will post.
Kathy
This is THE BEST white cake I have EVER made from scratch! It is exactly that! White and fluffy. It “almost” tastes like the box cake which give it that much more nostalgia! I made this cake for my birthday with some whipped vanilla bean cream cheese and OMG! My mouth is salvivating right now just thinking about it! Thank you so much for this!
hi Rosie, I was wondering if I can use a classic bundt pan for this, kindof like an angelfood cake style shape? Does this affect the baking time, since it’s a pretty deep pan? thanks!
Rosie… I am hoping to convert this recipe to make a 9 x 13 sheet cake for this coming Friday. Do you think if I just double it the amount would work?
I guess I will also go ahead and ask…. if you don’t think this cake will hold up well as a 9 x 13 do you have a recipe you would be willing to share or point me in the direction of for a great white sheet cake? Thanks so much. I am going to be setting an 8 inch round (single layer) cake on top of the sheet…. so that is a factor too.