This Classic Vanilla Cake recipe pairs fluffy vanilla cake layers with a silky vanilla buttercream. The perfect cake for birthdays, weddings, and holidays!
This classic Vanilla Cake is one of the most beloved recipes on Liv for Cake.
I always thought that there were so many of these recipes out there that I’d stick to more unique ones. But really, I think the world needs my version of this simple, classic, delicious flavor combination.
Truthfully, most of my cakes use this vanilla cake recipe, but I’ve never paired it with a vanilla buttercream.
I know it’s easy enough for some people to grab a cake recipe from one post and a frosting recipe from another, but for those of us that are a little less comfortable mixing and matching for fear of epic failures, I’m putting it together for you into one recipe!
How to Make this Homemade Vanilla Cake
This vanilla cake recipe is the one I use as the base for all of my white/yellow cake-based recipes.
I’ve changed up the liquid like in this Pink Champagne Cake, the butter in this Brown Butter Cake, and sugars in this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, etc. to create different flavors. Some recipes require more experimentation, like this Coconut Cake.
Cake Tip!
Modifying cake recipes requires expertise and experimentation, so don’t make changes to a recipe unless you’re confident it will work out. It’s always best to ask if you’re not sure!
I use the creaming method to make this vanilla cake which requires:
- Creaming the butter and sugar
- Incorporating the eggs one at a time
- Alternating adding the flour and liquid
I use buttermilk in this vanilla cake recipe because I love the flavor and texture it gives the cake. The buttermilk in the cake helps ensure that it’s not super sweet, and it works well with any kind of frosting.
If you don’t have buttermilk, you can easily make your own at home:
- Simply add 1 Tbsp of either fresh lemon juice or vinegar into 1 cup of milk. Stir and let sit for about 10mins. The milk will start to curdle and essentially turn into a perfect buttermilk substitute.
That being said, if you don’t have buttermilk on hand and if you prefer a sweeter cake, you can use regular milk instead. Ideally use whole milk, but I never have that on hand, so I use 1% and it works just fine.
Milk substitutes such as almond milk or coconut milk, etc. will work fine too.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
I used a Swiss meringue buttercream here because it’s my favorite, but you can use an American buttercream instead if you prefer.
If you’re going to make Swiss meringue buttercream for the first time, have a read through my detailed tutorial so you know what to do and what not to do to make it a success. I provide a thorough step-by-step process as well as tips and troubleshooting.
I chose to decorate this classic vanilla cake with simple rosettes and sprinkles. I used a decorating comb to make the lines in the sides of the cake, and I love how it turned out!
Definitely going to be trying the other combs in the set, as it’s such an easy way to give a pretty result.
I typically shy away from decorating combs since they remind me of grocery store cakes (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but this one gives it a particularly modern, clean look.
Keys to Success with this Vanilla Cake recipe
Or any cake recipe, really. When it comes to baking, especially cakes, it’s best not to take shortcuts. You want to follow the recipe exactly as written and pay attention to any notes.
Here are the key things you should keep in mind to help bake cakes successfully:
- Ensure all ingredients are at room temperature. Or whatever temperature is specified in the recipe. This helps make sure everything gets incorporated together properly. Not doing this can result in poor emulsification and a less-than-perfect final product.
- Measure your flour properly. Spoon and level the flour into the measuring cup rather than using the measuring cup as a scoop. The latter packs in the flour and can result in dense and dry cakes.
- Don’t skimp on creaming the butter & sugars. You want to make sure they are pale and fluffy. Beat for at least 2-3 minutes.
- Fully incorporate each egg one at a time. Again, for proper emulsification and to ensure a good texture, add one egg at a time and mix well until adding the next.
- Don’t overmix once you add the flour. Mix on low and only till the flour is just incorporated. Overmixing can cause dense but also fragile and crumbly cakes.
- Grease & flour your pans & line bottoms with parchment. To help ensure cakes come out cleanly.
- Use baking times as a guideline only. Every oven is different. Some run hot, some run cold, some have hot spots. Only you know how your oven bakes and it will require some testing on your part to know what works for you.
- Cool your cakes in the pans for 10mins. Any more and the sugars will start to set and the cakes will stick to the pans, any less and the cakes will be too fragile and might break when you’re turning them out.
- Cool cakes completely before frosting. This is critical or you’ll melt your frosting and have a very hard time of putting the cake together.
Following these steps will really help ensure your cakes are successful. It will also make your life easier and less stressful, trust me!
If you’re looking for a delicious vanilla cake recipe, whether it be for a birthday, anniversary, or any celebration (even if it’s just making it through the week), you will love this cake!
Looking for more Classic Cake recipes?
- Classic Chocolate Cake
- Black Forest Cake
- Coconut Cake
- Classic Birthday Cake
- Carrot Cake
- Classic Hummingbird Cake
- Classic White Cake
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I convert this recipe?
- The recipe as-is will also work in three 6″ pans. For three 8″ pans, 1.5x the recipe. Baking time may need to be adjusted. You can use two 9″ as well but the layers will be thinner (reduce baking time accordingly).
- To make cupcakes, all you need to do is reduce the baking time — start checking at 15mins or so. The recipe will make 18-24 cupcakes depending on size.
- You can bake it in a 9×13 pan. Baking time will be slightly shorter.
- You can bake it in a Bundt pan as well but you’ll need to increase the baking time.
- For other conversions go here. Bake time may vary depending on pan size.
- Baking time will vary if you change the pan size. Every oven is different so I can’t say for certain what you’ll need to adjust it to. Be sure to check on the cakes while they are baking.
Can I make it in advance?
- The cooled cake layers can be baked ahead of time, double wrapped in plastic wrap, and frozen for up to 3 months. Take out 2-3 hours before assembly.
- The frosting can be placed in an airtight container and refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for 3 months. Bring to room temp and rewhip before using.
- The finished cake (whole or sliced, stored airtight) can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Can I get the measurements by weight/grams?
- There is a Metric option in the recipe card. If you click it it will convert everything to grams.
- This conversion is done automatically and I cannot guarantee the accuracy but many readers have had success using the metric option on my recipes.
What if I don’t have buttermilk?
- For best results, use actual buttermilk, but if you don’t have any you can make your own at home by combining 1 cup of milk (whole milk ideally, but I often just use 1%) with 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar and letting it sit for 10mins.
Tips for this Vanilla Cake recipe:
- If you don’t have buttermilk on hand you can make your own (see post for details) or you can use regular milk or milk substitutes instead.
- If you’d prefer to use an American buttercream, you can use one full recipe of Simple Vanilla Buttercream instead.
- Or if you’re looking for a chocolate buttercream version, check out my Classic Birthday Cake.
- If you want a white cake instead of a yellow cake, use this recipe here.
- I used a decorating comb for the texture on the sides of the cake. I used the left side of the one on the left pictured here.
- I prepare my cake pans using Homemade Cake Release and line with parchment paper.
- Be sure to check my Swiss Meringue Buttercream post for tips and troubleshooting.
- Learn how to keep your cakes moist using Simple Syrup.
- To help ensure your cake layers bake up nice and flat, check out my How to Bake Flat Cakes post!
The BEST Vanilla Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake:
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk or whole milk, room temperature
Vanilla Buttercream:
- 6 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Assembly:
- confetti sprinkles
- nonpareils
Instructions
Vanilla Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 8″ cake rounds and line with parchment.
- In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on med-high until pale and fluffy (about 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla.
- Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour (3 additions of flour and 2 of milk). Fully incorporating after each addition.
- Bake for 30-35mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place cakes on wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack.
Vanilla Buttercream:
- Place egg whites and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk until combined.*
- Place bowl over a pot with 1-2″ of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture is hot and no longer grainy to the touch or reads 160F on a candy thermometer (approx. 3mins)
- Place bowl on your stand mixer and whisk on med-high until the meringue is stiff and cooled (the bowl is no longer warm to the touch (approx. 5-10mins)).
- Switch to paddle attachment. Slowly add cubed butter and mix until smooth.**
- Add vanilla and whip until smooth.
Assembly:
- Place one layer of cake on a cake stand or serving plate. Top with approximately 1 cup of buttercream. Repeat with remaining layer and crumb coat the cake. Chill for 20mins.
- Frost the top and sides of the cake and smooth with a bench scraper.
- If desired, use a decorating comb to give texture to the sides.***
- Mix confetti and nonpareils in a small bowl. Press sprinkles gently along the bottom of the cake and sprinkle along the top. For the speckled sides, I grabbed a pinch of sprinkles and tossed them randomly at the sides.
- Pipe rosettes using a 1M tip with remainder of frosting.
Notes
This recipe was originally published on June 12th, 2017 and was updated with new content on January 30th, 2023.
Tania says
Hi. I love the look of all your cakes but each time I go to make one I am stumped as you NEVER put any measurements. Cup sizes vary all over the world and recipes just don’t work out unless you have the right sized cup measure. Can you please use measurements even ounces so that the recipes can be made in other parts of the world?
Olivia says
Hi Tania! There is a metric converter below the list of ingredients on all my recipes.
Daisy Shabat says
Hey Liv!
I love love love this recipe, I use it often for cupcakes and for some reason they don’t rise as nice. Do you know why? They seem to rise flat instead of domed.
Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Daisy! Hmm, I’m not totally sure — I know a lot of people do prefer the flat tops though! Have you tried it with milk instead of buttermilk to see if it domes better? That would be my suggestion. Let me know 🙂
Lexi says
I used milk and while I didn’t love the flavor, the tops of my cupcakes did dome a bit. They weren’t overly domed but certainly not flat despite my smoothing the batter before baking.
Liesl says
I’m kind of bummed at how my cake turned out. The cake part was ok. A little on the dense side which was fine. But the buttercream has two cups of butter in it?! It wasn’t very sweet and just had way too much butter in it and it did not spread well.
Olivia says
Hi Liesl! Sorry to hear you didn’t love this one. The cake is definitely more dense vs light & fluffy, but that’s how I like them. And the buttercream is a standard Swiss Meringue buttercream recipe, but it’s not to everyone’s taste. It’s much smoother and less sweet than an American buttercream, but can taste more buttery. BUT it shouldn’t taste like you’re eating a stick of butter, if that’s the case I suspect it needed a bit more whipping time. Here are all my tips and troubleshooting: https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/
Happy says
Mine was fluffy
Olivia says
Hi Happy! So glad you liked it 🙂
Tabiya says
Same results very disappointed:(
Susan Grose says
Have made this recipe several times. So good.
Olivia says
Hi Susan! So happy to hear you love it 🙂
Annette Melcher says
How long can the icing be kept for if it is refrigerated? I made the recipe (the cake was so nice and moist and I love how the icing is not sickening sweet!) but ended up having lots of icing leftover.
Olivia says
Hi Annette! The frosting can be refrigerated for up to two weeks or frozen up to three months. Be sure to bring to room temp and rewhip before use. For any issues see my tips and troubleshooting here: https://livforcake.com/swiss-meringue-buttercream-recipe/
lee says
Can I use cake flour also?
Olivia says
Hi Lee! You can use cake flour instead if you prefer.
Monika says
I was making a cake for my parents 10th anniversary and it was fabulous.
Olivia says
Hi Monika! So glad you liked it 🙂 Happy anniversary to them!
Adriana Salman says
I love baking, it’s my passion and I hope to bake when I’m older as a career. I’ve tried many recipes for cakes and this is by far the best one. The cake is moist and the buttercream is the perfect balance of sweetness. If you’re looking to make a vanilla cake this is the best recipe you can find.
Olivia says
Hi Adriana! I’m so happy you love this one most out of all the recipes you’ve tried! Thanks for the great feedback 🙂
Jennifer says
I am making this this week and can’t wait . I also have to make a lemon cake and would lie to use this recipe . would you happen to know how I would invert it into lemon. I will also be using a lemon simply syrup so I am thinking to put some lemon zest and extract into recipe not sure how much. Thanks for any advise !
Olivia says
Hi Jennifer! This is my lemon version of this recipe: https://livforcake.com/lemon-elderflower-cake/ Just leave out the Elderflower. It makes a bit more cake batter though so you can just change the Servings to 12 to get the same amounts as in this Vanilla Cake. I hope that makes sense!
Lesly says
The buttercream was amazing it was light and not too sweet which I loved but the cake itself wasn’t as good. It might have been my fault, I used 1% milk instead of buttermilk, the cake was too sweet in certain parts mainly the aftertaste and other parts didn’t taste like anything I followed directions step by step, however I did use a hand mixer but mixed the butter for a bit longer since it’s not the same as the stand mixer. Opinions?
Olivia says
Hi Lesly! So happy to hear you liked the buttercream! Very strange about the cake flavour though — parts of the cake were too sweet and parts had no flavour at all? It sounds like maybe the ingredients weren’t properly incorporated. A stand mixer will do a better job of this, but a hand mixer should work just fine, you just need to make sure all ingredients are at room temp and everything incorporated properly. I hope you give it another try!
Michelle says
My son and I decided to attempt this cake in a Netflix Nailed It! challenge fashion. We did pretty good! The vanilla buttercream turned out fantastic even though we had to have someone go get more butter while we were making it! The cake was ok. Moist, not overly sweet but the was a “tang/bitterness” I wasn’t wild about. Not sure if it was the buttermilk, baking powder or salt or something else. Still good! We ate it! Thoughts?
Olivia says
Hi Michelle! So happy to hear you liked it and that it worked out! The tang is for sure due to the buttermilk. It adds a bit of sourness and cuts the sweetness. Not everyone loves that though. You can use regular milk instead 🙂
Jessica says
Hi Olivia,
If I do this cake one day in advance,
Will it still be good the day after if I keep it in the refregirator?
Thanks!
Olivia says
Hi Jessica! Yes, it will be totally fine. Just bring it to room temperature again before serving.
JoMarie Soden says
Hi! Making this recipe this weekend! I’m doing two cakes, one for my son and one for my daughter. How many layers did you use to get the height on yours? A 2 layered cake just never seems to look as tall as I thought it would be! Thanks so much!
Olivia says
Hi JoMarie! The recipe as-is bakes two 8″ layers and it’s what you see in the pictures. The layers should be almost 2″ tall each.
Myriel says
Hi Liv,
Can I put food color in this recipe? Im looking for a cake recipe that I will use for my cousin’s gender reveal celebration. Thank you very much.
Olivia says
Hi Myriel! Yes, you can, but be careful not to overmix the batter once the flour is added. You could add some color after the butter&sugar creaming stage to prevent this and then add more after the flour if needed.
Kristine says
Hi Liv,
I continue to use your site as my baseline for most of my cake work. Do you have a weight and bake time calculation i can use. I was doing some practice cakes this weekend at 4″ and i clearly completely overfilled the cake pans. By they time the centers were cooked the outside was overdone.
The main thing is next week i need to do a 12″ round do you have recommendations on bake time and how many oz of batter i need?
Olivia says
Hi Kristine! I don’t have a specific calculation, but for my white cakes I make sure not to fill the pans more than 2/3 full and for chocolate cakes no more than half full. For more even baking, have you tried baking strips on the pans? https://livforcake.com/flat-top-cakes/
Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html
Anushka says
This was the first vanilla cake I have made that isn’t dense at all!!! Extremely light, fluffy, and delicious! I would 100% make this again!
Caitlyn says
Hi! Would it make a difference if I used a hand mixer with the cake batter? Also, if I just made American buttercream is it okay with a hand mixer?
Olivia says
Hi Caitlyn! You can totally use a hand mixer for the cake itself and if you use an American buttercream.
Olivia says
Hi Anushka! So happy you liked it 🙂
Kasia says
When i made this i tasted it before adding frosting and it smelled and tasted like pancakes! its good but did i do something wrong?
Olivia says
Hi Kasia! I’m not really sure! I don’t find it to smell or taste like pancakes, but pancakes generally have very similar ingredients so it is possible.
Rochelle G. says
Hi,
I wanted to say that I really enjoyed the cake, and the people i made it for loved it as well. The texture is amazing, and the taste also.
I was just wondering why the eggs and milk should be at room temp. what difference doews it make to the cake?
Thank you!
Olivia says
Hi Rochelle! So glad everyone loved it 🙂 The purpose of having all ingredients at room temperature is so that they incorporate properly with each other. Temperature differences in ingredients can affect the overall texture of the baked cake.
MariCarmen says
Hi Liv, I made this cake a week ago and loved how it came out my only issue was that the buttercream still tasted like butter what could I do to fix this. I want to make this cake for July 4th so hopefully you respond before lol.
Olivia says
Hi MariCarmen! You could reduce the amount of butter slightly, but the buttercream should not taste overly buttery! Was it greasy too? Be sure to give it a really good whip once everything is incorporated. It should be nice and fluffy. You could also try adding more vanilla or use vanilla bean paste or some other flavouring (a tiny bit of almond extract). I hope that helps! Let me know what you try 🙂
Bradley Kimbler says
Perfect consistency if you switch the eggs with applesauce it is the best
Olivia says
Hi Bradley! Thanks for the tip!
teri says
Hi,
This cake recipe looks great. I’m thinking about using it for a baby shower. 1st tier will be a 10″ with cannoli cream, 2nd tier will be an 8″ with nutella butter cream. If I double this recipe will it be good to fill 2 10″ pans and 2 8″ pans? Also what do you think about swirling some cinnamon in the 1st tiers batter, for the cannoli cream filling…just a hint of cinnamon (since in a cannoli the shell has a hint of cinnamon in it).
Thanks
Olivia says
Hi Teri! Converting pan sizes is always tricky. Here’s a site I use as a guideline: http://www.joyofbaking.com/PanSizes.html I think adding cinnamon to the batter will be just fine!
Lexie says
Hi!
i followed the measurements exactly and can’t get the butter and sugar to fluff up. Am i missing something?
Olivia says
Hi Lexie! Does it just stay clumped together? Was your butter at room temp? And are you using a hand mixer?
Laura says
Turned out a hot mess. Really struggled to work out amounts of each thing. I live in uk and usually follow recipes by the gram/ounce. Think this is where I went wrong. Would make things easier to have exact measurements
Olivia says
Hi Laura! There is a metric converter below the list of ingredients. Did you use that?
Laura says
Damn I didn’t even see that. I will give it a try again! Thanks x
Olivia says
Fingers crossed it works out better the second time!!
Elise says
Hi Olivia – thanks for your recipe! Just a comment to say that the converter is not very accurate as it will give quantity of buttermilk in grams instead of ml and baking powder in ml instead of grams.
It is difficult to use cups and sticks metric for us in Europe 🙂
Thanks a lot
Olivia says
Hi Elise! Thanks for the feedback. The conversions are done automatically so I’ll have to see if there’s a way to change it all over to grams!