An easy Vanilla Cake with a soft and moist crumb and great vanilla flavor. We used our popular Buttercream Frosting here but it’s also fantastic with a Chocolate Frosting. This Vanilla cake recipe is the perfect base for a birthday cake or any special occasion.
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Watch the Easy Vanilla Cake Recipe Video:
This cake really is easy and can even be made ahead. Watch the video tutorial for how to make the perfect vanilla cake and best Buttercream Frosting (which isn’t overly sweet like most American buttercreams).
Why we Love this Vanilla Cake!
Everyone needs a great vanilla cake base and I hope this becomes your new favorite! It’s made from scratch and the combination of ingredients gives it amazing texture and flavor. We used the same base as our famous Vanilla Cupcakes and made this stunning cake. You’ll love the perfectly level cake layers – there’s no need to trim them.
How to Make a Vanilla Cake from Scratch:
Here is a quick visual reference for homemade vanilla cake. Get the full print-friendly recipe below.
- Butter and flour two 9″ cake pans and preheat oven to 350˚F.
- Whisk together dry ingredients.
- With an electric mixer, beat Butter and Sugar 5 minutes.
- Beat in eggs 1 at a time then beat in vanilla.
- Add flour mixture in thirds alternating with buttermilk and mixing between each addition.
- Divide between 2 cake pans and bake at 350˚F for 28-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes then transfer cakes (we use this cake release tool) to a wire rack and cool completely before frosting.
How to Frost a Cake:
Frosting a cake is the fun part. Once your cake is fully at room temperature, make your Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. We love the vintage vibe of waves in the frosting like we did with our chocolate cake but you can also crumb coat the cake and pipe the frosting onto the cake.
- Place the first cake layer on a cake platter.
- Spread a generous layer of frosting over the top, going to the edges.
- Cover with the second cake layer with the top side down for a perfectly level cake surface.
- Coat the top and sides of the cake with remaining frosting and use an offset spatula or spoon to create waves in the cake.
Add sprinkles if desired. Sprinkles are the easiest way to turn a plain cake into a birthday cake!
Our Best Baking Tips:
- Room temperature ingredients are critical so your batter blends well without separating or becoming grainy.
- Avoid Substitutions! We always recommend trying the recipe as written before experimenting.
- Measure Correctly – check out our post on how we measure ingredients for baking.
- Weigh your pans – we use a digital food scale to make sure the layers are evenly divided.
How to Keep Leftover Cake Moist:
If you have sliced your cake and want to refrigerate leftovers for later, cover the cut side of the cake with plastic wrap, placing it directly onto the cake. This will prevent moisture loss and keep your cake from drying out.
More Top-Rated Cake Recipes:
These are the best-loved and best-reviewed cakes on our site. These are the ones we make most often.
- Chocolate Cake – rich, moist and decadent
- Tiramisu Recipe – coffee-infused Italian dessert
- Tres Leches Cake – the moistest cake you’ll try
- Perfect Cheesecake – with irresistible cherry sauce
- Pumpkin Cake – with the best cream cheese frosting
Vanilla Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp fine salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup buttermilk, or plain kefir, room temperature
- 1 Buttercream Frosting Recipe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F. Butter and flour two 9" cake pans, tapping out excess flour.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set flour mixture aside.
- In a large mixing bowl using an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer), beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 5 minutes until thick and fluffy, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition then scrape down the bowl. Add 4 tsp vanilla extract and beat to combine.
- Reduce mixer to medium speed and add the flour mixture in thirds alternating with the 1 cup of room temperature buttermilk, allowing the flour and buttermilk to incorporate with each addition. Scrape down the bowl as needed and beat until just combined and smooth.
- Divide batter evenly between 2 prepared cake pans and spread out the batter into the pans smoothing out the tops with a spatula. Bake on the center rack at 350˚F for 28-30 minutes. Rest in pans for 10 minutes then run a knife or thin spatula around the edges to loosen and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before applying Vanilla Frosting.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Wow my first birthday cake and first time baking cake .it cam eout well mouth watering ….no cake left for us….
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for the wonderful review!
This is the second time I have made this awesome cake, do you think it can be frozen without icing, for a later date?
Hi Kobi, good to know that you like this recipe. I haven’t tried it that way, but this whole cake can be made ahead. After it is assembled, you will want to refrigerate the cake (covered with a cake cover or large inverted pot). It will be softer at room temperature so let the cake sit out a little bit before serving.
Can you freeze finished cake leftovers?
Hi Kobi, I haven’t tried freezing this cake. But you can refrigerate leftovers for later, cover the cut side of the cake with plastic wrap, placing it directly onto the cake. This will prevent moisture loss and keep your cake from drying out.
Can you make it in 1 big tin or must you use 2 pans
Hi Karen, I haven’t tested that, so I’m not sure how it would affect the rise on the second cake. We do recommend making it in 2 pans.
Hi Natasha! I wanted to make this cake for New Year’s eve, may I know if you have any substitute for buttermilk?
Hi Darlene, plain kefir will also work well instead of buttermilk. You can also make your own buttermilk at a ratio of 1 cup whole milk to 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice. Combine and let it sit 10 minutes to curdle then stir and use.
Hi Natasha, can we take the same taste by using the home made butter milk instead of store bought butter milk?
Thanks
Hushra
Hi Hushra, I bet that would work! I’d love to know how you like it if you experiment!
Hi Natasha,
Since there is an acidic content in it ,the buttermilk wouldn’t it be right to even put baking soda?
Hi, buttermilk will help to activate baking soda but I haven’t tested this cake with soda to say how well it would work.
Thank you so much Natasha! I just finished making it and it TASTES AMAZING!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Darlene!
Hi Natasha, I just made this cake and it came out perfect! Thanks so much, I’ve been trying to make “spongy/moist” cake for many yrs, I’ve finally found a recipe thats perfect!
Yay, that is so awesome! Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Asha.
Hi Natasha, I’m making this cake right now! I don’t have an electric mixer so I’m using a hand whisk to cream butter and sugar. However, all the butter gets stuck inside the whisk and it’s annoying–I have to get it out every time. Any tips?
Hi Samantha, it would definitely be more difficult to do that by hand, You might try pressing the butter into the sugar with a spatula first and then take over with a whisk when they are combined.
Hi Natasha!
Cake looks DELICIOUSSSSS! One question: I don’t have a stand mixer or electric mixer or any mixers at all, actually. I just have a whisk . . . no beater. I looked over Amazon and all the stand mixers were WAY TOO EXPENSIVE (to me, at least). I didn’t want this to ruin my baking life. I love baking. I bake cakes, cupcakes, muffins, cookies, and bread without a stand mixer or electric mixer–just a whisk and spatula. I wanted to try this vanilla cake recipe (LOOKS DELICIOUS I just wanted to take a bite off the screen). I was just going to ask if using a whisk or spatula would make a difference in the texture or taste. Many people say you NEED a stand mixer or hand mixer. But can you bake without them? Do you need them, or do they just make baking EASIER? Need or want . . . there’s a difference. So thank you for your help! All answers will be appreciated.
Hi Kylie, an electric mixer (stand or hand mixer) will make baking way easier. Some recipes will be extremely difficult without one such as meringue or sponge cakes. Even an inexpensive hand mixer will work. I used an inexpensive electric hand mixer from Walmart for years.
Hi Natasha!
So what you mean is baking will be difficult without a mixer but it won’t be impossible? I can still bake and cook everything without a mixer but it’ll just be harder?
Yep that is correct
The cake was tasty but the crumb was anything but soft. I followed the instructions, weighed everything but the cake still turned out so dense, like a poundcake. I’m not a novice baker either. My search for the perfect vanilla cake continues.
Hi Ana, it should normally be soft in the center and not dense like a pound cake. Make sure the ingredients are all at room temperature which helps to form the correct texture.
Thanks for your response. Everything was room temp, I made sure of that. I’m really at a loss as to what went wrong.
Another thing to consider is to make sure you added the ingredients in the same order as instructed.
I just wanted to say that I am young I’m just 12 but I would like to try these recipes in the FUTURE and by the way when you do the taste test I get hungry and I just watch these videos non-stop.
Hi Valerie, I’m glad you’re enjoying our recipes!
Haha me2 I am 12 this year too
I am going to try this recipe too. Hope my cake tastes nice ahaha
instead of buttercream to cover the cake can I use fondant
I haven’t tried this with fondant to advise. If you happen to experiment, I would love to know how you like that.
It was My first time making a proper cake and I followed this recipe and it was so Delicious. Everyone enjoyed the Cake .
The only reason why Didn’t gave 5 stars was because my cake took a little longer time to bake than it was said in the recipe
But thanks Natasha for Sharing this recipe.
Thank you for sharing that feedback, Fatima. Bake time can vary depending on altitude and your oven calibration.
This recipe is amazing!
I tried to make it today for the first time together with the frosting and oh my super yummy!
My oven is always on the “heat” side of baked for 25mins with 1/3 of the frosting recipe as I only spread it on the top (single layer). I wish I can upload the photo!
Thanks Natasha!
Hello Henny, you are more welcome. I would have loved to see some photos but you can share them next time on our Facebook page or group so others can see them too.
I loved this recipe! So easy, moist and delicious! Thank so much for sharing de vanilla cake recipe.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
I plan on making this for my sons 5th birthday this weekend. He LOVED your chocolate cake and has now requested a lemon twist cake. What are recommendations to add lemon flavor to the middle layer of frosting in this recipe?
Thanks!
Hi Liz, thank you so much for sharing that with me! I’m so glad you enjoeyd that chocolate cake! I have not tested this with a lemon twist, but I imagine you can add some fresh lemon juice and a little lemon zest and juice to the frosting with no issues. So good!
General question: how do you handle the cord in raw eggs? Do you remove the cord before adding to recipes? I always do but I’ve never seen a professional do it.
Hi Debbie, I haven’t really thought about it – I just add the full egg white without fussing with it too much. I actually haven’t come across that as a recommendation in all my years of baking.
Hi natasha, I made homemade vanilla, and it looks great. I will send a picture soon ok. I was wondering, should I put a note in these, for christmas gifts, explaining, that it is better used after a few months? Also, should I tell them to remove the beans? Thank you so much for teaching me:)
Andrea
Hi Andrea, the note added sounds lovely! I recommend reading through all of our recipe tips and tricks.
HI Natasha
Could you please tell Me how much vinegar we need to add into the Milk to make the Buttermilk
Hi Fatima, I recommend a recipe search or google for the amount, depending on how much you need.
I recently read that you use 1 TBSP of either fresh lemon juice or vinegar per cup of milk. Then let it set for 5 minutes. I’ve done this twice on a different recipe and it turned out well.
I followed the recipe but it came out very dense, tasted pretty much like pound cake so I was a little disappointed. Not sure what went wrong but how can I prevent that from happening again?
Hi, it’s normally supposed to be soft and not dense. I wonder if it could be an issue with adding too much flour. Check out our post on how to measure flour which may help. You might also check that your leavening is still active and not expired.
I actually had the same problem. I carefully spooned and sifted my flour when measuring and used baking powder bought yesterday. The cake ended up pretty dense. Not sure why though.
How can we add some flavors or variations to this cake?
Hi Ramya, it really depends on what you are thinking. Since baking is so much a science, It’s difficult to make that recommendation without testing things through. I usually just stick with the simple vanilla for this one.
Hey Natasha. I followed this cake recipe to a T and my cake is still coming out dry . Should I use an extra egg or add in Greek yogurt to get the cake moist ?
Hi Shar, I haven’t had that experience to advise. Was anything altered in the recipe by chance? This post on measuring will be helpful, I would pay close attention to the measurements of the dry ingredients.
Hey Natasha , thanks for replying back . I made the cake again today and followed the recipe to T like I did the 1st time and it came out GREAT for my 3rd try lol . Only this time I added in 1/2 of plain Greek yogurt to get my cake moist . I’m not sure what happened the 1st time and 2nd time I made the cake when I went by the recipe and I made sure I had all my measurements right for the wet and dry ingredients. I added in the yogurt and it seemed to help with the cake not being dry.
Hello Shar, so great to hear that! Thanks for also sharing that with us, it is possible that there’s some mix up on the measurements of the ingredients but I am so happy that you finally got it!
Hi Natasha! I’d like to know, how long does this cake last? I’m planning to make this like 2-4days in advance, cling wrap, airtight. Would you recommend freezing them?
Hello Sena, this whole cake can be made ahead. After it is assembled, you will want to refrigerate the cake (covered with a cake cover or large inverted pot). It will be softer at room temperature so let the cake sit out a little bit before serving. I haven’t tried freezing this yet though to advise.