The Most Amazing Vanilla Cake Recipe

The world of cakes can be a bit confusing. White cake, yellow cake, vanilla cake — aren’t they all more or less the same? Honestly, we love them all, but there are some key differences. White cake is the lightest of the three. It uses oil rather than butter to keep the end result as white as possible, not to mention egg whites only. Yellow cake uses whole eggs and butter to give it that classic yellow color. Vanilla cake doesn’t have the same rules to follow. It can use whole eggs and butter, but it isn’t required. The most important aspect of a vanilla cake is that it uses enough vanilla to really make that flavor pop. With a whole tablespoon of vanilla in this recipe, you are sure to find that this is the most amazing vanilla cake ever. You’ll never use a boxed cake mix again!

Room Temperature Ingredients:

Several of the ingredients in the recipe are listed as being room temperature. By following this method you’ll have a better texture in the end so it is worth the patience.  For the milk, I simply warmed it in the microwave for 30 seconds because the idea of leaving it out on the counter to reach room temperature didn’t sit well with me.

Salted vs. Unsalted Butter:

This recipe is developed using salted butter because that is what most people tend to buy and have on hand. I like to keep my recipes convenient for home cooks so salted butter is used whenever possible in my recipes. Unsalted butter certainly works, but you may need to add a pinch more of salt. 

Is vegetable oil necessary?

There is a combination of butter and vegetable oil in this recipe. I find that vegetable oil gives the cake a lot more moisture.

Can The Most Amazing Vanilla Cake be made into cupcakes?

Why yes it can! They are baked at 325 degrees for 20-22 minutes and this recipe makes about 36 cupcakes.

Can I make this recipe into only two layers?

Yes you can, you’ll need to divide the recipe by 2/3rds. But no, I won’t do the math for you. I truly believe that the most amazing vanilla cake must be 3 layers.

Egg Substitute:

There are numerous options for substituting eggs in baking recipes. You can always try using one of those.

Pan Sizes:

You are certainly welcome to try, but you’ll need to adjust cooking times and be careful as to how much you fill the pan. This recipe is written for 9-inch round pans. Eight inch and ten inch pans will require adjustments to the recipe.

Gluten Free:

Use gluten free flours at your own risk. Not all gluten free flours are equal and most don’t work as a straight forward substitute for all-purpose flour. I have not tested any gluten free flours in this recipe as I do not have Celiac’s disease.

Do you have a chocolate version?

Why yes I do. I call it The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake.

Frosting:

Feel free to use whatever frosting you’d like with this cake. In the photos I used a chocolate cream cheese buttercream.

Storage Instructions: 

Store your cake in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If frosted with a simple buttercream, it can be left at room temperature. If you use a cream cheese frosting, you will need to store this in the fridge.

If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious cake recipes:

• The Most Amazing Red Velvet Cake
• The Most Amazing Strawberry Cake
• The Most Amazing Carrot Cake
• Luscious Lemon Cake

Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, Facebook Watch, or our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.