The Most Amazing White Cake recipe is light and airy, and absolutely gorgeous. This is the white cake you’ve been dreaming of!
Ever since the Most Amazing Chocolate Cake became a viral sensation, people have been begging for a Most Amazing White Cake. It took ten rounds of experimentation and testing to perfect the white cake, but we’ve finally reached “the one.” We’ll continue on with a bunch of tips and trips to give you your best chance at success with this cake. White cakes are more finicky and tricky than chocolate cakes, but when made well, they are absolutely perfect and blow those boxed cake mixes out of the water.
Parchment Paper:
When making a white cake we highly recommend lining the bottom of the cake pan with parchment paper. This prevents a thicker crust from forming on the bottom as well as ensures that your cake will come out of the pan in one piece. We used butter to grease the pans for this recipe and we do not flour the pan. Butter only worked best.
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, simply warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Cake flour vs. All-Purpose Flour:
Cake flour will give you the lightest, most airy cake. You can always use all-purpose flour in a pinch, but it will not produce as light of a cake. Because of this, we highly recommend using cake flour.
Almond Extract vs. Clear Vanilla Extract:
Almond extract is used in a white cake. We know that some people aren’t fond of almond extract, or feel the flavor is too strong. Almond extract is clear so it is ideal for a white batter. You can buy clear vanilla extract to use if you prefer that flavor. The almond extract in this recipe can also be reduced by half if desired. We prefer the traditional almond flavor.
Cake Fillings for The Most Amazing White Cake:
White cakes are ideal for experimenting with different fillings and frosting. We love a traditional buttercream with white cake. Lemon curd and raspberry jam make excellent fillings, but feel free to experiment with your own ideas and personal taste preferences.
How many cups of batter does this recipe make?
This recipe makes approximately 6 cups of batter.
Can this recipe be made into cupcakes?
Why yes it can! You can find the recipe for the Most Amazing White Cupcakes here.
Buttermilk Substitute:
You can use either milk or buttermilk in this recipe. You can even make your own buttermilk substitute! However, we love the addition of sour cream to our cake. If you’re feeling adventurous, use only 1 cup of milk or buttermilk plus 1/2 cup of sour cream.
Do you have a substitute for eggs?
There are numerous options for substituting eggs in baking recipes. You can always try using one of those.
Can I use a different pan size?
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, which is a standard size and is meant to be eaten as a 3 layer cake.
Can I use a different frosting?
You certainly can! White cake is amazing with things like lemon curd and raspberry fillings. For the whitest frosting, we highly recommend using 7 Minute Frosting.
Can I make this 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 straightforward substitute for all-purpose flour. We have not tested any gluten-free flours in this recipe.
Do you have a chocolate version?
Why yes, we do. We call it The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake.
Do you have a vanilla version?
Why yes, we do. We call it The Most Amazing Vanilla Cake.
Storage Instructions:
Store your cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days on the counter. Beyond 3 days, it will dry out.
If you like this recipe, you may be interested in these other delicious cake recipes:
Watch the video below where we will walk you through every step of the recipe with a video demonstration.
Raxhel, this cake saved my husband’s birthday cake! I knew you had white cake and came looking for it after the first cake he chose failed miserably. I needed a good white cake in a pinch, and this worked perfectly!
I love white cake, and love this simple recipe, but I have a severe tree nut allergy, so using almond extract isn’t an option. Can I use vanilla instead?
Yes you can. I recommend a clear vanilla if you don’t want to taint the white color.
I have been testing recipe after recipe for a basic white cake with no success. Until today. This is the one! I followed this recipe precisely as it is written, with the exception of cake flour (I didn’t have cake flour on hand, so I used a substitution of all-purpose mixed with cornstarch). I baked cupcakes at 325ºF for 20 minutes. The only minor problem is that the cupcakes turned out a bit dry. All of that being said, this is truly a great recipe and has amazing texture and flavor. I believe that with proper cake flour and possibly a shorter baking time (15-18 min?) I will have the perfect cake. It’s already been added to my recipe box. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I made this amazing cake for my husbands birthday. It was the BEST cake we have ever eaten. It has already been requested for our sons birthday. 5 STARS !!
Loved, Loved your amazing Chocolate Cake recipe!! I’m looking for a white cake that I can fold sprinkles into to make a homemade fun-fetti cake. It is my daughters favorite cake and cupcake. Do you think this white cake would hold up to the folding in of the sprinkles. I know boxed fun-fetti is a white cake so I thought this might work. What are your thoughts? Thanks
I was thinking after I sent the above comment that instead of folding in the sprinkles, I should add them to the dry ingredients. That way they will be coated in the flour and not sink to the bottom of the cake. I still would like to hear your thoughts as to weather you think this cake would work well turned into a fun-fetti cake. Thanks.
Like this? https://thestayathomechef.com/funfetti-birthday-cake/
I dont know how to retract my question, as i jist read through dozens of comments and found someone else asking about making it for a wedding cake! Testing it put right now for a mothers day cake and it smells soooo good! The only issue im having is that its not wanting to brown on top… this might be due to wrapping the pan in a damp cloth to get a more even rise?
Hi Rachel, just curious do you have to use a hand mixer or will a stand mixer work just as well?
Either will work 🙂
I grew up with boxed cake mix and I admit, I like the texture and moisture of them, but not the flavor. So, I’ve been trying to bake scratch cakes instead. I keep finding white cake recipes that have great flavor, but the cake dries out SO fast. Today I tried this recipe and the texture and moisture is EXACTLY like the box mixes I grew up with, but with much better flavor. Thank you, Rachel, for your work to test and perfect this recipe! I made the batter exactly as the directions are written and baked them as cupcakes. I ended up with 28 big, beautiful, moist cupcakes. I highly recommend this recipe!
Hi I have dark pans to bake this in. Usually I adjust my baking temperature down by about 25 degrees so the bottom doesn’t get too dark when I use the pans. Would you recommend doing the same with this recipe? If so, do you think I would need to adjust my baking time? Thank you!
Yes I do. The cooking time will be in the same range.
Only have 8 in pans and 10in pans.. hoping to make a tiered cake with this delicious looking recipe! Can this recipe be doubled to make more batter to accomodate? Also can it make two layers instead of 1? (I know three would be best, but I only have two of each pan.. trying to save on time.) Thanks!!
This recipe makes 3 (9-inch layers). It can easily be doubled or altered to fit various cake sizes.