Basic Vanilla Cake – My Baking Habit

Made with buttermilk, vanilla extract, and vanilla bean paste, this traditional vanilla cake has a lightweight, fluffy texture and the very best vanilla taste. Add your favourite frosting for the perfect birthday cake!

I’ve been running a blog for therefore lengthy that generally I neglect after I haven’t shared a sure recipe with you.

Like, I just lately checked out my cake recipes and realized I hadn’t shared my vanilla cake recipe with you but! 

Positive, I’ve shared vanilla cupcakes and even an simple vanilla bundt cake and tons and tons of different cake flavors…however no traditional vanilla layer cake.

And as a lot as I Iove my greatest chocolate cake recipe (and imagine me, that’s one scrumptious cake), generally you simply want a very wonderful vanilla cake recipe. And I promise you, this one is basically nice.

Save this recipe as a result of it’s one that you just’re gonna wish to have it readily available for birthdays, events, and holidays from right here out. 

One of the best traditional vanilla cake

This cake is proof that generally it’s the recipes that appear like they’ll be the only that become the trickiest.

This recipe is just not so simple as placing the batter for my vanilla cupcakes into cake pans and altering the baking time. It really took a superb little bit of fiddling to be sure that the feel of this cake was excellent and that it will bake evenly within the cake pans.

However lemme inform ya, it was value it. This vanilla cake has a lightweight texture and tender crumb – no dense muffins right here!

And don’t let anybody let you know that vanilla is boring, as a result of this cake is completely scrumptious. I take advantage of a mixture of vanilla extract and vanilla paste to get the perfect vanilla taste. 

It tastes unbelievable, it seems to be lovely, and it’ll completely make you rethink every little thing you knew about vanilla muffins earlier than this.

Is that this a yellow cake or a white cake?

White muffins use solely egg whites and generally a mixture of butter and shortening to get their shiny white coloration. Funfetti cupcakes and angel meals cake are two examples of white muffins.

White cake can also be historically used for marriage ceremony muffins, though that’s much less true today with {couples} selecting less-traditional cake flavors.

Yellow muffins use the entire egg – white and yolk – and butter. This provides them a richer, extra yellow coloration.

Since this vanilla cake makes use of complete eggs and butter, it’s a kind of yellow cake! 

Find out how to make my vanilla cake

This can be a fairly normal cake recipe and one that virtually anyone can whip up for a birthday, vacation, get together, or just because it’s Thursday and also you need some cake.

Elements you’ll want

To make my vanilla cake, you will have:

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/4 cups room-temperature buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 12 tablespoons room-temperature unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 giant room-temperature eggs

This cake makes use of cake flour as a substitute of all-purpose flour. Cake flour helps give the cake its gentle texture. 

My favourite chocolate chip cookies, blueberry cupcakes, and lemon layer cake all use cake flour, too, so there are many different methods you should use up the field.

Buttermilk is the important thing to the superbly tender crumb. I attempted the cake with common milk and I promise it simply wasn’t the identical! You completely want to make use of buttermilk on this one.

I do know that utilizing vanilla paste and vanilla additional appears additional, however belief me. The wonderful vanilla taste is value utilizing each of them!

Making this cake

You should use 8-inch or 9-inch spherical cake pans for this vanilla cake. Grease 2 of whichever measurement you select, then line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds.

Sift collectively the dry elements: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Utilizing a mixer, cream the butter and sugar collectively for about 3 minutes, or till the combination could be very gentle and fluffy.

Add the eggs separately, mixing nicely after every addition. Combine within the vanilla paste and extract. Scrape down the bowl.

Now alternate including the buttermilk and the dry elements: Add 1/3 of the flour combination on low pace, then half of the buttermilk. Repeat, then end with the final of the dry elements. 

You’ll want to combine nicely after every addition and scrape down the edges and backside of the bowl as wanted.

Divide the cake batter between the ready cake pans. Bake at 350°F for 25-35 minutes. The muffins are completed when a toothpick or tester inserted within the heart comes out clear.

Permit the muffins to chill within the pans for 10-Quarter-hour earlier than turning them out onto a wire rack to complete cooling.

Be certain that the muffins are utterly cool earlier than adorning as desired.

Frosting and filling strategies

With a traditional vanilla cake, the choices are countless with regards to frostings you should use!

You possibly can by no means go flawed with vanilla buttercream or chocolate buttercream. 

Flavored buttercream frostings are additionally an amazing choice. Attempt raspberry buttercream, strawberry frosting, and even lemon-blueberry frosting.

If you happen to’re not a fan of buttercream frosting, cream cheese frosting, whipped cream frosting, and even marshmallow frosting are all nice decisions. 

Cake fillings

There are additionally plenty of methods you’ll be able to fill your vanilla cake. Lemon curd or lime curd, chocolate ganache, or salted caramel sauce are all scrumptious. 

You may as well go along with sliced contemporary berries, your favourite fruit preserves, and even nutella! Attempt pairing completely different fillings and frostings to provide you with your loved ones’s favourite mixtures.

Vanilla cake storage ideas

Your baked and cooled vanilla cake layers might be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and saved at room temperature for 1-2 days earlier than frosting and adorning.

As soon as the cake is frosted, retailer it in a coated container. When you have used a buttercream frosting and your kitchen is just not too heat, you’ll be able to depart it at room temperature for as much as 3 days.

When you have used a cream cheese frosting or your kitchen is fairly heat, retailer the cake within the fridge for as much as 3 days. Let the cake come to room temperature earlier than serving.

And don’t neglect concerning the freezer! You possibly can freeze cooled, unfrosted cake layers for as much as 2 months, or a frosted full cake or cake slices for as much as 1 month.

For extra particulars on the best way to put together your cake for freezing and the best way to thaw, take a look at my submit on the best way to freeze cake.