Vanilla layer cake is a tender, moist, and buttery two-layer cake topped with vanilla buttercream frosting. It's perfect for birthdays and celebrations!
I've made vanilla cupcakes, strawberry filled white cake, and vanilla sheet cake. Now it's time for a classic vanilla layer cake. It's perfect for birthdays, celebrations, and holidays, and can be decorated to fit any occasion.
This is my favorite classic cake recipe. The vanilla cake base is moist and buttery, with a small, tender crumb from using cake flour. The whipped buttercream frosting on top is my most popular frosting recipe! It's light, fluffy, and sweet.
If you prefer a less sweet frosting, I highly recommend adding ermine frosting instead. It's a cooked flour frosting that's made on the stovetop and much less sweet than traditional buttercream!
Cake ingredients
- Unsalted butter - Adds moisture and buttery flavor to the cake batter. Unsalted butter (and the listed salt) can be substituted with salted butter if desired. I highly recommend using a high quality butter when making vanilla cake because it adds a significant amount of flavor.
- Eggs - Add stability and moisture to the cake.
- Whole milk - Adds moisture to your cake. For best success, I suggest using whole milk, not skim or 1% milk. Your cake can turn out less moist (and may dry out faster) when using lower fat milks.
- Cake flour - Cake flour has a lower protein content than other flours, like all-purpose or bread flour, giving your cake a smaller, more tender crumb. I highly recommend using cake flour rather than all-purpose flour. When readers have substituted with all-purpose flour, they frequently complain of a 'cornbread' type texture.
- Baking powder - Cannot be substituted with baking soda. The two are not interchangeable.
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of your cake without making it "salty".
- Vanilla extract - Enhances the flavor of your cake.
- Granulated sugar - Sweetens your cake and also helps it retain moisture. I do not recommend using sugar-free substitutes in this recipe because I haven't tested these alternatives and can't guarantee how they'll turn out. I suggest doing a Google search for a recipe that fits the ingredients you have on hand.
Frosting ingredients
- Unsalted butter - Unsalted butter and the listed salt can be substituted with salted butter if desired. Make sure your butter is room temperature, not cold or melted. Cold butter or melted butter will not work for this recipe. The butter is whipped before other ingredients are incorporated - this requires room temperature butter for a creamy, smooth consistency.
- Confectioner's sugar - May also be labeled as icing sugar or powdered sugar. Confectioner's sugar is necessary for a smooth texture and can't be substituted with granulated sugar. It also adds stability and structure to your frosting. I don't recommend reducing the amount of sugar listed (yes, it is a lot, it is a sweet frosting) because a less sweet buttercream frosting tastes mostly of butter. Because there are so few ingredients in this recipe, the two main ingredients (butter and sugar) can't be reduced or omitted. If you're looking for a less sweet frosting, I suggest trying my recipe for ermine frosting instead.
- Vanilla extract - Enhances the flavor of your frosting. Can be substituted with other extracts to make different flavors of frosting (like maple extract, lemon extract, or peppermint extract).
- Salt - Enhances the flavor of your frosting and helps cut the sweetness slightly.
- Heavy cream - Necessary to create the light and fluffy whipped texture of this frosting.
Cake tips and tricks
Room temperature ingredients - Make sure your butter, eggs, and milk are all room temperature before beginning (not melted, not cold). Room temperature ingredients emulsify when mixed and create a creamy, even batter that bakes up fluffy in the oven.
Don't overmix the batter - Mix your dry ingredients just enough to incorporate them into the batter. Overmixing can overwork the gluten, causing your cake to turn out tough.
Don't omit or reduce any of the moisture-adding ingredients - Butter, whole milk, eggs, and granulated sugar all do their part in ensuring your cake turns out moist and tender. Reducing, omitting, or substituting these ingredients can cause your cake to turn out dry.
Use a scale - I always recommend using a scale to measure ingredients 100% accurately, but today we're talking about cake batter. Use a scale when pouring your batter to ensure your layers bake up evenly.
Use parchment or cooking spray - Spray your cake pans with cooking spray to prevent sticking. I highly recommend adding a round of parchment to the bottom of your layer cake pans for easy removal.
Frosting tips and tricks
Do not frost a warm cake - Buttercream frosting melts around 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Adding frosting to a hot cake will cause it to melt. Wait until your cake is completely cooled before decorating.
Use your favorite frosting - I've included my reader-favorite recipe for whipped buttercream frosting in the recipe card below. It's a sweet, no-cook frosting that's popular because it's easy to prepare. Some readers have commented that it's too sweet for their tastes. If you prefer a less sweet frosting, I recommend making ermine frosting instead. It's a less-sweet, cooked flour frosting (and my personal favorite!).
Want to add decorations? - Make an additional half batch of frosting if you'd like a nice, thick layer of frosting over your cake in addition to some decorations like piped rosettes.
Want thick frosting on a layer cake? - For thick layers of frosting like shown in the photos, make an additional half batch of frosting. Otherwise, the listed frosting will thinly coat the top, middle, and outside edges of your cake.
Storage
Room temperature - Homemade cakes are best served the same day they are baked and will keep, covered, at room temperature for about two days with ideal moisture and texture, slowly drying out over time.
Refrigerating - Since vanilla cake and buttercream frosting is made with butter, it tends to get hard when refrigerated and requires warming up at room temperature before serving. Cakes made with oil don't have this issue. However, vanilla cake needs to be made with butter for best flavor. I only recommend refrigerating cake if your home is reaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit and the frosting is in danger of melting.
Freezing cake - Unfrosted or frosted cake can be frozen for up to two months. To freeze a frosted cake, place uncovered in the freezer for about an hour, or until frosting is frozen and no longer sticky. Gently wrap in plastic and store in a tightly sealed container for up to 2 months. To thaw, unwrap frosted cake first, then thaw in the refrigerator overnight. The next day, bring it to room temperature for an hour before serving.
Freezing frosting - Buttercream frosting can also be frozen in a tightly sealed container for 2 to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature before rewhipping again to make it light and fluffy.
Frequently asked questions
This layer cake can be prepared in 9-inch or 8-inch round cake pans. This amount of batter can also be baked in a 13x18 or 9x13 sheet pan - see my recipe for vanilla sheet cake for full details! It's the same exact recipe made as a sheet cake.
Check your cake for doneness by jiggling the pan - if it moves, it's not done yet. If your cake isn't jiggly in the center, gently press onto the top with a finger. If an indent is left, it needs more time. If it pops right back, your cake is done.
The toothpick method is another popular way to check for doneness. Insert a toothpick into the center of your cake. If the toothpick comes back dry or with crumbs (not wet batter), your cake is done.
Yes, this frosting pipes beautifully and can be used for rosettes, borders, and topping cupcakes.
This recipe can be sliced to serve as many as 30-40 people with small slices (think wedding cake slices). Slicing large wedges will yield about 12-16 servings.
Troubleshooting
One of the most common complaints I see in baking is that the recipe is followed "to a T" and the cake/cookies still turn out dry. Dry baked goods can happen for several reasons:
- Ingredients were substituted/omitted/reduced - The fats and sugar (butter, whole milk, eggs, and granulated sugar) help keep your cake moist. Using lower fat substitutions, reducing the sugar, or omitting an ingredient entirely will cause your cake to turn out dry.
- Too much flour was added to the recipe - Either use a kitchen scale to weigh your flour accurately (which is how I measure flour and highly recommend to others), or spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level off with a knife. Scooping with the measuring cup directly from a bin of flour compacts it into the cup, adding up to 25% extra flour to the recipe.
- Cake was overbaked - Baking a cake for too long will dry it out in the oven. Ovens are inconsistent and can run hotter or colder than the next oven. The time that worked for me may not work for you, so I recommend using visual cues to tell when your cake is done.
This is a baker's secret that's optional but effective! Brush simple syrup over your cake before frosting. A layer of simple syrup helps keep the cake moist for longer. Simple syrup is a 1:1 ratio of water and granulated sugar, brought to a boil on the stove top until dissolved, then cooled to room temperature. I'd suggest about ¼ cup or more for this size cake.
Cake can turn out dense from expired leavening, overmixing the wet and dry ingredients (this overworks the gluten), not whipping the butter and sugar long enough, or adding extra wet ingredients (like adding sour cream or applesauce to make cake "extra moist"). If the balance of wet and dry ingredients is off, this can cause a change in texture, preventing your cake from rising properly in the oven.
All cakes, even vanilla cake, will brown on the outside edges due to a chemical reaction that happens when sugar is heated up. This is called a Maillard reaction and is completely normal. The insides will remain white and fluffy and the tops will be covered by frosting.
Sinking can happen for many reasons. Overmixing the batter (which adds extra air that's released during baking), underbaking, using expired leavening, using the wrong leavening, or accidentally doubling the leavening can all cause your cake to sink in the middle.
Recommended
📖 Recipe
Vanilla Layer Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 ¾ cups (345 g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 cups (336 g) cake flour, measured properly*
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (227 g) whole milk, room temperature
Frosting
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 4 cups (454 g) confectioner's sugar
- ⅓ cup (75 g) heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
Vanilla Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Generously grease and flour two 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans, optionally lining the bottoms with parchment circles, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and granulated sugar. Beat until creamed and fluffy, about a minute. Add vanilla and eggs, one at a time, mixing until incorporated and smooth.
- In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients: cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Add half of the dry ingredients to butter mixture. Mix until just combined. Add half of milk, again mixing until just combined. Repeat once more to add remaining dry ingredients and milk.
- Pour batter evenly between two round cake pans and spread into an even layer.
- Two 9 inch round cake pans: 26-30 minutesTwo 8 inch round cake pans: 28-34 minutesBake your cake using the times listed above as an estimate, or until cake is baked through in the center. If your cake jiggles in the middle, it needs more time. If cake is not jiggly, gently press into the center with a finger. If an indent is left, your cake is not done. If cake springs back, it's done. Ovens can run hot, so I suggest using visual cues and not relying on time alone.
- Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely in the pan(s) on a wire cooling rack.
Frosting
- In a large bowl, add room temperature butter and beat until creamy. Add confectioner's sugar and slowly mix until ingredients are fully combined. Then, whip at high speed for 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy.
- Add heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt. Whip for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until light and fluffy. Add additional heavy cream as needed to reach desired consistency.
- Gently flip and remove cakes from their pans. Trim the rounded tops with a serrated knife to make flat layers.
- Place one layer onto a cake stand or plate. Top with frosting in an even layer. Add second layer of cake and top with another layer of frosting. Spread remaining frosting onto the sides of the cake.
Equipment Recommendations
Notes
- * I highly recommend using a kitchen scale to measure flour by weight. If you don't have a kitchen scale, use the spoon and level method. Stir the flour (especially if it's been packed down in a bag/container), then gently spoon into the measuring cup, leveling off the top with a knife. Scooping with a measuring cup compacts flour into the cup and adds up to 25% extra to the recipe, resulting in dry, bland cake.
- Baking is an exact science. I do not recommend substituting any ingredients. The butter, milk, eggs, and sugar keep your cake moist - substituting any of these ingredients with a lower fat alternative can change the texture and make your cake dry.
- Unfrosted or frosted cake will keep in a sealed container at room temperature for 2 days, in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. If refrigerating or freezing unfrosted cake layers, wrap tightly in plastic and place in a tightly sealed container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature for an hour before serving.
- Be sure to check out my 10 tips for baking cake, based on reader comments and questions!
Comments
No Comments