This is my favorite from-scratch vanilla cake recipe that was created after TONS of recipe testing in search of the perfect vanilla cake – one that has the light and fluffy texture of box cake mix, is packed with vanilla flavor, and super easy to make. This one checks all of those boxes and has become a go-to for me and for many of you, which makes me so happy! Pair it with vanilla buttercream and pretty sprinkles for the ultimate vanilla birthday cake, or pair it with any of my other frostings to mix it up. It goes well with everything!
One reader, Haley, says: “1000% this is the best vanilla cake recipe I have ever made. I quite literally NEVER leave reviews on things that I try, but there is no way that I could go without telling you how DELICIOUS this cake is.” ★★★★★
From-Scratch Vanilla Cake that Rivals Box Mix
I have a little confession to make: when I first started making cakes, my secret go-to for far too long was the box vanilla cake mix by Betty Crocker.
Phew. Now you know.
Since I became accustomed to the light and fluffy texture of said box mix, every time I tried to make a vanilla cake from scratch, the result seemed off. Blame it on the lack of Propylene Glycol Mono (or the handful of other ingredients in box mixes that you’ve never heard of), but my from-scratch vanilla cakes always ended up too dense, tasted a little cornbread-ish, and just didn’t have that fluffy appeal. Finding a go-to vanilla cake recipe from scratch felt like a mountain I had to climb, but after (what felt like) five hundred tries and a whole lot of not giving up, I’ve found a recipe that is beyond my wildest cake dreams.
Perfect Vanilla Cake Ingredients & Substitutions
This vanilla cake is soft and moist, so easy to whip up, and tastes like a dream. There are some key ingredients that make it this way, and I’ve listed them below. I’ve also shared some substitutions that can be made just in case you’re in a pinch:
- Cake Flour. To achieve the super soft texture in this cake, I swear by cake flour. It produces a much fluffier cake than all-purpose (or plain) flour because of its lower protein content (the more protein in your flour the stiffer the dough and less ability to maintain moisture). You can find cake flour at most grocery stores, but if all you’ve got is all-purpose flour in your pantry, here are instructions for how to make your own cake flour. Keep in mind that if you do use the homemade version, the gram measurement will weigh more (325g instead of 290g) since all-purpose flour is heavier than cake flour.
- Baking Powder + Baking Soda. The leavening agents in this recipe. Using both makes it the perfect amount of fluffy.
- Unsalted Butter. The main fat in this recipe, which adds lots of moisture, great structure, and rich flavor. If you only have salted butter on hand, you can substitute that but be sure to omit the salt in the recipe if you do.
- Granulated Sugar. This not only sweetens the cake, it creates a tender crumb as well. You can substitute this with caster sugar if you wish and it will be even more soft.
- Whole Eggs + Egg Whites. I use two large eggs and two large egg whites in this recipe. The egg whites keep the cake lighter while adding the perfect amount of protein and binding power.
- Sour Cream. Sour cream adds the perfect amount of moisture to this cake. If you don’t have that locally you can substitute it for plain yogurt or Crème fraîche.
- Pure Vanilla Extract. I use an entire tablespoon of vanilla extract in this cake, which takes the flavor beyond! I recommend using a quality vanilla extract here (not imitation). You can substitute the extract for vanilla bean paste if you wish.
- Whole Milk. Since it has the highest fat percentage of any milk (aside from buttermilk), the whole milk creates a rich crumb while binding the ingredients together. You can technically substitute this for another kind of milk, but whole milk is going to yield the best results.
Vanilla Cake Baking Tips for Success
Even if you have all the right ingredients, it’s important to follow a few ground rules when it comes to baking this cake (or really any cake). Here are a few best practices that will really set you up for success:
- Start with room temperature ingredients. Cake baking is a science, and when ingredients like eggs, butter, and dairy are at room temperature, they form an emulsion which traps air in the batter. Once you place that batter in the oven, the trapped air expands and gives your cake a good rise and lovely, tender crumb. It’ll only happen when you use room temperature ingredients, so if you want your cake to live up to it’s true potential, don’t skip this step.
- Use fresh baking powder and baking soda. Each of these leavening agents are responsible for helping your cake to rise. Once their containers are open, they only have a six month shelf life! When they’re past their expiration date, the chemical reaction that causes your cake to rise won’t happen. If you want those cakes to rise beautifully, make sure your baking powder and baking soda are within that 6 month window.
- Use the paddle attachment on your stand mixer. Also known as the “flat beater” attachment, the paddle attachment helps incorporate just the right amount of air. Other attachments might add too much air to your cake batter, causing them to become over-mixed and potentially sink in the baking process. If you don’t have a stand mixer, an electric hand mixer works just fine.
- Be careful not to over or under mix. Under-mixing the batter will prevent important chemical reactions from happening in your cake batter, and over-mixing will lead to too much gluten development (aka a dense cake). In order to help you mix for the right amount of time, I’ve listed all of the mixing times in the recipe below. Follow those exactly for best results!
- Know your oven. I’ve written this recipe (and all of my recipes) for a conventional oven. If you have a convection or fan-assisted oven, you’ll want to reduce the baking temperature to 325ºF (163ºC) and check for doneness a few minutes earlier than specified.
Here’s a quick video to show you the process for making this vanilla cake:
If you love recipe videos like this one, be sure to check out my YouTube channel! I’ve got a growing collection of cake recipes, decorating tutorials, and Cake Basics over there. Hit the subscribe button on my page so you never miss a new video.
What Frosting to Pair with Vanilla Cake
This vanilla cake pairs well with so many buttercream flavors, but if you want to keep things on the vanilla spectrum, try pairing it with a double batch of my Vanilla Buttercream Recipe. It does not disappoint!
If you’d rather switch things up, a double batch of any of my frosting recipes will work great! I’ve got recipes for alternative cake fillings here as well.
Updates
In 2022: I slightly changed the measurements of these same ingredients to make this cake even more soft and light! The original recipe is in this youtube video if you’ve come to love that one.
In 2025: I finally updated the photos to show more of the inside of the cake! The exterior decoration changed to reflect a simpler design as well. Basically a smooth buttercream finish, these pretty rainbow sprinkles, and swirls on top created with Wilton Tip 4B.
Perfect Vanilla Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake
- 2 3/4 Cups (290g) sifted cake flour* DIY recipe in notes
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 Cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 Cups (300g) granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs + 2 egg whites, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream, room temperature
- 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 Cup (240ml) whole milk, room temperature
Vanilla Frosting
- 2 batches vanilla buttercream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Prepare three 6-inch cake pans or two 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans by spraying the sides with a cooking spray (Baker's Joy is my favorite) and fitting a parchment paper circle to the bottom of the pan.
- Sift the cake flour and then measure by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Add the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer (a handheld mixer works fine too!), beat the butter on high for two minutes until it's light and creamy. Add in the sugar and continue to mix on medium-high for another two minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add the eggs and egg whites, one at a time, mixing until just combined and scraping down the bowl and paddle as needed. Add the vanilla and sour cream, turn the mixer to high, and beat for one full minute. It will look curdled at this point, but don’t worry – it will become smooth cake batter at the end.
- Add in the dry ingredients all at once and turn the mixer to low speed. Mix until just combined, then slowly pour in the milk. Continue to mix on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and give it a few stirs with a whisk to make sure there are no lumps. The batter will be slightly thick.
- Pour the batter evenly into the prepared cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes. They're done when they spring back to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pan for five minutes before turning them out onto a wire rack for an additional few hours of cooling. Make sure they're entirely room temperature before filling and frosting with a double batch of my vanilla buttercream (or any frosting!).
Hi Whitney. Want to try your Perfect Vanilla Cake Recipe. Would like it to be coconut. Could I use 1 Tbsp of coconut extract instead of 1 Tbsp vanilla. Do you think it would work?
Hi Darlene! For coconut cake, use this recipe: https://sugarandsparrow.com/almond-joy-cake-recipe/ it’s the same vanilla cake base but altered to be coconut flavored!
I don’t have sour cream can I make with out that pls? Pls send me ur reply….
Hi Nishi! The sour cream is essential for making this cake extra moist, but if you don’t have it on hand the best substitute for it is plain greek yogurt. Hope that helps!
How would this recipe work for a multiple tiered wedding cake? Each tier would have 3 layers. Is is dense enough to remain stable and be easy to cut into a large number of servings? Hopefully those questions make sense
Hi Deb! This recipe totally works for a multiple tiered wedding cake. I’ve used it many times for that purpose!
Hello! I just tried out your cake recipe! It tasted great! However I ran into some snags I was hoping you could help me troubleshoot. I think I undercooked it a bit, due to the outside getting so dark I thought I was overcooking it. It also seemed a little denser than I’d like. After the cake came out and cooled rather than a domed top, it fell. Did I do something wrong? I also used pastry flour rather than cake flour because I couldn’t find it. Maybe that was the issue? I want to try agian but also want to understand my possible mistakes. Thanks!
Hi Eilene! Since cake flour is super important for giving this cake the light, fluffy texture, your use of pastry flour is most likely responsible for the dense texture. I’m not sure that it would make the cake fall in the center though, but since I’ve never worked with pastry flour before I can’t entirely rule that out as the culprit. Next time, if you can’t find cake flour, I would recommend using this diy recipe instead: https://sugarandsparrow.com/homemade-cake-flour. And here are the most common reasons why a cake would sink in the middle: https://sugarandsparrow.com/why-cakes-sink/ hope that helps!
I’ve just made this cake. It was a total disaster!! All 3 cakes rose and spilled all over the oven. Took forever to cook. I used 3 6″pans so no idea what went wrong.
Hi Claire! It sounds like you may have overfilled your pans if they spilled over the edge. Were they filled more than 2/3 of the way full? Assuming you didn’t make any substitutions in the recipe that is my best guess as to what went wrong.
Hi. No substitutions were made but can you confirm the amount of baking powder is correct, please. It seems quite a lot. Thankyou.
The amount of baking powder is correct. If you make this cake next time, make sure to fill the pans no more than 2/3 full so that the batter doesn’t spill over the sides. If the cake pans are overfilled, the cake will spill over the edges and cause the remaining cake batter to not bake properly.
To create that hombre pink look what do you do?
Hi Emma! You just made me realize I don’t have a tutorial on how to make an ombre cake (added to my list!). Here’s a tutorial for a different cake that has that same ombre technique though: https://sugarandsparrow.com/under-the-sea-cake-tutorial/ just swap out the blue colors with dark pink, light pink, and white. Hope that helps!
This recipe was great! First vanilla cake recipe I’ve made that actually stays moist for several days later!
Yay, Alyssa! I’m so happy to hear that!
hi! How would I adjust everything to make a 2 layer 8”inch cake and a 3 layer 8” cake? Thanks!
Hi Nikki, use this recipe as-is to make a two layer 8 inch cake. You can use this recipe to make enough for a third 8-inch layer (just omit the sprinkles): http://sugarandsparrow.com/funfetti-cake-recipe hope that helps!
Hi! I have made 4 of your cakes. This is the third one that has taken WAY longer to bake than 35 min. It is still very liquidy in the center at 35 min. I use an oven thermometer and I do not open the oven to look or anything. The tops are pretty browned(not burnt) but need to keep baking. Do you suggest in future I lower the temp and cook longer? Any other trick?
I have done 3 6 inch cakes for each recipe.
Oh no, Melissa! I’m sorry to hear that! Are your cake pans deeper than the standard 2 inches? It’s a puzzler because most of my cake recipes use this vanilla cake recipe as a base, so they should all have about the same baking time (unless they’re a chocolate based cake).
I made this recipe in January, and the person absolutely loved their cake! Now I have an order for a gluten free vanilla cake, and I’m wondering if I can use this recipe with gluten free flour instead?
I’m so happy to hear that, Jordanne! I have heard of people successfully subbing in GF flour (a cup for cup sub for the cake flour) but I have never tried it myself, so I can’t say for sure how it will turn out/taste. Let me know if you try it and how it turns out if you do!
Hi, this came looks amazing. I have one question…. Can I use margarine as butter or do I have to use real butter?
Hi Lisa! I’ve never tried this recipe with margarine before, so it would be an experiment. I can only recommend unsalted butter at this point, but let me know if you try it with margarine!
I have been trying to find a good baking website for quite some time and when I found this website I fell in love with it , it is the best website I have ever come across, it was the best tips for baking and the most delicious recipes. I watch all the videos every day and really this website is really amazing!!!!
Yay, Aoife! That makes me so happy to hear 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Hi Whitney! This is THE BEST vanilla cake EVER! I love all of your amazing cakes. Just wondering why you don’t alternate the drys and milk, most other recipes do this. The batter is always curdled for me despite using a thermometer to get equal room temps for all ingredients. Thanks!!
Hi Sheridan! So happy you love this recipe as much as I do! The reason I don’t alternate dry/liquid ingredients at the end is mostly to prevent overmixing. At which point in the recipe are you finding that the batter is curdled? It tends to look this way after adding the eggs/sour cream/vanilla but should come together at the end.
Hello! I made this cake the other day and it was a hit! My favorite vanilla cake recipe for sure! I made it tonight and last time I opened the oven door too early and my cake fell in the middle. This time, I made sure not to do that, took my cakes out when my toothpick was clean, and let them cool. While I was leveling them, I noticed the middle seemed very moist and am questioning if it was done enough…even though the toothpick came out clean. I let my room temperature ingredients sit a little longer (but not for too long) than last time, but was wondering if I should be concerned or not. I would hate to waste the cake and was wondering what your thoughts were? Thank you! 🙂
Hi Ashley! Sometimes when the cake is gummy in the middle it’s due to overmixing the batter. It should be totally ok to eat, but next time I would make sure to mix for the exact times/speeds in the instructions and also check out this post on why cakes sink in the middle. It could be another of those reasons as well: https://sugarandsparrow.com/why-cakes-sink/ Hope that helps! And I’m so happy you love this recipe!
Hi there! I’ve made this recipe as above and it was spectacular. I’m wanting to make another but in a 10inch x 4inch high tin. Is this recipe enough or any advice on doing this and cooking time? Thankyou in advance
Hi Terri! So happy you love this recipe. Are you using just one 10 x 4 inch pan? If so then yes, this recipe will be enough. I’m not sure the exact timing for baking a cake of that size since I’ve never baked this recipe in a deep pan like that. How long do you usually bake a cake in a tin that size? My hunch would be to bake it low and slow – reduce the oven temp to 325 and bake for about 45-50 min, but I’m not exactly sure.