Basic Vanilla Cake – My Baking Habit

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

I’ve been running a blog for thus lengthy that generally I neglect once 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 basic 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 extremely superb 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. 

The very best basic 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 just isn’t so simple as placing the batter for my vanilla cupcakes into cake pans and altering the baking time. It truly took a superb little bit of fiddling to guarantee 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 totally scrumptious. I take advantage of a mix of vanilla extract and vanilla paste to get the easiest vanilla taste. 

It tastes unbelievable, it appears lovely, and it’ll completely make you rethink all the pieces 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 mix of butter and shortening to get their shiny white shade. Funfetti cupcakes and angel meals cake are two examples of white muffins.

White cake can be historically used for wedding ceremony muffins, though that’s much less true as of late with {couples} selecting less-traditional cake flavors.

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

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

The best way to make my vanilla cake

This can be a fairly customary cake recipe and one that almost anyone can whip up for a birthday, vacation, social gathering, or just because it’s Thursday and also you need some cake.

Elements you’ll want

To make my vanilla cake, you have to:

• 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 an alternative of all-purpose flour. Cake flour helps give the cake its mild 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 peerlessly 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 superb 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 may be very mild and fluffy.

Add the eggs one after the other, 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. 

Remember to combine nicely after every addition and scrape down the perimeters 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 executed when a toothpick or tester inserted within the heart comes out clear.

Enable 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 options

With a basic vanilla cake, the choices are limitless in relation to frostings you should use!

You’ll be able to by no means go fallacious with vanilla buttercream or chocolate buttercream. 

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

When you’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 a lot of methods you may 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! Strive pairing totally different fillings and frostings to provide you with your loved ones’s favourite combos.

Vanilla cake storage suggestions

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 lined container. In case you have used a buttercream frosting and your kitchen just isn’t too heat, you may go away it at room temperature for as much as 3 days.

In case 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 in regards to the freezer! You’ll be able to 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 tips on how to put together your cake for freezing and tips on how to thaw, take a look at my submit on tips on how to freeze cake.