Vanilla Cake Recipe Easy from Scratch

Author: Veruska Anconitano, Award-Winning Food Travel Journalist, Sommelier & Outdoor LoverAuthor information
Veruska
About the author
Veruska Anconitano
Veruska is a a food travel journalist with awards to her credit, such as World Best Food Travel Journalist. She holds a certification as a sommelier and she is also an ardent lover of the outdoors. Aside from this, Veruska is a Multilingual SEO and Localization Consultant and co-owns multiple websites that cater to a global audience.
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This vanilla cake recipe is delicious and simple to make. Not only will you love the outcome and flavor, but you’ll find the steps and directions simple and easy to follow.

Finding an easy cake recipe isn’t hard to do, but finding one that fits your taste buds is where the difficulty lies.

What’s great about this vanilla cake recipe is that it’s great for a wide variety of occasions. This quick cake recipe can be used for weddings, birthdays or just as a simple and easy dessert. If you have a dessert that you’re needing to take with you to any type of occasion, this vanilla cake recipe needs to be on your radar.

Can you use salted butter in this vanilla cake recipe?

It’s not recommended to use salted butter in this recipe because there is already salt added to this recipe. If you are going to use salted butter, you’ll want to remove the added salt from the ingredients listed above. Having both salted butter and added salt will cause this cake recipe to be too salty to enjoy.

What’s the key to having a moist easy cake?

Not mixing the cake mixture too much is the key to having a cake that is moist and delicious. If you do happen to overmix your cake batter, you’ll notice that the cake when cooked will be crumbly and falling apart. While it can be difficult to know just how many times to mix it, a good rule of thumb is to just look at the mixture and eyeball it. When all the ingredients looked mixed together, it’s mixed well and you can stop.

What type of toppings can go on this vanilla cake recipe?

There are an unlimited amount of toppings that can go on this easy cake recipe. You can add some buttercream frosting, a little bit of powdered sugar or just a dollop of whipped cream, if you’d like. Some people prefer their cakes to be super sweet while others like them to just have a faint bit of sweetness to them. One way to have this for everyone to enjoy is to let each person decorate their own individual slices.

Can you turn this quick cake recipe into another flavor of cake?

If you add a bit of chocolate or cocoa powder, you can turn this vanilla cake recipe into a chocolate cake recipe with ease. Super simple and easy to do! And if you like the idea of making your own homemade sponge cake recipe, the texture and consistency of this vanilla cake recipe will give you that same taste and texture.

Reading for this delicious vanilla cake recipe?! It’s one that you’ll be able to whip up in no time at all!

All you need are a few simple ingredients to get started with this Vanilla Cake Recipe.

Ingredients for 12

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs room temperature
  • 1 1/2 tsp organic vanilla extract
  • 1 cup buttermilk or whole milk, room temperature

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 8" cake rounds and line with parchment;
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined. Set aside;
  3. Cream butter and sugar on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx 3mins). Reduce speed and add eggs one at a time fully incorporating after each addition. Add vanilla;
  4. Alternate adding flour mixture and buttermilk making sure to fully incorporate the ingredients after each addition;
  5. Bake for 30-35 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean;
  6. Place cakes on a wire rack to cool for 10mins then turn out onto wire rack;
  7. You can decorate your vanilla cake with buttercream, whipped cream or even mascarpone cream.

notes

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 50 minutes

Total time: 1.1 hours

Now that you know the main directions and ingredients to this cake recipe, here are a few simple tips to remember when you’re baking it.

 Vanilla Cake

Simple Tips for This Vanilla Cake Recipe

  • Adding just a touch (1/4 – 1/2 tsp.) of almond emulsion to vanilla cake really brings out the vanilla flavor and you don’t really taste the almond flavoring.
  • Use a paddle (flat beater) attachment to mix your cake batter. This is better because not as much batter gets caught up in the beaters.
  • Don’t substitute baking soda and baking powder. They aren’t exactly interchangeable. Baking soda is much stronger than baking powder, so don’t try subbing them out equally.
  • Room temperature ingredients mix better than cold ingredients. While you can mix them cold, they might be lumpy and not mix together well.
  • Check your oven temperature. For this cake to bake perfectly, your oven temperature needs to be set exactly as directed.
  • Don’t open your oven a hundred times to check the cake. No matter how much you’re tempted to do so, every time you open that oven door, you’re letting out all the hot air that you’ve worked so hard to capture. Instead, look through the window or limit your time that you’re opening it.
  • Don’t over-beat the cake batter. Like mentioned earlier, this makes the cake super tough and not as good.

How do you store leftover cake?

If you happen to have any cake leftover after making it, you’ll want to store it in an airtight container. Doing this makes certain that the cake will stay as moist as possible for as long as possible.

Can you freeze the leftover cake for later?

It’s always possible to freeze this vanilla cake recipe for later, just know that the texture might be a bit different when you try and unthaw it. The taste and flavor will still be delicious, though!

This vanilla cake recipe is one that is simple and easy to do. It can be whipped up easily for a quick and fast dessert, but it saves well for later, too. Adding some different flavors and frostings to this cake can be a great way to change the taste and look.

Perfect for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries or “just because”, you can trust in the fact that this cake will deliver tasty results every single time!

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