Homemade Cake Recipes
My team and I believe that celebrations call for cake! Here you’ll find cakes of all flavors and sizes, and levels of difficulty ranging from very easy berry icebox cake to more challenging vertical cake. If you’re looking for a classic layer cake recipe, vanilla cake, white cake, triple chocolate cake, carrot cake, red velvet cake, lemon blueberry cake, and strawberry cake are some of the most popular recipes on my site, with thousands of reviews. But you’ll also find recipes for Bundt cakes, pound cake, sheet cakes, 6-inch cakes, cake pops, and much more!
Vanilla Cake
This homemade vanilla cake is an impressive yet simple one-bowl recipe that makes even a beginner baker feel like a professional! A soft tender cake infused with the heavenly flavor of vanilla that pairs well with any frosting!
Love cake recipes? You’ll also want to make strawberry cake, yellow cake and my best coconut cake recipe, too!
Best Vanilla Cake From Scratch
I’ve shared with you the best chocolate cake recipe and as fond of chocolate, as I am, I’m not ashamed to admit I love this homemade vanilla cake! The beautiful vanilla flavor is infused in every morsel and it’s only matched by a firm yet tender, moist crumb.
More often than not I’ll stick with using a classic vanilla buttercream frosting o
r a chocolate buttercream frosting for birthdays and special occasions. but if you’re looking for something a little different I’m including a ton of options for you.
Why You’ll Love This Easy Vanilla Cake Recipe
- Delicious. When you use a good quality vanilla extract or vanilla bean the difference in flavor is more pronounced in this vanilla cake and my crème brûlée, too!
- Easy with simple ingredients. There’s nothing complicated in this recipe. Making a layered cake from scratch is easier than you think!
- Versatile. Vanilla cake can be used for anything but is also great with any type of frosting!
Ingredients Needed
This classic vanilla cake recipe is the ideal sturdy base for a variety of frosting flavors which makes it the perfect choice for birthday cakes, holidays, showers, and graduations.
Find the full printable recipe with specific measurements below.
- Flour: I use cake flour in this recipe as I find it lends a softer texture, however, you can use all-purpose flour. You’ll end up using less all-purpose and may find the cake is slightly denser, but either choice is great.
- Granulated sugar: A dessert needs sweetness!
- Baking powder: A leavening agent that will react so nicely with the acid in the buttermilk. It will help to keep it light and fluffy.
- Fine sea salt: We’re using unsalted butter which allows us to control the amount of salt we use. It helps to bring out flavors.
- Unsalted butter, at room temperature: It needs to be soft enough to cream, so if you’ve forgotten to take it out of the fridge, here are some tips on how to soften butter.
- Buttermilk at room temperature: A sour tangy milk that adds richness and moisture to all kinds of baked goods including this cake. Here’s how to make buttermilk using any milk you have on hand.
- Pure vanilla extract: Since the vanilla flavor shines through it’s important to use a good quality pure vanilla extract, that doesn’t have an overpowering alcohol flavor. You can also use vanilla beans. The flecks of vanilla throughout the cake are just a bonus!
- Eggs & egg whites: Using both whole eggs for binding and moisture along with egg whites for a light, fluffy, airy consistency to the cake batter results in the perfect balance of softness and structure.
How to Make Vanilla Cake
The “paste” or “reverse creaming” method makes a well-structured cake without having to cream the butter and sugar first. It’s a simple technique that I will walk you through
- Combine dry ingredients. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. If using a hand mixer, whisk that together on low speed.
- Add wet ingredients. We are using a reverse creaming method for this cake (more information on this reverse creaming). Turn the mixer up to medium and beat in the butter for 1 minute until it’s combined and coarse. Mix in the buttermilk and vanilla on low speed until combined. Then you’ll add in 1 egg at a time followed by the egg whites until the batter is smooth.
- Pour batter evenly. Pour into both prepared cake pans and smooth out the tops to ensure a level cake.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. Bake the batteruntil golden brown around the edges. Insert a toothpick into the middle of them. If it comes out clean, they’re done. Let them sit and cool for 5 minutes in the pans before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Pumpkin cake
This simple and straightforward pumpkin cake recipe is for those of us who want pure pumpkin and spice flavors with nothing else in the way. Brown sugar and 2 cups of pumpkin puree promise big flavor and an extra moist texture. It’s certainly wonderful on its own, but you’ll love the smooth and tangy cream cheese frosting on top!
Details About this Pumpkin Cake
- Flavor: Like I mention above, this cake is loaded with flavor thanks to a whopping 2 cups of pumpkin puree. We add cinnamon and there’s plenty of pumpkin pie spice, too. Like in my pumpkin scones recipe, you can use store-bought or homemade pumpkin pie spice mix or each of those spices individually—see our recipe note below. Tangy cream cheese frosting is always a lovely pairing with pumpkin and spice flavors. Each bite truly has it all!
- Texture: Like it does in this chocolate cake recipe, oil keeps the cake’s crumb soft and moist. In fact, we like to describe it as “stick-to-your-fork moist.” Our pumpkin cupcakes is essentially the same recipe, but yields a reduced quantity of batter.
- Ease: This is a single layer cake, so it’s pretty easy to prepare since there’s really no assembly required. Prepping the cake batter is similar to our spice cake, apple cake, and zucchini cake—make sure you have 2 mixing bowls and a 9×13 inch pan. The quarter sheet size is also convenient for transporting, storing, and serving. You’ll appreciate this recipe as an easy addition to your holiday dessert menu alongside all those delicious Thanksgiving pies!