Moist Vanilla Cake Recipe From Scratch

Step 1

IMPORTANT: This is the BEST vanilla cake because I use a scale so it turns out perfectly 🙂 If you convert to cups I cannot guarantee good results. Make sure all your (cold ingredients) butter, eggs, milk are at room temperature or a little warm. See my post about how to use a scale if you don't know how to measure by weight.

Step 2

Heat oven to 335º F/168º C . Prepare two 8"x2" cake pans with cake goop or another preferred pan release. For extra security, line with parchment paper.

Step 3

Measure out milk. Place 4 oz in a separate measuring cup. Add the oil to the 4oz of milk and set aside. (If you are doubling the recipe, don't forget to double this too.)

Step 4

To the remaining milk, add vanilla and room temp eggs. Whisk gently to combine. Set aside.

Step 5

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment.

Step 6

Turn the mixer onto the slowest speed (setting 1 on Kitchen Aid mixers). Slowly add chunks of your softened butter until it is all added then let everything mix until it looks like coarse sand.

Step 7

Add your milk/oil mixture all at once to the dry ingredients and mix on medium (speed 4 on kitchenaid, speed 2 on bosch) for 2 full minutes to develop the structure. Set a timer! Don't worry, this will not over-mix the cake.

Step 8

After 2 minutes, scrape the bowl. This is an important step. If you skip it, you will have hard lumps of flour and unmixed ingredients in your batter. If you do it later, they will not mix in fully.

Step 9

Slowly add in the rest of your liquid ingredients in 3 parts, stopping to scrape the bowl one more time halfway through. Mix until just combined. Your batter should be thick and not too runny.

Step 10

Divide batter into your greased cake pans and fill 3/4 of the way full. I like to weigh my pans to make sure they're even.

Step 11

Bake for 30 minutes and check your cakes. Do the "done test". Insert a toothpick to see if it comes out clean. Sometimes wet batter doesn't show up so make sure it's clean and not just wet. Then gently touch the top of the cake, does it spring back? Oven temperatures vary so if it's not done yet, bake for a few more minutes (2-and check again until it passes the "done" test.

Step 12

Remove cakes from the oven and give them a tap on the countertop to release air and prevent too much shrinking. Let them cool on a cooling rack until they are barely warm.

Step 13

After cooling for about 10 minutes, place the cooling rack on top of the cake, placing one hand on top of the cooling rack and one hand under the pan and flip the pan and the cooling rack over so the pan is now upside down on the cooling rack. Remove the pan carefully. Repeat with the other pan.

Step 14

After the cakes are fully cooled, carefully wrap them in plastic wrap and place them into the freezer or fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up the cakes and make them easier to handle for stacking.

Step 15

After your cakes are chilled, fill them with your favorite frosting and frost the outside. If you're not familiar with decorating cakes, check out my how to make your first cake blog post!

Step 16

Place egg whites and powdered sugar in a stand mixer bowl. Attach the whisk, combine ingredients on low and then whip on high for 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and salt.

Step 17

Add in your softened butter in chunks and whip with the whisk attachment to combine. It will look curdled at first. This is normal. It will also look pretty yellow. Keep whipping.

Step 18

Whip on high for 8-10 minutes until it's very white, light and shiny. If you don't whip it enough, it could end up tasting buttery.

Step 19

Optional: If you want whiter frosting, add in a tiny drop of purple to counteract the yellow in the butter (too much will make the frosting grey or light purple.)

Step 20

Optional: Switch to a paddle attachment and mix on low for 15-20 minutes to make the buttercream very smooth and remove air bubbles. This isn't required but if you want really creamy frosting, you don't want to skip it.