Step 1

Preheat your oven to 325 F. If you're making cupcakes, preheat your oven to 350°F instead.

Step 2

Prep your pans to your liking. You can use cooking spray, "cake goop," parchment paper, or grease your pan with butter then dust it with flour. I personally just put a few drops of light olive oil in my pans and spread it around with a basting brush.

Step 3

Since this recipe yields a layer cake, I recommended the "reverse creaming" method for mixing the batter.

Step 4

Mix dry ingredients first. (flour, baking powder, sugar, salt)

Step 5

Slice your softened, room-temp butter into pieces. Mix everything until crumbly.

Step 6

Now gradually add in your wet ingredients (eggs, milk, vanilla extract) while mixing the batter. It's important to mix the batter until just combined, being careful not to over mix.

Step 7

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake at 325°F for 37-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. For cupcakes, Bake at 350°F for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Step 8

Once done, let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack for additional cooling.

Step 9

Let cake (or cupcakes) cool to room temp before applying frosting. If you apply the frosting while still warm, your frosting will melt and slide off.