basic cake recipe

Moist Vanilla Layer Cake is just what it sounds like - a moist, soft vanilla cake that's easy to make too!

Moist Vanilla Layer Cake

(325 grams) all purpose flour

tsp baking powder

tsp salt

(168 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

(310 grams) sugar

vegetable oil

tbsp vanilla extract

eggs

(300 milliliters) milk

(336 grams) salted butter

(284 grams) shortening

(1380 grams) powdered sugar

water

Violet get icing color

Cornflower blue gel icing color

Sprinkles*

Prepare three 8 inch cake pans with parchment paper circles in the bottom and grease the sides. Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.

Add the butter, sugar, oil and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and beat together until light in color and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Do not skimp on the creaming time.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until mostly combined after each. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated.

Add half of the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until mostly combined.

Slowly add the milk and mix until well combined. The batter will look curdled, but that’s ok.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until well combined and smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to be sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Do not over mix the batter.

Divide the batter evenly between the cakes pans and bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs.

Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes, then remove to cooling racks to cool completely.

For the Cake:

To make the frosting, beat the butter and shortening together until smooth.

Slowly add half of the powdered sugar and mix until smooth.

Add the vanilla extract and 4-5 tablespoons of water or milk and mix until smooth.

Slowly add the remaining powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add additional water or milk, as needed to get the right consistency of frosting.

For the Frosting:

To put the cake together, use a large serrated knife to remove the domes from the top of the cakes so that they’re flat. These cakes don’t have a large dome, but I like to make sure they’re completely flat.

Place the first cake on a serving plate or a cardboard cake round.

Spread about 1 cup of frosting evenly on top of the cake.

Add the second layer of cake and another cup of frosting.

Top the cake with the remaining layer and frost the outside of the cake. Refer to my tutorial for frosting a smooth cake, if needed.

Press sprinkles into the sides of the cake

Color the remaining frosting to your desired shade. I used a mix of purple and cornflower blue gel icing color.

Pipe swirls of frosting around the top edge of the cake. I used Ateco tip 844.

Add a few more sprinkles to the top of the cake. Store in an air-tight container. Cake is best for 3-4 days.

To Assemble the Cake:

I made this cake for Father’s Day, I decorated it differently however it tasted absolutely amazing ! Was soooo moist and I haven’t baked for years, I hate a dry cake but this was lovely! I used a ready made frosting for the outside and vanilla butter cream for the layers ! Was delish!  Kids want to bake a cake at weekend and I will be using the recipe once again ! But I’m gonna add coco powder to the mix to make it chocolate this time, chocolate frosting to the outside and whipped cream for the layers ❤️

The cake had lovely texture - soft, moist, and fluffy. 

I initially creamed the butter on its own and after adding my cold eggs (oops!), it split. But after adding the sugar, the batter looked better.  

I did not have vegetable oil but was able to use olive oil without affecting the taste.  However, I did add double the amount of vanilla. 

Another substitution was using cake flour.  

Lastly, half of the recipe filled the 9 inch cake pan perfectly. 

Thanks for a perfect recipe!

Hi Lindsay 
I love the taste and texture of this cake, as does everyone who tastes it, but whenever I make it the bake always comes out with a bubbly sticky top and I don't get a very good rise. I have my ingredients at room temperature, the oven is the correct temperature, but in my oven I have to bake it for longer than stated. I've tried it in two different cake pans and always the same results, any advice? 
Thank you.

Thank you for your reply. Sorry my response is late. The raising agent is fresh, I just wasn't mixing the cake enough, when I did it came out perfect. It's a great recipe, thank you so much for sharing it.

Such a great recipe! Finally a Vanilla cake that the whole family enjoyed. 

Lovely caje, my go to vanilla recipe. Can I use the recipe for two 10inch pans?

I have used this recipe to make 3x 6” cakes but now mi was wondering if it possible to split the batter between two 10” cake tins ? 

Hi Lindsay, 

I love this recipe but can you please recommend a recipe for a white cake ?

Hi there! I live high altitude (5000 feet) and here are my standard adjustments:


Add: 
3 TBSP water 
15°-25° oven temperature 
(May need to decrease baking time 5 min per 30 min)

Decrease:
Chemical leaveners by 1/4
Sugar 1 TBSP per cup 


If that doesn't work:
Add 2 TBSP flour 
Add 1 egg

I’ve never had a cake fail since implementing this! Adjustments may be different if you’re at a different altitude than I am, but hopefully it’ll give you a starting point, 

I’ve been dying for a moist and fluffy flavorful vanilla cake and this might be it. Only change I made was subbing reduced fat sour cream for the milk because I wanted something really moist. The flavor was so delicious on this (often lacking when I go for an oil based vanilla cake as I’m desperate for the moist texture). This was just a test cake so I saved a layer to freeze (want to test the texture after) and the other half I dug into. Tomorrow to be the test to see if it remains moist, or if it was so good only because it was fresh out of the oven. Thank you Lindsay!

This recipe looks awesome! I’m going to be making this but i don’t have 3 cake pans is it okay to bake them one at a time? If so how much in each cake tin so I can measure the batter out? 
Thank you ???? 

Hey Lindsay, my cake is currently in the oven and time is nearly up (approx 3 mins to go) and the cakes have sunk in the middle. i have foloowed this recipe to a T and i dont know where it has all gone wrong? Can u any suggestions? Also i havnt opened the door at all. CONFUSED!! :(

This is my go-to Vanilla ABC recipe!  Super simple and great taste - I am really sold on using hi-ratio shortening combined with butter in ABC!

Fantastic recipe thanks so much!!
Made for my daughter's 3rd birthday and it came out so lovely and moist ans soft!!

Made this as a wedding cake for our daughters wedding. Turned out beautiful. Great flavor, not to sweet. The buttercream was perfect. I find a lot of recipes can taste overly buttery but this one reminded me of store bought icing. We also made it into cupcakes for the guests. This will definitely be my go to recipe from now on. 

OMG!! I tried this recipe today and  THE CAKE WAS AMAZING!!!!

I used this recipe to make a few short cakes and decorated them with berries for the holidays. They turned out so delicious! Thanks for the easy-to-follow directions, I will make the purple version soon! :)

I absolutely love this recipe, it's my go to for a layer cake!
I've seen a few people ask on here, but I need to do a layered chocolate cake. Do you have a recommended recipe or could i just swap out certain ingredients?

Makes a lovely cake. Thanks for posting the recipe. One suggestion for the order of the steps: swap steps 2 and 3. This could help some people (like me today) avoid mixing wet and dry ingredients too early and not creaming the butter and sugar as intended. Recipe still worked out well though.

Hello, I made this back in September for my daughter's 3rd birthday and cake was absolutely delicious soft and moist! i need to make it again but have totally forgotten whether i used plain flour or self raising flour as i am in the UK and we don't have all purpose flour.

Please advise?

Many thanks!!

I made this for my husbands birthday.  I wanted a moist, flavorful cake and got it!  If you're making cake from a box, throw it away.  This is the only recipe you will need for a perfect yellow cake.  I paired this with Hershey's rich chocolate frosting recipe.  Happy baking!

I made this last night along with the vanilla layer cake from your cookbook for a fun little vanilla cake taste off and both are so delicious! I used buttermilk in both recipes and it's uhmazingggg. This cake has a great texture, even straight from the fridge, but is most divine at room temp. I have to say I prefer the version from your book because it's more fluffy, but that's solely personal preference. My husband prefers the crumb on this recipe. 🙂

I'm so excited to have both in my arsenal! Thank you so much for the recipes.

Love this recipe!! I would like to know if I can frost the cake a night before and leave in the fridge? Or should I leave it at room tip with frosting already on the cake?? 

if i wanted to make a 10inch vanilla cake, how does this alter the recipe

Hi, i made this batter for a 10 inch cake, but I used about 2/3rds of the batter to make the cake about the level of when I use this recipe with the three 8 inch tins. It took about 30 minutes to bake in my oven. I then made another batter and added the remaining cake batter from the remaining batter from the first cake and baked two 10 inch cakes and it worked perfectly.

Thank you! Now I can see it indeed! I began to worry a little bit because I want tomake it tomorrow for a birthday for a daughter of my friend but thought now I need to do something else.
Tomorrow after baking I will write it down :) Really great recipe!
Thanks one more time!

I used this as a base for my Strawberry Crunch cake, and this cake came out perfect. I used buttermilk instead of regular due to the sugar content of everything else I using on top of the cake but omg it was so fluffy and baked to the perfect height. Definitely using your recipe from now on!

Really simple and very yummy cake.
Saved your recipe for future. 
Thanks for sharing

Made this and i loved it! Reminds me of a good box cake. Thank you 💜

I’ve been trying multiple cake recipes the past month, and this has been the clear winner! 

I was looking for a good vanilla cake recipe and I tried Chelsweets &amp; yours. I did not enjoy the Chelsweets recipe as much as I did yours. I loved it and got rave reviews. Now it’s my go to vanilla cake recipe. Thank you 😊 

Hello from.Accra Ghana. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe... it's been a long hard journey to finding the perfect vanilla cake! Am glad to say , am searching no more ... this is for me. It's a big hit with my family. Sending u big hugsssssssss.

The cake is delicious!! The buttercream recipe I would cut powder sugar to about 400 grams. I added about 600 grams and the buttercream is overpowering sweat. Great cake overall! 

This cake!! I doubled it and put it in three 9” pans and it baked up perfectly. It was soft but still structurally sound. This is my new favorite vanilla cake. Thank you for such an easy and great cake. 

Thank you, thank you. Your recipes make my life sweeter.

Ok WOW !! I used 2 - 8inch rounds...was perfection...I did a strawberry mousse filling...I followed the icing exactly as written. Not to sweet, because the cake is not to sweet. Plus the consistency of the icing made the smoothness and the piping just Devine....I can not thank you enough for sharing all of this, it’s so selfless..
I will tah you on my Instagram post tomorrow!!!
Thank you Lindsey 🎂 ps...watched icing tutorial 

I make custom cakes and decided to try a new recipe. I will not be using another recipe for my Vanilla cake from now on!! So moist and yummy. If you want to build on the cake or cover with buttercream, simply freeze it as it is very soft and delicious. Thank you! 

Hi Lindsay!

I plan to make this cake for my daughter's 1st birthday party in a month &amp; am wondering if you have any tips for storing/transporting?? With butter &amp; milk in the frosting, surely it needs to be refrigerated, correct? I did a practice run &amp; made this cake a few days ago (it was DELICIOUS) but I kept it in the fridge, uncovered, for about 3-4 hours between frosting and enjoying &amp; unfortunately by that time it was somewhat dried out.  I know I need to place it in an air-tight container next time.. will that make all the difference in the world? Or should I not have refrigerated it at all? I will note that I am a complete cake-making novice &amp; yours is the first I've ever made from scratch, so it very well could be that I just am new at this and need to keep practicing. Thanks so much, and seriously LOVED this recipe!

Fantastic recipe! Just wondering, have you ever experimented with cake flour for this recipe, or any of your other recipes? I would love to know. Thanks!

Is it possible that you measure the 4 eggs in cups or ml?  eggs here are medium and small variating all the time. I did the recipe 2 timed, once I calculated by eye how much I have to add to make 4 large eggs, and the recipencame out perfect...the next time y thought the eggs were big enough and added the 4, but the recipe came out wrong, not fluffy. I'm sure are the eggs, since I repeated the steps.  It would be great to have the exact measurement of eggs in ml or cup please. Thank you!!!! This recipe is amazing filled with "beijinho" which is the coconut version of brazilian brigadeiro.

OMG!! THIS is my NEW go to vanilla cake!
I'VE had 1 for yrs. That sometimes came out on tje dry side.... but this 1.... REALLY takes the cake! Literally!
Sooooo good Moist, Full of Flavor &amp; gr-8 for stacking. 

Thank You sooo much for sharing!

Awesome cake .. sweetness was just perfect
No one believed when I told them that it was my first try at baking n frosting too
The cake is so soft n moist 🍰 but when I layered the bottom layer became dense coz of the weight from above two and also the frosting got absorbed into the layers.
Thou the cake didn’t last long. I wanted to know if I had to try again what shd I do differently?
Will definitely try again
Thank you

This vanilla cake looks yummmmm!!💝😋

I just tried this recipe, I loved it my new favorite Vanilla to go to cake super easy to make, Quarantine life has me baking new recipes 

Hi I’m trying to make this cake and I don’t have shortening. What can I substitute instead? 

Did a blind taste test with this cake and two others. This cake was the clear winner! It was evenly moist, light and airy, and even baked flat. Thank you!

I’ve baked this recipe three times. The first time came out perfect. The second and third times the consistency was off and I can’t figure out why. It seemed to happen after I added the milk, it seemed kind of curdled and I couldn’t get it to smooth out.  I made sure things were at room temp (or at least close I think), so I don’t think it’s that (plus the first time I didn’t wait for room temp and it was perfect). Am I overmixing it maybe? It’s coming out kind of spongy and gummy, not fluffy. It’s driving me crazy! Help please!

It was delicious!! I'm a beginner to baking, and the recipe was easy to follow and the results were mouth watering - thank you! One question, is it a typo on the calories per slice?

I made this for my daughters Birthday but I turned it in to a rainbow cake and doubled the recipe for 6 layers. Seriously the best cake I have ever made! Thank you for the amazing recipe. The cake looked and tasted amazing. Even I was shocked!

Hi, would this cake work okay if I were to add a jam/fruity filling as well as the frosting (with a dam of frosting around the edges). Thanks!

Wooow, I love to eat cake. They used to call me "cake a day" at work as I loved to have cake for breakfast :) This recipe is absolutely delicious! I had to change it slightly and use yogurt instead of milk (as I ran out), and let me tell you this may be the most delicious vanilla cake i have ever tasted. So soft, fluffy, moist, flavorful, it just taste luxurious. Thank you so much for posting!

Thanks for the recipe. I just made this cake, it was so simple and straight forward. I was so scared it was going to flop but the big flop never came (thank Goodness). The cake came out perfectly and is as light and fluffy as I hoped for. I'll definitely be making it again soon!!!

Just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing this recipe. My son's 4th birthday cake was absolutely delicious and a huge hit with all that had a piece. I bake a cake for his birthday each year and this one was by far the best one i've ever made. It was my first time doing a 3 layer cake so was feeling anxious about it turning out terribly. It turned out brilliantly and the cake was so fluffy and moist. I used caster instead of granulated sugar, which worked fine.

Perfect vanilla cake recipe. The best vanilla cake actually!
I’ve baked it many times, in many different sized tins and as cupcakes. So versatile to use with other flavoured buttercreams and fillings too.
I live in Australia, we may like cakes a little less sweet here, and I can share that reducing the sugar did not change the lovely moistness of this cake.
For special occasions I also use cake strips and/or slightly lower oven temp to help me get even rise.
Thank you Lindsay for a beautiful recipe.
I first baked this for my daughters 1st birthday and this has inspired me to bake many more celebration cakes.

Made this cake for my birthday today! Delicious!

Hi Lindsay! Thanks for the recipe. It tasted absolutely amazing! It seemed to take longer for me to get my cake done (40 mins and used an internal oven thermometer). I found that even after cooling, the cake center seems to be a bit wet. This is after slamming the cake pan on the counter and cooling for 2 hours before shifting to a cooling rack. Any thoughts on what I might be doing wrong?

So I tried this recipe and it was mind blowing I love it 😘everyone that tasted the cake loved it!😍
Coming across this website was one of thole best thing that happened to my baking life. I love u lindsay😊😊

This is the best recipe I've used for a nice sponge and covered it in buttercream roses.it didn't last long but must make one for s birthday in a few days.vould you tell me the best way to store it.i thought in the fridge overnight and take it out an hour before cutting? Thank you

A few weeks ago I baked your other vanilla cake recipe and loved it but I wanted to try out this one as well and see the difference and I'm glad I did. This cake is perfect! Its moist but doesn't fall apart as well as not losing the vanilla flavor. I baked in two 8in pans instead of 3 and added 15 minutes to the baking time and it was perfect. Lindsay your recipes are amazing!! xx

Hi Lindsay, 

Thanks for putting an end to dry cakes!! This recipe is a keeper. Like you said, everyone must have a good basic vanilla cake recipe! This is it! 

I have been trying different eggless vanilla cakes for more than 10 years, and have still not found one that works.
I recently started baking with eggs and yours was the first vanilla cake I tried with eggs, and let me just tell you, it is ABSOLUTELY DIVINE! I made it without the frosting as a tea time cake. Soft and moist, not overly sweet or oily, just melts in the mouth. My family LOVED it and I am going to attempt making cupcakes with this recipe next. My mother in law wanted to hide a piece for herself to enoy before the kids polished it all off!😂
Thank you SO much for putting this gorgeous recipe out there in the world for us all to enjoy😀🙏🏼

The cake looks perfect and fabulous to bake for a special day. Yes, its definitely the best vanilla cake. Lovely!!

Hi! This cake looks delicious! Can I freeze it for 2 days?

OMFG!! This is the best vanilla cake I have ever baked. So moist and delicious just perfect.
Thank you so much for the recipe. My search is over 😌

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxkema76GuM

This Moist Vanilla Layer Cake is a moist, soft vanilla cake! A classic cake that uses the creaming method and combination of butter and oil for a moist, flavorful cake!

Recipe: https://www.lifeloveandsugar.com/moist-vanilla-layer-cake/

Try a twist on a British classic, with this Chocolate Victoria Sponge Cake. How to make a simple homemade chocolate cake mix using basic ingredients of butter, sugar, eggs, flour and cocoa powder. Two tier chocolate sandwich cake filled with thick chocolate buttercream frosting. A easy to cook birthday cake, afternoon treat or just an excuse to get baking.Uk measurements and time given for baking in the oven in two loose base 8 inch sandwich tins.Check out blog post for ingredients and cooking time for two 7 inch or 9 inch cake tins or making chocolate cake in a single deep cake tin to cut into two after it is cooked.

Chocolate Victoria Sponge Cake

Large Eggs (Room temperature)

Butter (Room temperature (Stork

Caster Sugar

Self-raising flour

Cocoa powder

Butter (Room Temperture)

Icing sugar (plus extra for dusting on top)

Cooking Chocolate (We use milk chocolate

Weigh

For best results I would highly recommend weighing the eggs including the shells and matching your other ingredients measurements to that weight. The flour &amp; cocoa powder should be weighed together to make up to the same weight as the eggs.

Sieve

Sift the flour and cocoa powder together to remove lumps.

Grease

Grease the inside of two loose bottom, 8 inch / 20 cm sandwich cake tins - If using different size tins or only one tin check blog post for guidance on ingredients and cooking times.

Parchment

Add baking paper to fit the bottom of both cake tins this makes it easy to remove from the tin later. Preheat the oven to 190°C / 170°C fan / 375°F

Strips

If using cake baking strips for ensuring level cakes, measure up to the tins, then place in a container filled with cold water to soak up into the strips

Prepare for cake

Butter

Cream the butter only in a electric mixer fitted with a paddle or whisk attachment, until smooth.  Add sugar continue to mix.

Cream

Cream until light and fluffy, with a pale yellow colour.

Eggs

Turn speed of mixer to the lowest setting, add eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour and cocoa powder to prevent curdling - if it does still to curdle it does not matter it will come back together once dry ingredients are added

Add half the flour and cocoa powder, mix on medium speed until combined.

Fold

Add remaining half of flour and cocoa powder, this time use a spoon to fold the mixture in by hand until just incorporated. Do not over mix.

Split

Split mixture between the two tins (I always use scales to make sure they are definitly even, but you can eyeball it)

Smooth

Use a spatula to push the mixture evenly around the tin.

Water

If using squeeze some water out of the baking strips

Add the wet baking strips to the outside of the sandwich cake tins

Oven

Cook in preheat oven 190°C / 170°C fan / 375°F  for 22 minutes.Check to see if the cake has pulled away from the sides. Should be soft and spring back from your touch.

Cool

Paper

Tip upside down on to a wire rack and remove the baking paper.

Wire rack

Leave on wire rack until completley cooled, do not handle too much whilst warm as the cake is prone to break, crack and crumble. It will firm up as it cools.

Make Chocolate Cake

Melt

Melt chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water.Or in the microwave at 50% power stirring every 30 seconds until melted.

Soften

Use electric mixer with paddle attachment or whisk to soften butter

Sift

Use a sieve to sift in half the icing sugar mix on low, add remaining half and mix until soft and fluffy

Chocolate

Pour the melted chocolate into the frosting.

Combine

Chocolate Buttercream

Frosting

Place the prepared chocolate buttercream on to one of the sponges

Spread

Sprinkle

Slice

Slice and serve, as it is or with some cream.

Assemble Chocolate Victoria Sponge

https://embed.mediavine.com/videos/upvcplvyost2sy6yrpl0

Try a twist on a British classic, with this Chocolate Victoria Sponge Cake.
How to make a simple homemade chocolate cake mix using basic ingredients of butter, sugar, eggs, flour and cocoa powder.
A two-tier chocolate sandwich cake filled with thick chocolate buttercream frosting. An easy to cook birthday cake, afternoon treat or just an excuse to get baking.
Uk measurements and time are given for baking in the oven in two loose bases 8-inch sandwich tins.
Check out the blog post for ingredients and cooking time for two 7 inch or 9-inch cake tins or making chocolate cake in a single deep cake tin to cut into two after it is cooked.

Top 2 basic cake recipe recipes from across the web

The most viewed basic cake recipe recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Moist Vanilla Layer Cake

Chocolate Victoria Sponge Cake

Top 2 basic cake recipe recipes from across the web

The most viewed basic cake recipe recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Moist Vanilla Layer Cake

Chocolate Victoria Sponge Cake

The most viewed basic cake recipe recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine