Vanilla Cake With Chocolate Frosting
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Every baker needs a great vanilla cake recipe in their arsenal for all sorts of occasions and this vanilla cake with chocolate frosting is it! This vanilla cake is made with cake flour to make it light and fluffy, and buttermilk to make it tender and moist. After it’s baked, I frosted it with my easy chocolate buttercream frosting for the best vanilla cake recipe.
So I’ve been on a bit of mission this year in 2022 to showcase more popular recipes, like this white cake recipe, Angel Food Cake, and this funfetti cake. And of course I knew I needed some classics for the birthdays in our lives – like this Chocolate Layer Cake…and now this insanely, oh my couldn’t stop eating, really, really good yellow birthday cake with chocolate frosting.
But if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m not always a huge fan of just good old simple vanilla cake. It always just seems so MEH. So when I say I couldn’t stop taking bites of this vanilla cake recipe then you know just how good it is!
This easy vanilla cake recipe is moist, fluffy, soft, tender, fluffy – all the best adjectives you would want to describe a vanilla cake. In fact it’s so good I used it to make this decadent Southern caramel cake recipe with an easy stovetop caramel icing.
Finally a cake I’d be happy to have served for my own birthday – yup it’s that good. Ok it’s not my birthday for quite a few months…but I can still celebrate right by enjoying a big ol’ slice of this vanilla buttermilk cake?
What makes this the best vanilla cake recipe
The key to making this the best vanilla cake recipe I think comes down to 4 important ingredients:
- Cake Flour – Using cake flour instead of all-purpose flour I found yielded a much more tender cake than all-purpose flour.
- Buttermilk – This not only gives a bit of flavor and richness, but most importantly it makes for a wonderfully tender, moist cake.
- Half Butter and Half Oil – I found an all butter cake, although had flavor was a bit dry. But 100% oil meant we lost that wonderful butter flavor. So by using half butter and half oil it yielded a flavorful moist cake.
Ingredients Needed
Here is what you need to gather to make this cake:
Ingredient Notes
Besides the ingredients in the photo above here are a few things to mention about some of the ingredients:
- Cake Flour – As mentioned above, cake flour yields a much lighter and fluffier cake than all-purpose flour. If you substitute with all-purpose flour your cake may be a bit denser in texture. You could try making a homemade cake flour but you will find it still won’t compare to a box of the store-bought stuff.
- Buttermilk – This is not the same as regular milk, and will react differently with your baking powder. Buttermilk is an acidic ingredient, so if need be you could try making a homemade buttermilk if you’re in a pinch (although again won’t be quite the same as store-bought).
- Canola Oil – I called for canola oil, but I often used any neutral-tasting oil, such as vegetable oil if I have it. You just want to avoid any oils that may impart a flavor to the cake, such as olive oil.
- Butter – I always bake and recommend using unsalted butter vs. salted butter. But if all you have is salted butter than you will want to reduce the salt by 1/4 teaspoon.
How To Make Vanilla Cake From Scratch
Combine dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt.
Heather’s Baking Tip
Make sure you are measuring your flour correctly so you don’t end up with too much in your cup which could yield a dry cake. Measuring with a scale is best but if measuring using cups, then be sure to spoon the flour into your cup and then level it off. Do not scoop directly from the bag or pack it down into the cup, which could yield 25% more flour than intended.
Cream butter oil and sugar. In a second mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, oil and sugar together until smooth and combined about 1 to 2 minutes.
The mixture will be pale yellow in color when it’s done. You can use your hand mixer to do this, but I prefer my stand mixer as it will get the job done a bit quicker, but either will work.
Add the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition.
Add vanilla. Once the eggs have been beaten in, then stir in the vanilla extract. I recommend pure vanilla extract for the best vanilla cake but imitation vanilla extract will also work.
Make sure you can scrape down the bowl as needed. Sometimes ingredients can be hiding out in the bottom of your bowl!
Heather’s Baking Tip
You want your eggs to be room temperature before you begin. If you add cold eggs to the creamed butter mixture it will cause your butter to seize up and create a broken or curdled-looking batter. I place my eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes before I use them.
Alternate dry ingredients with buttermilk. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
I do this in 3 additions. I add about 1/3 of the flour (just eyeball it no need to measure) and then stir that in. Then add 1/2 of my buttermilk. And then repeat that again with 1/3 more flour, the rest of the buttermilk, and then finishing with the last of the flour.
Why Do You Alternate The Ingredients?
We want to alternate our dry ingredients with the buttermilk so we create a smooth batter that isn’t overmixed. If we add all the buttermilk at once it could cause our batter to separate. If we add all the dry ingredients at once, there is a chance then that we over-mix our batter making a tough cake in the end. So begin and end with the dry ingredients to create a smooth batter that will yield a tender cake that everyone can’t resist!
Make sure to not overmix once the last of the flour has been stirred in. I like to finish the last few stirs with my spatula so I know my mixer doesn’t stir it too much.
Bake. Then divide the cake between your cake pans. I baked mine in 9″ round cake pans and baked them for baked them for 30-35 minutes for 9” layers. Or you could divide the cake between three 8″ round cake pans and make a triple layer cake.
The cake is done when it’s golden brown around the edges and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.
Frosting The Vanilla Cake
I frosted this simple vanilla cake recipe with my Easy Chocolate Buttercream Frosting but you could use any frosting you want! If you want to make it into a vanilla birthday cake with sprinkles and my Vanilla Buttercream Frosting. Or if you want a less sweet frosting try this Swiss Meringue Buttercream Recipe or Italian Meringue Buttercream (my personal favorite).
Or try with a fun flavor like a Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting, Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting, or Lemon Buttercream Frosting.
Really the sky’s the limit with this easy homemade vanilla cake recipe! If you’re new to frosting cakes, check out my How To Frost A Layer Cake tutorial which will give you a step by step tutorial.
Storage Instructions
You can store this cake covered in your fridge for up to 4 days. I own a few of these cake containers and they are great for storing your cake easily!
You can freeze this cake, frosted or unfrosted, for up to 3 months in your fridge. Just make sure to wrap well (I like to wrap in a few layers of plastic wrap and then place in a zip loc bag or a final layer of tin-foil. Then thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.
Recipe FAQ’s
Absolutely! You can bake the cake layers the day before and wrap well in plastic wrap once they are cooled and keep at room temperature and frost the next day. You can also make the frosting up to 5 days in advance, and keep in a container in the fridge. You will need re-whip the frosting again so it’s a soft consistency to frost your cake with.
I haven’t baked this vanilla layer cake recipe as a cupcakes, a bundt or sheet cake. If you do try, here is what I would recommend:
– Cupcakes: Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Same oven temperature.
– Bundt: This recipe should fill a 10-cup capacity bundt pan. Grease your bundt pan and fill with batter. Bake time should be about an hour, but I would start checking a few minutes. Same oven temperature.
– Sheet Cake: You can also try baking this batter into a 9×13 pan for about 35-40 minutes.
This probably means you either overbaked the cake layers. Begin checking five minutes before the timer goes off. And make sure to bake in the center of your oven. Another reason could be too much flour. Make sure to use a kitchen scale, or if using cups then spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off.
More Recipes To Try
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Vanilla Cake Recipe With Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
For the cake
- 3 ¼ cups (390 g) cake flour spooned and leveled
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- ½ cup (120 mL) canola oil
- 2 cups (400 g) granulated white sugar
- 4 large eggs room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (360 mL) buttermilk
For the chocolate frosting
- 2 1/2 cups (5 sticks, 565 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- 5 cups (565 g) confectioners sugar
- 4 Tablespoons heavy cream
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder (unsweetened or Dutch process)
Instructions
For the yellow cake
- Preheat and prepare pan. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour two 9-inch (23 cm) round cake pans (or you can use three 8" (20 cm) round cake pans). Set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients. In a mixing bowl, whisk together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. 3 ¼ cups (390 g) cake flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder
- Cream butter oil and sugar. In a second mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, cream butter, oil and sugar together until smooth and combined about 2 to 3 minutes. ½ cup (1 stick, 113 g) unsalted butter, ½ cup (120 mL) canola oil 2 cups (400 g) granulated white sugar
- Add eggs, vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl after each addition. Add vanilla extract. Beat to combine. 4 large eggs 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Alternate dry ingredients with buttermilk. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Do not overmix. Stop mixing once the last of the flour has been mixed in. I like to give the last few stirs with a spatula to ensure it's not overmixed. 1 ½ cups (360 mL) buttermilk
- Bake. Divide batter between your cake pans, smooth the tops. Bake for about 30-35 minutes The cake is done when it's golden brown on top and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Remove cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack to cool completely.
For the frosting
- Mix butter and sugar. Combine the butter and confectioners sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix on low speed at first, then increase the speed to medium until combined. 2 1/2 cups (5 sticks, 565 g) unsalted butter 5 cups (565 g) confectioners sugar
- Add heavy cream, vanilla, and salt. Add in your heavy cream and vanilla extract and mix on low speed (so the liquids don't splash out!) until combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. 4 Tablespoons heavy cream
- Stir in cocoa powder. With the mixer off, add cocoa powder. Mix on low speed until combined. Once the cocoa powder has been mixed in, increased to medium-high speed and mix until light and fluffy, about 5 to 7 minutes. Can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge for up to 5 days. Re-whip again to spreadable consistency before frosting the cake. 1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
- Frost cake. Once the cake has cooled, I frost the cake with my chocolate buttercream frosting (but you can use whatever frosting you want). Place bottom layer onto cake stand or serving platter. Using an offset spatula, spread a layer of frosting on to the bottom cake layer. Place second layer on top. Frost top and sides with more frosting until smooth. You can pipe swirls on top and decorate with sprinkles if you choose!
Video
Notes
- Make ahead: You can bake the cake layers the day before and wrap well in plastic wrap once they are cooled and keep at room temperature and frost the next day. You can also make the frosting up to 5 days in advance, and keep in a container in the fridge. You will need re-whip the frosting again so it’s a soft consistency to frost your cake with.
- Storage: You can store any leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezing: You can freeze this cake, frosted or unfrosted, for up to 3 months in your fridge. Just make sure to wrap well (I like to wrap in a few layers of plastic wrap and then place in a zip loc bag or a final layer of tin-foil. Then thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.
- Different pans: I haven’t baked this vanilla layer cake recipe as a cupcakes, a bundt or sheet cake. If you do try, here is what I would recommend:
– Cupcakes: Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. Bake for about 18-20 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs. Same oven temperature.
– Bundt: This recipe should fill a 10-cup capacity bundt pan. Grease your bundt pan and fill with batter. Bake time should be about an hour, but I would start checking a few minutes. Same oven temperature.
– Sheet Cake: You can also try baking this batter into a 9×13 pan for about 35-40 minutes.
Hi! Can I add walnuts to this recipe?
Hi! Yes, you can absolutely add walnuts if desired.
The frosting was delicious and perfect texture. However, I thought the cake was too dry. I baked it for the recommended amount of time and checked it with a cake tester.
Glad you loved the frosting! Sorry to hear about the cake. My best guess on it being slightly dry is it was either slightly over baked or you may have used a bit too much flour. Hope that helps!
HI! I just took my cakes out of the oven and they are looking good. Making the frosting and noticed the directions state to add the heavy cream, vanilla, and salt…however, salt is not listed in the frosting ingredients. I am gonna add 1/4 tsp & hope for the best but please let me know! Thanks!
Hi Jen! Sorry about that yes I just a pinch of salt (none if I use salted butter but I’ll be sure to fix that. Thanks so much for letting me know!
The cake was amazing! It was soft, moist and delicious and my family loved it. Thank you!!
aw thank you Naomi! That’s wonderful – I’m so glad you and your family loved the recipe!
I am going to try this recipe. I looks wonderful! As with other cakes that ask for oil, it is healthier to use a light olive oil or avocado oil. It does not flavor the cake. Just a suggestion.
Hi Kim, thank you for the suggestion. I haven’t tried with those oils, I prefer to use a neutral oil especially with a vanilla cake where it could overpower but if those work for you – go for it 🙂 let me know what you think of the cake overall!
I made this cake over the weekend, and everyone loved it! It was so fluffy and soft. The chocolate frosting with the soft vanilla crumbs is delicious. Thank you for this fantastic recipe!
Such an amazing and classic recipe! It’s really easy to make and absolutely delicious! So much more moist than a boxed cake!
I agree, everyone needs a classic, vanilla cake recipe! This is definitely one of those recipes that’s fool-proof and great to keep on hand!
We’ve got a lot of spring birthdays in my family so this is such a perfect and timely post! Your cake looks super moist and delicate! Perfect for all our celebrations 🙂
A stroke of genius using half oil and half butter. I raised an eyebrow but followed the recipe and got nothing but good comments as to the flavor and texture.
This cake is divine! The chocolate frosting was perfectly rich, and I love how soft, fluffy and moist the cake turned out. Such a treat!
Such a classic recipe! Even as a die-hard chocolate lover, I prefer vanilla cake with chocolate icing just like this. A great recipe to have on hand!
I think a good vanilla cake is the food of the gods. I loved how fluffy and moist this recipe is. Will definitely be making this again and again.
I made this vanilla cake today for my friends birthday. It baked up perfectly and the frosting was our favorite part. YUM!
Hi my cake was dense.. any idea why? And do I use a whisk or paddle attachment in a stand mixer?
Hi Aki, a dense cake usually means either too much flour was used. I like to weigh my flour but if using measuring cups be sure to stir the flour first in the container then spoon into your cup and level it off. Do NOT pack it down as it can cause too much flour. And be sure to cream your butter and sugars until light and fluffy so it’s aerated enough. Also be sure to use your paddle attachment. Hope that helps!