Vanilla Cake Recipe With Chocolate Frosting
Every baker needs a great vanilla cake recipe in their arsenal for all sorts of occasions. And this vanilla cake with chocolate frosting, made with cake flour and buttermilk to make it tender and moist, is the best ever!
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 1024kcal
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 9x13 pan for about 35-40 minutes.
Nutrition
Calories: 1024kcal | Carbohydrates: 117g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 62g | Saturated Fat: 33g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 187mg | Sodium: 260mg | Potassium: 382mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 84g | Vitamin A: 1621IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 2mg