Vanilla Birthday Cake with Old-Fashioned Vanilla Buttercream
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This classic white cake is soft, moist, and tender, with fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting—perfect for birthdays and every celebration in between.
I’ve made this simple vanilla cake every year for my daughter’s birthday since she was two years old. The cake portion of recipe is adapted from one of my favorite baking books, Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri, and the vanilla buttercream frosting comes from my great-grandmother’s recipe box.
“Everyone who ate this cake raved about it! This recipe reminds me of the cakes I ate as a kid.”
What you’ll need to make vanilla birthday cake
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Mix dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Step 2: Cream butter and sugar. Beat the softened butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Step 3: Mix liquid ingredients. In a bowl or large measuring cup, combine the egg whites and milk. Whisk well to combine.
Pro tip: Be sure the eggs are at room temperature, otherwise your batter may curdle. (To warm them up quickly, place them in a bowl of hot water before cracking them.)
Step 4: Alternate wet and dry ingredients. Beat in the vanilla and almond extract, then add one-quarter of the flour mixture and beat on low speed. Next, add one-third of the milk/egg mixture. Continue alternating adding the flour and milk mixtures, scraping down the bowl as necessary.
The finished batter should be completely smooth.
Step 5: Fill the pans. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and smooth the tops.
Step 6: Bake and cool. Bake the layers for 25 to 30 minutes, until they are set and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the layers in the pans for five minutes, then unmold onto racks to finish cooling.
Step 7: Make the frosting. While the cake cools, in the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until well combined. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth, then beat in the vanilla and salt. If the frosting is too thick, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk or cream.
Step 8: Frost the cake. Once the layers are completely cool, ice the cake. You can spread the frosting smooth, or swirl it casually with a butter knife. I like to scatter some festive nonpareils or confetti sprinkles on the edges for color. Or for a change, try topping the cake with heaps of shredded sweetened coconut—it’s amazing.
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Vanilla Birthday Cake with Old-Fashioned Vanilla Buttercream
Ingredients
For the Cake Layers
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
- ¾ cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
For the Buttercream
- ¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 6 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat to 350°F (175°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Spray two 8-in (20-cm) cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Cut two 8-in (20-cm) rounds of parchment paper and line the bottom of each pan; spray the paper with nonstick spray. (To measure the parchment paper, just trace the bottom of the pan.)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until very soft and light. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the egg whites and milk by hand in a medium bowl until just combined.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-quarter of the flour mixture, then one-third of the milk mixture, stopping and scraping down the bowl and beater after each addition. Beat in another quarter of the flour, then another third of the milk mixture. Scrape again. Repeat with another quarter of the flour and the remaining milk mixture; scrape. Finally, beat in the remaining flour mixture.
- Scrape the bowl with a large rubber spatula. Don't worry if the the batter looks a little grainy. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and smooth the tops.
- Bake the cakes for 25 to 30 minutes, until they are set and a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean. Cool the cakes in the pans on rack for 5 minutes, then unmold onto rack to finish cooling right side up (keep parchment paper underneath cake layers so they don't stick to rack). When cake layers are completely cool, transfer to cake plate and frost with vanilla buttercream. (I always flip the bottom layer of the cake so that the domed side is facing down and touching the plate. That way, the surface that you're icing is flat and will minimize any separating between the two layers when you put the other layer on top of it.)
For the Vanilla Buttercream
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese until creamy and well combined.
- Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat in the vanilla and salt. If the frosting is too thick, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk or cream.
Notes
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Can this cake be carved? the reason i ask is I want to make a Thomas the tank engine cake for my sons 3rd birthday but I was thinking maybe carving the shape out when the cake is baked and possibly semi frozen. ive never really done that before but ive baked heaps of cakes so what do you think!
Yes Silvia, I think you could get away with carving this cake into a different shape. Happy birthday to your son!
I am making a Wilton character cake for my daughter’s birthday and was wondering how to adjust the recipe for that cake pan. It calls for a 2 layer boxed or homemade recipe so the amount should be fine. Do I just need to bake it longer since it’ll be in one larger pan instead of 2?
Also, can I add sprinkles into the mix to make it a confetti cake? If so, how much would you recommend?
Hi Amy, How fun. I don’t see any reason why that wouldn’t work — maybe a cup?
Hi Amy, You will likely have to bake it a bit longer but I can’t say exactly how long as I’ve never tried it; just keep a close eye on it.
Great, thank you! I look forward to trying it!
Made this cake for my daughter’s birthday. For the cake, I followed the recipe exactly. Turned out great. I did think the almond flavor was quite strong for a ‘vanilla’ cake, it seemed to overshadow the vanilla, so maybe I will use less next time. But the cake was still very good – moist and flavorful.
For the frosting, I used only about 4 cups sugar – it was thick and creamy, and still very sweet.
Thank you for this recipe!
Just wondering, could you please tell me the measurement of the butter in grams or ounces, we don’t have “sticks” of butter in Australia. Also is your all purpose flour the same as plain flour. Thanks
Hi Jackie, There are 113 grams in a stick of butter. And, yes, I believe all purpose is the same as plain.
Can I use cake flour instead? If so how much? Thanks!
Hi Annmarie, I’ve never tried this cake with cake flour so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. Honestly, I wouldn’t fiddle with the recipe — it’s really perfect as is 🙂
Hi. Did u try it with the cake flour? How much of it did u use and how did it turn out
Hi I love you recipes. can I make this into cupcakes?
Yes, absolutely. Spray the pan and cupcake liners with nonstick cooking spray and bake for 20-22 minutes.
Great thank you!
I want to make a 3 layer cake using 9 inch pans. I don’t think I need to double the recipe, right? I get confused when doing 1.5
Can you check my math and help me out. Please??!!
So 1.5 Recipe
3C Flour
3 Tsp baking powder
18T butter (not sure what that is to sticks)
2 1/4 Sugar
9 egg whites
milk- Can’t figure it out!!!!
2 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tsp Almond.
How did I do???
Would I bake the three pans for the same time? About 35 minutes?
Hi Jen, Looks good, except vanilla would be 2-1/4 teaspoons. Milk will be 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons. Hope that helps! 3 pans, cook time will be the same. Please let me know how it turns out!
I was looking at making this cake and putting raspberries in between the layers with the buttercream, do you think the raspberries would seep through the cake?
Also have you worked with silverleaf before? if I was to put silver leaf on around the cake would it be ok?
Hi Shara, I think the raspberries would be delicious but, yes, they might seep through a bit. The silverleaf would be pretty but I have not seen it on this type of frosting — usually it’s on fondant.
After the cake is frosted, does it have to be refrigerated or can it sit out on the counter for a few days? I’m asking since cream cheese is an ingredient in the frosting.
Thank you!
Hi Suzy, I guess technically it should be refrigerated but, to be honest, I never do and it’s always perfectly fine 🙂
Just tried baking this. Didn’t realise you meant 350 Fahrenheit not centigrade :((( cake was completely burnt. Sorry should have realised this is a US recipe 🙁