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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The cake turned out wonderfully! I live in Europe and could get Mascarpone easier than Philadelphia, so I used Mascarpone—the butter cream was creamy and delicious. I’ll definitely make it again for a taste of home!
Hello, I tried to make this and I am wondering if the directions might be off? I followed the suggested 175 degrees and after 30 minutes my layers were not even close to being done. I am using the suggested size nonstick metal cake pans. I am increasing the oven temperature now to 325 degrees and watching closely but I hope this will still turn out. If I did something wrong, I don’t know what because I followed the instructions exactly. Can you please help? Thanks!
Hi Wendy, Are you by chance looking at the metric measurements by mistake? In the top right corner of the recipe, there’s a button that allows you to toggle between metric and cup (or US) measures. If you’re in the US, the temperature should be 350°F.
Hi. Can I use buttermilk instead of the whole milk?
I don’t recommend it, Eveyln – sorry! But if you’d like to use buttermilk, you can use this recipe.
This is one of my favorite cakes! Always turns out amazing! How can I make this into a 3 layer cake? Do I just do a 1.5 recipes? Or should I just double recipe and freeze one extra layer? Making this soon! Thanks!
So glad you like it, Rebekah! It’s fine to multiply by 1.5. 🙂
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday gathering and it was a HIT!!! From ages 2 to 75, everyone loved this cake. I was concerned because I read in the reviews Jen warned against using the Bundt pan because the cake may stick. So I used what my great grandmother and grandmother used for those stick prone cakes…Crisco and flour. The cake turned out beautiful, light and tasty. Thanks Jen for another great recipe.
Hi. Can we use 2% milk for this recipe?
Sure, Paula, that will work. Enjoy!
Hi Jenn,
Do you believe this could be turned into a brown butter cake by browning the butter ahead of time, letting it cool to room temperature and then proceed?
Thank you!
I wouldn’t recommend it, Bianca — sorry!
Hi Jenn,
I dream of recreating the white cake with cherry chips that I used to get out of a box when I was a kid. Do you think this would make a good base? I was thinking of adding maraschino cherries to the mix?
Hi Ashley, I do think it would work but I’d go easy on the maraschino cherries; too many may affect the structure of the cake.
Thank you. I will be careful.
This cake is perfect. It’s been my go-to birthday cake for years for my family. Every time I need it I have a little fear it won’t be available anymore; I need to write it down – lol. Thank you!!
Oh my goodness Jenn, this is THE BEST homemade cake I have ever made! It is moist and tender with wonderful vanilla flavor.
Here is a secret, it is my birthday tomorrow and I made it for myself! Yummy.
🙂 So glad you like it — have a wonderful birthday!!
Hi! I made this cake last year for my 3 year old son’s birthday and, not only was it stunning, but it was absolutely delicious!! I am going to make it again this year, and I would like to know: can I decorate the whole cake and leave it on the counter overnight? Or does it need to go in the fridge? Thank you. might add fondant over the whole cake this year, I will send a picture if I do!
Joanna
Hi Joanna, glad you enjoyed the cake enough to make it again this year! It’s okay to make it a day ahead but I would actually wait to frost it. When the cake layers have cooled completely, wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate. A few hours before serving the cake (you don’t want it to be cold), unwrap the layers and frost the cake, then keep it at room temperature. Hope everyone enjoys and happy birthday to your son! 🙂
hi jenn,
i’m making the cake for my grandson’s birthday and will need to add food colour to icing and do a bit of piping. is icing consistency ok for this?
Hi, the food coloring is fine but this frosting isn’t the best for piping since it’s made with so much butter — if the cake is in a warm spot, the decorations will start to droop. For piping anything elaborate, you’re better off with a heat resistant buttercream made from Swiss meringue. You can also use shortening in place of all or half of the butter in this recipe, but it won’t taste nearly as good.
Hi Jen,
I’ve made this cake before following your recipe exactly and it’s turned out really well (ditto for all your recipes!). This time I need to make a single layer cake. The tin I have is a square 25 x 25 cm. Do you have any advice regarding baking time etc?
Many thanks,
Breege
Hi Breege, I suspect it would work using a 25 x 25-cm baking dish. I’d fill up the pan about 2/3 of the way and make cupcakes with any leftover batter. Bake time may be a bit different so keep a close eye on it. 🙂