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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This recipe was outstanding! I made the cake for a friend’s birthday gathering. I followed the recipe for the cake and buttercream, but because I didn’t want all the egg yolks to go to waste, I made vanilla pastry cream. I split the cake layers, filled them with the pastry cream, and scattered fresh homegrown blueberries on top of the filling. I swirled blueberry jam thru the buttercream, iced the cake, and arranged a cascade of blueberries and mint across the top and down one side of the cake. It was delicious and beautiful! Thank you, Jenn, for another wonderful recipe.
Hum, that description sounds GORGEOUS and needs a picture!
Delicious! My family was impressed. I added pink food colouring to the icing for my daughters birthday.
I love this cake recipe. I have made it many times and it turns out perfect! I want to make it for my husbands birthday but he wants a chocolate layer. Can I convert half of the batter to chocolate? If so, how do you recommend doing it?
Hi Beth, Glad you like the cake! I wouldn’t recommend trying to tweak this recipe to make it chocolate, but you can halve it and halve this chocolate cupcake recipe. Hope that helps and that your husband enjoys!
Hi!
I am about to try your recipe for the first time. I only have 1 baking pan, can I bake it once and slice it into 2 or should I bake twice?
Thank you
Hi Charlane, I’m not sure the batter will fit in your pan; I’d play it safe and bake twice.
I baked this cake for my mom’s birthday, and it turned out amazing! It was absolutely delicious, and, overall, it is one of the best cakes I have ever made. The cream cheese frosting is also so unique, and it definitely adds to the flavor profile of the cake. I cannot wait to make it again! Thank you!
I’m planning to make this cake next week for my daughter’s 2nd birthday. Is there any way to add raspberry puree into the frosting to make it pink – and add a little fruity flavor? If so, can you recommend how much and when?
Hi Gabriella, I wouldn’t recommend adding raspberry purée into the frosting as it will introduce more liquid (and don’t think it would add that much color). You could decorate the top of the cake with fresh raspberries or if you can find freeze-dried raspberries, you can use them to color the frosting and add a fair amount of raspberry flavor. Here’s a post that will give you a little guidance.
Hi
I would like to make this cake for my son’s birthday next week but we are a small group. Can you give me the recipe for 1 layer cake instead of 2? thx
Hi Arveena, You can just cut all the ingredients in half if you just want one layer. Happy early birthday to you son!
This cake was very easy to make. I don’t have a lot of time with Distance learning with twin 6 year old but I needed to make a Birthday cake. I believe from start to finish it took me 1 hour to prep and bake. Thank you for the recipe.
My 3 year old and I made this for my 1 year old son’s birthday! It was SO delicious my husband requested it for his birthday this weekend! Later this week, we are making two of these cakes! One for hubby’s birthday and one to drop off for my dad for his birthday the next day! 🙂
Hi Jenn!
I love your recipes! This one looks delicious too. I have a little boy who’s begging for a lemon birthday cake. Can I adapt this by adding lemon zest to the batter? If so, any recommendations as to how much to add? Thanks so much!
Hi Heather, so glad you like the recipes! You could swap out the almond and/or vanilla extract in the batter for lemon extract and add a teaspoon of lemon zest to give this cake a lemon flavor. Hope that helps and happy birthday to your son!
Hi Jenn,
Just a quick question about converting this into a lemon cake, please.
A. What would happen if you added fresh lemon juice to the batter?
B. Would the icing convert well to lemon buttercream, and if so, how?
Thanks very much for your advice!
Hi Savanna, I wouldn’t add lemon juice to the batter, but you could add 1 to 2 tablespoons of lemon zest. And you could add some lemon flavor to the frosting by adding some lemon zest and a few tablespoons of lemon juice to it (you may need to add a bit more sugar if the additional liquid makes the frosting too thin). Hope that helps!
Thank you! This cake looks delicious and I plan to make it very soon. Your Late Summer Plum Cake and Blueberry (rhubarb) Coffeecake were a bit hit with my German grandmother, who is a Kaffee und Kuchen connoisseur! Thanks again for the great recipes!
Dear Jenn, I tried the French apple tart and the french apple cake. Both had positive reviews and I found a new hobby because of your genuinely beautiful website.
The way u describe and teach how to do each step makes a first timer like me into a superhero 😁😁😁. Thank you so much for that.
I would love to bake this cake soon and would like to know if I could add orange juice extract into it? If yes how much and when? I love the vanilla smell so was wondering if I can keep the vanilla and eliminate the almond extract?
Thank you🙏🏽🙏🏽🌸🌸
Hi L, So glad you’re enjoying the recipes! By orange juice extract, do you mean orange extract? If so, you could get away with adding about 1/2 tsp. And it’s fine to replace the almond extract with more vanilla. Also, if you’d like to include some orange zest that will help to boost the orange flavor – I’d recommend adding up to 1 tsp. to the egg/milk mixture. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
I’ve never made buttercream with cream cheese before… what is the main difference using your recipe in comparison to a more traditional version?
The cream cheese adds a little hint of tanginess. 🙂