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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Hi Jenn! I own three 8-inch pans and would like to make this cake in three layers. Would I just need to use 1 1/2 times the batter? And how much more frosting would you suggest? Thanks so much!
Hi Iris, Yes, I’d use 1.5 times the batter. I’d guesstimate you’d need 1.5 times the frosting as well. Hope you enjoy!
Followed measuring directions and it came out dense and dry, I like a moist lighter cake. Icing was better than the cake but didn’t quite taste as good as I was hoping for homemade. Will put milk on the rest if we finish it.
For the butter cream, what can I substitute the cream cheese for? Can I just leave it out?
I’d replace it with more butter.
This question may already be in the 791 comments, but can you use this recipe in a 9×13 pan?
Thanks so much, and we love your recipes!!!!
Blessings!!
So glad you like the recipes! And I haven’t tried this cake in a 9 x 13 and not certain it would rise evenly.
Since I don’t often bake cakes, I’ve learned to trust your cake recipes. This cake is great as written! But, I’ve had cakes at weddings that had a layer of raspberry or strawberry jam (I guess) replacing the inside layers of frosting and wondered if you thought it would work at all with this cake?
Sure, I think it would work – enjoy!
Hi Jenn! I live at high altitude (5280′). What adjustments should I make to this recipe?
Hi Claire, I don’t have any personal experience baking at high altitudes, so unfortunately, don’t have any wisdom to share, but you may find the tips in this post helpful (see #14 – Make Adjustments at High Altitude). Hope you find them useful!
How long can the frosting be left at room temp?
I’d refrigerate it to be safe.
Hi Jenn,
I tried making this cake for my daughter’s 3rd birthday. I know I did something wrong because my batter was grainy and didn’t have that creamy cake batter texture. I left the egg whites, butter and whole milk out for an hour and half. Was that not long enough? I don’t know what I could’ve done wrong to make the batter have a grainy texture. Any thoughts? Thank you.
Hi Nandini, the batter for this cake can look a little grainy, so it doesn’t sound like you did anything wrong. How did the finished cake turn out?
Hi Jenn! The cake turned out fantastic!!!! It was perfect! My daughter’s favorite color is purple, so I added purple food color to the buttercream and it was beautiful. My 5 year old son has been leading the charge in finishing the cake. He eats it for breakfast and dessert after dinner. He says it’s the best cake he’s ever had. Thank you, Jenn! Love, love, love the cake!
So glad it came out well — thanks for taking the time to report back! 😊
Just made this cake for my daughter’s birthday. Delicious and a hit with everyone 🙂 !
Hello,
How much is a cup please? I have various sizes of cups!
Many Thanks
Teresa
Hi Teresa, it sounds like maybe you use weight/metric measures? The great majority of my recipes (including this one) include conversions to metric/weight measurements. To view them, scroll down to the recipe and immediately under the recipe title on the right side, you’ll see a little toggle. If you move it from “cup measures” to “metric” you’ll see measurements that will work for you. Hope that helps!
Hi! This recipe looks perfect for a vanilla cake I am making for a 7 year olds birthday but I wanted to ask if the frosting lends itself well to food coloring (I’m making an Elsa/Frozen themed cake so I want to attempt to give the frostings some blue and purple hues) or should I just use a buttercream instead?
Hi Juliana, food coloring will work nicely here. Sounds like it will be a fun cake. 🙂
Thank you so much for the quick reply! Sounds good; excited to make it!
Hi!
What temperature/time would you bake this cake using (2) 6in pans?
Thanks so much,
Michelle
Hi Michelle, unfortunately, I don’t think the batter will fit in two 6-inch pans. Sorry!