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 looks amazing! I’m going to make this for my sons birthday. If I add food colouring to the buttercream will it change the taste? He wants a spiderman cake.
Hi Gail, It’s fine to add food coloring to the buttercream; I’ve done it many times myself.
I loved this cake-I am not a fan of cream cheese frostings but this frosting had such a high butter to cream cheese ratio that you barely taste the tang of the cream cheese. It is a moist,tender white cake-delicious!!! Thank you Jenn!!
I want to know if I can make the cake in one cake tin instead of 2 , n if yes do I use same tin size .
Thanks
Hi Fatima, I’m sorry, the cake won’t bake properly in one pan — you definitely need two.
Hi!
I have a small oven so I can’t fit the two in at the same time. What should I do with the rest of the batter while the first one is cooking? Should I put it in the fridge or leave it at room temperature or would it just not work? thank you 🙂
Hi Beste, The baking powder activates once the wet ingredients are combined with the dry, so it’s best to get the batter in the oven asap. However, if you’re just waiting for oven space, I think the cake will be fine in the fridge for a half hour or so.
Hi Jennifer!
I really enjoy your site!
My question is a bout coconut cake: i have made your frosting and love it. But for my coconut cake, I have always made a 7 minute frosting…and now I am not sure which is better!
What do you think?
Hi Elizabeth, I always love an old-fashioned buttercream, but you really can’t go wrong with either!
Can you successfully make your Vanilla Birthday Cake a sheet cake? Should I increase ingredients?
Hi Felecia, Unfortunately, I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for certain if it would work. What size sheet cake are you thinking of making?
I only have skim milk-will this ruin the cake??? Any suggestions?
You could add a touch of cream or half and half if you have it but if not, no worries, skim milk will work fine!
Hi There, I made this cake and i haven’t tried it yet but I found the cooking time in 8″ round pans was double for me at 350 degrees. I used liquid whites . Any idea why? (It is a new stove and works great)
Any feedback would be appreciated!
Thanks Katisha
Hi Katisha, That’s very strange…I’m not sure. I don’t usually recommend liquid egg whites for baking but don’t think that would increase the baking time by that much. Was the oven fully preheated? Did the cake rise normally?
Looks delicious – how would flavor change if you used the entire egg instead of just the white? Would it be richer?
Hi Kristina, Yes it would be richer and more yellow instead of white, but you can’t use whole eggs with this recipe. If you’d like, I can email you a different (yet similar) recipe that uses whole eggs. Let me know 🙂
The cake looks delicious! But is there another recipe that calls for whole eggs instead because i would not know what to do with the remaining egg yolks.
Hi Lyna, Yes, I will email it to you!
Hi Jenn,
I would also like the recipe using whole eggs please!
Hi Ling, Just emailed it to you!
Please email me the full egg recipe…I hate the waste…To be clear this recipes makes only one layer…so do you double the recipe and split so they backe together? Thanks…first go at a birthday cake..today is the dry run for next weeks main event
Hi Stephanie, Recipe is on the way. It makes the full 2 layer cake — no need to double the recipe 🙂
Can you please send me the recipe using whole eggs? Thanks 🙂
Hi Wendy, I went ahead and posted it on the site. Here’s the link: https://summit-node.live/recipes/buttermilk-cupcakes-cream-cheese-frosting.html%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
I have NEVER in my life tasted a vanilla cake like this before!!!! Unbelievable! So moist and buttery, and the flavor of the almond and vanilla are just perfect. Thanks again, Jenn, for another winner! 🙂