This white cake has the most soft, tender crumb and is so easy to put together! Bursting with vanilla flavour and a slight touch of almond flavour to provide a more complex flavour, this will be your new go to white cake! Perfect for birthday and wedding cakes.
What is a White Cake?
A white cake is basically a vanilla cake that has no egg yolks in it. This gives the cake a white colour, making it great for weddings, or for cakes that need to be coloured.
Some white cakes also have a bit of almond essence or extract in them to provide a more complex, mature flavour. I love the flavour the almond brings – it’s not overpowering but just subtle enough to notice a difference, so I add it in mine 🙂
If you don’t necessarily need a ‘white’ cake and would prefer to use whole eggs instead, check out my vanilla cake recipe.
How to Make White Cake
Begin by preheating oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 4 on recipe below if you don’t have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
Combine milk and vinegar in a small bowl. Mix and set aside.
Separate the yolks and whites from 6 large egg whites. You should end up with 225g of egg whites. Set aside for now.
In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine – see note 2 on recipe card below), cream together for 3 minutes until light and creamy.
Add in egg whites in 3 batches on a low-medium speed, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between each batch.
Add in your vanilla flavouring, almond flavouring, and half of the milk/vinegar mixture and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining milk/vinegar mixture, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3 on recipe card below).
Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and cream.
Using the paddle attachment, mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined (about a minute), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix for a full 10 minutes. Scrape the bowl down half way through.
The frosting is now ready to use!
How to Decorate a White Cake
OPTIONAL: Begin by trimming off all the caramelised edges on the top, bottom and sides of the cake layers. This will give you that clean white slice at the end. Also level the tops if the cake layers have a slight dome on the top.
Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand, and spread out a generous amount of the frosting on top.
Place the next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more frosting. If you have a cake scraper, you can use it to smooth out the sides. I like to do a little bit of piping on the top (I used a 1M piping tip for this cake), and piped little swirls on the top.
Moist White Cake
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
White Cake
- 2⅓ cups (300 g) flour - regular all purpose (see note 1 if you want to use cake flour)
- ¼ cup (25 g) cornflour - also known as cornstarch
- 2½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt - omit if using salted butter
- 1 cup (240 g) milk - room temperature
- 1 tsp white vinegar
- 6 large (225 g) egg whites - room temperature, size 7 eggs
- ½ cup (113 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- ½ cup (105 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola
- 1¾ cups (350 g) white granulated sugar
- 2½ tsp vanilla essence/extract - use a clear version for a whiter cake
- 1 tsp almond essence/extract - use a clear version for a whiter cake
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- 1½ cups (340 g) unsalted butter - room temperature
- 3 cups (375 g) icing sugar - also known as powdered sugar/confectioners sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- ½ cup (120 g) cream - room temperature heavy or whipping cream, minimum fat percentage of 34%
Instructions
White Cake
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 4 if you don't have a fan function) and grease and/or line two 8 inch cake tins (I use my homemade cake release).
- In a bowl, sift together your flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt. Using a whisk or fork, mix until well combined. Set aside.
- Combine the milk and vinegar in a small bowl. Mix and set aside.
- Separate the yolks and whites from 6 large egg whites. You should end up with 225g of egg whites. Set aside for now.
- In another bowl, add in your butter, vegetable oil and sugar. Using an electric mixer (hand or stand mixer are both fine - see note 2), cream together for 3 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add in egg whites in 3 batches on a low-medium speed, mixing well in between each addition (about 10-15 seconds between each batch.
- Add in your vanilla flavouring, almond flavouring, and half of the milk/vinegar mixture and mix until well combined. Now set your mixer aside as the remainder of the batter will be finished by hand.
- Finish off by adding in half of your premixed dry ingredients to your wet mixture, and gently fold it in with a spatula until just combined. Then add in the remaining milk/vinegar mixture, and fold it in until just combined. Lastly, add in the remaining dry ingredients and gently fold it into the mixture until just combined. Do not overmix (see note 3).
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two 8 inch cake tins, and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Once baked, allow the cake layers to cool in the cake tins for about 15-20 minutes, and then turn them out onto a wire rack to completely cool before frosting with the vanilla buttercream recipe below, or another frosting of your choice.
Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, add in the butter, icing sugar, vanilla and cream.
- Using the paddle attachment, mix on the lowest speed until the ingredients are combined (about a minute), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix for a full 10 minutes. Scrape the bowl down half way through.
- The frosting is now ready to use.
Assembly
- OPTIONAL: Begin by trimming off all the caramelised edges on the top, bottom and sides of the cake layers. This will give you that clean white slice at the end. Also level the tops if the cake layers have a slight dome on the top.
- Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand, and spread out a generous amount of the frosting on top.
- Place the next cake layer on top and cover the top and sides with more frosting. If you have a cake scraper, you can use it to smooth out the sides. I like to do a little bit of piping on the top (I used a 1M piping tip for this cake), and piped little swirls on the top.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
100 Comments
The cake is so delicious! But I’m having a hard time keeping the frosting from separating, do you have any suggestions? Thank you so much!
Hi Angeline! So glad to hear you loved the recipe, but so sorry to hear about the issues with the frosting. If the frosting is separating, it likely means that one or more of your ingredients are too cold. I would recommend warming up the frosting slightly (just be careful not to overheat it) and then whipping it again and hopefully this should help 🙂
Does the finished cake need to be refrigerated due to the heavy whipping cream in the buttercream?
Hi Kim! 🙂
The cake can be left out for about a day, but after that it’t best to keep it refrigerated (if it’s leftover slices then store in an airtight container to prevent the cake from drying out). Because of the high fat and sugar content in the frosting, it helps to preserve it so it can be left out for the day without refrigeration 🙂
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hello! I am making a 6 inch double layer cake and about 24 cake pops for a birthday party that is coming up soon. I never made cake pops before and I am trying figure out how much I need to make for the cake and cake pops. So I am just wondering if I double this recipe, will that be enough for both things? I know you have a cake pop recipe, which makes approximately 4o balls but I wasn’t certain if this recipe would be enough for that or not.
Hi Breanna! 🙂
So 1/2 of this recipe will be enough for two 6 inch cake layers (that are just under 1.5 inches in thickness each – you may need to reduce the cook time), and then you’ll be left with enough batter to make one 8 inch cake. I think the one 8 inch cake should be enough for 24 cake pops 🙂
The 8 inch cake layer may be a little thin when compared to using a box cake mix, so just add half the frosting first and see if it’s enough, then add more if needed.
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
I’ve made vanilla/white cakes from scratch before and never have been happy with the results. Until now. I made this for my niece’s birthday, and everyone LOVED it. Definitely will make again.
Aww yay! So glad you found success with this recipe Becky 😀
Vanilla/white cakes can be difficult to master, but sounds like you did an incredible job!
Made this cake for my niece’s birthday. Such a flavorful moist cake. People kept saying it tasted like a wedding cake. I will definitely be making it again. My husband is a chocolate lover. I made the chocolate cake with the chocolate cream cheese frosting. He loved it. Next, I am going to try the eggless lemon curd.
Awesome! So glad everyone loved the recipe Becky and that your husband enjoyed the chocolate cake too!
Really appreciate the wonderful feedback 🙂
Hello, I was wondering if I could make this cake using two 9 inch round cake pans?
Thanks.
Hi Pam! 🙂
Yes that should be fine, just keep in mind the cake layers will be slightly thinner and will bake up faster so check them a little earlier than the stated cook time to ensure they don’t overbake 🙂
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I followed the directions to the T, and my cake did not rise at all!
Hi Vicky! 🙂
So sorry to hear you had trouble with the cake rising – that can be frustrating! I’ve had such great reviews for this recipe and I’m sorry you weren’t able to experience the same results. The most common reason cakes don’t rise is due to expired leavening agents. I would recommend double checking your baking powder to ensure it’s still fresh/active.
It could also be due to overcreaming the butter, sugar and oil or undermixing/overmixing the batter at the end. I would also recommend using the gram measurements (if you didn’t already) for best results.
Hope that helps for next time!
I want to make this the night before. Is it OK to chill it in the fridge overnight after I frosted it?
Hi Liesl! 🙂 Yes if the cake layers are completely covered in frosting, it will be fine to store in the fridge overnight. Just allow it to fully come to room temperature for a few hours before serving 🙂
Enjoy!
Can I use self raising flour for this recipe
Hi Khanyi! 🙂 I haven’t tried that myself so I’m not too sure sorry! It should work fine, but you would probably need to omit all the baking powder. Would love to hear how it goes if you decide to try it out 🙂
Hi! I have made this cake before and it’s AMAZING! I’m now looking to make it for a party that I need a Full Sheet sized sheet cake.. and I really want to use this recipe. Any idea how I should multiply this recipe? Would just doubling it be enough for a full sheet? Thank you again!
Hi Alexia! So glad you loved this recipe 😀
So 1x this recipe would be enough for a 9×13 inch sheet cake which is a quarter sheet, so for a full sheet cake (that has a decent thickness, similar to the layers in the original recipe), you would want to make 4x the recipe. Hope that helps and all the best with the cake 🙂