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.
102 Comments
Hi! I am using this recipe for my daughter’s smash cake. I am using small 4in stainless steel cake pans. How would you recommend baking/temp for this size?
Hi Sydnee! 🙂
So sorry for the later reply. For that size cake I would keep the baking temp the same but reduce the baking time – if they’re relatively thick 4 inch layers then maybe check around the 18 min mark and bake more if needed. If you’re making thin 4 inch cakes they will likely bake up faster. Hope that helps and hope your daughter has/had a wonderful birthday! 🙂