Best White Cake Recipe
This White Cake recipe is soft and velvety with perfect vanilla flavor.
Have you ever taken a bite of a beautiful white cake only to be disappointed by it’s rubbery texture and bland taste? With the proper ingredients and mixing technique you can make the best White Cake at home, from scratch.
Science behind the recipe
If you’re into baking science and want to learn how I developed and tested this recipe you can visit this post where I explain in detail how I created the best White Cake recipe.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Cake Flour – I prefer bleached cake flour because it is slightly acidic and whiter in color.
- Sour cream – Sour cream enriches and tenderizes the cake.
- Vanilla extract – Use real vanilla extract for the best flavor. (Alternately, you can use almond extract to make White Almond Sour Cream cake.)
- Egg whites – The main difference between a White Cake and a regular vanilla cake is the absence of yolks in the batter.
- Cream of tartar – Stabilizes the whipped whites.
Process Photos
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.
- Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add half the sour cream and combine. Then add the softened butter.
- Mix until the butter is completely incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the remaining sour cream and vanilla and mix on high speed 2-3 minutes to aerate.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with the cream of tarter.
- Add the sugar and whisk to full peak.
- Fold the egg whites into the batter in three batches.
- Fold just until there are no streaks of egg white.
- Divide the batter between two cake pans. Do not butter the sides of the pan or use a non-stick pan.
- Bake until the center of the cake springs back when pressed. Allow the cake to cool completely before frosting.
White Cake Recipe Tips
- Use Room temperature ingredients for the lightest batter. Room temperature butter is between 65°F and 70°F. It should be slightly pliable but not soft and melting.
- Using the “reverse creaming” method to mix the batter makes a soft and fluffy cake. Whipping the whites in the cake also makes the cake soft and fluffy.
- Do not use pasteurized egg whites as they may not whip up properly.
- Do not butter the sides of the cake pan or use a non-stick pan. The cake will rise higher as it clings to the sides of the cake pan. Butter and flour the bottom of the pan or use a round of parchment paper.
- The cake will often “settle” as it comes out of the oven because of the whipped whites in the cake. The soft texture of the cake is well worth the slight shrinking.
- Do not overbake the cake. Remove it from the oven as soon as the cake springs back when the center is pressed.
Storage
- The cake can be kept at room temperature for several days (unless it has a perishable filling).
- If the cake has a perishable filling store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Leftover slices of cake can be individually wrapped and frozen for up to 3 months.
- Un-iced, the cake can be wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap and frozen for up to 3 months.
What Frosting Should I Use for My White Cake?
I love to fill and ice Velvety Soft White Cake with snow-white Ermine Frosting. I also recommend Italian Meringue Buttercream, Swiss Meringue Buttercream, Seven Minute Frosting or American Buttercream frosting for this cake.
What the difference between white cake and vanilla cake?
Most of the yellow color in a vanilla cake comes from the egg yolks. White cake is made with only egg whites and no yolks.
Now that you’ve made this recipe what should you do with the extra yolks? Check out this collection of recipes that use extra yolks for some great ideas.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a star rating and a quick comment. Ratings and comments help my recipes show in search results. Thanks!
White Cake Recipe
It is possible to make velvety, soft white cake from scratch. How you mix the cake makes a big difference. By using the reverse creaming technique you’ll get a white cake with a tender and moist crumb.
servings
Ingredients
- 9 ounces cake flour (2 cups, preferably bleached, see note)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 12 ounces granulated sugar ( 1 ½ cups, divided)
- 8 ounces sour cream (1 cup, room temperature, divided)
- 8 ounces unsalted butter (room temperature (see note))
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 6 large egg whites (room temperature (see note))
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line two 8"x3" cake pans (don't use non-stick pans) with a circle of parchment paper or butter and flour the bottom of pans only. Do not butter and flour the sides of the pan.
- In a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, sift 9 ounces cake flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda and ¾ teaspoon salt with 1 cup of the granulated sugar. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds to distribute the leavening. With the mixer on low speed, add half the sour cream and toss in 8 ounces unsalted butter a tablespoon at a time.
- Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. With the mixer running on low speed, add the remaining sour cream and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract.
- Increase the speed to medium and beat about 2-3 minutes until the batter lightens in texture and becomes aerated. If your using a hand mixer this may take an extra minute or two. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there are no pockets of unmixed batter.
- In another bowl, 6 large egg whites with ½ teaspoon cream of tartar on medium high until they form soft peaks. Turn the mixer to medium low and slowly add the remaining ½ cup sugar. Turn the mixer to medium-high and whip the whites to full peak.
- Fold the whites into the base in 3 parts, folding just until there are no streaks of egg white. Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans and spread to level.
- Bake 25-30 minutes until the center of the cake springs back when lightly pressed or a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool at least 20 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a cooling rack. **The cake will "settle" a bit as it cools. That's fine.**
- Trim the brown edges off the cake, split each cake into two layers. Fill and ice with your favorite frosting.
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Equipment
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Video
Notes
If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.
Room temperature butter is between 65°F and 70°F. It should be slightly pliable but not soft and melting.
Do not use pasteurized egg whites as they may not whip up properly.
The assembled cake can be kept at room temperature for several days (unless it has a perishable filling).
Un-iced, the cake can be wrapped in two layers of plastic wrap and frozen for several months.
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
Why does this cake recipe always end up undercooked and dense on the bottom I have to always cut a lot of cake off of each layer
A few suggestions; 1. Make sure you’re creaming the batter for the full 3-4 minutes after the butter is added to the flour. The batter should becomes lighter in color and texture. 2. Make sure you’re scraping the bowl after creaming so there are no pockets of dense batter. 3. Make sure you’re whipping the egg whites to full peak. 4. Don’t over fold the batter when you add the whipped whites. Fold just until there are no streaks of egg white visible. 5. Check your oven temperature is correct (use a thermometer).
Ok thanks so much! I’ve been struggling with this recipe it’s always a raw dense texture at the bottom of my layers but I really love this cake so hopefully it works out for me
My niece has asked me make her bride and groom cake for her wedding. I am so glad I found you and your recipes! I made your Vanilla Butter Cake with your IMB frosting and it was amazing. I had never made IMB before and was so thankful for all your directions and explanations and video. Since this is a wedding cake, I thought a “white” cake would be more appropriate. So I tried this Velvety White Cake recipe with a lemon curd filling and American Butter Cream frosting. It was amazing as well! Now that I feel good about the flavors, it’s time for me to work on the presentation. I am planning to do a simple 3 tier cake using 6″, 8″ and 10″ cake pans (each tier with 4 layers). I know the recipe makes a great 4 layer 8″ cake. How would you adjust the recipe for the 6″ and 10″ layers? I only have one (1) 6″ pan and one (1) 10″ pan. I didn’t know if I could keep the recipe the same and divide the batter 3:5 between the 6″ and 10″ pans or if I should increase the recipe by 1 1/2 or more. Also, if I use both IMB and American Buttercream, which would you use between the layers and which would you use to frost the cake? Thanks so much!!
Hi Angie. Thanks for the great feedback. What I would suggest is that one batch of cake (sized to fit two 8″ pans) can be divided between the 6″ and 10″ pans. So about 1/4-1/3 of the batter in the 6″ pan and the rest of batter in the 10″ pan. Do that twice to get two cakes for each size. Personally, I prefer IMB for everything because I just like it better. But American and IMB buttercream can be used either as filling or the frosting. If the cake will be displayed outdoors in warm weather, American buttercream is a better bet since IMB gets softer in warm temps. Good luck with the cake. I’d be happy to answer any other questions. I’d also like to invite you to join my private Facebook Group for bakers (it’s a private group but all are welcome to join).
Hello!!
I am wanting to do a layered “unicorn” cake. I have 9” pans. Do I need to change the recipe at all for the larger pan? Or leave the same measurements and just make an extra layer instead of splitting?
How many layers are you making? Are you tinting the batter? You can do this batter in two 9″ pans. The layers will be slightly shorter, but you can still split each of the cakes for a total of 4 layers.
Hello,
I cannot seem to see the recipe anywhere…is it just me/my computer? Please help!
Thank you so much,
Tammi
OOop, thanks for the heads-up Tammi. I was making some edits and must have deleted the recipe by mistake. It’s back at the end of the post.
Thank you! Just one more question. This recipe has 2 tbsp less butter than the Vanilla Butter Cake recipe and above you said that you increased the amount of butter in this recipe to make up for the loss of the yolks…am I misunderstanding something?
Help please!
Thank you so much xx
Sure. I did edit the recipe since a lot of folks were finding it a bit fussy. I reduced the butter a little to make the batter a little more stable. I just never changed the original text explaining the recipe details (will do now). I take feedback from readers into consideration and alter recipes as needed. The original recipe did work, but was a little more temperamental.
Thank you very much for explaining!
I’m making this tomorrow and can’t wait 🙂
Will let you know how it goes!
Great!
How can I turn this cake into an almond cake? Do I just sub out the vanilla for almond extract? Please advise.