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!
Hi I love you so much for providing this recipe. My go-to tight crumbed cake, almostttt like a lighter pound cake. Will make mini cakes with this and give them out to people for Christmas since I have to pay for my tooth haahah $2k for a crown+root canal yay. THANK YOU SO MUCH
Hi , I can’t wait to try this today it looks great – thanks! I am making a 3 layer 6 inch cake – would this recipe work with 3 6 inch pans?
Hi Jacqui, If you baked the full batch in three 6″ pans you’d end up with a very, very tall cake. A 6″ pan has about 56% of the volume of an 8″ pan. So you’d need just over 1/2 a batch of the batter to fill two 6″ pans since the original recipe calls for two 8″ pans. Personally, I would make either 1/2 or 2/3 of the recipe and bake it in two or three 6″ pans to get a similar height for the finished cake. If you bake it in two pans you can torte the cake to make a 4 layer cake. If you bake it in 3 pans you can make a 3 layer cake. Otherwise, if you just want to make the full recipe make sure to fill each cake pan no more than 1/2-2/3 full. Bake any left over batter as cupcakes which you can freeze for a quick snack.
Thanks so much Eileen . I like the leftover cupcake idea – I am going to do the entire recipe and fill my 6 inch pans 2/3 full for the cake. I’m sure my husband would adore the left over cupcakes! Great suggestion – thanks again.
You are very welcome.
Oh, and I should say that I work with 3″ tall pans. The 2/3 still holds true. But obviously if you have 2″ tall pans the layers will be a bit shorter. If you do have 2″ tall pans, definitely fill closer to 2/3 than 1/2.
Thank you for responding to my questions. I appreciate all your good advice.
Pam
I do have a question. I’ve baked your cake a number of times as I love it. I have to make a Wedding Cake in January for 80 people. My question is would I need a 12″, 10″, 8″ and 6″ cake to feed 80 people? I would like each cake to be 3 layers with the exception of four layers for the 6″ cake. I’m not sure how much batter I would need for the 12 and 10 inch cakes given I need to have 3 layers for each cake. Could you please advise me. The other concerns because this cake shrinks a good inch will that make a difference especially since I will trim the caramelized sides of the cake? I have tried three different recipes and your White Cake is outstanding!!
Many thanks for any help.
Pam
For the 3 layer cakes fill one of the pans with the normal amount of batter and the other with half as much. Torte the larger cake into 2 layers for a total of 3 layers. Those tiers will be shorter than the 6″ (4 layer) tier. If you want the tiers to be the same height than you should use the same amount of batter as normal, but only torte 1 of the cakes into 2 layers. Hope that makes sense. The baked cakes will shrink more if they are under-baked or if the egg whites are over-whipped. Also remember that by the time you ice the cake you add to the size.
I’m getting closer to the Wedding event that I’m doing the cake for. You replied to my question regarding how to handle getting the right amount of batter for the cakes but I’m unclear if for 80 people if I need a 12″ cake in addition to a 10, 8 and 6″ OR can I get away WITHOUT the 12″ cake so I would. only have 10″, 8″, and 6″. If that is the case would I need to make each tier 4 layers? Also do you do a 2″ cake cut or 1″ cake cut when serving?
I’ve made a lot of cakes but obviously this is my first wedding cake. Many thanks for all your advice!!
Pam
@Pam,
I’m also looking to use this recipe for a tiered wedding cake. Just wondering how yours turned out and what your decided to do. Also curious about baking times for the various sizes.
@Eileen, thank you so much for sharing all of your tips and recipe!!
I would like to make a 4 layer cake similar to the picture.Should I make the cake twice or cut the layer in half?
I bake two cakes and split them to make 4 layers. You can see how I do it here.