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!
Hello ma’am, what’s the difference between cake flour and all-purpose flour cos it’s the latter that’s available where I am, and will a substitution affect the results?
Thanks
Cake flour has a lower protein content than ap flour. You will get a heavier and tougher cake with ap flour. You can read more in these posts about flour and about flour in cake batter. The post about flour in cake batter will explain how to substitute cake flour with ap flour with a few minor adjustments.
OMG. This recipe is SOLID. I can’t tell you how many white cake recipes I have tried that came out awful, either flat or eggy or dense or coarse etc. I found this recipe this afternoon, came home and made it straight away. When I looked through the oven door window and saw it rising I became excited! I crossed my fingers before cutting into it, kind of expecting it to be like all the others. It wasn’t! The texture is amazing. It has a beautiful light and airy crumb and didn’t fall flat. I used vanilla and almond flavorings. I didn’t change the recipe one bit (except for the pan size). The bake time for me in two 9″ pans was 28 minutes. I’ll admit It seemed a little weird to start with the dry mix then add sour cream and butter but I went with it, I had tried everything else and had nothing to lose. I have the most amazing chocolate cake recipe and now I have a white cake recipe too!
Thanks Eileen!!
Thanks so much, Susan. I’m glad you liked the recipe. I like it too.
Hi eileen, I have baked this recipe 6 times without any success. I have read every instruction carefully and still could not get any improvement. After i take the cake out of the oven, they always shrink excessively and the surface broke away from my ungreased pan. The cake is also very wet no matter how long i bake it. But still, the taste is good!
I decided to add another cup of flour since i thought it would dry the cake a little, and it worked!
I wonder if there’s a mistake while you were writing the flour weight? Or maybe we are using a different flour?
I am using cake flour with 9% protein.
Thank you eileen
HI Shiyu, this cake does shrink back as it cools. If you look through my notes and photos at the bottom you’ll see what it looks like. As far as the cake being wet, I’ve never had this problem and I’m not sure what’s going on. If you cut into the cake while it is still warm it will be very gummy since the starch hasn’t had time to set. Otherwise I’m not sure how it is coming out wet if all the ingredients are measured correctly. The flour measurements are correct. I would imagine that adding another cup of flour would make a dense cake. I always use cake flour, Soft as Silk, which I believe is about 7% protein.
Thank you for replying Eileen.
Yeah, when I say shrink, mine shrank about one inch from the pan and broke the crust really badly. I cut into it after it has been cooling for 4 hours.
This is really a headscratcher.
But yesterday I added 1 1/2 cups more flour from the recipe, and it ended up looking like the picture your posted and very very fluffy. I love this cake. Thank you for sharing the recipe.
I am so looking forward to your book release! Awesome job girl!
Hi,
Can this recipe be halved successfully, as is? I don’t need four layers.
Thank you!
Yes, you can halve the recipe and either bake two shorter layers in two pans or bake one cake and split into two layers.
I Loved your velvety white cake recipe. You happen to have a recipe that combines cheese and cake layers together? or do you have any advices on making a cake like that?
Hi Vanisha, I have made cakes with cheesecake between the layers. I will post a recipe for my Fruit Tart Cake at some point, which has a cheesecake layer. In the meantime, in my post for Lime Layered Cheesecake you can see how I bake short layers of cheesecake that can be put between cake layers.
Thank you