Vanilla Buttermilk Cake
Vanilla Buttermilk Cake is the old fashioned layer cake we all know and love. The cake has a moist, fine crumb and lovely vanilla flavor.
Why You’ll Love This Cake
You’ll love this cake because it has a very soft and moist crumb that is reminiscent of a cake made from a box-mix.
WHAT??? Why would I talk about cake mix on this everything-baked-from-scratch blog?
But wait, stay with me a minute. While I’m convinced that I can always spot a cake made from a mix because there is a certain artificial flavor that comes through, cake mixes do have one thing going for them.
Cakes made from a mix have a the super soft, very fine crumb that many, many people think of as the quintessential old fashioned layer cake. It’s the kind of cake that I grew up with, and maybe you did too.
But we don’t have to resort to using cake mix.
Why Vanilla Buttermilk Cake is so soft
- There are two important ingredients in this recipe that create the type of super-fine crumb you get from a cake mix — buttermilk and oil.
- Buttermilk is acidic and acidic ingredients tenderize the cake crumb.
- Oil stays liquid when chilled, so cakes made with oil are softer than cakes made with butter, especially if they have a perishable filling that needs to be stored in the fridge.
- The recipe starts by emulsifying the oil and eggs with the other wet ingredients. This forms lots and lots of tiny air bubbles in the batter, which are then expanded by the baking soda and powder. This produces a very fine and even crumb that melts in your mouth.
Ingredients
Ingredient Notes
- Cake Flour – I like to use bleached cake flour for the softest and most tender cake. Unbleached cake flour is also a good choice. As a last option, use all purpose flour to make the cake flour substitute in this post.
- Buttermilk – Acidic buttermilk makes the crumb on the cake tender and adds a beautiful flavor. For this cake I don’t recommend using a buttermilk substitute.
- Oil – Any neutral oil will work in this recipe. I use a basic vegetable oil.
Process Photos
See the recipe card for detailed measurements and instructions.
- Sift the dry ingredients to remove lumps and to distribute the salt and leavening.
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, use the paddle attachment to emulsify the eggs, oil and sugar.
- With the mixer running on low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
- Divide the batter between three 8 inch pans. If you only have 2 pans, put 1/3 of the batter in one pan and 2/3 of the batter in the other. Torte the larger cake after baking.
- The recipe can also make 18 vanilla cupcakes.
- Bake until the center of the cake springs back when lightly pressed. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the prettiest cake slices, I always trim the brown crust from the layers before filling and icing the cake.
For a real old-fashioned slice of heaven, fill and frost this cake with simple-to-make American Buttercream. If you prefer your frosting less sweet, try Italian Meringue Buttercream or Ermine Frosting.
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Vanilla Buttermilk Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 11 ¼ oz cake flour (2 ½ cups, see note)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon table salt
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 8 oz vegetable oil (1 cup)
- 4 large eggs
- 8 oz buttermilk (1 cup)
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 16 oz granulated sugar (2 cups)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F. Line the bottom of three 8"x3" round cake pans with parchment paper, or butter and flour the bottom of the pans (don't butter/flour the sides). (see note)
- Sift 11 ¼ oz cake flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon table saltand ¼ teaspoon baking soda and set aside.
- Combine 8 oz vegetable oil, 4 large eggs, 8 oz buttermilk, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract and 16 oz granulated sugar in a mixer bowl. Mix on medium speed to combine the ingredients, continue mixing for 2-3 minutes to emulsify the ingredients. With the mixer running on low, add the flour mixture.
- Divide the batter evenly between the pans. Bake until the top springs back when lightly pressed or a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
- Cool completely before filling and icing.
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Hi I’ve baked this cake before and I’ve noticed that mine had a crust of sugar on the outside (the outside was sweeter than the inside) do you know why that would happen? Thanks.
Hi! I’m still looking for an answer to this problem or if anyone else experienced this? also do you use the whisk attachment or the beater attachment?
Hi Haley, sorry I didn’t respond sooner. I don’t always see new comments. First of all, I use the paddle attachment on my stand mixer for this recipe. What do you mean by “a crust of sugar”? Do you mean the brown crust around the sides or a crust on the top of the cake. There could be undissolved sugar in the batter. If the sugar did not completely dissolve the excess sugar could rise to the surface create a thick crust. Did you take the time to let the batter mix for 2-3 minutes and emulsify as instructed in step 3? If you rush this step it could compromise the texture of the cake.
Hi Eileen,
I would like to make a strawberry cake. Which vanilla recipe would you recommend and can you please provide the ingredients needed? I have tried your carrot, chocolate and red velvet cake recipes and OH MY GOD!! so delicious! Thank you .
How do you plan to flavor the cake? With fresh strawberry puree? If that is the case I couldn’t say without extensive testing. The extra liquid from the strawberries plus the acidity would change the texture of the cake quite a bit. My first guess would be to replace some of the buttermilk in this recipe with strawberry puree.
Hi Elieen, I am not sure if puree or freeze dried. I have search and tried others with puree and freeze dried but the texture was not good. I really hope you can help me out. All your othe recipes so far are excellent. Thank you.
Freeze dried strawberries are great for adding berry flavor without too much moisture. I use them for my Strawberry Bundt Cake and Strawberry macarons for exactly that reason. For the bundt cake I tried folding in ground freeze dried strawberries and I didn’t like the color of the cake. I’ll be honest with you, while strawberry cakes can look pretty with the pink color, I generally prefer to flavor my fillings rather than the cake itself. The flour in the cake tends to mute any subtle flavors and I think you get more bang for your buck with highly flavored syrups and fillings.
Hi Eileen,
If I use 1/2 melted butter and 1/2 oil will I still get the moist texture or will it change the composition completely. I like the taste of butter and just wondering if I can mix the two.
Love, love, love this cake! I had to adjust to my dairy intolerance (Silk almond milk plus lemon to make ‘buttermilk’). I also decided I wanted an almond flavored cake so I added a scant tablespoon of almond extract as well as the vanilla. The cake is so moist! And has so much flavor. I tasted the batter before I made it a vanilla cake and I could have eaten the batter just by itself. Yum! I made it in a 9×13 pan baked at 350 for 45 minutes and frosted with chocolate frosting and it was perfect. I think next time I will frost with the vanilla buttercream. My go to white cake vanilla or almond. It’s 9:45 in the morning and I have to go have a bite or 2 because I’m reviewing this cake 😉
Hello, I’d like to use three 6” inch pans. How would I change it? Would I have to half the ingredients? Please help!
An 8″ round pan has an area of 50.24″ (1/2 the 8″ radius squared x 3.14). A 6″ pan has an area of 28.26″. If you divide 28.6 by 50.24 you get 56%. So that means a 6″ pan has just a little more than 1/2 the area of an 8″ pan. So if you halve the recipe you should get a good result.