The BEST White Cake Recipe
Tender, moist, and fluffy, this white cake recipe is made completely from scratch and is so much better than a box mix. Make this simple but elegant cake for birthdays, family gatherings, and holiday parties!
Whether you’re an experienced baker with dozens of cakes under your belt or are just starting your baking journey, white cake is a classic dessert that every home baker should know how to make.
Why? Because homemade white cake is perfect for any occasion. The layers of tender cake and vanilla buttercream frosting make this simple cake the ideal canvas for any cake decoration you can imagine!
Top your cake with multicolored sprinkles for birthdays, add gel food coloring to the frosting to suit any holiday, or enjoy the cake as is any day of the year.
After one bite, I think you’ll agree that this is the best white cake recipe!
Recipe Ingredients
This is a simple white cake recipe topped with my favorite vanilla buttercream. But don’t let the word “simple” fool you — there’s still plenty of flavor in this cake!
A detailed list of ingredients is provided in the recipe card below, but here are the key items you’ll need to make it:
- Cake flour: I suggest sticking with cake flour versus all-purpose flour. Cake flour has a lower protein content than all-purpose flour which creates a tender, fine crumb. If you don’t keep cake flour on hand, you can make a substitute with just two ingredients.
- Salt: Enhances the vanilla flavor and also balances out the sweetness of the batter.
- Buttermilk: Creates a soft, tender crumb and also provides moisture. Don’t skip the buttermilk! If you don’t have any, you’ll need to make a buttermilk substitute using regular milk and vinegar (or lemon juice).
- Clear vanilla extract: Pure vanilla extract may be used as well. However, clear vanilla will ensure that the cake remains perfectly white.
- Unsalted butter: I recommend using unsalted butter since the amount of salt in salted butters can vary between different brands. The butter and sugar need to be creamed together for a good 4 to 5 minutes to create a super light, fluffy cake.
- Granulated sugar: I love brown sugar in cakes, but for this recipe you want to stick with granulated sugar to get that classic white cake look.
- Egg whites: Egg yolks have fat in them, which can weigh down the cake. By using just egg whites, you’ll create a lighter cake and it will help keep it perfectly white.
How to Make White Cake
If you’ve only eaten white cake from a box mix, you’re in for a treat! This scratch recipe is incredibly easy to prepare.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Whisk together the wet ingredients: In a large measuring cup, combine the buttermilk and vanilla.
- Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy: In a separate mixing bowl, beat the butter just until smooth. Then, add the sugar and beat for 4 to 5 minutes or until the mixture is light in color and fluffy.
- Add the dry and wet ingredients: While the mixer is running on the lowest speed, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the buttermilk mixture to the butter and sugar. You’ll need to do this in three increments, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
- Beat egg whites to stiff peaks & fold them in: In a separate mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Make sure the bowl and the beaters are clean; if you use a dirty bowl the egg whites might not stiffen properly. Gently fold half of the egg whites into the cake batter, then fold in the remaining half.
- Bake the cake layers: Divide the batter between two 9-inch round cake pans that have been lined with parchment paper and sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake the cake layers until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool completely: Let the cake layers cool in the pans for about 20 minutes before removing. Then, they’ll need to cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
- Make the frosting: Beat the butter until smooth. You can use a large mixing bowl and an electric handheld mixer to do this, or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the powdered sugar to the butter and mix until smooth. I prefer adding 1 cup of sugar at a time to make this process easier. Add the heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and salt last.
- Decorate the cake: Level the tops of each cake layer. You can use a knife or a cake leveler to do this. Place one of the cake layers on a cake stand and frost. Place the second cake layer on top of the first, dollop with more frosting, and frost the entire cake. If desired, reserve some of the frosting to pipe onto the top of the cake. I also added sprinkles to mine for a pop of color!
Frequently Asked Questions
Vanilla cakes typically use the whole egg and have an off-white color. White cakes only use egg whites, which helps to keep the cake light and fluffy and also gives it the classic u0022whiteu0022 color.
Absolutely! I opted to make a white layer cake, but you can certainly make this white cake recipe using a 9×13-inch baking dish and increasing the baking time to 35 to 45 minutes.
Yes! You may wrap individual slices with plastic wrap and freeze in a large freezer bag for up to 3 months.
The cake layers and frosting will also freeze well for up to 3 months. I recommend wrapping the cake layers tightly with plastic wrap and storing the frosting in a freezer bag. When you’re ready to assemble the cake, thaw the cake layers and frosting overnight in the fridge. Bring the frosting to room temperature and mix well before frosting the cake.
You can store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for one to two days or in the fridge for up to four days.
If storing the cake in the fridge, I recommend setting it out a little bit ahead of time so that it can come to room temperature.
Additional Frosting Options
For this particular cake, I used my favorite vanilla buttercream frosting recipe but increased the amount of frosting so I had enough to decorate the whole cake.
If desired, you may frost your homemade white cake with another frosting. Here are a few more options to try:
- Chocolate Buttercream
- Strawberry Frosting
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Rainbow Chip Frosting
- Ermine Frosting
Baking Tips
- Make sure to bring all of your ingredients (butter, buttermilk, and egg whites) to room temperature before getting started.
- Be sure to cream the butter and sugar together until light in color and fluffy. This step may take about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Alternate mixing the dry ingredients and the buttermilk + vanilla into the creamed butter and sugar. This will help to prevent overmixing and create a lighter cake.
- Gently fold the egg whites in until they’re just combined, you want to avoid overmixing them into the cake batter.
Recipe Video
White Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the white cake:
- 2 ¾ cups cake flour (spooned & leveled) (305 grams)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature (240 ml)
- 2 teaspoons clear vanilla extract or pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (230 grams)
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar (350 grams)
- 5 large egg whites at room temperature
For the vanilla buttercream frosting:
- 1 ½ cups unsalted butter softened (340 grams)
- 4 ½ cups powdered sugar (540 grams)
- 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream (45 ml)
- 1 tablespoon clear vanilla extract or pure vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- To make the white cake: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray, line the bottom of the pans with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Combine the buttermilk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup and stir until well combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, beat the butter on low speed until smooth, then slowly mix in the granulated sugar. Once all of the sugar is added, increase to medium speed and continue mixing for another 4 to 5 minutes or until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter and sugar in three additions alternating with the buttermilk mixture (begin and end with the dry ingredients) on low speed. Mix in each addition until just combined, making sure not to over mix the batter.
- In a separate clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Gently fold half of the egg whites into the batter, then fold in the remaining egg whites until just combined.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pans and spread around into one even layer. Gently tap the cake pans on the counter a couple times to release any air bubbles.
- Bake for 28 to 32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, then remove the cakes from the pans and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the vanilla buttercream frosting: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar one cup at a time, making sure to mix well after each addition, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Add the heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract, and salt and mix on medium speed until fully combined, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- To assemble the cake: Level the tops of each cake with a knife or cake leveler. Place one of the cakes on a cake stand, top with a layer of frosting, and smooth it out into one even layer. Place the second layer on top, then use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake.
Hi Danielle, what’s the recipe for a home made buttermilk?
Thanks
Cynthia
Hi, Cynthia! You can find my buttermilk recipe here.
Does this cake need to be refrigerated since it has whipping cream in the icing?
You can refrigerate it if you prefer, but it’s fine to leave at room temperature too.
Hi there. I live in South Africa. We don’t hv many flour options we hv a cake flour and a self raising flour. I’m just not sure if the cake flour is in fact just an all purpose flour. How will I know the difference? Maybe you could google the product it’s Snowflake Cake Flour.
Love , love your blog. Thank you. I’m really keen to try this cake I’ve been looking for a white cake recipe forever. Thank You
I’m really not sure. Do you have just regular all-purpose flour? If so, you can make the cake flour substitute in the recipe notes.
Hey, thanks for the recipe, can’t wait to try it out. My bf actually found it and specifically requested it for his birthday.
Would it be possible to bake this cake in two 20cm tins and cut the cakes horizontally in half (to get 4 layers)?
Thank you!!
That should be fine! It may be almost too much batter for pans that size, so I would just fill them only half-way full. You can use any leftover batter to make cupcakes.
Hello, can I use salted butter and cut down on the amount of salt used?
Yes, just reduce the salt in the cake to 1/4 teaspoon.
This is the first time I’ve made a cake from scratch. I beat the egg whites in my stand mixer on medium for several minutes, but they just kind of became frothy. What am I doing wrong? Does it take 10 minutes? Do you have to add sugar? Help! Thank you!
Hi Jenna! When you lifted your beaters out of the bowl, did you see stiff peaks? Since you don’t beat the egg whites with sugar in this recipe, they won’t be quite as glossy.
Hi Danielle, I did not see stiff peaks. I just had frothy egg whites. Should I beat them longer next time?
Hi Jenna! Do you think you may have over mixed it a bit? The mixture will be a little frothy, since you don’t add anything to the egg whites they won’t be super thick or glossy. When you lift the beaters out of the bowl, you should still see some stiff peaks.
Love your blog and recipes! My cake came out with sort of hard crust and corners. What am I doing wrong? Is it because I used a dark 9×13 pan? Thanks!
Hi, Sarah! If you used a darker pan, it may have been just a little overcooked, but the edges will also be a little harder than the rest of the cake too. Once you frost it that should help if the top was a little overdone too.
My cake didn’t raise that much,
Sorry you had some trouble with the recipe. Did you make sure to beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, use cake flour, and whip the egg whites to stiff peaks? Happy to try to help you figure out what may have happened, I’ll just need a bit more information.
Do you know how tall your cake was I need a tall cake for a birthday party
I’m not sure exactly how tall it was, but if you’re wanting a taller cake you could do three layers in 7 or 8-inch cake pans.
Danielle,
I mixed the batter by hand, alternating the creamed butter + sugar with the buttermilk/vanilla, into the flour mixture. I did that because the batter seemed too thick to use the electric mixer. Was this correct? Or should I have used the electric mixer? Because I mixed it by hand, it came out rather tough after baking.
It seems like a good recipe, and I would like to know what I did wrong. Thanks Danielle.
I recommend using a mixer for this recipe because you want to beat the butter and sugar for several minutes to incorporate air into it. If you mix everything together by hand it can make overdevelop the gluten and make the cake tough/dense too.
Thanks Danielle.
Hi Danielle,
I thought the batter was rather thick, until I added the beaten egg whites. I’m wondering if I did not cream the butter and sugar long enough (5 minutes), or if the butter wasn’t soft enough to start with.
Hi Christine! The batter is kind of thick before you add the beaten egg whites, I don’t think you necessarily did anything wrong. Hopefully the cake turned out okay for you!
Does this recipe also work when using an egg replacer?
I haven’t tried one, but I actually wouldn’t recommend it for this recipe.
Hi, I hope to try your recipe soonest. So excited! I wonder if I can use this to a 4 tier wedding cake. ? Thanks!
It really just depends on the size of your cake layers, but I would probably double the recipe for a 4 tier cake.
Can I make a bundt cake with this receipe?
I think that would be fine. I’m not sure about the baking time, but I would guess 45-60 minutes.
How much would I need to adjust the recipe for 3, 8 inch round pans? Thanks!!
You could probably multiply the recipe by 1.5.
Danielle, your white cake and buttercream icing recipes were the perfect fit for my granddaughter’s birthday cake. Everyone raved about the light texture of the white cake and the delicious buttercream icing. I will definitely use your recipe for vanilla cake and buttercream icing in the future!
So happy to hear that everyone enjoyed the cake, Amy!
I need to make a smash cake with 2 6″ x 2″ pans. Any idea the recipe and cook time for that?
I’m not sure about the baking time, but it would definitely be more batter than needed for two 6-inch cake pans. I would actually recommend making the recipe as is (since it would be hard to scale this one down) and then using any leftover batter to make cupcakes.
Amazing!!!! I added some sprinkles and made a Funfetti version!!! I’m keeping this recipe forever, thank you!!!!
Hi I want to make this cake for my daughters 2nd birthday it looks delicious. Can I use coconut sugar in place of the regular white sugar in the cake?
You probably could, but then it wouldn’t really be a white cake recipe.
Hi! Can I add sprinkles to the batter to make a homemade funfetti? How much do you think I’d add? Thanks for any help!!
I would probably start with 1/3-1/2 cup, then add more if needed. I would also use the long sprinkles (jimmies) and not the round ones because they tend to bleed color into the batter.
I’ve been searching for a good fluffy, moist vanilla/white cake and have failed miserably until now. I finally understood how important it is to whip the sugar and butter very, very well and as soon as the flour hits mix as little as possible, it definitely made the cake I was longing for a while, thanks so much!!!
So glad you liked the cake, Vanessa!
Very good white cake! (I made it not cupcakes and it turned out great) How many cups of batter does the recipe make? Im making a layer cake and am trying to figure out how much batter to make
Glad you liked the cake, Isabella! I’m not sure how many cups of batter this recipe makes, but the full recipe is enough for two 9-inch cake pans
I live at a higher elevation. Any adjustments necessary?
Hi Charlotte! I’m not familiar with baking at high altitudes, but King Arthur Flour has a good guide on their site for how to adjust recipes for high altitude.
I love the cake its yummy your recipe helped me alot is so amazing i love it
Cake came out perfect!! I added jimmies as requested by the birthday girl nd it was super good. Thank you for sharing your well detailed recipe.
Used this for a birthday cake and cupcakes for a 2 year old. Yummalicious. I used the frosting recipe also but had a little trouble smoothing it. What do you use to get it so smooth and do you change the recipe in any way for the frosting to be easier to smooth?
Hi, Debbie! The frosting that you see on the cake in these pictures is the same one in the recipe. I use different tools to get it a little smoother, I shared more about them in my chocolate cake post as well as how I frost a cake. You can find that post here.
I don’t have a stand mixer and my hand mixer broke. can I achieve this by hand??
Yes, you could use a whisk but it will take longer and be harder. You’ll just have to make sure the butter and sugars and the egg whites are at the proper consistency. I would really recommend a hand mixer if you can use one.
By far the best white cake recipe ever. Cake comes out moist, airy and not too sweet. The top had a tiny bit of pleasant crisp to it too. I’ve used this for layer cake and cupcakes with great success. I also made an adapted version substituting brown sugar for the granulated and 3 extra large whole eggs instead of 5 egg whites. I mixed the egg yolks in but still beat the whites and folded that in. This added a nice, caramel flavor. Although no longer wedding-white, my point is that this recipe is forgiving and adaptable. Simply brilliant. Thank you for sharing. Consider me a fan of your blog.
So happy to hear that!
Can I use this recipe to make tye and dye cake? Can I add different colors and then bake the cake for the rainbow effect?
That should be fine! I would just be careful if you’re using liquid food coloring, if you use too much it can thin out the batter a little. Gel food coloring is a really great option!
Can you use this recipe to make cupcakes?
That should be fine. I’m not sure on the baking time but I would guess about 20 minutes. It will likely make somewhere between 24-28 cupcakes, just make sure not to overfill the liners.
This recipe is great and is light and fluffy after it comes out of the oven. However it gets really dense after freezing it for a couple days. I am wrapping the cake tightly in saran wrap. What am I doing wrong?
Hi, Lucille! Did you let the cake come to room temperature too? If it’s cold it will seem denser than it would be at room temperature.
I let it thaw in the fridge for a few hours before I started decorating it. Should it fully come to room temp before I decorate it?
It’s fine to go ahead and decorate it if it’s been refrigerated. When you plan to serve the frosted cake, I would just set it out ahead of time to come to room temperature.