A moist butter-based vanilla cake paired with a silky, smooth bakery-style vanilla buttercream makes a perfect homemade vanilla birthday cake. Baked from scratch this cake is surprisingly simple and easy to make from baking to frosting. A few sprinkles make this a celebration cake for any occasion whether you are five or fifty.
I have over fifty cake recipes on this blog and yet, I'm always surprised when people message me asking if I have a birthday cake recipe. In truth, any of these cakes, especially the layered cakes can be used for birthday, weddings, or other occasions.
I realize of course, that most of these requests come from novice bakers which is why I decided to dedicate two cakes just for birthdays. Recently, I shared my chocolate birthday cake which was filled with chocolate buttercream and frosted with chocolate ganache. Today, I share with you this recipe with vanilla buttercream.
About this cake
The batter is a classic vanilla cake batter made with butter, white sugar and all-purpose flour using the creaming method. A surprisingly simple and easy recipe to make from start to finish.
To keep it classic, I've paired this is my bakery style buttercream frosting which is very popular because it's easy and simple to make.
Having said that, you know my love for frosting by the variety I have for you on this blog. There are so many other choices for the frosting you can use for this cake Such as:
Swiss or Italian Meringue Buttercream
French or German Buttercream Frosting
Chocolate Buttercream Frosting, Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.
I have over 30 plus frosting recipes on this blog. And I highly recommend checking them out.
Timeline and process
Now, I don't want to tell you when you make your cake but since I'm presuming this post is for novice bakers who often ask when should I start making my cake? here are my suggestions.
- Bake cake - cool overnight wrapped well in plastic. (1 hour)
- Make the frosting and simple syrup. (20 minutes)
- Crumb coat cake - place in the fridge to chill for an hour. (20 mins + 1 hour)
- Complete frosting the cake (30 mins)
- Decorate with sprinkles (10 mins)
Ingredients and substitutes
- All-purpose flour - Yes, regular all-purpose flour works great. No need to look for anything else. And if you have only self-raising flour on hand use it but reduce the baking powder by half.
- Unsalted butter - I always use unsalted so I can control the amount of salt. And yet, if salted butter is all you have, use it and omit salt in the recipe.
- Sugar - I'm using white sugar so I can have a white cake. It's always best to use fine-grain white sugar so it dissolves easily in the butter.
- Buttermilk - if you don't buttermilk on hand don't worry. It takes just 5 minutes to make homemade buttermilk for baking.
- Vanilla - A good quality vanilla is very important especially in a vanilla cake. I'm using vanilla bean paste but you can use vanilla extract too.
Step by step instructions (save/pin)
Cake
- Preheat the oven at 160 C / 320 F.
- Grease and line 3×7 inch baking pans or 2×9 inch baking pans.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla bean paste.
- Lastly, add the flour and buttermilk in three batches. Scrape the sides and bottom to ensure you have a smooth batter
- Divide batter equally between the prepared baking pans.
Tip - I like to use cake strips to ensure my layer cakes bake flat. - Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean.
- Cool in the baking pan for 5 minutes. Invert and cool on a wire rack completely before you decorate.
Prepare
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment cream butter and shortening for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add cornstarch to the hot water and add it to the creaming mixture.
- Continue to cream until it’s a smooth mixture again.
- Add vanilla and combine well.
- Finally, start adding the powdered sugar one cup at a time.
- Once all the sugar is in – whip the buttercream for a good three minutes until light and fluffy.
Assemble
- Prepare simple syrup – cool completely before using.
- Once cooled, cut the domes off the cake layers using a serrated knife.
- Brush each layer with the cooled, simple syrup.
- Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand.
- Top with a big dollop of buttercream – spread evenly using a straight-edge spatula.
- Then top the second cake layer on top followed by buttercream and the last cake.
- Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes.
Tip - Chilling the cake at this point will ensure the layers don't move when you frost the outside. Though, if you leave the cake uncovered in the fridge for too long it can dry out. So, 10 minutes is all you need
- Spread the remaining buttercream around and top of the cake.
Tip - A straight-edge spatula fo the top, an off-set spatula, and bench scraper for the sides work better. - Place the remaining frosting in a piping bag with a star tip. Pipe swirls on top of the cake
- Decorate with sprinkles or as desired
Storage
- Once decorated the cake does not need to be refrigerated.
- It can stay at room temperature for two days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Once cut always cover the cut side of the cake with plastic wrap so the cake does not dry out.
Frequently asked questions
If properly stored, this cake will last for 2 to 3 days at room temperature. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 or 6 days.
Yes. Freeze it on a tray for a few hours then wrap well in cling/plastic wrap, followed by a parchment paper and then aluminum foil. Thaw wrapped in the fridge for 24 hours so the condensation will stay on the papers, not the cake.
No, this recipe works best with eggs but you can use my Eggless Vanilla Cake or Eggless Chocolate Cake to make a birthday cake.
Yes, make sure to cream it well. Having said that brown sugar will also add a caramel color and molasses flavor to the cake.
I have not tried this recipe with either almond or coconut flour, but I do have a gluten-free chocolate cake recipe that is very popular.
I do have a tried and test chocolate birthday cake recipe that you may like to use.
This is a fairly simple recipe and yet, I do have a one-bowl vanilla cake recipe decorated as a naked-cake. Perhaps you can try using that recipe as a base.
yes, you can whip the eggs separately to make the cake light and fluffy just as I have done in my recipe for light and fluffy vanilla cake.
Yes, I've decorated this cake with fondant on many occasions
Yes, this is a butter-based cake and works beautifully in tiered wedding cakes.
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Vanilla Birthday Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
Print Pin RateDescription
Ingredients
Vanilla cake
- 4 cups (500 g) All-purpose flour
- 2 ¼ cups (450 g) Sugar white
- 14 oz (400 g) Butter (3 ½ sticks)
- 4 Eggs
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1 ⅓ cup (320 ml) Buttermilk
- 2 tsp Vanilla bean paste
Bakery style vanilla frosting
- 8 oz (227 g) Unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 1 cup (200 g) Vegetable shortening
- 5 cup (600 g) Powdered sugar
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Hot water
- 2 tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 tbsp Vanilla
- ¼ tsp Salt
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven at 160 C / 380 F
- Grease and line 3×7 inch baking pans or 2×9 inch baking pans
- In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
- Add eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla bean paste
- Lastly, add the flour and buttermilk in three batches. Scrape the sides and bottom to ensure you have a smooth batter
- Divide batter equally between the prepared baking pans. Tip - I like to use cake strips to ensure my layer cakes bake flat.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes clean.
- Cool in the baking pan for 5 minutes. Invert and cool on a wire rack completely before you decorate.
Vanilla Buttercream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment cream butter and shortening for about 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Add cornstarch to the hot water and add it to the creaming mixture.
- Continue to cream until it’s a smooth mixture again.
- Add vanilla and combine well.
- Finally, start adding the powdered sugar one cup at a time.
- Once all the sugar is in – whip the buttercream for a good three minutes until light and fluffy.
Assemble
- Prepare simple syrup – cool completely before using.
- Once cooled, cut the domes off the cake layers using a serrated knife.
- Brush each layer with the cooled, simple syrup.
- Place a cake layer on the cake board or cake stand.
- Top with a big dollop of buttercream – spread evenly using a straight-edge spatula.
- Then top the second cake layer on top followed by buttercream and the last cake.
- Place the cake in the fridge to chill for 10 to 15 minutes. Tip - Chilling the cake at this point will ensure the layers don't move when you frost the outside. Though, if you leave the cake uncovered in the fridge for too long it can dry out. So, 10 minutes is all you need
- Spread the remaining buttercream around and top of the cake.Tip - A straight-edge spatula fo the top, an off-set spatula and bench scraper for the sides work better.
- Place the remaining frosting in a piping bag with a star tip. Pipe swirls on top of the cake
- Decorate with sprinkles or as desired
Recipe Notes
Storage
- Once decorated the cake does not need to be refrigerated.
- It can stay at room temperature for two days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Once cut always cover the cut side of the cake with cling/plastic wrap so the cake does not dry out.
Other pan suggestions
- If you don't want to make a layer cake like this,
- You can make this into a sheet cake - a 'Vanilla Sheet Cake'.
- You can also pour the batter into a well-greased and dusted bundt pan for a 'Vanilla Bundt Cake'.
- This recipe can also be baked into 24 beautiful cupcakes
Equipment
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information and metric conversion are calculated automatically. I cannot guarantee its accuracy. If this data is important to you please verify with your trusted nutrition calculator. Thank you
Alpana
Hi Veena, Lovely recipe.
Can I use 9*13 pan to bake one cake? instead of two pans?
Veena Azmanov
yes, Aplana. That would work
Sewuese
Week 2 day 5 DONE
Thank you so much for the tutorial. I am baking, once I have finished, I will upload my work to. God bless you richly
Veena Azmanov
Can't wait
Stephanie
I used this recipe for my sons first birthday. It was delicious! The only problems I had were I chose the 9x2 pans that were suggested but the amount the recipe had me make was not enough for three pans but only enough for two. The first time when I spread the entire batter among three pans the cakes came out too thin. So you may need to make extra ahead of time if you want three cake pans. Also the temperature given did not work well at all! I attempted this cake three times to get it close to not being over baked. This recipe was easy to mix ingredients together but not easy in logistics and caused a much much longer process.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you for your feedback, Stephanie.
Yes, you would need 1 1/2 of this batter for 3x9-inch pans or it would definitely be too thin.
All my cakes are baked at 160 C and that is a good baking temperature for cakes without loosing too much of the dome. I am not sure why it did not work for you.
Can you please explain what you mean by not easy in logistics? It is a fairly simple cake and I have given detailed timeline for baking and frosting.
If you can explain more would be very helpful so I can add the necessary details for future visitors. Thanks again
Lala
Hi Veena! Thank you for the recipe! Its my first time to bake a cake and your instructions were easy to follow. I followed everything through except I mistakenly put 250ml of buttermilk instead of 320ml. I also used a 9x2 and a 9x3 round pans because thats all I have here. One of the cake's top was cracked and domed but well cooked on the inside while the other one looked fine but it was actually undercooked. The cracked cake was initially on the middle rack and a little to the right while the other was on the bottom rack, left side of the oven. Neither touching the walls of the oven. I switched their places halfway through baking because the cake on the bottom rack still looked like a batter while the other looks burnt already. Can you tell me what did I do wrong so I can get it perfectly the next time? Thanks much ?
Veena Azmanov
Hey Lala. Sorry to hear the cakes didn't bake perfectly. Sounds like your oven is not heating evenly.
Also, are you using the top and bottom heat or just bottom? I suggest you check more details about your oven online.
Also, check if your oven needs calibration. The crack suggests that the cake was overcooked and dried (especially because you used less buttermilk)
Usually, switching the places between cooking is the right thing to do
I would recommend cooking one pan at a time on the middle rack. Leave the second in a cool place while the first is baking.
Learning the basics can be difficult at first but don't give up. You will enjoy baking as you practice. I think you may like this post - 10 Tips for successfully baking a cake from scratch
Thanks
Lala
Thank you for the reply, Veena. I used top and bottom heat. I tried to check for more info about my oven prior baking, no luck. My oven has this feature called dual temperature control, like you can control the temps of top and bottom heat individually. I guess I need to know this oven better. I also actually thought of baking one pan at the time but I wasnt sure if the batter can sit while the first one is baking. Thanks for the tip and for the encouragement. I was really heartbroken when it didnt turn out well. Like all of the comments here were positive and I thought what could go wrong lol
Veena Azmanov
Yes, if you have the option for top and bottom you probably need to use only the bottom. Baking does take a bit of time, patience and practice but it gets easier so don't give up. Try a small cake with only bottom and see how it goes.