Moist Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
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, wedding or other occasions.
I realize of course, that most of these requests for birthday cakes 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 vanilla birthday cake with vanilla buttercream.
About this Vanilla 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 my vanilla birthday cake with vanilla buttercream. 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 for decorating this Vanilla Birthday Cake.
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 (Save/Pin)
- 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.
Useful Tips and Tools
- If you bake often, it would be a good idea to invest in a cake mixer. Because, often, we try to mix by hand and then we are too tired to give it enough creaming or mixing. So, if you are making this cake go ahead and remove that K-Mix or Kitchen Aid from your kitchen cabinet. You don’t have to buy an expensive stand mixer, a simple hand mixer also works great.
- I believe in measuring ingredients by weight, which makes my kitchen scale one of the most valuable items when baking.
- And the same goes for my measuring cups and measuring spoons. It’s always a good idea to have these handy and use them when baking rather than trying to guess measurements.
- Also, I think one set of baking pans is a must for anyone a home baker. I often use three 6-inch round cakes, which I often split into 4 layers for a tall display. Some times, I use three 8-inch round pans or three 7-inch cakes.
- Once baked, always invert your cakes on a cooling rack. This enables air circulation and prevents the steam from pooling at the bottom of the pan.
- Lastly, every oven works differently. So the baking times are just guidelines. In the case of cakes, a skewer inserted in the center is a great indication. If the cake bakes too fast or too slow compared to the time given, it might be a good idea to check if your oven needs calibration.
- An oven thermometer is a great little gadget to help keep the oven temperature in check. All you need to do then is adjust the temperature accordingly.
How to Make A Vanilla Birthday Cake with Vanilla Buttercream (Save/Pin)
Bake the cake
- Preheat the oven at 160 C / 380 F
- Grease and line 3x7 inch baking pans or 2x9 inch baking pans
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- 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 the batter between the prepared baking pans
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes
- When done cool in the pan for 10 minutes
- Invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely before decorating.
Prepare Buttercream Frosting
- 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.
- 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.
- Then top the second cake layer on top followed by buttercream and the last cake.
- Place the cake in the fridge if necessary, so the layers hold together.
- Spread the remaining buttercream around and top of the cake.
- Use a bench scraper to smooth the sides of the cake and an offset spatula to smooth the top
- Place the remaining frosting in a piping bag with a star tip
- Pipe swirls on top of the cake
- Decorate with sprinkles.
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.
Vanilla Birthday Cake with Vanilla Buttercream
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Ingredients
FOR THE VANILLA CAKE
- 500 grams (4 cups) All-purpose flour
- 450 grams (2.25 cups) Sugar white
- 400 grams (1.75 cups) Butter (3 1/2 sticks)
- 4 Eggs
- 2 tsp Baking powder
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 310 ml (1.25 cups) Buttermilk
- 2 tsp Vanilla bean paste
FOR THE BAKERY STYLE VANILLA BUTTERCREAM
- 228 grams (1 cups) Unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
- 205 grams (1 cups) Vegetable shortening
- 625 grams (5.00 cups) Powdered sugar
- 60 ml (0.25 cups) Hot water
- 2 tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 tbsp Vanilla
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Instructions
BAKE THE CAKE
- Preheat the oven at 160 C / 380 F
- Grease and line 3×7 inch baking pans or 2×9 inch baking pans
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- 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 the batter between the prepared baking pans
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes
- When done cool in the pan for 10 minutes
- Invert onto a cooling rack and cool completely before decorating.
PREPARE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING
- 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.
- 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.
- Then top the second cake layer on top followed by buttercream and the last cake.
- Place the cake in the fridge if necessary, so the layers hold together.
- Spread the remaining buttercream around and top of the cake.
- Use a bench scraper to smooth the sides of the cake and an offset spatula to smooth the top
- Place the remaining frosting in a piping bag with a star tip
- Pipe swirls on top of the cake
- Decorate with sprinkles.
Recipe Notes
- 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.
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
10 Tips for baking a cake from scratch
Frequently asked questions
If properly stored, this cafe latte 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, you can but brown sugar is more coarse so make sure to cream it well. Having said that brown sugar will also add a caramel color and molasses flavor to the vanilla 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.
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
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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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.
Danielle
This is the cake I would gladly have at an important event - it looks amazing, and I can only imagine how delicious it is! Fabulous creation.
Veena Azmanov
Very delicious, Danielle. You must make this one.
Eden
This birthday cake is my go-to recipe. It always turns out perfectly and my family loves it!
Veena Azmanov
Thank you so much, Eden. So happy you enjoy this recipe. Thank you so much for coming back to write this feedback.
Joy Vincent
Hello thk u for the recipes , but i want to know how to make the simple syrup,and what's the shortening added to the butter cream how Will I get it?
Veena Azmanov
Simple syrup is just sugar and water. See the recipe here - simple syrup. Vegetable shortening is vegetable fat. You can also use other buttercream recipes like my vanilla buttercream if you prefer.
Jenni LeBaron
This vanilla birthday cake is such a gorgeous choice for anyone's birthday, though I'd be happy to use this delicious recipe for any special occasion.
Veena Azmanov
Absolutely, Jenni. I just made it last week again for a Wedding Anniversary.
Tammy
Such a timeless classic. This is a great base cake for any baker. I must confess, as much as I love baking, a homemade vanilla cake has always been tricky for me to perfect. Thanks for sharing <3
Veena Azmanov
I know what you mean, Tammy. This one is really easy - try it out. Thanks
shobee
This cake looks so cute. I would making this on my son's birthday in blue color. That frosting looks so smooth and tasty.
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, Shobee. Blue sounds pretty
Leslie
There is just no other icing quite like vanilla buttercream in my opinion! This cake looks divine! Need to save this one for my next bday party!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, Leslie. Yes, I love the classic vanilla too
Analida Braeger
I love all the cake tips and the decorating techniques are superb! Thanks for sharing!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, Analida
Heather Perine
I just love your cake recipes and your posts are always SO helpful. There is no way even a novice baker couldn't bake this to perfection with all your helpful tips! Thank you! I know my family will love this.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Heather. So happy you enjoy my recipes.
Amanda
I love a good vanilla cake, and your instructions are so detailed. This is perfect for any level baker!!
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Amanda.
Catherine
Thank you so much for this recipe. I was one who requested the birthday cakes. I already made a chocolate birthday cake for my husbands birthday recently. I plan to make this for my mother's birthday next week. Love your recipes. They never disappoint.
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Catherine. So happy you are enjoying my recipes. Thank you for your support. I think you will love this cake too. Let me know how it was after you make it.
Amy
This cake looks so pretty, perfect for a birthday!
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Amy
Farah
Nothing like a fluffy sweet vanilla cake with buttercream frosting. Thanks for the recipe that came in perfect time for upcoming birthday celebrations!
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Farah. Glad you here the timing suited you well. Let me know how it was if you try it.
Natalie
This vanilla cake looks so delicious! I love how high it is - so pretty and festive ♥
Veena Azmanov
Thank you, Natalie.
Eileen Kelly
The best birthday cake ever! The instructions are so easy to follow and the flavor of the cake is just delicious!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, Eileen.
Suzy
I love classic recipes like this! All of the tips and tricks are exactly what I need! Trying this for my kids next birthday!
Veena Azmanov
Thanks, Suzy.