You'll want to make this delicious and easy vanilla layer cake over and over again. Sweet, fluffy cake layers with silky swiss meringue buttercream, is perfect for celebrating birthdays, weddings or any other special occasion.
What’s the occasion?
Actually, do you even need an occasion for cake? I certainly don’t.
But if there is an occasion then it would be rude not to celebrate with cake, wouldn’t it?
So as I celebrated becoming another year older, it was time to comply with that unwritten rule of ‘birthday treats’ for the office! Sure I could have picked up something from the store, but that’s not my thing.
From chocolate sundae cupcakes to a lemon curd meringue roulade and that show-stopping Twix cake, the office sort of expects me to bake. And well, it’s not like I need an excuse to.
With everything that I’d made for the office, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t made my favourite vanilla cake for them. Until now...
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my work buddies. It didn’t last long, someone complained that it had vanished by 10am!
Just take me to the cake already!
If you want to skip the essential info and handy tips for making absolutely the best cake vanilla layer cake, then you can head on down to the printable recipe card. Just keep scrolling!
‘Just vanilla’
How many times have you turned cake down because it’s ‘plain old vanilla’?
Vanilla gets a pretty bad deal in my opinion, and undeservedly so!
The thing is, a great vanilla cake is one of the happiest foods on the planet. It’s usually the first cake we learn to make, the first we taste, and the one that celebrates every occasion from birthdays to weddings. What’s not to like about it!
And whilst it’s so simple to make, it’s also so simple to get wrong too - and no one wants to celebrate with dense dry cake, do they?
The Fluffiest & Easiest Vanilla Layer Cake
Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page
What if I told you that I’ve got the easiest recipe, that will stop you reaching for boxed cake mix?
That’s going to give you the softest, most beautifully sweet cake layers?
Whether smothered in a silky swiss meringue buttercream or classically iced with sugar fondant, is one recipe you’ll want to make if you have something to celebrate or not!
What makes it the best recipe?
Apart from that it’s vanilla, and vanilla really is THE BEST flavour there is; there’s also…
- Self-Raising Flour - will give a soft, fluffy and light texture to your cake. Switch out the all-purpose or plain flour as these will usually result in a heavier, denser cake.
- Buttermilk - a superpower ingredient that works with the eggs to create a cake batter that produces perfectly moist cakes.
- Real Butter - creamed butter with a pinch of salt gives you the rich, buttery taste that just melts in your mouth. There’s no margarine or cake spread here.
- Vanilla Bean Paste - if you’re looking for a true vanilla flavour, then bean paste is the ultimate ingredient. If you can't find vanilla bean paste, then a pure vanilla extract will work a treat. But avoid synthetic vanilla essence, it’s not a true flavour.
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Top tips for making the softest cake
- Room temperature eggs - Adding cold eggs to your cake batter mix can cause it to curdle. Yes, we can fix that with dry ingredients, but also when baking, you’ll be working first to bring the eggs up to temperature. So make sure your eggs are at room temperature, and if not, you can warm them up by popping them in a bowl of warm tap water for 10 minutes.
- Softened butter - have you ever tried to cream fridge-cold butter? It’s a nightmare! To get that beautiful buttery taste and texture, make sure your butter is softened but not too soft. To test it, press a clean finger in the butter - it should leave an indent but not go all the way through.
- Make your own buttermilk - if you can’t find it in the chiller cabinet of the store, then add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 200ml (1 cup) of full-fat milk. Pop it to one side for 15 minutes, whilst sorting your ingredients out, by which time the milk will be ready to use.
- Let the cake cool down - I know it smells amazing when it comes out of the oven, but don’t be hasty and take shortcuts, trying to frost still-warm cakes always ends up a mess. Ideally, let the cake layers cool on a wire rack or you can refrigerate or freeze them if in a hurry. Remember to take them out of the cake pans first!
How long will the cake and buttercream last?
The cake will keep in an air-tight container for up to 3 days, or you can freeze it for up to 1 month, but make sure it is well wrapped before freezing.
If you have any leftover swiss meringue buttercream, pop it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or the freezer for 3 months.
Save this for later! Pin Vanilla Layer Cake to your favourite Pinterest board
Looking for more inspiration?
Check out these other fabulous and utterly delicious layer cakes.
Have you made this recipe?
I'd love to hear what you think, so please post a comment and star rating below. You can also share a picture on Instagram, don't forget to tag me @crumbscorkscrews!
Vanilla Layer Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 175 g Butter Unsalted, Room Temperature
- ¼ tsp Fine Sea Salt
- 300 g Caster Sugar or Superfine Sugar
- 3 Eggs Medium
- 280 g Self-Raising Flour or Cake Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 240 ml Buttermilk
- 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Extract
For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- 6 Egg Whites Large
- 300 g Caster Sugar or Superfine Sugar
- 450 g Butter Unsalted, Room Temperature
- ¼ tsp Fine Sea Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Extract
- Rainbow Sprinkles
Instructions
- Make the cake: Preheat oven to 160C/325F and line a deep 6-inch cake tin with baking parchment. Alternatively, if you have three individual 6-inch cake tins, you can bake the layers separately.
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, salt and caster sugar together until soft and creamy. Alternatively, use an electric hand whisk and a large mixing bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating between each egg until well combined. The mixture should be thick and runny. Then add the vanilla bean paste.
- Sift the flour and baking powder together, and gently fold half of the mixture into the cake batter. Add half of the buttermilk and mix in well. Repeat with the rest of the dry ingredients and the remaining buttermilk. The cake batter should be smooth and creamy.
- Split the cake batter between the cake pans, and smooth over.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
- Make the swiss meringue buttercream: In a large bowl or the stand mixer bowl, add the egg whites, vanilla bean paste and caster sugar, and whisk until combined.
- Add 1-2 inches of water into a pot or saucepan, and bring to a simmer. Then place the bowl over the pot and stir constantly with a balloon whisk until the mixture is hot and the sugar has dissolved, or until a sugar thermometer reads 71C/160F, about 3 minutes.
- Return the bowl to the stand mixer, and whisk the egg whites on medium-high with the balloon whisk attachment, until stiff and the bowl has cooled down. The bowl should feel cool to the touch, about 5-10 minutes.
- Cube the butter, and then switch the stand mixer attached to the paddle. On slow-medium, add the cubed butter a bit at a time with the salt, and mix until the buttercream is smooth.
- Assemble the cake: Using a large serrated knife, level the top of the cake layer and fix the ‘bottom’ layer to a 6-inch cake board with a little of the frosting.
- Using a palette knife or a piping bag and nozzle, spread or pipe buttercream across the bottom layer. Repeat for the next layer.
- Top the cake with the final layer, bottom-side up, and spread the buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Use a palette knife or cake side scraper to take off the excess buttercream and give a smooth finish. Chill the frosted cake for 15 minutes in the fridge, to allow the layer of buttercream to firm up.
- Add another layer of buttercream to the top and sides of the cake, and remove the excess. Chill the frosted cake for another 15 minutes in the fridge.
- Using a star nozzle pipe swirls of buttercream around the top of the cake; then scatter with sprinkles.
Notes
- The cake will keep in an air-tight container for up to 3 days, or you can freeze it for up to 1 month, but make sure it is well wrapped before freezing.
- If you have any leftover swiss meringue buttercream, pop it in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or the freezer for 3 months.
- Make sure your eggs are at room temperature, and if not, you can warm them up by popping them in a bowl of warm tap water for 10 minutes.
- Make sure your butter is softened but not too soft. To test it, press a clean finger in the butter - it should leave an indent but not go all the way through.
- If you can't get buttermilk then add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar to 200ml (1 cup) of full-fat milk. Pop it to one side for 15 minutes, whilst sorting your ingredients out, by which time the milk will be ready to use.
Nutrition
Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.
Copyright © 2021 Crumbs and Corkscrews. Unauthorised use and/ or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site's author and/ or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Crumbs and Corkscrews with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Tia
hi, how do I make a 8 inch cake out of this recipe?
Lou Carruthers
Hi Tia
Thanks for your comment about scaling up the ingredients. The original recipe is for a three-layer 6 inch cake, and to get the measurements for a three-layer 8 inch cake, you just need to double them. For best results I do recommend using the metric weights, and a set of kitchen scales.
This recipe is intended to give you three deep layers. But if you prefer thinner layers than increase the ingredients by either 1.5 or 1.75.
Hope that helps.
Thanks
Lou
Isabelle
Hello, Is it any type of butter? salted ? Unsalted ?
Thanks !
Lou Carruthers
Hi Isabelle
You can use either salted or unsalted, whichever you prefer. If you use unsalted butter add 1/4 teaspoon of fine sea salt. If using salted butter omit the salt. Its really down to personal preference.
Thanks
Lou
Mary
Hi,
Would like you to know that I’ve just tried this recipe the other day for my son’s birthday and it was a hit!! Oh gosh we loved it! 😍 Thank you so much for sharing and your tips are so helpful especially for a beginner like me. The cake is almost perfect just one thing, how come there were holes in the cake? What do you think went wrong? Just followed exactly the instructions and really wondering why it happened.
Lou Carruthers
Hi Mary
Thank you for your comment, I'm so pleased to hear you love that cake and it was a hit for your son's birthday. Happy Birthday!! I don't think anything went wrong with your cake, so that's good. Sometimes we get holes in cakes and this is usually caused by trapped air. This is typically due to a couple of things but normally it's from over-mixing. You can combat this by mixing in the dry ingredients well but until they are just combined - so we're looking for a gentle mix but making sure everything is properly combined. You can also then gently tap your cake tins when filled, on the kitchen worksurface; just to help force air bubbles to the surface. I'll pop into the post and add this as another tip.
I'm so pleased you've tried the recipe and that the tips have helped. Feel free to drop me a line with any other questions.
Thanks
Lou
Maisie Farrant
I recently made this cake and it was lush.
Can use the recipe to make cupcakes?
Lou Carruthers
Hi Maisie - so glad to hear you made the vanilla layer cake and liked it!
You can definitely use the same recipe for cupcakes. Use a good scoop of cake batter per cupcake case, I use an ice cream scoop and bake at 180C/350F for about 18-20 minutes.The recipe will make about 12-16 cupcakes, so if you want to make a smaller batch, it's best to half the recipe. The buttercream also works for the cupcakes too.
Hope that helps and good luck with the cupcakes.
Thanks
Lou
Sandra Hall
Hi, only made the merengue butter cream, and it looked like it was starting to split after I put the vanilla in(didn’t state in the recipe when to add it). I did beat it a bit harder but still not as smooth as I would like. Could the butter have been too cold or do you have any other suggestions. It tastes great.
Lou Carruthers
Hi Sandra, glad that you tried the recipe and it tastes great!
Split or curdled Swiss Meringue buttercream usually happens when the butter is too cold, as you mention; and it the egg whites separating from the butter so they do not whip together. The buttercream can also split if you're using chilled buttercream that hasn't come up to room temperature fully before mixing. You can fix curdled Swiss Meringue buttercream by reheating about 50-75g of the mixture in the microwave until it's just melted, but not boiling. Then when whipping the remaining mixture on about medium speed, pour in the melted buttercream and increase the mixer speed for about 2 minutes to bring the buttercream back to a smooth and glossy texture.
I'll add in the vanilla to the recipe, thanks for letting me know; and I'll be doing a Swiss Meringue buttercream post soon to cover off all the hints and tips.
Any other questions do drop me an email.
Thanks
Lou
Sue
Just made this cake. Wanted to make it in one tin but my tin was obviously not deep enough as I ended up with it all over the bottom of my oven and it would not cook. Retried it in the three tins and its perfect thank you.
Lou Carruthers
Fabulous, thank you for your comment Sue. I'm glad that the cake turned out all ok in the end. I love this as my go to vanilla cake recipe. I've updated the recipe instructions to say if baking in one pan, it should be a deep pan. Just in case anyone else has the same issue.
Sheridan
Hello,
Do I click x3 if I want to make three layers in their individual tins?
Thanks x
Lou Carruthers
Hi Sheridan
Nope you don’t have to, the recipe is for three 6-inch round layers. You can either bake as one 6-inch cake if you only have 1 cake pan and then slice that into three equal layers, or if you have three cake pans of the same size, you can split the batter equally between them and bake as individual layers. I prefer to bake as three individual layers but understand that not everyone has three individual cake pans to do this in.
You can also use the same recipe for a two layer 8-inch cake.
Hope that helps. Drop me an email if you have any queries
Thanks
Lou x
Natalee
What is the proper way to convert the recipe into one 9" cake?
Lou Carruthers
Hi Natalee
Thanks for your comment. In terms of scaling up the recipe to a 9-inch cake pan, as a rule of thumb I would start with the 8-inch size and scale up to 9-inch by multiplying the ingredients by 1.25. As this recipe starts with a 6-inch cake, to get to the 8-inch size, you would double this first, then multiply by 1.25 to get the 'proper' conversion for a 9-inch cake. Or you can just multiply the original 6-inch ingredients by 2.5. However, the quantities can vary depending on how deep you would like the layers, and if you are baking in individual cake tins or all as one that you then split.
For this recipe, as I prefer fairly deep cake layers and bake them individually, for a 9-inch cake I personally would multiply the ingredients listed in the recipe by 2.25 to get nice even, not too deep layers.
Hope that helps. Any questions, feel free to drop me an email.
Thanks
Lou
Catrin
hi I'm just wondering is the recipe for the three layers or is the X3 for three layers. Or is the X3 for three cakes. I'm assuming layers but I just wanted to double check
Lou Carruthers
Hi Catrin - the recipe is for three layers. You can either bake as one cake and then slice that into three equal layers, or if you have three cake pans of the same size, you can split the batter equally between them and bake as individual layers. I prefer to bake as three individual layers but understand that not everyone has three individual cake pans to do this in. I'll update the start of the recipe to say line three cake pans if you are baking the layers individually. Hope that helps.
Lou Carruthers
I love this cake - it's one of our absolute favourites!