Vanilla Birthday Cake with Old-Fashioned Vanilla Buttercream
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This moist and delicious birthday cake recipe is adapted from one of my favorite baking books, Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri.
My daughter is turning eight years old this week, and she’s been begging me for two things: a puppy and her favorite vanilla birthday cake. The puppy is definitely not going to happen – we already have one crazy dog – but the cake’s easy. I’ve been making this simple vanilla cake every year on her birthday since she was two. The cake portion of recipe is adapted from one of my favorite baking books, Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri, and the frosting recipe was handed down from my great-grandmother.
What you’ll need to make vanilla birthday cake
Step-by-Step Instructions
To begin, combine the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Whisk well to combine.
Next, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk together the egg whites and milk. Be sure the eggs are at room temperature, otherwise your batter may curdle. To warm them up quickly, place them in a bowl of hot water before cracking them. When the butter and sugar are creamed, beat in the vanilla and almond extract, then add one-quarter of the flour mixture and beat on low speed.
Next, add one-third of the milk/egg mixture.
Continue alternating adding the flour and milk mixtures, scraping down the bowl as necessary. The batter will look like this.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and smooth the tops.
Bake the layers for 25 to 30 minutes, until they are set and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool the layers in the pans for five minutes, then unmold onto racks to finish cooling.
While the cake cools, make the frosting. Begin by combining the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat until well combined.
Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.
Then beat in the vanilla and salt.
If the frosting is too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk or cream.
When the layers are cool, frost the cake.
You can spread the frosting smooth, or swirl it casually with a butter knife. Since it’s an all white cake, I like to scatter some festive nonpareils or confetti sprinkles on the edges for color.
Or for a change, try topping the cake with heaps of shredded sweetened coconut — it’s amazing.
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Vanilla Birthday Cake with Old-Fashioned Vanilla Buttercream
This moist and delicious birthday cake recipe is adapted from one of my favorite baking books, Perfect Cakes by Nick Malgieri.
Ingredients
For the Cake Layers
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off with back edge of knife
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 6 large egg whites, at room temperature
- ¾ cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
For the Buttercream
- 12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 6 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pinch salt
Instructions
For the Cake
- Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Spray two 8-inch cake pans with nonstick cooking spray. Cut two 8-inch rounds of parchment paper and line the bottom of each pan; spray the paper with nonstick spray. (To measure the parchment paper, just trace the bottom of the pan.)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until very soft and light. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the egg whites and milk by hand in a medium bowl until just combined.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-quarter of the flour mixture, then one-third of the milk mixture, stopping and scraping down the bowl and beater after each addition. Beat in another quarter of the flour, then another third of the milk mixture. Scrape again. Repeat with another quarter of the flour and the remaining milk mixture; scrape. Finally, beat in the remaining flour mixture.
- Scrape the bowl with a large rubber spatula. Don't worry if the the batter looks a little grainy. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans and smooth the tops.
- Bake the cakes for 25 to 30 minutes, until they are set and a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean. Cool the cakes in the pans on rack for 5 minutes, then unmold onto rack to finish cooling right side up (keep parchment paper underneath cake layers so they don't stick to rack). When cake layers are completely cool, transfer to cake plate and frost with vanilla buttercream. (I always flip the bottom layer of the cake so that the domed side is facing down and touching the plate. That way, the surface that you're icing is flat and will minimize any separating between the two layers when you put the other layer on top of it.)
For the Vanilla Buttercream
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and cream cheese until creamy and well combined.
- Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, then beat in the vanilla and salt. If the frosting is too thick, add 1-2 tablespoons of milk or cream.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cake layers can be frozen, without frosting, for up to 3 months. After they are completely cooled, double-wrap them securely with aluminum foil or plastic freezer wrap, or place in heavy-duty freezer bag. Thaw overnight on the countertop and then frost before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (12 - 14 servings)
- Calories: 571
- Fat: 23 g
- Saturated fat: 14 g
- Carbohydrates: 88g
- Sugar: 73 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Sodium: 167 mg
- Cholesterol: 63 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi Jenn, the cake turned out great! I stored the leftover cake in the refrigerator. But, on the next day, it was a little hard. Not sure if it had something to do with how I stored it? What do you recommend?
Hi Shanti, Yes, I suspect that may have contributed to the texture on the second day. Because of the frosting, technically it should be refrigerated, but I never do and it’s always been fine.
Tx a lot Jenn.🙏🏽🙏🏽🌸🌈
Hi again! I’m sorry – I had one more question! I’d like to make your vanilla birthday cake but was wondering if you had a recommendation for a chocolate icing for it (?) Would you suggest the chocolate cupcake frosting recipe on this site? Or the chocolate lover’s birthday cake frosting recipe from your cookbook (which I have and love!) I know they’re each a little different in sweetness but wasn’t sure which, if either, would taste better on the vanilla cake. (My 8 year old requested a yellow cake with chocolate icing for his birthday, and I haven’t tried your cakes yet but can’t wait!😊) Thank you!
You could go either way, but I’d probably go with the frosting from the Chocolate Lover’s Birthday cake. Happy birthday to your son!
Hi, Jenn! Thank you for your answers (to both of my questions!) You’re so kind and helpful to all of us ~ truly cannot thank you enough. I can’t wait to try this cake for my son’s birthday! Your dinner recipes have been a hit in our family, and “Once Upon a Chef” is now a household name with my daughters. ☺️ Thank you for blessing us!
Hi, Jen! Can I adapt this recipe for 9” round cake pans? Would I do 1.5 times the recipe to have enough batter for a 2-layer cake? (Or maybe double the recipe and use 3 cake pans?) I only need to serve 8 people, but we wouldn’t mind having leftovers. 😉 We love your recipes!!!
Hi Carrie, Glad you like the recipes! Yes, I’d do 1.5 times the recipe; you’re likely to have some leftover batter with that so you can just make cupcakes with that. Hope you enjoy!
i am going to make this tomm. Please answer asap. I have 9 in round pans exactly what does 1.5 mean
thank you Michele
Hi Michele, 1.5 is 1 1/2. Sorry for any confusion!
Can you use whole eggs instead of egg whites?
Hi Shanti, I wouldn’t recommend it for this cake, but if you’d like a recipe for a cake that uses whole eggs, I’d recommend this one. (It can be made into a layer cake.)
Hi there. Can I use regular milk instead of whole milk?
Sure, Suzanne, that should be fine. Enjoy!
Any baking tips for cupcakes vs. cake rounds? Never baked cupcakes before!! Feeling inspired. I have a tray of regular sized cupcakes and a tray of minis. Thanks!
Hi Emily, If you want to make these into cupcakes, the baking temp will stay the same but I’d start checking them for doneness at 25 minutes; for minis, I’d start checking them at about 10 minutes. You may also want to consider this cupcake recipe. Hope you enjoy whatever you try!
Hi Jenn
I plan on making this cake recipe for my son’s 7th birthday. Have you ever baked the layers and then put them in the freezer until the day you plan to serve the cake? Do you think this will change the taste or texture at all?
I don’t plan on decorating the cake until the day of, just baking the 2 layers beforehand
Thank you!
Yes, and you can definitely freeze the cake (sans the frosting). See the bottom of the recipe for freezer-friendly instructions. Happy early birthday to your son!
I made this cake for my family this week along with many other of your recipes. This has been my recent fun.. I created the yellow cake you have in the recipe and wound up using a different frosting. I got mixed up in the meringue recipe, didn’t have the time and got confused so I picked a simple buttercream frosting. What I want to tell you is this yellow cake was Fantastic! hands down the best birthday yellow cake. Thank you yet again for helping me shine
Hi Jenn
Can I leave out the almond extract?
Thank you
Kathy
Sure – use an additional 1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract in its place. Hope you enjoy!
This cake turned out amazing! I have yet to find a recipe on this site that disappoints. Made this for my daughters first birthday and was a bit skeptical when I took it out of the oven but the taste was delicious. I used a different butter cream frosting so I can’t comment on that, but I’m sure it’s great
AMAZING! It turned out perfect in every way. Moist, delicious, even 2 days later. Even though I accidentally put the sugar in with dry ingredients instead of creaming it with butter 😬
P.S. I have a photo but I don’t see where I can upload it!
So glad you enjoyed it! And, unfortunately, the blog isn’t set up to accept outside pics but if you’re on Instagram, you can share it there (be sure to tag me @onceuponachef). 🙂
I made this cake for my husband’s birthday and it turned out beautifully! The cake is moist and not overly sweet so it pairs well with the sweet icing. We love it! I’ll definitely be making it again.
I have now made this recipe twice, and both times it was an abject failure. Both times the cake smelt very eggy while baking, the base was quite oily/buttery after the cake was taken out, and both times the texture of the cake was off (almost like the batter split). The cake tastes eggy and the texture is not nice. The icing is lovely. I assumed that I must have done something wrong the first time I made this cake, but now I am not so sure. I regularly make cakes and they always work out (other than this recipe).
Hi, so sorry to hear you had a problem with this cake! I haven’t gotten feedback like yours on this one. Did you make any changes to the recipe?
Did the batter curdle when you were mixing it?
maybe it’s an altitude thing…mine came out good and I’m no baker!
I’m on that same boat the smell of the cake is very strong. Even after using two types of extracts like vanilla and almond. Also, the frosting was a disaster for me, it is oily and lumpy. It just didn’t mix properly. This is the first time I am trying to bake this kind of cake maybe I’m not used to this flavor.
Did you use 6 large egg WHITES only? Sounds like you used 6 whole eggs. I love this recipe and have tons of experience with all things cake: weddings, showers, birthdays etc.