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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Comments
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All I have are 9inch pans. Wondering if I can use these instead of 8inch? And if so, should I shorten the time in the oven?
Thanks so much!
Yes, you can use them. Bake time should really be the same if not a minute or two shorter – just keep a close eye on them. Hope you enjoy!
How do I store this after making and before serving?
You can store it covered on the counter. (Technically, it should be refrigerated, but I haven’t done that and it’s been fine.) Hope that helps!
When do you add the buttermilk?
Hi Amber, the recipe doesn’t actually require any buttermilk. 🙂
Hi Jen,
Is it possible to make the frosting in another color? Maybe a light pink? If yes, what do you recommend and how much of it?
Thank you,
Janelle
Hi Janelle, you could add food coloring to the frosting to make it pink. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jen,
Where did you buy the sprinkles from? I love the colorful/pastel star shape sprinkles 😃
Honestly, I’m not 100% sure! They may have just been in my pantry; if not they likely came from my local grocery store (Giant or Safeway). Sorry I can’t be more helpful!
Hi jenn can i used cakeflour instead of all purpose flour.
I want to make cake for a wedding.
Thanks again
Hi Fanny, for the most predictable results, I’d stick with all-purpose flour – sorry!
Can I use the whole egg instead of the whites? How many whole eggs? and how does it change the taste/texture?
Hi Diana, I wouldn’t recommend it for this cake, but if you’d like a cake that uses whole eggs, I’d recommend this one. (It can be made into a layer cake.) Hope that helps!
My cakes turned out totally flat. I used room temp ingredients and new container of baking powder. Would nonstick baking pans be the cause?
Sorry to hear you had a problem with this! No, non-stick pans shouldn’t have caused a problem. Did you make any adjustments to the recipe or is there a chance you made a measuring error?
If I was using 4” or 5” baking rounds, how would you recommend I adjust the baking time?
Hi Jack, I think you’d probably need four 4-inch rounds to fit all the batter. The baking time may be a few minutes less so keep a close eye on them! 🙂
Can I use 1% milk? I’m anxious to make this cake as my sister has given this cake rave reviews!
Sure, Carol, that will work. Hope you enjoy!
Perfection. I have baked many cakes over the years but this cake is by far my favorite. Thank you for sharing all of your amazing recipes.
I have just followed this recipe to the exact instruction but I’m disappointed it hasn’t risen very much at all. The smell is heavenly and the texture will be nice and I assume the taste (won’t eat it until tomorrow), but theyre just quite flat unfortunately. Not sure what’s gone wrong!?
Not total failure as once they are iced and stacked they’ll look ok I’m sure 🙂
Hi Kath, Sorry to hear these didn’t rise very much. Did you use 8-inch pans? Is your baking powder really old or expired? And was the butter room temperature before beating with the sugar? This is what makes the cake light and fluffy.