This is the BEST White Cake! It has soft texture, moist crumb, sweet flavor and is easy to make from scratch. The recipe uses basic pantry ingredients (including all purpose flour). Make it for a birthday cake, baby shower, holiday parties or any day of the week.

 

Making cake from scratch does not need to feel intimidating. This recipe for White Cake is so incredibly easy to follow. I even include a secret ingredient that gives this cake the best texture.
If you are looking for other from scratch cakes be sure to see my BEST Chocolate Cake and my Peanut Butter Cake.

Most of us reach for boxed cake mixes because it seems to be the easiest way to make a cake for special occasions. Baking this White Cake from scratch will be your new go to. The cake will be moist and have amazing sweet vanilla flavor that is so much better than even a fancy bakery.

You will need no fancy items needed for this white cake. There is also no need to purchase specialty cake flour. It’s made with simple ingredients you most likely have on hand. Thats’s the reason I find this recipe to be the BEST.

The secret to success when making this white vanilla cake is creaming the butter, sugar and oil until light and fluffy. This process will give the cake a perfect rise. Be patient and be sure to beat well.
We use only egg whites that are beaten until stiff peaks form (like meringue). This process will give the cake mix additional air for the perfect crumb. The egg whites and no yolks allows the cake to remain white in color. If possible use a clear vanilla extract for the same reason.
The secret ingredient in our from scratch white cake is sour cream. Higher fat content helps with the moisture too! If you do not have sour cream on hand, you can use 1 cup of whole milk to replace. But the sour cream is a great addition.
I our layer cakes with an 8 inch round cake pan. You can use a 9 inch but the bake time will be less so keep a close eye.

The Best White Cake Ingredients

Making White Cake without box mix can seem pretty intimidating at first but don’t worry- it’s a few extra ingredients but still super easy! If you want to make cake from scratch, it’s easiest to break things down into wet ingredients and dry ingredients. Let’s start with the dry cake ingredients first:

• Flour – All-purpose flour should be okay here. If you want to splurge and get a slightly lighter and soft white cake, feel free to use cake flour.
• Baking Powder – You shouldn’t need extra baking powder if you happen to be using self raising or self rising flour.
• Salt

That covers the dry stuff. Now, here’s your wet ingredients:

• Butter – You’ll want to use softened butter- ideally softened at room temperature.
• Vegetable Oil – Or whatever neutral flavor oil you have on hand or prefer.
• Sugar – Plain white granulated sugar here.
• Vanilla Extract – If you can, try to source some Clear Vanilla Extract for this recipe. It really makes sure your White Cake looks white!
• Sour Cream – If you never tried using sour cream in cake before, this might sound a little weird. Trust us. It’ll add maybe the slightest tang but it’ll also make your cake extra moist.
• Milk
• Egg Whites – Carton egg whites should be fine for this recipe. For best results, let your egg whites get to room temperature before using them.

…and that’s all the cake ingredients. The only other things you’ll need are some frosting and optional sprinkles. To get the exact cake we made here, whip up a couple batches of our Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

See recipe card for quantities.

How to make White Cake from scratch

With the exception of a couple small extra steps, this homemade cake recipe is really just mixing wet and dry ingredients together separately before combining into cake batter. Even with the little bit of extra work we’re adding, this is still a super easy cake recipe- you shouldn’t have any problems following it! Just in case you need a visual guide to help, here’s our full White Cake recipe:

• We’ll start by combining the dry ingredients. To a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine– if you want to go the extra mile, consider sifting dry ingredients together.

• Set dry ingredients aside and grab another large mixing bowl. Add butter and use a hand or stand mixer to beat butter on medium-low speed until creamy.

• Next, add sugar and oil and beat again until blended and creamy.

• Finally, add milk, sour cream, and vanilla extract and beat once again until fully combined.

• Set the mixer aside for now and grab a spoon or pastry spatula. Add half of dry ingredients to wet mix and stir until just combined– we want to avoid overmixing. Add in remaining half and stir until incorporated. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl too before setting aside.

• To a separate bowl, add egg whites and grab your electric mixer. Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form– this might take around 5 minutes.

• Once you have stiff peaks, use a pastry spatula to gently transfer egg whites to batter bowl. Gently fold egg whites into batter.

• Grease and flour two 8-inch cake pans before adding a circle of parchment paper to the bottom of each pan. Evenly divide batter between cake pans before transferring to an awaiting 350 degree oven.

• Let cakes bake for 35-40 minutes. They will be golden brown in color but the insides will be bright white. Cakes are finished baking when a toothpick poked into the middle pulls out clean. Allow cakes to cool in pans for 10-15 minutes before inverting onto wire racks to finish cooling completely.

• Once layered cakes finish cooling, decorate with a white frosting and optional sprinkles. Again, we recommend a vanilla buttercream frosting for white cake. Serve and enjoy!

Storage / Freezing

Storage: Any leftover cake should be stored properly if you want to enjoy it later on. If keeping on the counter at room temperature, put it under a cake dome or in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To keep leftover cake in the fridge, transfer to an airtight container and keep in the fridge for 5-7 days.

Freezing: You can also try keeping white cake in the freezer if you want long-term storage. Optionally let white cake chill and firm up in the fridge before wrapping with plastic wrap and/or foil and transferring to the freezer. Expected frosted white cake to last 1-2 months in the freezer before taste and texture worsen- let thaw in the fridge overnight or on the counter for a couple hours before enjoying.

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