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All-Occasion White Cake

I love cake. But mostly chocolate cake. Actually, I will probably always pick chocolate cake first. My mom on the other hand loves, loves, loves vanilla cake. White cake. Wedding cake. That’s her favorite flavor. Wait, is wedding cake a flavor?! Sure.

Well for her birthday recently, I wanted to bake her a white cake. And surprise. I did not have a recipe here on my site. I have my go to yellow cake that is a forever keeper, but not a white cake. So, I obviously had to remedy that. And would you know, I’ve made this cake three times in the last four weeks.

White Cake Ingredients

It’s so good and you just need basic ingredients to make it. Win-Win!

This is basically a vanilla cake, but it uses all egg whites in the batter and not the yolks that give it a more yellow color.

Favorite White Cake

Look at that slice. It’s a thing of beauty – bathed in buttercream.

And what I love even more is that it’s my new favorite all-occasion cake. It’s a great go-to for birthdays, celebrations, and anniversaries at home. You get it.

Mixing Cake Batter

Ok. Let’s bake some cake.
Sift your flour, baking powder and salt. Cream your butter and sugar. Add egg whites and vanilla. Add the flour mixture alternating with milk and you’re ready to batter up bake.

Note: I baked this cake all three times with White Lily all-purpose flour. I say that because it contains a lower protein than most flours and it’s not found all over the country. It’s probably closer to cake flour. So next time I bake, I want to try with something like King Arthur or Gold Medal all-purpose just to make sure it still comes out as delicious.

Cake Batter

I like baking cakes in these light-colored aluminum pans that have straight sides instead of the kind you usually find at the grocery store where the sides angle out slightly.

 

Layering Cake

The recipe makes two layers – just the right at-home amount without having to go overboard with extra layers.

Frosting Cake

Let’s decorate:

  • First, trim off any mounded tops from your cake layers. These baked with just a little excess that needed to be trimmed for flat layers. I used a long serrated knife to trim the tops.
  • Apply a thin layer of simple syrup to the exposed cake layers. This is a great tip to help keep cakes moist.
  • Place the first layer on a cake plate. You can dollop a little frosting underneath to help keep it from sliding around.
  • Frost the first layer and then place the second layer on top.
  • Carefully frost the top layer with a thick amount of frosting. You can also pipe the layer on so that when you start spreading the frosting around it is less likely to pick up crumbs.

Crumb Coat

Now, use a small amount of frosting to apply a crumb cote or thin layer of frosting to the sides to pick up any excess crumbs. Then chill the cake until the frosting is firm.

Buttercream

Finally, use the remaining frosting to cover the sides in a thick layer. The crumb coat will help keep all the stray crumbs away from your final exposed layer of buttercream

Simple White Cake

Voila. A sweet little cake. And a perfect blank canvas to get creative.

Everyday White Cake

We’re keeping it simple today though. Until next time when I try stuffing the batter with crushed oreos. : )

All-Occasion White Cake

Favorite White Cake

All-Occasion White Cake Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Additional Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • WHITE CAKE
  • 3 cups all purpose flour (See note)
  • 1 Tablespoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 6 egg whites, room temperature
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1-1/2 cups whole milk, room temperature
  • -----------
  • SIMPLE SYRUP
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • -----------
  • FROSTING
  • 6 cups confectioners' sugar
  • 1 cup butter, room temperature
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1-3 Tablespoons milk

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Generously grease and flour two 8-inch light-colored aluminum cake pans.
  3. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl and set aside.
  4. Cream butter and sugar using a mixer until light and fluffy. About three minutes.
  5. Add egg whites one at a time, mixing until just combined. Mix in vanilla.
  6. Mix the flour mixture on low in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Scrape down the sides of the bowl in between and mix until combined. Be careul not to over mix.
  7. Pour batter evenly among two cake pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
  8. Cool cake in pans for 10 minutes. Remove and let cool on a wire rack.
  9. Use a serrated knife to cut off the top of each domed cake layer and use a pastry brush to spread simple syrup on top of the layers.
  10. To make a simple syrup, heat sugar and water in small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until sugar granules completely dissolve. Cool and it's ready to apply on top of your cake layers.
  11. Cover with plastic wrap and make frosting. Another trick I do is put the cake pans back on top of the layers if I'm not going to leave them out very long before decorating.
  12. For the frosting, beat butter for 3-4 minutes until whipped and creamy. Add confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing on low to start and increasing until incorporated. Add vanilla extract and milk, 1 tablespoon at a time until you achieve your desired consistency.
  13. Frost the top of one cake layer. Place the second layer on top and frost. Spread a thin layer around the sides as a crumb coat and chill cake. Use remaining frosting to cover sides and any extra to add more to the top.

Notes

  • I used White Lily all-purpose flour which has a lower protein than most flours. It's a softer wheat I like to use for baking cakes. I still need to test this recipe with a more common flour like King Arthur or Gold Medal.
  • UPDATE: baked this cake again with King Arthur All Purpose flour and it worked great!
  • I used light color aluminum baking pans.
  • Try replacing 1 teaspoon of the vanilla with almond extract in the frosting recipe for a delicious subtle flavor twist. I LOVE it this way.

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Just a Bite

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we did. I’ll definitely be making it for my mom again.

More Cake, please

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30 comments on “All-Occasion White Cake”

  1. Thank you so much for the amazinng recipe!

  2. I have been on the search for the perfect white cake recipe for years. I’m so happy that my search is finally over. Seriously, look no further. This cake is absolute perfection! I love that it has simple ingredients. So easy to prepare. Bakes and frosts beautifully. I made a double batch of batter following the instructions exactly. I made a 3 layer 8 inch cake. To the remaining batter I added sprinkles, and made one dozen perfect and delicious funfetti cupcakes. The entire family loved the cake and cupcakes! Thank you for sharing this  wonderful recipe!!!

  3. Absolutely delish.

    Because I fiddle with every recipe I found, here’s what I did:

    Double sift dry ingredients.
    I used 1/2Cup butter, 1/2Cup shortening.
    I used 1Tbsp vanilla and 2Tbsp Almond extract.
    Add 1/2 tsp cream of tartar when adding egg whites.
    Made 2.5 dozen cupcakes. Bake at 350 for around 11/12 minutes.

    SO SO Good. Thank you for this recipe!

  4. Hi Angie,

    “looks can be deceiving” applies to this cake. It may look dull and not yummy, but when you give in to the first bite, you can not stop. I usually use this at children’s birthday parties and top it with just sprinkles, and everyone loves it.

  5. This cake looks wonderful. Do u have a gluten free white cake recipe? I need it for a wedding. Thank you Linda kraner

  6. This cake looks wonderful

  7. Is this sweet? I haven’t found a vanilla cake yet that was actually sweet

  8. Angie, I agree with you, I usually always go for chocolate. However, this cake looks good enough to make me change my mind. So nice to have a cake that can be made to suit any occasion.

  9. I’m wanting to make this in a 9×13 pan- any idea how long I would bake it for?    I’ve been looking for a moist white cake recipe forever and hoping this works for me!

    • My son is turning 1 and so I’m making him a smash cake and then us an 8 in, but on the 8in I’m making a mickey mouse head with rice krispies and fondant. Will this cake hold this?

  10. Hi
    I wanted to ask if you ever made this a 3 layer cake and if so how did you without doubling the recipe. I’ve made the yellow cake multiple times and I absolutely love it and I know people have said it was dry but every time I’ve made it it’s been moist without the simple syrup. Is this cake just as moist?

  11. Looks amazing! Have you been able to test the recipe with a more common all purpose flour? Would you recommend using cake flour instead? Thank you!

  12. I tried this cake at my home, and loved the taste. I must say This vanilla cake is best for the weeding and make your love one more special.

  13. My favorite cake is wedding cake too! White cake with vanilla buttercream frosting that is a little gritty. The best. :)

  14. Thank you so much for the amazinng recipe!

  15. It looks yummy. perfect white cake

  16. so yummy!! i love it! i ll definitely try it!!

  17. Sooooper dooper white cake recipe.i have been looking for white cake recipe since long time and today I have got it. Thank you very much for sharing your mind blowing white cake recipe. I’ll definitely try it soon, then I’ll share with you that how it’s came out.thank you once again.just one question I would like to ask…. please can you tell ingredients measurement in grams that will be much appreciated please reply. Thank you

  18. This looks just plain perfect!! Yum. 

  19. Gave me water in the mouth so look I’ll prepare this recipe here love your tips and recipes

  20. I am with your mom — white cake all the way! This one looks like da bomb!

  21. How would I make this as cupcakes instead of a cake? I’d like to make the recipe for the folks at my husband’s office and with Covid it seems it’d be easier to grab a cupcake instead of a slice of cake…

    • Hi Mary – I haven’t tried it this recipe as cupcakes yet, but if you do I would reduce the baking time and watch them. Would love to hear how they turn out for you if you try.

  22. The cake looks yummy, although I also prefer chocolate.  That cake plate is awesome.  :D

    • Thanks Mindy – It’s an old milk glass cake plate that was handed down. I love it. I also have the one I linked to in three different sizes. They are a great alternative.

  23. I can taste this cake and I love it.

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