Today we’re sharing a new scratch Vanilla Bean Cake recipe that we just love! This layer cake is moist, has wonderful flavor, and would taste fantastic with so many fillings and frostings (from Chocolate to Lemon), although today we are staying consistent with a lovely vanilla bean buttercream.
What Makes a Vanilla Cake Different from a White Cake?
We have many delicious cakes in our recipes section that are flavored with vanilla, including our White Almond Sour Cream Cake, Classic White Cake from scratch, and Vanilla Buttermilk Cake.
While white cake recipes often call for a little vanilla flavoring, a true white cake doesn’t contain egg yolks in an effort to keep the cake light extra light in color. In addition, the whitest of white cake recipes call for using clear vanilla rather than natural, and even use shortening in place of butter to keep the color especially light.
This Vanilla Bean Cake wouldn’t be considered a true white cake as it contains whole eggs as well as a good amount of real vanilla (in this case, vanilla bean paste). The richness from butter and whole eggs, coupled with the moistness from the sour cream in the recipe, and more than a tablespoon of vanilla makes this cake a stand-out!
It is moist and flavorful, but also sturdy enough that it can withstand the additional weight of fondant if your design calls for it. It’s an all-around great recipe and we hope that you enjoy it!
What is Vanilla Bean Paste?
In this recipe, I used Vanilla Bean Paste. Have you used it before? Vanilla bean paste, which depending on the brand, will be sold in bottles or tubes, is not a paste at all. It’s more the consistency of syrup (and the flavor is amazing).
Vanilla bean paste is a happy medium between using vanilla extract and vanilla bean pods. It gives you the convenience of a vanilla extract, but it also contains the vanilla been seeds from the pod without any of the work! Those little vanilla bean flecks lend a richness of flavor and I love the look of the vanilla speckles in the cake and frosting.
Can You Substitute Vanilla Extract for Vanilla Bean Paste?
Yes you can! Vanilla Bean Paste and Vanilla Extract can be used interchangeably. So, for this recipe, you can use the same amount of vanilla extract instead, or for your other recipes that contain vanilla extract, you can swap in vanilla bean paste for something a little different.
Using Vanilla Bean Pods instead?
The most common formula that I have seen for using scraped-out Vanilla Bean Pods instead of Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Extract is that 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract is equal to one 2-inch piece of vanilla bean. So, the typical vanilla bean pod would give you the equivalent of 3-4 teaspoons of vanilla extract. As with anything, taste and adjust to your liking.
Vanilla Bean Cake Recipe
Moist and Delicious Vanilla Bean Cake recipe!
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Bean Cake
- 2 Sticks (226 g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 2 cups (400 g) sugar
- 3 large eggs, room temperature (you can add to warm water to bring to room temp)
- 1 cup (242 g) sour cream (we use full fat)
- 1/3 cup (81g) milk (we use whole milk)
- 1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Vanilla Bean Paste (you can substitute vanilla extract if you like)
- 3 cups (342 g) cake flour (plain in the UK) *See substitution below
- 3 teaspoons (12g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (4g) salt
For the Vanilla Bean Buttercream
- 3 sticks (354g) unsalted butter
- 9 cups (1035g) powdered sugar
- 3 teaspoons (12 g) vanilla bean paste (adjust amount to your liking)
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt (optional to cut sweetness)
- 1/4 cup (60g) milk (adjust based on desired consistency)
Instructions
For the Cake Layers
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8 inch x 2 inch round cake pans. (You could use 2 cake pans for slightly thicker layers if you would rather, but we like the additional layer filling.)
- In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to blend for 30 seconds. Set aside.
- In another bowl or measuring cup, combine the sour cream, milk and vanilla
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until fluffy and lightened in color.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- Add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients, 2 of wet).
- Mix until combined and smooth, do not mix above medium speed or over-mix.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool 5-10 minutes, then turn out.
- Makes 7 cups batter. The recipe works well for cupcakes.
For the Vanilla Bean Buttercream
- Cream the softened butter until smooth. Blend in the vanilla.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and most of the milk. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
- Add remaining powdered sugar and milk and mix at medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. I slow down the mixer to very slow. (#2 on the Kitchenaid) for 1 to 2 minutes. This will help eliminate air pockets in the buttercream. The texture will become very smooth.
- Makes approximately 6 cups of frosting.
Notes
Substitution for Cake Flour: If you have no cake flour, here is a substitution: For each cup of flour in a recipe, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (cornflour in the UK). This recipe has 3 cups of flour so you will measure out 3 cups of all purpose flour, remove 6 Tablespoons and replace with 6 Tablespoons cornstarch, whisk to blend.
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Yummy! Vanilla cake is my favourite! :-)
Can I use regular liquid Vanilla for this recipe?
Hi Claudia, yes you can! You can use extract in place of vanilla bean paste in the same amount.
Oops sorry I just read the whole post. Thx
This Is Coming At A Perfect Time, Hoping This Would Be Perfect For A Wedding Cake Next Month, I Plan On Doing A Three Tier Cake 12,9,7 or A 10,9,7. Which One Would You Do?
1. Would You Do Each Tier 3 Layers
2.Milk, Sour Cream, & Eggs Should They Be At Room Temp. For The Best Results, If So About How Long, Before Starting.
3. Does The Layers Bake Flat and Thin? Please I Need Your Help.
Hi Carol, How many servings do you need? You want your cake to looked balanced so I would use 12, 9, 6 inch tiers. This gives you 3 inches between each tier. This will give you a 1 1/2 inch space between the tiers for adding flowers or other piping details. I will post a link to cake serving charts at the end of this post to help you determine your tier sizes for the number of servings you need. As for you second question, I take out the milk and sour cream when I am assembling my ingredients and preheating the oven, greasing and flouring the pans, measuring ,etc. The chill is off the milk and sour cream but they are not room at temperature. I place my eggs in a bowl of very warm water for 10 minutes or so to warm them quickly. The cake layers bake up flat, we did not need to trim off the tops. I think the layers were 1 1/4 inches high. Our completed cake was 4 inches high after filling and frosting. We used three 8×2 inch pans. If we had used two 8 inch pans, we still would have had a 4 inch tall cake because more batter would have been in the two 8 inch pans. This is a large order to fill so be sure to price your cake to make the profit you should. Let me know if you have other questions. Links below — Karen’s chart gives you party sized servings and Wilton gives wedding size
link to fromkarenskitchen.com
link to wilton.com
can I cut the recipe in a third to make cupcakes?
Hi Melissa or BeBe
with this recipe, can it be used to make cupcakes? I realize the amount of batter it yields I would end up with tons of cupcakes but that’s what I need.. Just wondering if it’ll work.. It looks wonderful…
thank you
Stella
Hi Stella, Yes, the recipe works well for cupcakes. For standard size cupcakes, bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. Hope you enjoy the recipe.
Hi Sherrie, I am sorry but we have never reduced the recipe to 1/3 so I can’t give you a definite answer on the outcome.
thank you, when I do make them I’ll let you know how many I end up with, if I can get close to 3 dozen in one shot that would be awesome… Can’t wait to try them..
Made a batch of cupcakes with this recipe. The cake is delicious! Thank you for this recipe. Will be using it often!
Hi Melissa or Bebe,
I would like to use this recipe for a full sheet cake ..and want to use 2 half sheet pans..
so i figure i would have to double the recipe or make it twice..
always made your recipes in round pans and loved them .. thanks
Hi Meena, The typical half sheet pan for the home baker is 13×9 (bakery size is 15×11). This recipes makes 7 cups of batter and that is the amount you will need for one 13x9x2 inch pan. So you will need to make the recipe twice. Below are 2 cake batter amounts charts that you will find helpful.
link to fromkarenskitchen.com
link to wilton.com
Can you tell me how many cupcakes the recipe makes?
Hi Debbie, We reserved a small amount of batter to make just a few cupcakes for testing purposes but I think it should make over 30 standard size cupcakes.
Hi Heidi, Thanks for posting your picture, your cupcake looks great!
I got 36 standard cupcakes using a #24 Disher. I had leftover icing so next time I’ll use more icing per cupcake. They were delicious and had great comments from the two different groups I took them to.
Hi Janet, Thank you so much for posting your information on the cupcakes, very helpful. I’m happy your friends enjoyed the recipe!
Wow, I’m saving this for later! Awesome job. I’ve been hunting for great recipes of vanilla cake for ages. Maybe this one is exactly what I’ve been looking for for so long. This cake looks so lovely, classy, and elegant. Perfect for any occasion.
I wonder if it will be a good idea to decorate the cake with raspberries. What do you think? I adore the combination of white and crimson and wanna give it a try. Thank you for this inspiration and all of the useful tips. I really appreciate it. Look forward to your new ideas!
Would this cake be a good base for a tres Leches cake?
Thanks!
Karen
Hi Karen, We have never made a Tres Leches cake, it is on our list of cakes to make. From recipes I have read on that cake, I don’t think our Vanilla Bean recipe is light enough to absorb all the milk in a Tres Leches cake.
Hi Melissa and BeBe- I am looking for a scratch vanilla cake that uses butter and all purpose flour. I see many of the vanilla recipes call for cake flour. I always have all purpose, but I really don’t want to do the cornstarch adjustment. I also am looking for a vanilla cake that doesn’t incorporate the almond extract. Sorry if this seems confusing. I know that almond can be left out, so I guess I am really looking for a vanilla butter cake using all purpose flour. Can you help? Thanks very much!
Does this cake stay moist for a couple of days? My biggest complaint with scratch vanilla cake, is that it tastes stale in a day or two, and is best eaten day of baking. I’ve tried so many scratch recipes 😩
Hi Cherie, I don’t find this cake to be dry on the second day. Though I do think cakes are best eaten by the third day, unless they are refrigerated. If refrigerated, they must be kept in a airtight cover or refrigeration will dry them out. Let us know what you think if you give it a try.
Do you have high altitude suggestions for 5000 feet?
Hi Barbara, I am sorry that we don’t have first hand experience with high altitude baking because we live near sea level. Click on the link below, I think you will find this information helpful.
link to craftsy.com