This Vanilla Buttermilk Cake Recipe from scratch is so moist, flavorful, and versatile! Sometimes I just crave a slice of good old fashioned vanilla cake, don’t you?
This is a great recipe to have on hand as it can be dressed up or paired with just about any filling or frosting you can think of! After all, everything goes with vanilla cake!
How to make the BEST Vanilla Buttermilk Cake
- We are using the traditional method of mixing for this recipe (rather than the Reverse Creaming Method), which makes for fluffy, flavorful cake layers (or cupcakes)!
- Start off by whisking together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder and salt for 30 seconds so that everything is well combined.
- In another bowl, add your buttermilk, oil, and vanilla. I love recipes with buttermilk not only for the hint of tanginess, but also because it’s acidity interferes with gluten formation, yielding a softer, more tender cake. We’ve added a tablespoon of vanilla extract to the recipe to ensure that we have plenty of vanilla flavor. You can’t skimp on the vanilla in a vanilla cake!
- Next, let’s add some buttery goodness. Mix the butter until nice and smooth, then add your sugar until it lightens and becomes fluffy! Although our recipe also calls for vegetable oil which is wonderful for the moistness of the cake, I love the boost of flavor that the butter gives us. Next, add the eggs one at a time.
- Almost done! Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Be careful not to over-mix the cake batter as that can toughen up the texture.
- Once ready, divide the luscious vanilla cake batter between three prepared 8 inch cake pans. You could make two cake layers if you would rather, you’ll just need to bake them a bit longer.
Pro Tip! You may have heard me say this before, but we love to freeze our cake layers to maximize the moistness of the cake!
Cool your freshly baked cake layers (still in the pan) on the cooling rack for about 10 minutes, and then flip them onto cake boards, individually wrap the warm cake layers tightly with plastic wrap, foil, and freeze!
When ready to use, thaw on the countertop still wrapped, until condensation forms on the wrapping. Then unwrap and decorate! (I often begin assembling and filling my cake layers while the layers are partially frozen. They are less fragile this way!
We frosted our cake with our Classic Vanilla Buttercream Frosting but so many frostings would be perfect with this cake! Other great options are: Classic Chocolate Buttercream, Cream Cheese Frosting, Strawberry Buttercream Frosting, Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting, and more!
Don’t miss our full collection of favorite cake and frosting recipes in our Recipes Section! If you are interested in learning more about cake decorating, definitely check out our Free Cake Tutorials Section (which includes a category of Free Cake Videos).
Or, for full access to hundreds of video tutorials, you should become a member of My Cake School! We would love to have you. Find all of the details here: Joining Information
Vanilla Buttermilk Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 sticks (170g) unsalted butter
- 2 cups (400g) sugar
- 4 eggs
- 3 cups (342g) cake flour (spooned into measuring cup and leveled off)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
- 1 1/4 cups (296g) buttermilk — if you do not have buttermilk, see substitution below
- 1/4 cup (54g) vegetable oil
- 1 Tablespoon (12g) vanilla extract
Substitution for Buttermilk
- No Buttermilk? Here is a substitution: To a measuring cup, add 2 Tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice. Add milk to the 1 1/4 mark, stir. Wait 5 minutes and it is ready to use.
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8×2 inch round pans.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside
- In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Set aside..
- In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of liquid).
- Do not mix above medium speed or over mix the cake batter.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just few crumbs attached. Let cool 10 minutes and turn out.
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Vanilla Cake from Scratch (Printable Version Above)
1 1/2 sticks (170g) unsalted butter
2 cups (400g) sugar
4 eggs
3 cups (342g) cake flour (spooned into measuring cup and leveled off)
2 teaspoons (8g) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (3g) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (3g) salt
1 1/4 cups (296g) buttermilk — if you do not have buttermilk, see substitution below
1/4 cup (54g) vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon (12g) vanilla extract
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8×2 inch round pans.
In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt for 30 seconds. Set aside
In another bowl, add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Set aside..
In the bowl of your mixer, add the butter and mix at medium speed until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and continue to mix on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until lightened in color and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients (3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of liquid).
Do not mix above medium speed or over mix the cake batter.
Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with just few crumbs attached. Let cool 10 minutes and turn out.
Sounds delish! :-) Love all your creative recipes – thanks for all the experimenting :-) Gonna give it a try in my own way :-)
Can this cake be made in a 9×13 pan?
Hi Marilyn, Yes, it can be made in a 9×13 pan. This recipe makes 7 1/2 cups batter. Below are links to charts showing cake batter amounts for various size pans. The charts are just meant to be guidelines. The Wilton chart recommends 10 cups and Sarah’s Kitchen recommends 7.
link to wilton.com
link to fromkarenskitchen.com
this recipe sounds luscious
can i use this recipe for cupcakes?
Hi Phyllis! Yes, this recipe is great for cupcakes too–just so you know, they won’t bake up with much of a dome..but this is true for most of our scratch recipes. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
This cake sounds wonderful would it stack and stand up well under ganache and sugarpaste.
Hi Velda, We have not covered this cake with ganache and fondant but I think it would be fine to do so.
This looks so delicious! Have you ever used applesauce in place of vegetable oil? I heard that’s a healthy alternative that adds moistness to cakes. Do you know if that’s true or what is the difference it might make?
I am making this tonight. 1/2 recipe to try out. Made 2 6″ rounds..and they smell great!!
I really liked this recipe! May be my new “go to” for vanilla cake!
Thank you, Paula, I’m glad you like the recipe. Your thoughts are important to us.
Hi Ellen, We have not used applesauce in place of oil in a cake recipe so I’m not sure how the moisture is affected.
Awww…thank you, BeBe! This is a very good cake! It combines many things that I do like: NOT the reverse creaming method, butter, oil, cake flour. It has a nice sweet subtle taste and I was thinking of next time adding a bit more vanilla. I think this cake would be great with lemon curd, raspberry puree, and any chocolate buttercream or chocolate ganache. Great texture; not super dense; but dense enough. Nice rise and nice medium color. :-)
I followed the recipe exactly, but my cake completely collapsed in the middle the last few minutes of baking. I’m at 5000 feet, so I’m guessing the altitude caused me trouble. The cake tastes wonderful, so I’d love to make it again, hopefully without it falling. Do you have any high altitude adjustment suggestions?
Hi Kim, We don’t have any experience with high altitude baking but below is a link to Craftsy with suggestions that you will find helpful
link to craftsy.com
Also, in the recipe section, look at the White Cake from scratch recipe. Comment # 220 from Aletha posted 8-27-18 — She lives at 7,000 feet and she posted her method of baking the White Cake .
Thank you, I will check those out!
After making 4 vanilla cakes, my family chose your vanilla buttermilk cake as their favorite (and asked me not to make vanilla cake for a while). :-). My question: what amounts of spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, would you add to make this cake a spice cake? Thank you!
Hi Paula, I think I would use 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 tsp. nutmeg and 1/2 tsp. ginger. I think it would also work to just add 2 tsp. pumpkin or apple pie spice — maybe a little extra cinnamon with those.
Can I turn this cake into a Funfetti cake, or is there a better/different recipe for that? Thank you.
I actually see that you also have a Funfetti cake recipe…still, would you recommend just adding jimmies to the Vanilla Buttermilk recipe?
Hi Paula, Yes, it will be fine to use the Vanilla Buttermilk recipe.
Thanks BeBe!
can i substitute butter with same amnt of oil, bcz i heard that if we use butter in cake it will become hard after keeping in the fridge. And also one more question can i use vanila buttermilk cake for checkerboard cake base.
Hi Jamshi, Some oil in a cake recipe can help with keeping the cake moist. This recipe has 1/4 cup oil. I have not tried oil instead of butter in the cake so I am not sure how that would affect the recipe. I don’t think butter in a recipe makes the cake hard. It may seem firmer because it is cold but we recommend taking it out an hour or two before serving to warm a bit. If you refrigerate your cake, keep it in an airtight container because the refrigerator can cause the cake to be dry.