White Cake from Scratch
Need a fantastic recipe for a White Cake from Scratch? This white layer cake is amazing.
It is delicious, very moist, has a wonderful flavor, and holds up well to fondant. This white cake has become a new favorite for us.
It has a very fine crumb, and compared to some of our other white cakes (homemade white cake and white velvet cake), it is slightly denser.
Table of Contents
The Perfect Scratch Cake Recipe
Many years ago, when I first began to experiment with cake decorating, I baked with doctored cake mix recipes exclusively. They taste great, are super moist, consistent, and simple.
I was convinced that scratch cakes-especially white cakes and chocolate scratch cakes were-underwhelming. There's nothing sadder than a gorgeous slice of cake that is dry when you take a bite of it.
Well, here we are, more than ten years later, and we have hundreds of cake recipes from scratch that we just love! This was one of the first.
How White is the Cake?
Some white cakes are snow white- these are the ones that use clear vanilla, no butter, and egg whites.
While this white cake is light in color, it does have a slight yellow tint from the butter and buttermilk. But we are okay with this because of the richness that it adds!
For an even whiter cake, we have a delicious White Velvet Cake recipe which uses softened cream cheese in the cake batter- this lightens the shade of the cake while also enhancing the texture and richness. It's another great one for you list!
The Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing
Have you heard of the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing? With this mixing method, ingredients are added in a different order than with the conventional (aka creaming) method of mixing.
The results are a slightly denser cake with a finer crumb and a more velvety texture. You can see in the photo above that this cake as a fine crumb.
If you are unfamiliar with the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing and would like to learn more, you can find our link to a free to tutorial on the technique beneath the recipe!
*This recipe works well for cupcakes also, but as with most scratch recipes on our site, there is very little dome.
**For more information on the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing, check out our post and video tutorial on the method! Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing.
Frostings that taste great with White Cakes
The buttercream frosting that we used in the photo is our Classic Vanilla Buttercream, however when it comes to pairing frosting flavors with this delicious homemade white cake, the options are endless! Here are other favorites to consider!:
More Vanilla Cakes!
We have more white cakes, vanilla cakes, and yellow cakes for you to try! You can find them all in our section of Vanilla Cakes.
Some of the most popular are our Homemade White Cake, Vanilla Velvet Cake, White Velvet Cake, and Buttermilk Pound Cake!
Enjoy the Recipe!
Thanks so much for stopping by. We hope that you'll come back again soon.
Have you made this? We would LOVE for you to leave a ⭐️ rating as well as a comment and photo below! We really appreciate your feedback!
White Cake from Scratch
This moist, delicious, and versatile white cake recipe is amazing!
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (350g) sugar
- 2 ½ cups (285g) cake flour
- 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
- 1Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (19 g) baking powder
- 5 egg whites ( you can separate egg white from whole eggs or use â…” cup from a carton of pasteurized egg whites found in the refrigerated section of grocery store)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla
- 1 cup (242g) buttermilk
- â…“ cup (72g) vegetable oil
- 10 Tablespoons (1 stick + 2T ) (141g) unsalted butter, slightly softened (do not microwave) I cut the butter into ½ inch slices onto waxed paper a short while before I need it. Mine is on the wax paper only 6 -7 minutes. It should still feel cold to the touch. If it becomes too soft, refrigerate for a few minutes.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
- Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch round cake pans
- In the bowl of your mixer add the dry ingredients, sugar, flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk for at least 30 seconds so the ingredients are well combined.
- In a separate bowl, add the egg whites, buttermilk, vanilla and oil. Stir with a fork to combine.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the slices of butter a few pieces at a time to the dry ingredients. Increase the mixer to medium speed and beat until the dry ingredients look crumbly and moistened by the butter. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low speed, SLOWLY add ½ of the egg mixture, increase to medium speed and mix for 1 ½ minutes, the batter will become thick and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans 10 minutes, then turn out.
- 6 cups of batter
Hi Brittany, This recipe only has 6 cups of batter and most cake batter amount charts suggest 7 cups for a 9x13 pan. I think you would not be happy with the height of the cake. You could make 1 1/2 times the recipe, you would have a small amount leftover. Below are two charts that you will find helpful.
http://www.wilton.com/cake-serving-guide/cms-baking-serving-guide.html
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I have been searching and baking for the past few years to find a scratch vanilla cake with this crumb and flavor. Its perfect. I also added a smidgen of almond extract and it was amazing! This will be my go to for all my vanilla cakes!
Hi Jen, We're so happy that you like the recipe. Thank you so much for your nice comments and review of this cake.
Hi.
This is the best white cake recipe I've ever made and I've tried at least 10 different recipes. It's delicious, and doesn't have the cornbread/ cooked sugar taste that most of the others have. It's great!
I'd like some advice about the texture. My cake is more spongy and fluffy, but I'm trying to replicate a publix cake which has a very uniform crumb yet very soft. I know they use their own mix, and none of the wasc variations I've done have come close. Does anyone know how to get closer to that texture? More creamy than chewy, with a uniform, small crumb.
Hi, I need to make this in a half sheet size. How many cups of batter and what temperature and baking time would I do? Thank you.
Hi Melanie, This recipe makes 6 cups batter. If your pan is 11 x 15 you will need 11 cups batter. Bake at 325 degrees fo 35 to 40 minutes. Click on the links below for other sheet cake pan sizes and batter amounts. They are guidelines to follow and I think you will find them helpful.
http://www.wilton.com/cake-serving-guide/cms-baking-serving-guide.html
I want to make a 2-tier cake covered in fondant. Will this recipe be stable enough?
Hi Cassie, Yes, it will be, with the fondant being 1/8 to 3/16 inch thickness
Question. Do you whip the egg whites or just blend all together? I’ve been searching for a good white cake recipe and I’m anxious to try this one
Hi Diana, The egg whites are not whipped. Using a fork they are blended with the other wet ingredients. This recipe uses the reverse creaming method. If you are not familiar with this Melissa has a video on the method, there is a link to the video below the recipe.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/reverse-creaming-method-of-mixing-a-cake-video-tutorial/
Thank you very much. I’m anxious to try this recipe.
Hi do you have a white or yellow cupcake recipe with a dome? I tried this recipe by the way it is amazing.