This perfectly Moist Vanilla Cake Recipe is a slightly denser than average cake with a tight crumb. Instead of light and fluffy this is more like a sponge cake. It’s packed full of vanilla and after the first bite, you know it’s homemade. This vanilla cake recipe can be made as vanilla cupcakes and it’s very versatile. You can alter the flavor with lemon, lime or even almond extract.
For the longest time, I’ve wanted to have a homemade and versatile vanilla cake. I’ve shied away from the task, fearing I would not be up to the challenge. While the majority of you don’t seem to mind a cake mix, some of you have ask for a homemade versions of my recipes, so I am thrilled to be able to give you such a wonderful and moist vanilla cake recipe.
Several weeks ago, my fiancé made a zucchini bread recipe from his childhood, and when he described it, he said it was much more cake like than my banana bread recipe. So I thought to myself, maybe I’ll start here, adjusting the recipe as I go to get to where I wanted to be.
This perfectly Moist Vanilla Cake Recipe is a slightly denser cake with a tight crumb. Instead of light and fluffy this is more like a sponge cake. After the first bite, you know it’s homemade. It bursting with vanilla flavor. As shown in this recipe, I’ve topped this cake with my tried and true vanilla frosting.
Eight. Eight is the number of times I baked this cake before I decided it was just right, tweaking ingredients along the way. Then I baked it 3 more times but in the form of cupcakes to make sure it would be easy for you to use this recipe in a variety of ways.
That’s right, this moist vanilla cake recipe can be made as a cake and also as vanilla cupcakes. For the cake, you’ll use a 9″ by 13″ inch pan. If you choose to make vanilla cupcakes, this recipe will make a hefty 24 cupcakes with a little batter left over.
The best way to make the cupcakes is to use a large cookie scoop to ensure the batter is evenly divided between each liner. This batter is on the thinner side, so the cookie scoop works perfectly. For the best results you should store the finished cupcakes in an airtight container. I’ve shared plenty of tips for baking cupcakes, but using a cookie scoop is by far the best way to get consistent results.
This vanilla cake recipe has your standard ingredients: sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. You can’t really have a cake without those. A lot of recipes use similar amounts of dry ingredients. However, where most cake recipes vary is in the amount of fats (butter or oil), eggs and any other wet ingredients.
For this cake, the wet ingredients are vegetable oil, eggs, vanilla extract and milk. Plus my secret weapon, light sour cream.The sour cream is the ultimate tool to keeping this vanilla cake moist, even after 3 or 4 days!
Since this cake uses oil instead of butter, there’s no waiting around for your butter to come to room temperature (you know I am terrible at planning that type of thing!), and far less time is spent creaming together the butter and sugar. Oil tends to make cakes more moist than butter. It also makes the crumb and texture a bit more tender.
With any baked good, there is a certain level of balance needed when you’re preparing the batter. If you over beat the batter, your cake will be too dense and it will not rise. If you under beat it then it can cause your cake to bake unevenly because the oil and eggs are not well incorporated.
My rule of thumb is to turn off my mixer when I can’t see any more loose flour on top. Then I use my spatula to stir the batter a few times, getting all the stuff that is stuck to the bottom of the bowl and bringing it up to the top. When I’m making cupcakes, I tend the stir the batter with my spatula every 5 or 6 cupcakes.
However, even though the batter is a little thinner, the cake is more dense when baked and therefore it will not rise as high as a cake with a more light and airy texture. This won’t be a problem for us!
If you’re planning on using this cake for as a base for a poke cake or some other type of “wet cake”, I suggest omitting the sour cream. This will produce a lighter cake, allowing more space in the crumbs to soak up the filling.
Commonly Asked Questions about this Vanilla Cake Recipe:
Can I make this as a layer cake?
I have made this as an 8-inch 3 layer cake. See my recipe for the Moist Vanilla Layer Cake. If you’d like to bake this as 9-inch or 10-inch layer cake, the baking times will need to be adjusted accordingly.
Do I have to use Sour Cream cream?
As I mentioned above, sour cream helps keeps these cupcakes very moist. I recommend substituting the sour cream with non-fat Greek Yogurt if you do not have sour cream. Some people have made it with mayonnaise but I have not tried it myself.
A few people have asked about substituting buttermilk for sour cream. I have never tried this, and this batter is already pretty thin, so I am not sure if adding additional liquid will work.
If you need to, you can omit it completely, but note the cake will not be nearly as moist.
Do I have to use nonfat milk or can I substitute it with something else?
Yes, you can use any type of milk for this recipe.
I had to bake my recipe for longer than the required time, what did I do wrong?
Likely nothing! Different types of pans will bake differently. Glass baking pans will always need to bake longer as they do not conduct heat as quickly as metal pans. Disposable containers are much thinner and thus require additional baking time. Also keep in mind that not all oven temperatures are alike, and unless you have an internal thermometer, your oven temperature could be off.
Looking for a few other recipes using this moist vanilla cake? However about someCookies and Cream Cupcakes, Mimosa Cake or homemade funfetti cake?
After a lot of requests, I’ve also added a chocolate version of this cake. My moist chocolate cake is less dense and more light and fluffy. It’s not overly sweet but once it’s frosted, it’s a perfect match.
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PrintMoist Vanilla Cake Recipe
Prep Time: 10 minutes- Cook Time: 30 min
- Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 12-15 slices
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This perfectly Moist Vanilla Cake Recipe is a more dense cake with a tight crumb. Instead of light and fluffy this is more like a sponge cake. It’s packed full of vanilla and after the first bite, you know it’s homemade.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (380g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (118 ml) vegetable oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon (14.8 ml) vanilla extract
- ½ cup(118 ml) light sour cream
- 2 ½ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons (11.2 g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (5 g) salt
- 1 ¼ cups (296 ml) milk (I use nonfat)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla extract. Beat on medium speed until the eggs and oil are well incorporated and the batter is lighter in color, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
- Next mix in the sour cream and beat until well combined.
- Add half the flour followed by the baking powder and salt, and beat on low speed while pouring in half of the milk and mix just until the flour starts to incorporate.
- Finally add the remaining flour, mixing on low speed while pouring in the remaining milk and beating until all of the ingredients are well combined.
- Use a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and stir the batter from the bottom to the top to ensure it’s well mixed.
- Pour the batter in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan and bake at 350°F for 28-32 minutes, keeping a careful eye on the baking during the last few minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
- Test the cake for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, your cake is done.
Notes
- This cake is topped with a half batch of my Perfect Vanilla Frosting.
- The batter will be quite thin. It’s important that you stir the batter after mixing, to ensure everything on the bottom of the bowl is well mixed.
- This cake will not produce a very high rise but that’s okay!
- This can easily be made into 24 cupcakes by using a large (3 tablespoon) cookie scoop. Bake for 16-20 minutes at 350°F
- This cake can also be made without the sour cream, it will still be very tasty but it will not be as moist after 2 days. Or you can substitute the sour cream with greek yogurt
- If you’re making a more “wet” cake such as a poke cake, I would suggest eliminating the sour cream to produce a lighter and fluffy cake.
- I used an aluminum pan. Baking times will vary by pan type and true internal oven temperatures.
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Chipo Tichagwa says
Just made this cake…I honestly had doubts but all I can say is wow…I’m totally gobsmacked…it’s just so moist…it’s lovely. I added some lemon zest to the batter and doesn’t everyone just love it… thank you so much for sharing such a lovely recipe.
★★★★★
Beyond Frosting says
OMG that’s awesome! I know those feelings of doubt, but thank you for giving it a try and for letting me know how it turned out!
Peace Nosa says
Best Vanilla cake I have made. My family loved it. Thanks
★★★★★
Beyond Frosting says
That’s awesome Peace!!! Thank you for sharing!
Caryl says
I am wondering if American sponge cakes are different as you say “Instead of light and fluffy this is more like a sponge cake”. Sponge cakes are supposed to be light and fluffy (in NZ anyway)!
For those asking about reducing the sugar, I always reduce the sugar (often by half) if using an American recipe as they are always too sweet. Cakes still come out tasting fine although, of course, they won’t taste like the recipe writer says. Try both and see which you prefer 😉
Kan says
Can you possibly substitute the grandulated sugar with brown sugar, or possible reduce the sugar content? (I know it’s not a diet recipe ( reallllyyy wanna try to make this cus it looks AMAZING altho we are on a sorta health kick rn, so I’d really love to cut the sugar content)
Beyond Frosting says
Hi Kan, several people have commented that they have reduced the sugar to 1.5 cups and seen good results, I’ve tried it a couple times and it does bake but it isn’t the results I’m looking for. I have other recipes on my site that start with this base and I’ve swapped out some of the regular sugar for brown sugar. I’d say you should still maintain a ratio of more white sugar to brown sugar. Brown sugar will “caramelize” the cupcake a little more. In this toffee cupcake, I used a combination of both.
Terry Spedding Zielinski says
Do I need to grease and flour the pan ? It doesn’t say. Thank you,
Beyond Frosting says
I’d say it depends on the type of pan and what you’re intending to do. I never grease and flour my 9×13 inch pan because I am cutting and serving the cake directly from the pan. But I always grease and flour my 8inch rounds because I need to remove the cake from the pans.
Jo says
Looks easy. Straight forward too.
I’ll get back with my results!
Beyond Frosting says
Sounds good Jo!
Natalia says
Hi I’m planning to make this 2 tiered with strawberry frosting in the middle. Do you think it will rise enough for me to properly cut it in half?
Beyond Frosting says
Hi Natalie, I bake them as single layers in an 8 inch cake. You could slice them but they would be very thin. What size cake are you trying to make?
Shonann says
Hi, can I double or triple this recipe? Will the result be the same or do you recommend baking in separate batches?
Beyond Frosting says
I definitely suggest baking in separate batches. I’ve found that overloading my oven results in uneven baking. If you’d like to prefer two batches at once, I might suggest sifting the flour for better results incorporating the dry ingredients.
Lizzie says
Thank you so much for this recipe – it’s a touch sweet but the sponge is so good! Cooked beautifully in our traditionally difficult oven too!
Thank you!
Beyond Frosting says
That’s wonderful Lizzie! Thank you for sharing!!
Noma says
Is it okay if I substitute the sour cream with plain yogurt?
Beyond Frosting says
Hi Noma, yes that is fine!
Suzanne Fleming says
Wow! I’ll never need another cake recipe. This is the best I’ve ever made. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Beyond Frosting says
Umm that’s AMAZING! Thank you Suzanne!