Moist Vanilla Layer Cake

This Moist Vanilla Layer Cake is an easy oil-based vanilla cake recipe that is SUPER moist and spongy, you’ll know it’s a homemade vanilla cake. It’s decorated with the perfect vanilla frosting recipe.

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If you’re just stopping by here for the first time, I want to be sure that you know that there’s a couple different versions of this cake. Each recipe is prepared with the same ingredients but tailored specifically for either cakes or vanilla cupcakes.

When I initially posted my Moist Vanilla Cake recipe, I got a lot of questions about baking it as a layer cake. The quick answer is yes, but it’s a little more complicated for a layer cakes, so I thought it deserves its own specific post!

The vanilla cake recipe is SO easy. It’s an oil-based cake recipe, so there’s no waiting around for the butter to soften or creaming the butter and sugar together. The oil also creates a more tender crumb in the cake. It’s gotten RAVE reviews.

This cake recipe is denser than it is light and airy, but it’s super moist. The cake is very sturdy which makes it a great recipe for layer cakes.

The vanilla cake can also easily be altered for different flavors as well. This recipe is the same one I used for my Strawberry Mascarpone Layer Cake and this Blueberry Lemon Mascarpone Cake.

Tips for making this vanilla Layer Cake

This recipe makes three 8-inch layers. My 8-inch baking pans are go-to size. I line all my pans with parchment paper circles or a Silpat liner. I also generously grease the sides of the pan with Crisco and a light dusting of flour.

Finally, I use bake even stripes whenever I am baking round cakes. The bake even stripes help prevent the dome from forming on the top of the cake, because it prevents the edges from baking too quickly. As the edges of the cake bake, it pushes the batter towards the center, creating the dome.

You need nice, flat top cakes when you’re making a layer cake. If your cake has a dome, use a large serrated knife or a cake level to cut the dome off the top.

For this vanilla cake you’ll need quite a bit of frosting. Besides the filling in between the layers, you’ll need extra frosting for decorating. A batch of my perfect vanilla frosting should do the trick. If you don’t prefer the taste of American buttercream, you could certainly also make a large batch of Swiss Meringue Buttercream. 

The BEST part about that frosting recipe is that it starts with COLD butter. It helps the butter from getting too soft when decorating or when coloring the frosting. Plus, there’s no waiting around for your butter to soften.

The one catch is that you have to beat the frosting for quite a bit of time, but this produces the best whipped, silky texture.

You want to be sure the frosting is not too stiff, or it will be more difficult to actually frost the cake. If you think the frosting is too stiff, you can add additional heavy whipping cream (or milk), 1 tablespoon at a time, and beat for a few more minutes.

Since this recipe requires so much butter, you might consider making only a half batch at a time if you’re using a standard 5-quart mixer. I have both a 5 and a 6-quart mixer, and I use my 6-quart mixer when I’m making this frosting. It’s a much larger capacity.

Making buttercream and decorating cakes can be intimidating. I am right there with you! Thankfully, I have spent a lot of time writing about how to make buttercream frosting, so that you’ll be successful the first time around!

I love this Vanilla Layer Cake because I totally pushed myself out of my comfort zone in terms of decorating. I am NOT a cake decorator. However, after I took the Wilton Decorating course, it really helped me with the basics of how to decorate cupcakes and cakes. Of course, I’ve had a lot of practice over the years, but when it comes to cakes, I so often tend to stick with my go-to large open star tip.

However, for this vanilla layer cake, I wanted to do something different! I know most cake decorators would probably cringe at my uneven distribution, I mean I didn’t intend to decorate half the cake, but I think it’s darn pretty anyway.

How to decorate this Moist Vanilla Layer cake

This is a super approachable way to decorate a cake. I never thought I was very good at piping roses, but you guys, it’s SO SO easy!

I just used a 1M piping tip. If you’re not fully comfortable, try piping a few of them on some clean parchment paper, and then you can reuse the frosting.

The other piping tips I used for this cake were a size 18 tip and size 21 open star tip. If you use your piping bags with couplers, you can easily switch out the tips. These piping tips can be purchased at stores like Michael’s or a cake supply store, or online. All of the small flowers and rosettes were made using a combination of these tips.

To color the frosting, you can use either the Wilton Color Right Food Gels or AmeriColor Gels. I think the AmeriColor gels because they offer a wide variety of colors and you can purchase them as single either online or at a cake supply store.

The best way to dye your frosting if you’re looking for different shades is to start with a half a drop in one bowl and then get progressively darker. Just remember that you only need a TINY bit of this gel, to color these small amounts of frosting. It’s helpful to use a toothpick to add small amounts to your bowls at a time.

Remember to save some of your white frosting to decorate with as well. You need about 1 cup of frosting for the roses, ½ cup for the darker blue color and ¼ cup of the white frosting. Start by piping your roses, and then fill in the open spaces with the stars and rosettes.

I don’t want you to be intimated by making layer cakes. There is much more time and patience involved, but I believe everyone can do it, especially if you have the right tools. I am always here to answer your questions as well!

Commonly Asked Questions:

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.

If you only have full fat sour cream that will work, your cake might just be a little more dense.

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.

Can I bake this in two 9-inch pans?

Yes! For two 9-inch cakes, they baked from 28-32 minutes. Baking times will vary due to how full the pans are, type of pans and true oven temperature. Please note these did “crust” a little more on the outside edge due to extended baking times and they rose quite a bite in the middle, so you’ll lose more of the “dome” of the cake.

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.

Happy baking friends. Follow Beyond Frosting:

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If you love no-bake recipes, be sure to check out my cookbook, No-Bake Treats!

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You might also like:

Moist Yellow Cake Recipe

Moist Vanilla Cupcakes

Strawberry Margarita Layer Cake 

Mimosa Layer Cake