This homemade white cake is perfect for layering, coating with frosting or fondant, and serving on any occasion. It is light, airy, with a great crumb, and still easy to make. Trust me when I say this will be your new go-to cake recipe.
If you're looking for more great cakes, try my maraschino cherry cake, chocolate peanut butter drip cake, chocolate birthday cake, and red velvet cake.
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Homemade cake is always much better than anything you can make from a box. This white cake is one of my favorites (as is my easy chocolate cake), so I even used it to make a white cake mix to whip it up in a pinch.
It is simple enough to make for a kid's birthday party but elegant enough for a backyard wedding (and I've made it for both!) Everyone always thinks it came from a bakery.
What's The Difference Between White Cake And Vanilla Cake?
I love baking both kinds of cakes! Simply put, both white and yellow cakes are vanilla cakes. Both kinds of cake use vanilla extract, paste, or vanilla beans for flavor.
White cakes use egg whites only, which is how they get their color and name. Without the added richness of the yolk, the texture of a white cake will tend to be finer and less tender than a yellow cake.
Yellow cakes get their yellow color from adding the yolks when whole eggs are mixed into the cake batter. However, the color doesn't change the fact that both cakes are vanilla flavored.
🥘 Ingredients
- Cake Flour - Cake flour produces a lighter, more tender crumb. I recommend using it, but all-purpose flour will still work if you don't have any. You can also make your own cake flour here.
- Sugar - White granulated sugar adds sweetness.
- Baking Powder - This causes the cake to rise.
- Salt - A small amount of salt balances out the sweetness.
- Butter - You want your butter to be cold and cubed.
- Egg Whites - You'll only use the whites from your eggs at room temperature.
- Vanilla - Use clear vanilla extract for the whitest cake.
- Milk - I used 2% milk, but you can use whatever you have. You'll want this to be at room temperature as well.
*Be sure to see the free printable recipe card below for ingredients, exact amounts & instructions with tips!*
🔪 How To Make Homemade White Cake
Even if you've never baked a cake before, this recipe is quick to master. You will need your measuring utensils, preferred baking pans, and a stand or electric mixer.
Makes either an 8" or 9" two-layer cake, one 9x13 single-layer cake, or 24 cupcakes.
Make the Cake Batter
Step 1: Preheat. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°F/Gas Mark 4) and grease and flour your baking pans, or coat with non-stick cooking spray.
Step 2: Combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients: 2¼ cups (281 grams) of cake or all-purpose flour, 1¾ cups (350 grams) of sugar, 3 teaspoons of baking powder and ½ teaspoon of salt.
Step 3: Add butter. Add 1 cup (227 grams) of cold, cubed butter and combine on medium speed (or with a pastry cutter) until you have small, pea-size crumbs of butter in your dry mixture (about 1-2 minutes).
Step 4: Continue mixing. Add 6 large egg whites and 2 teaspoons of clear vanilla extract, and continue mixing at medium speed until all the dry ingredients are just incorporated.
Step 5: Add milk. Add 1 cup (237 milliliters) of milk gradually by slowly pouring half of it into the cake batter and then mixing until smooth. Add the last half of the milk and mix until smooth again (about 1 minute).
Bake & Cool
Step 6: Portion and bake. Pour your cake batter (divided equally) into your prepared baking pans and bake at 350°F (175°F/Gas Mark 4) for 27-32 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean from the center of your cake.
Step 7: Cool. Allow your cake(s) to cool in the pans for about 5 minutes before removing from the pans and transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
💭 Angela's Pro Tips & Recipe Notes
- Adjust the baking time. For 8 or 9-inch rounds, bake for 27-32 minutes. For a 9x13 cake, bake for 27-31 minutes. If making cupcakes, reduce the baking time to 18-23 minutes.
- Frost your cake. For tips and tricks on how to frost your cake, check out my guide here.
- Customize it. For these photos, I used microwave lemon curd for my filling and vanilla buttercream with classic fondant on top. However, it also tastes amazing with any buttercream frosting recipe!
🍰 Cake Fillings
You can customize this cake in many ways, using various cake fillings and flavors, frostings, and toppings.
- Strawberry coulis
- Apple curd
- Pie filling (like blueberry, raspberry, cherry, and more)
- Bavarian cream
- Chocolate ganache
Frosting
🙂 😀 Testimonials
I made this cake a few months back, and it was incredibly easy and the best white cake I have ever had. I like a nice, fairly dense and rich cake and this was incredible.
Anthony
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🥡 Storing
If making your cake in advance, let your cake layers cool and then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. They can then be frozen for up to three months.
There's no need to thaw the cake before frosting and decorating. Frosting a chilled cake is even easier.
Do you love a recipe you tried? Please leave a 5-star 🌟rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page.
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📖 Recipe Card
Homemade White Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour (or all-purpose flour)
- 1 ¾ cups sugar
- 3 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter (cold, cubed)
- 6 large egg whites (room temperature)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (clear)
- 1 cup milk (room temperature, we use 2%)
(Note: 2x or 3x only changes the ingredient list)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350℉ (175℃), grease and flour your baking pans, or coat with non-stick cooking spray (or line your muffin pans with cupcake liners).
- In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the dry ingredients: 2 ¼ cups cake flour or all-purpose flour, 1 ¾ cups sugar, 3 teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt. Add the cold, cubed 1 cup butter in and combine on medium speed (or with a pastry cutter) until you have small, pea-size crumbs of butter in your dry mixture (about 1-2 minutes).
- Add the 6 large egg whites and clear 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and continue mixing at medium speed until all of the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Add the 1 cup milk gradually by slowly pouring one-half of the 1 cup of milk into the cake batter and then mixing until smooth. Add the last half of the milk and mix until smooth again (about 1 minute).
- Pour your cake batter (divided equally) into your prepared baking pans (or cupcake liners) and bake at 350℉ (175℃) for 27-32 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean from the center of your cake.
- Allow your cake(s) to cool in the pans for about 5 minutes before removing from the pans and transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Anthony says
I made this cake a few months back, and it was incredibly easy and the best white cake I have ever had. I like a nice, fairly dense and rich cake and this was incredible.
Christopher Hinkston says
This is my go to white cake recipe. I make it at least twice a month!