My perfect vanilla cake recipe combines fluffy Japanese cotton cakes with buttery Western butter cakes, plus an age-old bakers’ trick. The best of both worlds, this cake brings together the fluffiness of Japanese cotton cakes with the butteriness of Western butter cakes, yet has all the benefits of both traditional types of vanilla cake—it’s moist and fresh, lasts 4 days, and can be topped with any flavour of frosting or cream cheese icing you desire. Best of all, you can use this simple vanilla cake recipe to make a variety of different kinds of vanilla cake!
Measure precisely
1. Grease 2 9-round cake pans with butter or vegetable oil. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form, about 3-5 minutes using an electric mixer on high speed or whisking by hand. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy, about 5-8 minutes using an electric mixer on high speed or 6-10 minutes by hand (if you’ve chosen to do it the old-fashioned way). Add in vanilla extract during the last minute of beating time if desired.
Use tangzhong method
1. Start by whisking together your dry ingredients in a large bowl and setting aside.
2. In a saucepan, mix together the milk, sugar, butter and salt. Heat over medium heat until the mixture starts to boil and then simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and pour over your dry ingredients. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until everything is moistened (about 1 minute). Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula if necessary. Increase to high speed and beat for 3 minutes or until light in colour (it should be white).
Bake in the centre of the oven
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease the cake pan or line it with baking paper, then dust it with flour.
- Cream butter, sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).
- Sift in the flour, salt, baking powder and cocoa powder into the creamed mixture slowly while stirring on low speed (do not over mix).
- Add eggs one at a time while stirring on low speed until just combined. 5. Pour batter into prepared pan or divide between two pans if desired
Sprinkle with icing sugar while it’s still hot
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 8-inch round cake pans and line bottoms with rounds of parchment paper, or use a silicone pan liner. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. In another large bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, vanilla extract and whole milk until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients in the bowl you set aside earlier and gently stir until just combined. Do not overmix!
Best served fresh from the oven
-Preheat oven to 350F.
-In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and vanilla extract until combined.
-In a medium bowl, whisk together the milk with the butter. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir just until combined (don’t over-mix). Gently fold in 3/4 cup of heavy cream with a rubber spatula until just combined.
-Transfer batter to an ungreased 10-inch round cake pan or springform pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cake tester inserted into centre comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack before frosting. This recipe is best served fresh from the oven!
Keep covered in the fridge overnight
This is my best vanilla cake recipe. Soft and plush with a beautiful vanilla flavour and stays perfectly fresh for 4 whole days! It brings together the fluffiness of Japanese cotton cakes with the butteriness of Western butter cakes, plus an age-old baker’s trick.
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2. Cream the butter into the sugar until light and fluffy
3. Add the eggs one at a time, until well mixed in
4. Add the vanilla essence or extract
5. Mix in the plain flour, baking powder, salt
6. Add milk until you reach desired consistency (I like mine thick!)
Enjoy
