Vanilla Bean Cake Recipe
Today we're sharing a new scratch Vanilla Bean Cake recipe that we just love!
This layer cake is moist, has wonderful flavor, and would taste fantastic with so many fillings and frostings, from Chocolate Buttercream to Lemon Buttercream and more! However, today we are staying consistent with a lovely vanilla bean buttercream.
Table of Contents
What is the Difference between this Cake and our Vanilla Buttermilk Cake?
We love the Vanilla Bean Cake as well as our popular Vanilla Buttermilk Cake. This Vanilla Bean Cake has a tighter crumb and is slightly more dense. The Vanilla Buttermilk Cake is fluffier. Both are very moist and flavorful! It boils down to your personal preference of texture!
We also have a wonderful Vanilla Velvet Cake which is very moist with a tight crumb, and slightly richer thanks to the cream cheese in the cake batter. There are so many great options for scratch vanilla cakes!
What Makes a Vanilla Cake Different from a White Cake?
We have many delicious cakes in our recipes section that are flavored with vanilla, including our White Almond Sour Cream Cake, White Cake, and Vanilla Buttermilk Cake.
While white cake recipes often call for a little vanilla flavoring, a true white cake doesn't contain egg yolks in an effort to keep the cake light extra light in color.
In addition, the whitest of white cake recipes call for using clear vanilla rather than natural, and sometimes use shortening in place of butter to keep the color especially light.
This Vanilla Bean Cake wouldn't be considered a true white cake as it contains whole eggs as well as a good amount of real vanilla (in this case, vanilla bean paste).
The richness from butter and whole eggs, coupled with the moistness from the sour cream in the recipe, and more than a tablespoon of vanilla makes this cake a stand-out!
It is moist and flavorful, but also sturdy enough that it can withstand the additional weight of fondant if your design calls for it. It's an all-around great recipe and we hope that you enjoy it!
What is Vanilla Bean Paste?
In this recipe, I used Vanilla Bean Paste. Have you used it before? Vanilla bean paste, which depending on the brand, will be sold in bottles or tubes, is not a paste at all. It's more the consistency of syrup (and the flavor is amazing).
Vanilla bean paste is a happy medium between using vanilla extract and vanilla bean pods.
It gives you the convenience of a vanilla extract, but it also contains the vanilla been seeds from the pod without any of the work! Those little vanilla bean flecks lend a richness of flavor and I love the look of the vanilla speckles in the cake and frosting.
Can You Substitute Vanilla Extract for Vanilla Bean Paste?
Yes you can! Vanilla Bean Paste and Vanilla Extract can be used interchangeably.
For this recipe, you can use the same amount of vanilla extract instead, or for your other recipes that contain vanilla extract, you can swap in vanilla bean paste for something a little different.
Using Vanilla Bean Pods instead?
The most common formula that I have seen for using scraped-out Vanilla Bean Pods instead of Vanilla Bean Paste or Vanilla Extract is that 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract is equal to one 2-inch piece of vanilla bean.
So, the typical vanilla bean pod would give you the equivalent of 3-4 teaspoons of vanilla extract. As with anything, taste and adjust to your liking.
Enjoy the Recipe!
Thanks so much for stopping by! If you give this vanilla bean cake a try, we would love for you to leave a comment and photo below.
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!
Vanilla Bean Cake Recipe
Ingredients
For the Vanilla Bean Cake
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, slightly softened (226g)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400g)
- 3 large eggs, room temperature (If in a hurry, place eggs in a bowl of warm water for five minutes.)
- 1 cup sour cream (we use full fat) (242g)
- ⅓ cup milk (we use whole milk) (81g)
- 1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Vanilla Bean Paste you can substitute vanilla extract if you like
- 3 cups cake flour *See substitution below (342g)
- 3 teaspoons baking powder (12g)
- ½ teaspoon salt (4g)
For the Vanilla Bean Buttercream
- 3 sticks unsalted butter (354g)
- 9 cups powdered sugar (1035g)
- 3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (adjust amount to your liking) (12g)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon salt optional to cut sweetness
- ¼ cup milk (adjust based on desired consistency) (60g)
Instructions
For the Cake Layers
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, grease and flour three 8 inch x 2 inch round cake pans. (You could use 2 cake pans for slightly thicker layers if you would rather, but we like the additional layer filling.)
- In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to blend for 30 seconds. Set aside.
- In another bowl or measuring cup, combine the sour cream, milk and vanilla
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and beat on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until fluffy and lightened in color.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- Add the flour mixture and the sour cream mixture alternately, beginning and ending with the flour mixture (3 additions of dry ingredients, 2 of wet).
- Mix until combined and smooth, do not mix above medium speed or over-mix.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool 5-10 minutes, then turn out.
- Makes 7 cups batter. The recipe works well for cupcakes.
For the Vanilla Bean Buttercream
- Cream the softened butter until smooth. Blend in the vanilla.
- Add half of the powdered sugar and most of the milk. Beat at medium speed until the powdered sugar is incorporated.
- Add remaining powdered sugar and milk and mix at medium speed another 3 to 4 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. I slow down the mixer to very slow. (#2 on the Kitchenaid) for 1 to 2 minutes. This will help eliminate air pockets in the buttercream. The texture will become very smooth.
- Makes approximately 6 cups of frosting.
I have never made a cake with cake flour.......The batter seems really thick...is that normal
Hi Anita, The batter of this recipe is rather thick. I hope you will enjoy the cake.
Hi Melissa and BeBe! I could not recall if I had tried your vanilla bean cake recipe, so I made a 1/2 recipe yesterday to test it out. I wanted to compare the difference cake flour yields vs all purpose. Also, sour cream and no buttermilk. So, I made your recipe and I had a few frozen layers of another vanilla cake recipe that I thought I loved, and I had my family try both, at room temp. Your recipe won!!!! And I do love the difference of cake flour vs ap. Softer and smaller crumb, yet not dense like a pound cake. Wonderful flavor with the butter and lots of vanilla, and moisture from the sour cream. For my 1/2 recipe, I used 2 6" pans, because I do like taller layers. Each layer rose to a bit over 1 1/4". A winner!!! I read reviews, and I see that you can use this cake recipe for cupcakes too. Good to know. I wonder, do the cupcakes yield a flat top or a rounded, even slight, dome? Thank you again!!!
Hi Paula, I enjoyed reading your post and experiment. I'm happy your family chose the Vanilla Bean Cake as their favorite. I did not make a note on the cupcake dome but most of our scratch recipe cupcakes bake with a slight dome. Thanks so much for your review of the recipe.
can you use vegetable oil instead of butter
Hi Lorena, I am sorry but we have never tried using oil instead of butter so I can't be sure of the outcome.
Hello, amazing recipe...
I’m curious if this would be possible to do by hand and without a mixer?
Thanks for posting!
Hi Ikeja, It can be done by hand but I have never tried doing so. The time consuming part will be creaming the butter and sugar until it has lightened in color and becomes fluffy looking. Cut your butter into slices so if will soften more quickly, softened but not melting at all. Do not soften in microwave. It will take quite a bit of time and stirring. Below is a link to a video that you might find helpful.
Hi Melissa and BeBe! I was thinking of trying to make this cake into a lemon cake. What do you think? If you think it could make a nice lemon cake, would you please recommend amounts of zest, juice and extract that I would add? Thanks again!
Hi Paula, You should use the Lemon Sour Cream Cake recipe, link below. The Vanilla Bean Cake recipe was based on this. You will be using vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract, then follow the Lemon Sour Cream Cake recipe. Hope you like it.
https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes-tutorials/lemon-sour-cream-cake/
I just saw your reply, BeBe! I didn't know you had another lemon cake recipe! I actually made 1/2 the vanilla bean recipe but added zest, lemon juice and lemon extract (I based the quantities on whole amounts of another lemon recipe I had tried). It turned out really tasty!!!! But, I will make the lemon sour cream cake recipe that you provided the link for, which as you said, the vanilla was based on. I can see how the ingredients are almost the same.
Hi Bebe! Well!! I just tried a 1/2 recipe of your Lemon Sour Cream cake. Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is fantastic!!! I made one 6" layer (rose to about 1 3/4" tall using 2 1/4 cups of batter, for a taller layer. Also made around 7 cupcakes. So good!!! I will definitely be using this recipe for my "go to" lemon cake! Wanted to ask, I see the difference besides flavor, juice, etc in the lemon vs the vanilla bean is that the lemon includes baking soda, in addition to baking powder. The vanilla only has baking powder. Does the addition of the baking soda, which I believe is a rising agent and acts with the acid of the lemon, help with rise and fluffier crumb? The lemon seems to be a bit more fluffy; not as dense a crumb as the vanilla. Thank you again for your recipes and help!!