White Cake from Scratch
Need a fantastic recipe for a White Cake from Scratch? This white layer cake is amazing.
It is delicious, very moist, has a wonderful flavor, and holds up well to fondant. This white cake has become a new favorite for us.
It has a very fine crumb, and compared to some of our other white cakes (homemade white cake and white velvet cake), it is slightly denser.
Table of Contents
The Perfect Scratch Cake Recipe
Many years ago, when I first began to experiment with cake decorating, I baked with doctored cake mix recipes exclusively. They taste great, are super moist, consistent, and simple.
I was convinced that scratch cakes-especially white cakes and chocolate scratch cakes were-underwhelming. There's nothing sadder than a gorgeous slice of cake that is dry when you take a bite of it.
Well, here we are, more than ten years later, and we have hundreds of cake recipes from scratch that we just love! This was one of the first.
How White is the Cake?
Some white cakes are snow white- these are the ones that use clear vanilla, no butter, and egg whites.
While this white cake is light in color, it does have a slight yellow tint from the butter and buttermilk. But we are okay with this because of the richness that it adds!
For an even whiter cake, we have a delicious White Velvet Cake recipe which uses softened cream cheese in the cake batter- this lightens the shade of the cake while also enhancing the texture and richness. It's another great one for you list!
The Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing
Have you heard of the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing? With this mixing method, ingredients are added in a different order than with the conventional (aka creaming) method of mixing.
The results are a slightly denser cake with a finer crumb and a more velvety texture. You can see in the photo above that this cake as a fine crumb.
If you are unfamiliar with the Reverse Creaming Method of mixing and would like to learn more, you can find our link to a free to tutorial on the technique beneath the recipe!
*This recipe works well for cupcakes also, but as with most scratch recipes on our site, there is very little dome.
**For more information on the Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing, check out our post and video tutorial on the method! Reverse Creaming Method of Mixing.
Frostings that taste great with White Cakes
The buttercream frosting that we used in the photo is our Classic Vanilla Buttercream, however when it comes to pairing frosting flavors with this delicious homemade white cake, the options are endless! Here are other favorites to consider!:
More Vanilla Cakes!
We have more white cakes, vanilla cakes, and yellow cakes for you to try! You can find them all in our section of Vanilla Cakes.
Some of the most popular are our Homemade White Cake, Vanilla Velvet Cake, White Velvet Cake, and Buttermilk Pound Cake!
Enjoy the Recipe!
Thanks so much for stopping by. We hope that you'll come back again soon.
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!
White Cake from Scratch
This moist, delicious, and versatile white cake recipe is amazing!
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cups (350g) sugar
- 2 ½ cups (285g) cake flour
- 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
- 1Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (19 g) baking powder
- 5 egg whites ( you can separate egg white from whole eggs or use ⅔ cup from a carton of pasteurized egg whites found in the refrigerated section of grocery store)
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla
- 1 cup (242g) buttermilk
- ⅓ cup (72g) vegetable oil
- 10 Tablespoons (1 stick + 2T ) (141g) unsalted butter, slightly softened (do not microwave) I cut the butter into ½ inch slices onto waxed paper a short while before I need it. Mine is on the wax paper only 6 -7 minutes. It should still feel cold to the touch. If it becomes too soft, refrigerate for a few minutes.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
- Grease and flour two 8 x 2 inch round cake pans
- In the bowl of your mixer add the dry ingredients, sugar, flour, salt and baking powder. Whisk for at least 30 seconds so the ingredients are well combined.
- In a separate bowl, add the egg whites, buttermilk, vanilla and oil. Stir with a fork to combine.
- With the mixer on low speed, add the slices of butter a few pieces at a time to the dry ingredients. Increase the mixer to medium speed and beat until the dry ingredients look crumbly and moistened by the butter. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low speed, SLOWLY add ½ of the egg mixture, increase to medium speed and mix for 1 ½ minutes, the batter will become thick and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the remaining egg mixture in 2 pourings beating for 20 seconds after each addition.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
- Let the cakes cool in the pans 10 minutes, then turn out.
- 6 cups of batter
Hi I heard you say sour cream in the tutorial
But recipe calls for buttermilk.
Just wondering
Thanks janell
Hi Janell, In the video Melissa is demonstrating the reverse creaming with the White Almond Sour Cream recipe. This recipe is the White Cake recipe and it does use buttermilk. I can see how that would be confusing with the video posted under the White Cake recipe.
Hi, I love the flavor but my white cake sunk when I opened the oven to test them. How do i prevent this from happening? do i need to add baking soda?
thanks
Hi Beth, I am sorry you had this problem. It sound like you may have opened the door too early, it is best to open the door to test only 5 minutes before the stated baking time. You can adjust the leavening ......1/4 teaspoon baking soda is equal to 1 teaspoon baking powder so the recipe would read 1 Tablespoon baking powder plus 1/4 baking soda. Also, it could be possible that your oven is not heating to the, temperature you set so it would be a good idea to check this with an oven thermometer. Most grocery stores carry them as well as Target or ordered on Amazon. I hope the layers only sank slightly and you will be able to add extra buttercream to the sunken area and complete your cake.
I love this recipe & have made it many times with delicious results! I need to make some 3D cakes & would like to know if you think this recipe would be good for sculpting/carving?
Hi Carol, We are thrilled that you like this recipe. I think you could use it for carving if the design is not too involved with weight issues, such as a topsy turvy cake. We get best results when carving when the cake is partially frozen. Hope all goes smoothly.
Thanks so much. I will be carving a dolphin!
What could be used to substitute cake flour? Thank you!
Hi BeBe! Looks great and I can't wait to try it out. Can I use sour cream in place of the buttermilk? Also wondering if I can swap some whole eggs for the whites as I usually prefer the flavor of the yolks in my cakes. With that being said, do you find a compromise in taste using just whites to make the cake white-white? Or is it still a really good, rich flavor without the yolks? Thanks so much for sharing!
Kristel
Hi Kristel, You can use sour cream in place of the buttermilk. Two eggs whites equal 1 whole egg, so I think you could swap a whole egg for 2 whites with no problem. Using only egg whites gives your cake a whiter look. We don't find it to be a compromise in taste using just whites, just different. A white cake is has a milder and sweeter taste and is a bit more delicate.
Hi Stephanie, If you only have all purpose (plain in the UK) flour, this is how you can make cake flour: For each cup of flour, remove 2 Tablespoons flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch. For this recipe there are 2 1/2 cups flour so you would measure out 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour, remove 5 Tablespoons of the flour and replace with 5 Tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk as least 30 seconds to blend
Would you be able to tell me why sometimes when I make this as cupcakes, the paper would pull off the cake? But sometimes they are ok.
Love this recipe by the way.
Thank you.