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
Thanks! Great I will try the recipe :)
Can't wait to try this! Butter, oil AND buttermilk! How can this not be a great recipe:)
I just finished baking your lemon cake recipe and it was incredible! I doubled that recipe to make a 3 layer 10" cake! Should I do the same for this recipe? I'm
So excited to try this one ?
Hi Andrea, I have not tried doubling this recipe so I am not positive, but I think you could do so without a problem.
Hi cake looks great! I can't wait to try I have been looking for a white cake recipe? what kind of cake flour should I use? I saw that king arthor brand has a cake flour but it isn't bleached... Do you think it will work in this recipe? Thanks
Couple of questions, i just did this recipe, its on the oven, what is the final batter consistency? Mine was runny, did your batter make 6 cups? Mine only did 5 cups, what is my flour gets all coated and crumbly before i finish adding all the pieces of butter, my flour was already crumbly when i added about half of the total amount, final one, does the crumbly flour can have some whole pieces of butter at the end without being all squished out? Kind of worried, followed all your directions, please advise.
Hi Fanny, I don't remember the batter being runny for this recipe. Possibly the butter was too soft, or it was not added quickly enough. There should not have been any large pieced of butter in the mixture. Melissa has a video on using the Reverse Creaming Method if you would like to watch, here is a link https://www.mycakeschool.com/reverse-creaming-method-of-mixing-a-cake-video-tutorial/. I did have 6 cups of batter. When you add 1/2 of the liquid ingredients to the dry, during the 1 1/2 minutes you are beating the batter should have increased in volume. It is important to beat for the full time. Let me know how yours turned out.
It did not turn good, but i was checking the video you recommended, i see I made a couple of mistakes, i will try it again, thanks for your patience.
Can't wait to try this. I've been wanting a new white cake recipe and this one sounds delish. Thank you
I made this recipe and used 2 (6 inch X3 round pans) and the cake fell in the middle....I have never had this issue with a cake before, I am wondering if it is because I sifted the cake flour before measuring it....and therefore maybe not having enough flour in it.....also I am wondering why you use so much baking powder...it seems like a lot for the amount of flour used or does it have something to do with the buttermilk in it? the cake tasted awesome but I need some more tips...thanks
Hi Linda, I am sorry you had this problem. You did have less flour than called because of the sifting. My first thought is, did you lengthen the baking time since you were baking in 3 inch deep pans? The baking time was based on 2 inch deep pans. Under baking is most often the cause of cakes sinking in the center. Also, make sure that your oven is pre- heated. Checking the center of a cake with a toothpick too early can also cause the cake to sink in the center. You are correct, I did use more baking powder because of the buttermilk. Hope this helps.
Hi Ruth, You can use all purpose flour to make cake flour. This is the formula......for each cup of cake flour, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch. So for this recipe you will measure out 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, remove 5 Tablespoons and replace with 5 Tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk to incorporate and you are all set with cake flour.