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 Daphne, Yes, use 2cups of batter in each pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 -30 minutes. You can use make your own buttermilk for the recipe. Are you familiar with the Reverse Creaming Method, if not Melissa has a video you might like to watch. There is a link to the video below the picture of the cake.
Hi, I want to make a cake in the mug can i do it in the conventional oven?
Please wats the rexipe for the frosting. It looks so good
Hi Missy, I think we used the Classic Vanilla Buttercream recipe, https://www.mycakeschool.com/recipes-tutorials/classic-vanilla-buttercream/
hi bakers the cake looks great! I have just baked it but the texture was nothing like yours ;-( and it came out yellow. do you have any idea why? the taste was very nice! can I use less sugar?
I just love your cakes!
Hi Lia, Some brands of butter are more yellow than others, so that possibly was the cause. If you did not change the amount of any ingredients I am not sure why the texture would be different. Technique is important for the Reverse Creaming Method, this is a link if you would like to see Melissa's video on reverse creaming: https://www.mycakeschool.com/reverse-creaming-method-of-mixing-a-cake-video-tutorial/#comments.
If you like you could experiment with reducing the sugar a bit but sugar is important in baking cakes because it affects the texture. Sugar creates moisture and tenderness in the cake. Reducing the sugar could give you a less moist cake that will dry out quickly.
I just noticed I asked the above question on the wrong cake;) I meant it for the scratch WASC recipe!
BUT...I made THIS white cake this weekend and it was wonderful! Velvety and moist and just plain delicious!
I have made this cake several times now. It is moist, does not dome, and tastes great. Thanks so much.
Thank you Dene & Deborah!! So happy that you like the recipe! xo
I was wondering if I can add sprinkles to this white cake recipe to make a funfetti cake? Thanks!
Hi Natalie, Yes, adding sprinkles would be fine.
Thanks for this recipe! I have been using Rose Levy's butter cake for my non-chocolate go to, but this one is yummy and is also whiter. I'm using it for a baby shower cake and I think they are going to love it! I did have to bake mine a bit longer, but that isn't a problem for me. Thanks again! I look forward to trying more recipes soon!