Heres How To Make The Cake:
My Best Vanilla Cake Recipe Is
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Plush, moist, fluffy crumb without being freakishly unnaturally so . No more dense cakes!
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Keeps near perfectly for 4 whole days. 100% fresh on Day 1, still 96% perfect on Day 4. Thats unheard of!
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Lovely vanilla and butter flavour without a greasy mouthfeel
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Even, elegant crumb no large tunnels or irregular, crumbly holes
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Bakes perfectly flat no levelling required!
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Makes perfect cupcakes
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Not overly sweet and
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As tender as it can be but still be stable enough to make a large layered cake smothered with frosting or piles of cream and berries. In contrast, Chiffon Cakes and Japanese Sponges which, while lighter still, cannot actually hold up to much extra weight the bottom layer gets quite squished.
So if all that appeals to you too, then I dare say this might become YOUR favourite vanilla cake recipe too! And heres a little preview to show you how soft and fluffy it still is after 4 days:
Why Bother Making Cake Mix At Home
I can hear some of you asking why on earth you should think of making cake mix from scratch while you can easily grab a box from store. Well, we have three reasons for that:
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How To Freeze Homemade Cake
You can make this chocolate cake and freeze it to use later. You will want to freeze the cake without any frosting. Wrap the cake layers individually with plastic wrap and freeze on a baking sheet. Then the cake is solid store in a zip-close freezer bag. It will keep for up to 2 months when frozen.
To use, just defrost the cake in the fridge and then decorate as desired when thawed.
White Cake Frosting Ingredients
Mmm, frosting. We are making a classic American buttercream.
- Butter. You can use unsalted butter, but you may want to add another pinch of salt to the recipe. To soften butter, remove the butter from the wrapper and place it on a small plate. Put in the microwave for 30-40 seconds on power level one. Dont use full power! Your butter will melt!
- Powdered sugar. Sift the powdered sugar if it looks extra clumpy
- Heavy cream. *Feel free to use whole milk or whatever milk you have on hand. It wont be quite as thick and creamy but it will work.
- Kosher salt. A flakey salt that absorbs moisture. To substitute table salt instead of kosher salt, use ½ table salt for every 1 teaspoons of kosher salt called for in the recipe.
- Vanilla
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How To Make Homemade Vanilla Cake Mix
To make a homemade dry vanilla cake mix, youll need the following items:
- all-purpose flour
- granulated sugar
- instant vanilla pudding mix
Thats all! Ill bet youve got most of that in your pantry right now.
Then, all you have to do is:
With Or Without Butter
I make this homemade cake mix with dry ingredients only, so it doesnt have butter because it is easier to store when you dont add any wet ingredients in the mixture. Just put it in an airtight container and keep in your pantry. Also, it is easer to turn the cake mix into an edible gift this way. You can even send it to someone living miles away. Nothing in the mix goes bad at room temperature.
On the other hand, there are some points you should keep in mind if you want to make your mix with butter. These are:
I find the cake mix without butter more practical because of the reasons I mentioned above, but its up to you to make your mix with or without it.
Tip: My lemon cake recipe below calls for olive oil, but if you love your cake with butter, substitute melted butter for it.
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Homemade Vanilla Cake Recipe From Scratch
This easy vanilla cake recipe is so decadent that you will never want to buy another store bought cake again. Once you know how to make a vanilla cake from scratch, you will wonder why you didnt sooner. Moist and delicious, this cake will have people running back for more. Dont let it scare you because its from scratch and not from a box mix. This really is the best vanilla cake recipe, its so simple and the results are amazing!
Homemade vanilla cake has a light vanilla flavor that isnt overpowering, which makes your frosting choices endless! Its perfect for any occasion and you can use any icing you prefer. Vanilla Buttercream Frosting is my favorite but you can certainly use whatever you prefer on this delicious cake. Make it a tradition for birthdays, holidays, celebrations and more! If you like this, make sure to try this Easy Chocolate Cake from Scratch.
Lets get starting making moist vanilla cake recipe from scratch!
To begin you will need two 9 round cake pans for this layer cake. These are the ones I use if you need a new set. Also, I slice my rounds in half to create 4 rounds before frosting. I use this to level my cakes and to slice the rounds in half. Its so handy and makes this process so much easier.
To Make This Homemade Yellow Cake Mix You Will Need:
- unbleached cake flour
- granulated sugar
- kosher salt
- unsalted butter
See theres no reason not to make your own cake mix, you probably have these things in your fridge and pantry already. Plus you can pronounce all of these ingredients.
Start by measuring and leveling the all purpose flour.
Youll need 2 and 1/2 cups.
Measure and pour in 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar.
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder.
And 1 teaspoon kosher salt.
Stir to combine
Drop in 4 tablespoons or 1/2 of a stick of room temp unsalted butter.
Use a pastry blender to work the butter into the flour and sugar.
Until the butter basically disappears into the dry ingredients.
Next, pour the cake mix into a container with a tight-fitting lid. Then store in the refrigerator for 1 to 2 weeks. Or store in the freezer for 2 to 4 months . Youll just want to pull it out 25 to 30 minutes before you use it in a recipe.
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Why This Basic Vanilla Cake Recipe Works
- This easy vanilla cake recipe uses the 1-2-3-4 method which is from the 19th century. Its an easy method to remember the ratio of ingredients. 1 cup of butter, 2 cups of sugar, 3 cups of flour, and 4 eggs.
- I adjusted these quantities slightly to achieve the texture I was looking for. I used half a cup less sugar and a fourth cup less flour. This gave me a lighter cake that isnt overly sweet.
- Cake flour is used for a fine crumb and delicate cake texture.
Adding The Dry Ingredients
Next, the tip to bear in mind while blending the dry ingredients to the beaten egg butter and sugar mixture is that it has to be done using clockwise motions. Avoid using anti-clockwise motions. Alternate the addition of dry and wet ingredients until they are combined well. You should begin and end with the flour mixture.
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Make Cake Mix At Home With This Easy Tutorial
Ever find youre in the mood to make a cake, but you never thought to grab a cake mix at the store? Or, you used the last one you had just last weekend to make some super delicious dessert treat? This is me allllll the time! I can not keep cake mix in my house, if Ive got it, I use it up.
My cake baking obsession has gotten so bad that Ive had to train myself on how to make the best DIY version right out of my pantry. And honestly, it comes in handy more often than Id like to admit. Best of all, its super versatile. I can do chocolate or vanilla. Really, anything a cake loving girl could want.
Not only do I love having this mix handy for myself, I also love gifting it to friends! Pour the mix into a mason jar and tie a cute bow around it or pour the mix into a zip top bag and slap a cute label on it. Either way, youve got yourself a simple but sweet gift for a friend.
The Best Homemade Chocolate Cake Recipe
Published by Lauren on
Looking for the most delicious homemade chocolate cake recipe? You are in luck! This homemade chocolate cake is chocolate cake perfection! This best chocolate cake recipe it is super easy to make and results in the perfect from scratch chocolate cake recipe every time.
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How To Decorate A Vanilla Cake Step
Im going to decorate my vanilla cake with some pretty buttercream flowers using a palette knife technique. If you dont have a palette knife you can decorate the cake any way you like. Watch my how to decorate your first cake video for more ideas and I also go over standard tools that I use for cake decorating.
Step 1 Trim the domes off your cakes so that they stack nice and level. I use a serrated bread knife to do this.
Optional: trim off the brown edges so that when you slice your cakes, you see nothing but pure white cake. This is something I usually do for wedding cakes where looks matter.
Step 2 Place your first layer of cake onto a 6 cake board or directly onto your cake plate.
Step 3 Spread a layer of buttercream over the cake, I shoot for about 1/4 thick. Try to make it level with your offset spatula.
Step 4 Add your next layer of cake and repeat the process with buttercream and finish with the top layer of cake.
Step 5 Spread a thin layer of buttercream all over the cake. This is called the crumb coat and it seals in the crumbs so they do not get into your final layer of cake. Put your cake in the fridge or freezer for 15 minutes until the buttercream is firm to the touch.
Step 7 Color your buttercream. I colored about 1/4 cup of each color, light, and medium pink using Americolor electric pink food coloring.
Step 8 Use your palette knife to make your buttercream flowers . I also added a few white sprinkles here and there for texture.
How To Make From Scratch Chocolate Cake
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tin with paper liners.
Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
In a separate bowl add the eggs, whole milk, oil, and vanilla.
Add the bowl containing the eggs, whole milk, oil, and vanilla to the bowl holding the dry ingredients.
Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients together until fully incorporated.
Beat for 3 minutes on medium.
Slowly add the boiling water starting with a small amount then pour in the remaining boiling water. The batter may be a little runny that is ok.
Pour batter into a 9×13 pan or 2 8 inch round cake pans. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes if using a baking dish.
Remove from the oven allowing to cool for 10 minutes.
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Always Have Something Sweet On Hand With This Homemade Cake Mix Recipe
Wouldnt it be nice to know exactly what ingredients are in the mix with no added preservatives or other nasty additives? The basic mix will end up being a lot cheaper, too. Just throw all the dry ingredients into a ziploc bag and itll store for 2 months!
To make them up just add the required wet ingredients and there you go. Heres how to make your own cake using this homemade cake mix recipe!
Store And Freeze This Cake
I usually make this cake the night before, just because I like to split up my baking and frosting days . But this cake is fine baked the same day or in advance.
If youre making the cake a day ahead, just cool and wrap it well with plastic and leave it at room temperature until you are ready to frost the cake.
If you want to bake the cake even farther in advance, bake and cool the cake as directed. Then, turn the cooled cake out and wrap it well in a double layer of plastic wrap, and freeze for up to two weeks.
Since buttercream frosting is pretty easy to make, I always wait to frost the cake the day I serve it. However, if you want, you can make the frosting in advance and store it in an airtight container in either the refrigerator or the freezer .
Defrost the frosting on the counter at room temperature and beat vigorously with a mixer to fluff it up again.
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