Description
Home bakers adore this simple vanilla cake recipe as a classic dessert with delightful simplicity. Creamy buttercream frosting and light crumb make this sweet treat perfect for celebrations and casual gatherings.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1.75 cups (346 grams) granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup (227 grams) sour cream
- 0.75 cup (198 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2.5 cups (300 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 0.5 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 0.25 cup (59 ml) vegetable oil
- 0.5 cup (118 ml) whole milk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2.5 cups (565 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 6–10 cups (681–1135 grams) powdered sugar
- 2 tbsps vanilla extract
- 3–6 tbsps milk or heavy cream
- 0.125 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat Setup: Warm the oven to 350°F (175°C) and meticulously prepare springform pans by brushing with butter and lining bottoms with parchment paper.
- Dry Ingredients Preparation: Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a mixing bowl, ensuring uniform distribution of leavening agents.
- Butter Mixture Creation: Cream butter, sugar, and oil using an electric mixer until the mixture becomes light, pale, and voluminous, approximately 2 minutes.
- Wet Ingredient Integration: Blend eggs, sour cream, milk, and vanilla extract into the butter mixture, creating a smooth, homogeneous liquid base.
- Batter Composition: Delicately fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients, maintaining a gentle technique to preserve the cake’s tender crumb structure.
- Pan Distribution and Baking: Divide batter evenly across prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean – approximately 32-50 minutes depending on pan quantity.
- Cooling Process: Rest cakes in pans for 25 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack, allowing complete temperature equilibration.
- Frosting Development: Whip butter, vanilla, and salt until fluffy, gradually incorporating powdered sugar and adjusting consistency with milk or cream.
- Final Assembly: Level cake layers if necessary, stack carefully, spreading frosting between layers and covering the entire exterior with a smooth, even coating.
Notes
- Measure Precisely: Use exact measurements for flour, sugar, and leavening agents to ensure consistent cake texture and rise.
- Room Temperature Matters: Bring eggs, butter, and dairy ingredients to room temperature before mixing to create a smoother, more uniform batter.
- Avoid Overmixing: Gently fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients to prevent tough, dense cake by maintaining a light, tender crumb.
- Check Doneness Carefully: Test cake with a toothpick in the center – a clean toothpick indicates perfectly baked cake, preventing underbaking or overbaking.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 13
- Calories: 408
- Sugar: 34 g
- Sodium: 202 mg
- Fat: 23 g
- Saturated Fat: 14 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 7 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 4 g
- Cholesterol: 100 mg