Vanilla Cake
HB-14589 · Hand-built original · American
A soft vanilla layer cake made with hot milk and butter in the batter, filled and frosted with a whipped vanilla buttercream.
AmericanDessert1 hrServes 12Vegetarian
Main ingredient: flour
Pairs well with: coleslaw, cornbread, potato salad, baked beans, coffee
Servings:12quantities adjust to match
Ingredients
- Vanilla cake: 2 cups plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- Vanilla cake: 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Vanilla cake: 1/4 tsp salt
- Vanilla cake: 4 large eggs (at room temperature)
- Vanilla cake: 1 1/2 cups caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- Vanilla cake: 1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into cubes (or so it melts faster)
- Vanilla cake: 1 cup milk, full fat
- Vanilla cake: 3 tsp vanilla extract
- Vanilla cake: 3 tsp vegetable or canola oil
- Vanilla buttercream: 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- Vanilla buttercream: 3 cups soft icing sugar / powdered sugar, sifted
- Vanilla buttercream: 3 tsp vanilla extract
- Vanilla buttercream: 2 tbsp milk, full fat
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F (325°F fan) and grease and line two 8-inch round cake pans.
- Whisk the plain flour, baking powder, and salt from the cake ingredients together in a bowl.
- Beat the large eggs for 30 seconds, add the caster sugar, and beat on high for about 1 minute until the mixture turns pale and thick.
- Heat the milk with the cubed unsalted butter until the butter melts and the milk is hot.
- Fold the flour mixture into the eggs in three batches, then add the hot milk mixture, the vanilla extract, and the vegetable or canola oil and mix until the batter is just combined.
- Divide the batter between the pans and bake for about 25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean, cool the cakes in their pans for 15 minutes, then turn them out to cool completely.
- For the buttercream, beat the softened unsalted butter on high for about 3 minutes until it turns nearly white.
- Add the sifted soft icing sugar in three lots, beating on low and then faster, then add the vanilla extract and the milk and beat 30 seconds more until the frosting is light and spreadable.
- Sandwich the cooled layers with buttercream and cover the top and sides of the cake with the rest.
Total: 1h 25m
Nutrition not computed — the ingredients could not be matched to USDA FoodData Central data.