The Perfect {Bakery Style} White cake is a beautiful, moist, and light cake with the perfect crumb. The cake has a soft, velvety texture, a subtle sweetness, and a delightful combination of vanilla and almond flavors. It is perfect for any occasion, whether it’s a birthday celebration or a simple treat for yourself! Not only is the cake delicious on its own, but it is also a wonderful base for decorating. If you prefer a sheet cake, I have a Vanilla Delight Cake you will love!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Flour: I used cake flour in this recipe. Cake flour has a lower protein content when compared to all-purpose flour. This results in a softer, more tender cake. If you don’t have any on hand, make your own cake flour to use.
Butter: As in many of my baking recipes, I use and recommend unsalted butter. If using salted butter, you may want to lessen or omit the salt in the recipe.
Extracts: Both vanilla and almond extract are added to the cake batter. If you have a nut allergy, you could replace the almond extract with the same amount of vanilla. Or, use Imitation Almond Extract which is typically not made with almonds. Be sure to check the ingredients. If you are worried about flavor, the almond extract does not make the cake taste almondy. It simply adds a freshness, a refined elegance, to the overall flavor.
Egg Whites: For a lighter and fluffier texture in the cake, only use egg whites. But, once you have separated the eggs, don’t let the yolks go to waste! Beat them and store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 days. Use the yolks in other recipes like my Browned Butter Toffee Cookies.
Milk: If possible, use whole milk in this cake. 2% or 1% could be used, but it may not yield the best results. I do not recommend skim milk.
Frosting: This cake is the ideal canvas for many decorating ideas. I added my American Buttercream Frosting to the cake, but you can certainly add your favorite frosting or topping!
Can I Use A Different Pan?
Sure! This recipe calls for 2, 8-inch round cake pans. You could use 9-inch round cake pans, but the layers will be a bit thinner. Or, make the cake in a 9×13-inch baking dish. This would give you one thicker cake. If using a different pan, you may need to adjust the baking time, so watch the cake closely.
How To Store White Cake
If the cake does not have a perishable frosting, store it at room temperature. It should be covered or stored in an airtight container. It will last up to 2-3 days. Refrigerating a cake can dry it out faster so I do not recommend that.
Can I Freeze This Cake?
Yes! Baking, then freezing a cake is a great way to get a head start on your dessert, saving some stress! I prefer to freeze the cake without any frosting. Before freezing the cake, be sure to let it cool completely. Next, wrap the cake in plastic wrap. Wrap it again in another layer of plastic wrap, aluminum foil, or in a freezer-safe bag. Label and date the packaging; the cake can be frozen for up to 2-3 months. When ready to decorate or enjoy, let the cake thaw at room temperature while still wrapped. After about 30 minutes, the cake will be ready to decorate.
Can I Make This Cake Into Cupcakes?
Yes! This recipe makes delicious white cupcakes! Follow the instructions for mixing the cake batter. Fill each lined muffin cup with about 1/4 cup of the batter. Bake at 350°F for 21-23 minutes. You should be able to get about 23 cupcakes.
Recipe updated July 2023.
White Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ¾ cups (357 g) cake flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks / 227 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 ½ cups (500 g) granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 5 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 cup (245 g) whole milk, room temperature
Buttercream Frosting
- ½ cup (1 stick / 113 g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups (250 g) confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 1 pinch kosher salt
- 3-6 teaspoons whole milk, or as needed
- extracts and flavorings, as desired
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2, 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, sugar, and both extracts until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer on the lowest speed, carefully add in egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- With the mixer still on low, add ⅓ of the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, then half the milk, another third of the flour mixture, the remaining milk, and then the remaining flour mixture. Mix just until combined. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the two prepared pans. Bake for 26-28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely on a wire rack.
Buttercream Frosting
- To the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, add the butter, sugar, salt, and any added flavorings.
- Start mixing on low speed until the sugar is incorporated with the butter. Increase the mixing speed to high and beat until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Adjust the consistency with milk as needed.
- Store unused buttercream in the refrigerator in an airtight container until ready to use. Bring it back to room temperature before using to pipe or frost the cooled cake.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
I am a novice baker as in this is the first cake i ever baked…everyone loved it.
I love white cake, looks so yummy…. I am going to try now. 🙂
Hello! I found your website from Pioneer Woman! I baked this cake and it was phenomenal!!! I had one problem though…… I baked it on a Friday night. After cake cooled, I sliced a little off the top to level that layer. Of course I had to try it and it melted in my mouth, scrumptious, everything I ever wanted in a cake! I wrapped it in wax paper and then just put a dish towel on it over night. Saturday I iced and decorated it. It took hours! It was a three layered and tiered cake with the bottom layer being 14″ round. By the time I was finished decorating, I only had 2 hours until event, so I decided not to cover it. It was covered super thick in frosting, so I figured cake would be safe. It wasn’t!!!! It was soooooo dried out! It still had a good taste, but extremely dry compared to the night before. What happened??? Was it because it may not have been air tight with just wax paper the night before? Or because it took so long to decorate? I don’t want to make this same mistake again, I was so embarrassed! Thanks so much for your beautiful work!!!!
Hi there! So sorry to hear that there was some dryness to the cake. Such a shame! 🙁 I have not encountered that issue. But if you want you can always add a bit of simple syrup to the cake after its leveled. Happy baking!
The best way that I have found to cover a cake overnight is to wrap it in plastic wrap until you are ready to use. I have not done that with this specific recipe, but have done it many other times with other recipes and the cakes always stay nice and moist.
What tip did you use for this icing technique?
Hi, Amanda!
I fell in love with this cake the first time I saw it. It totally does honour to its name! So I decided that would be the next birthday cake I had to bake. I couldn’t wait for that moment, until today, my husband’s birthday. So there you have http://pemberleycupandcakes.com/2013/12/18/white-cake-in-black-white-tarta-blanca-en-blanco-negro/
I hope you like it 😉 Thanks so much for sharing such an amazing recipe (and so many others…)
xx from Spain
Rosa
Its so beautiful! Excellent job!!
Hello: I would especially love to try this recipe because my daughter can’t have anything chocolate. Can I use all purpose flour? Do I bake this on the middle oven rack? Thank you for your help.
Rita Gross
Montreal
But…but…but…
Where is the perfect white icing?
I prefer bakery white cake too, but I am sorely disappointed over the lack of the Perfect White Icing (as in BAKERY ICING) recipe.
I live at 7,825 ft and have been trying out different cake recipes for a wedding cake I am making in a few weeks. This is my first experience baking at high altitude and what I have realized is there’s a little more to high altitude cake baking than lowering the leavener a tiny bit and increasing the liquid. This resource and these charts were very valuable in learning to bake at high altitude. Baking is science after all, so getting the adjustments right allows for the most optimal results.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/high-altitude-baking.html
I baked this perfect white cake while following the recommendations in the above link. I ended up adding about 2 egg yolks (each is about 1T), decreasing sugar by 3-4 T, increasing flour by 4 T, increasing cook temp by 10 degrees and decreasing cook time by 2-3 mins. If you are over 6,500 ft you should adjust recipes requiring 2, 3 or 4 t of baking powder to only 1 t. The decrease in baking powder was crucial to getting good results for this cake. It turned out very fluffy and flavorful, but I am concerned about it’s ability to stack because of it’s moisture and slight crumbliness.
Anyone have suggestions about what further modifications to make in order to get a slightly denser, sturdier cake? Maybe swapping some of the egg whites for another liquid or a little extra fat?
hi
I tried this recipe. Me and my family like it so much so I just wanted to thank you for this recipe.
Truly the perfect white cake recipe!!! By all standards I am a very ordinary baker. So every time I bake anything I follow the recipe to the letter because I am unsure about making any modifications. A lot of times things turn out pretty good but they don’t at times and I blame the recipe 😉 Baking this white cake though was hands down the best experience I had. The only change I made was use soy milk instead of dairy because I am intolerant to dairy. I used the exact measurements but made 4 6-in cakes because I wanted a 4 layered cake. It was truly the best cake I ever made. To add some fun I did ombre layers inside…added blue food color in a gradient manner and the cake was to die for.