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8 inch vanilla cake on a white cake platter.

8 Inch Vanilla Cake

Rich and delish
This 8 inch vanilla cake is made with 3 layers of tender, fluffy, and moist vanilla cake layers, topped and filled with a decadent vanilla buttercream that makes the perfect cake.
5 from 18 votes
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cool time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 10 slices
Calories 805 kcal

Ingredients
 
 

  • 3 cups Flour
  • 3 teaspoon Baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 115 g Butter
  • 2 cup Granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoon Vinegar
  • cup Sour cream
  • ½ cup Vegetable oil
  • 4 Eggs
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

Vanilla buttercream:

  • 350 g Butter soften
  • 5 cups Powder sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
  • cup Heavy cream
  • ½ teaspoon Kosher salt

Instructions
 

  • Preheat an oven to 180c (350f) and prepare 3 8-inch baking pans with parchment paper.
  • Into a big mixing bowl, add the soft butter, and sugar. Mix with an electric hand mixer until creamy and smooth for about 3 minutes.
  • Add the vanilla extract, vinegar, vegetable oil, sour cream, and kosher salt, and mix until creamy.
  • Add the eggs one at a time mixing constantly until a creamy mixture forms.
  • Then into a medium mixing bowl, add the flour, and baking powder. Mix with a whisk until combined.
  • Add ½ of the dry mixture and the milk and mix it until almost combined.
  • Add the other half of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  • Divide the batter into 3 8-inch baking pans and bake in a 180c (350f) preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick is inserted into the cake comes out clean.
  • Let the cakes cool to room temperature and remove them from the pans.

Make the vanilla buttercream

  • Into a big mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter, powder sugar, vanilla extract, and milk. Mix with an electric hand mixer for a few minutes until the buttercream is light in color and creamy.

Assemble the cake:

  • Pipe a small dollop of the vanilla buttercream on the surface that you will frost on. Lay the first cake layer over the frosting dot.
  • Top the first cake layer with ⅓ of the buttercream and spread an even layer of the buttercream with a spatula.
  • Top the cake with the second cake layer. Repeat adding the buttercream and top with the third cake layer.
  • Frost the cake with the remaining vanilla buttercream and make a wave pattern with an offset spatula.
  • Top the cake with sprinkles if desired.

Notes

  • Use room temperature ingredients. It is important that you use room-temperature ingredients like eggs and butter. This step ensures that your mixture mixes into a homogenous mixture and bakes perfectly. you don’t want to place cold batter into the oven.
  • Measure your flour correctly! When measuring your flour, avoid scooping it with a measuring cup. Instead, stir the flour with a spoon to create as many air pockets as possible, and spoon it into your measuring cup. Finally, level it with a back of a knife.
  • Don’t overmix the batter, you don’t want to develop the gluten in the flour. This step ensures you have a moist cake and not a dense and dry cake.
  • Use cake strips! Cake strips give you even and perfectly baked cake layers. Click here for the amazon link.
  • Line your baking pan with parchment paper! This step helps the cake to bake evenly, and it makes sure that your loaf cake will release easily from the pan.
  • Make sure that your butter is at room temperature. An hour or two before making these cookies, take the butter out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature. The butter should be soft to the touch. If your butter is too cold, it will be harder to mix and there will be lumps of butter in the dough.
  • Be patient! I know it’s extremely tempting to frost this cake as it is pulled out of the oven, but let the cake cool for at least 1 hour so it will be more firm and won’t crumble up, and prevent the frosting from melting.

Nutrition

Calories: 805kcalCarbohydrates: 133gProtein: 8gFat: 56gSaturated Fat: 29gPolyunsaturated Fat: 8gMonounsaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 182mgSodium: 699mgPotassium: 132mgFiber: 1gSugar: 42gVitamin A: 1461IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 141mgIron: 2mg
Keyword 8 inch vanilla cake, Vanilla cake
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