The Best White Cake Recipe

This BEST white cake recipe yields a fluffy, snow-white cake that's light and soft but still sturdy enough to stack or cover with fondant.

Prep time: PT35M

Cook time: PT35M

Total time: PT70M

Rating

4.91 stars (792 reviews)

Keywords

birthday cake, cake with egg whites, fluffy white cake, pure white cake, white cake recipe

Ingredients

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter softened to room temperature
⅔ cup avocado oil, canola oil or vegetable oil
2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon clear vanilla extract
2 ⅔ cup + 2 Tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (room temperature preferred)
6 large egg whites (room temperature)
Double batch Vanilla Buttercream Frosting ((click link for recipe))

Cuisine

American

Steps

Preheat oven to 350F and prepare two 8-inch round cake pans by lining the bottoms with a round of parchment paper and generously greasing and flouring the sides. Be sure to shake out excess flour.
In a stand mixer (or using an electric mixer), beat butter on medium-low speed until creamy.
Add sugar and oil and beat until all ingredients are well-combined and creamy.
Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl and then stir in your vanilla extract.
In separate bowl, whisk together your flour, baking powder, and salt.
Measure out your milk.
With mixer on medium speed, gradually alternate between adding the flour mixture and the milk to the butter mixture, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Stir until each one is almost completely combined before adding the next.
Pause occasionally to scrape down sides and bottom of bowl.
In separate bowl combine your egg whites and using a hand-mixer on high-speed beat until stiff peaks form.
Using a spatula, gently fold your egg whites into your batter. Take care to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl so that ingredients are well-combined, and take care not to over-mix.
Evenly divide cake batter into prepared pans.
Bake on 350F for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake layer comes out clean or with few crumbs (should not be wet). For best results, rotate your cake pans halfway through baking to ensure even baking.
Cakes will be a light golden brown when done baking.
Remove cakes from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the inside rim of each pan and invert each onto a cooling rack.
Allow to cool completely before covering with buttercream frosting*.  I used a double batch of my recipe (linked above) to thoroughly cover and decorate this cake.

Nutitrion

Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 415 kcal
Carbohydrates: 56 g
Protein: 5 g
Fat: 19 g
Saturated Fat: 5 g
Trans Fat: 1 g
Cholesterol: 17 mg
Sodium: 230 mg
Sugar: 35 g

Reviews

Michelle on 2025-11-26 (5 stars):
I’m not a baker. I bake a few times a year.. mainly holidays. I’ve made this recipe a few times, and each time I could never get stiff peaks, so the cake wouldn’t take shape well BUT it tasted so good that I didnt even care! This year after about 15 minutes of mixing and no stiff peaks, I asked ChatGPT why, and sent a picture of my bubbly egg whites.. I’ve been using egg whites from the CARTON! After I Mede the correction , I got stiff peaks in about 5-6 minutes.. the cake took shape and was still so good! So this is for the person that wants to make this cake and has no clue about stiff peaks.. :)
Donna Wert on 2025-11-20 (1 stars):
Followed it to a T. I made cupcakes, and every single one of them collapsed 😞😒
Yovany on 2025-11-19 (5 stars):
I made this along with the buttercream frosting for my husband's birthday cake and OMG it was perfect!! this is my new go-to!!