Vanilla cake that you could eat without frosting. This tender cake balances sweetness and rich vanilla flavor, reminiscent of traditional bakery creations.

The story

This cake surprised me. I was asked to make a cake for a baby sprinkle (basically, a baby shower for a second child—hey, every baby deserves to be celebrated!). And I really wanted to make a naked cake with these all-natural sprinkles I found. I mean, the mom is very health-conscious, and the sprinkles were such a cute, muted color with dye made from fruits and vegetables. Plus, they matched the color scheme of the party. How could I not?

But I didn’t have a scratch vanilla cake I liked. Boxed vanilla cakes are nostalgically good, but the point of this was a scratch cake. And when thinking of all the fancy bakery or restaurant vanilla cakes I’ve liked, I knew it was the filling or frosting more than the cake I loved. But a naked cake leaves no room to hide behind fillings or frostings. It needs to be a cake you could eat on its own. And it’s not like I could just work from my chocolate cake and make it vanilla, since that calls for hot coffee…

So, I acquiesced to a journey of testing vanilla cake after vanilla cake until I found a good one. Which sounds sad, but I just rarely enjoy eating vanilla cake. I want to taste vanilla, not just general sweetness, which is often what you get with generic vanilla cakes.

I started out with a handful of very different vanilla cake methods, figuring I’d pick the one I was the most okay with and see if I couldn’t make it good. Honestly, that’s how most recipes are made. You start with general premises on how to make that dessert then try adjusting or adding or subtracting or substituting things until you get what you’re looking for.

If I had a time machine I might go back to watch (and hug) whoever figured out cake in the first place.

This cake was delicious from my first try.

That never happens. In fact I had to try it again a few times to know what I did that was so good. It came out with a bold vanilla flavor, a moist, slightly dense texture that’s still light, and wasn’t too sweet. It tasted like cake, not a mouthful of sugar and shortening.

What’s more: I get more requests for this cake than my chocolate cake. While I think that’s madness, I also kinda get it. This cake is surprisingly good for vanilla.

In fact, I thought about titling this recipe “Vanilla Cake I Actually Like”. But that seemed mean toward all other cakes. I try to be cake-inclusive.

Tips for this dessert

Honestly, this cake is fairly easy to make. I’ve even measured my ingredients a little haphazardly and it’s been fine. Don’t skimp on the wet ingredients and follow the tips below and you’ll be good.

Use room temperature ingredients!

I learned this the hard way recently. I pre-measured all my ingredients then carted them the hour (and a half, with traffic) trip to my sister’s house. I turned on her oven immediately, combined my wet and dry ingredients, then baked.

But I forgot the wet ingredients had been in an insulated bag with ice packs. Apparently really effective ice packs. My cake didn’t want to mix properly, forcing me to mix longer than usual, and the cupcakes didn’t rise fully.

Lesson learned: room temperature ingredients make a difference.

Stir in flour just until lumps are gone

Along with the last tip, be careful with your mixing even if your ingredients have been out long enough. Some cakes rise because of air whipped into them. This is not one of those cakes. I’ve mistakenly over mixed it in the past, and it gets chewy. You want to stop stirring as soon as there are no flour lumps left. Don’t turn on your stand mixer and walk away. In fact, I’ve had the best results by stirring quickly or turning my mixer to high for about 2 seconds. That’s not a typo, I mean 2 seconds. Seriously, that’s all you need, and since time is a factor in chewiness and the formation of gluten (not just the act of stirring), you want those lumps gone as soon as possible with as little stirring as possible.

With that, don’t leave the batter out too long, or the texture will get too dense.

Frost entirely or store in a truly airtight container

Fun fact: frosting seals a cake. If you do a naked cake, make cupcakes, or aren’t frosting it right away, be sure it’s stored airtight. This might mean snuggly wrapping cake layers or a whole cake/cupcake caddy in plastic wrap.

I can’t vouch for refrigerating the cake for long periods of time or for freezing the layers. If I ever do, I’ll let you know the result and my tips.

Use fresh leavening agents

Apparently, the correct term is leavening agent—not leavener—since autocorrect was not happy with my choice of words. Whatevs. Always check the dates on these, and especially in this cake.

Divide into 3 or 4 pans if you want more filling

Yes, you can cut your layers in half, but I think it’s easiest to divide the batter into the exact number of layers I want in the end. No matter how skilled you are with a knife or cake leveler/cutter, cut cakes are rarely perfectly even. Plus, this is an easy way to make room for more frosting. In my book, that’s a win-win. In fact, my favorite bakery has a similar tasting cake with 6 layers of sponge and 6 layers of frosting. It’s a glorious sugar explosion. And now I’m trying to decide if we have room for six 8” cake pans…

The only downside to this method is that you may wind up cutting off rounded cake tops. I use Wilton Bake Even Strips and get a level cake every time. (That’s not an affiliate link, I just really like the results I get with those strips.) If you don’t have these or live in a different climate than I do or have an oven that bakes unevenly, you may end up with a rounded cake that you need to level. I usually don’t mind this, since I can level a cake much better than cutting it in half, plus I get to taste-test the cake with the scraps.

An easy way to get more filling and have scraps to eat while I frost? Win-win-win.

Increase Greek yogurt for a denser, more old-fashioned cake

This isn’t your airy angel food cake or fluffy boxed cake. It definitely has an old-fashioned texture that’s a bit more dense (but still delicious and fluffy). I’ve used as much as 8 ounces of yogurt with great results, but it does get more dense at that point. It maintains moisture very well, so this may be what you need or want.On the flip side you could decrease the yogurt to 4 ounces for a lighter cake, especially if you’re using a more delicate frosting that risks squishing out the sides.

Dress it up (or down) with frosting and filling

Okay, you’re not really “dressing” the cake. But I’ve found that simple American buttercream makes it a simple, nostalgic cake. Bavarian cream filling and whipped cream frosting make it an old-fashioned champagne cake (which is a cake without any actual champagne). Fill with raspberry jam and frost with this peanut butter frosting for a PB&J cake. Or top with my chocolate ganache buttercream for that classic chocolate and vanilla birthday cake taste. Marshmallow buttercream covered in coconut flakes (plain or toasted) makes for a fun coconutty cake, especially if you add 1/2 teaspoon coconut extract to the cake. Finally, my surprise favorite: pair with my white chocolate buttercream, as seen in the photos here.