White Velvet Cake
White Velvet Cake. Developed from an outstanding Red Velvet Cake recipe, this white cake is a perfectly moist and tender crumbed cake that would make an ideal birthday cake.
Originally published October 2012.
Many people search for the perfect white cake and this White Velvet Cake is a cousin to our incredibly popular Red Velvet Cake recipe. As a reader recently pointed out, many people are sensitive to artificial colours.
A great buttermilk cake without the added dye is not only a great idea but a completely delicious one too. I've been wanting to develop a great white cake recipe anyway.
I always think a bakery bought birthday cake when I think of white cake, probably with colourful candy sprinkles on top. Any kid, young or old would love to have this one as their next birthday cake.
This turned out to be an outstandingly moist white cake recipe and was perfectly paired with sweet fluffy marshmallow frosting. It is really a cooked meringue frosting that my kids absolutely love.
I've frosted this cake with Marshmallow Frosting but any good vanilla frosting is great on this cake. Find the frosting recipe with our Black and White Cake. 
A very popular White Velvet Cake.
As with many of my baking experiments, I brought this one to the office, where I was the Pied Piper of gateau. People literally followed me down the hall to our break room as I carried it in.
I think this one now holds the office record for devouring speed. It disappeared in mere minutes.
If you like this recipe be sure to check out our incredibly popular recipe for Yellow Cake too. It gets rave reviews every time. People say it's the best homemade yellow cake they've ever tried. Check out the comments on the recipe post.
Can't get enough velvet cake?
Be sure to check out our very popular Velvet Cake Collection.
Like this White Velvet Cake recipe?
You'll find hundreds of other delicious ideas in our Cakes & Pies Category and in our Desserts Category.
It's easy to keep up with the latest home style cooking & baking ideas from Rock Recipes. Be sure to follow Rock Recipes Facebook Page and follow us on Instagram.
Plus you'll see daily recipe suggestions from decadent desserts to quick delicious weekday meals too.
You can also sign up for our FREE newsletter to know immediately when we add new recipes. You'll also get weekly suggestions for great family friendly meals and desserts too!
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
White Velvet Cake
White Velvet Cake - developed from an outstanding Red Velvet Cake recipe, this white cake is a perfectly moist and tender crumbed cake that would make an ideal birthday cake.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups sifted all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups sifted cake flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- ⅓ cup vegetable shortening at room temperature
- 3 tablespoons good quality vanilla extract, if you want pure white use clear vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
Instructions
- Sift together both flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and sugar. Set aside.
- Grease and flour 2 nine inch round cake pans and line the bottom with 2 circles of parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together the vegetable oil, shortening and vanilla. Beat well at high speed with whisk attachment until light and fluffy
- Beat the eggs in one at a time.
- Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk.
- I always add dry ingredients in three divisions and liquid ingredients in 2 divisions. It is very important to begin and end the additions with the dry ingredients. Do not over mix the batter. As soon as it has no lumps in the batter, pour into the two prepared 9 inch cake pans.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.
- I've frosted this cake with Marshmallow Frosting but any good vanilla frosting is great on this cake. Find the frosting recipe with our Black and White Cake.
Notes
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Nutrition Information
Yield
16Serving Size
1 sliceAmount Per Serving Calories 298Total Fat 15gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 38mgSodium 275mgCarbohydrates 38gFiber 0gSugar 20gProtein 4g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
So, your saying this cake WILL support dowels if stacked?? I also read through the comments and thought if I use AP flour, it would yield a more stable cake possibly. ??
I just wanted to thank you VERY MUCH for sharing this recipe! It is, hands down, the BEST white cake recipe I've ever made. It bets out any bakery cake, cake mix and even regular white cake recipes. It's very light, yet moist, with the most tender crumb ever, like vanilla fluff in your mouth! The only thing I did different with the recipe was: I used butter instead of shortening. I brought my eggs to room temperature. And I didn't have buttermilk so I used whole milk soured with 2T vinegar and 1 T buttermilk powder added to it. I've never had a white cake turn out so light. This is a keeper and a future Heirloom recipe!! Thank you again! Now I have to try your other Velvet Cakes! 🙂
For anyone wanting to know I baked this recipe in 4 6” sandwich tins and sandwiched 3 layers together with raspberry buttercream. I then ganached and covered with sugarpaste. We ate the 4th layer 😄. Best recipe I’ve ever tried! Thanks Barry!
I've been coming back to this recipe all week eager to bake it after reading all of these comments and am excited to finally do so tonight! Will definitely leave a comment again with my results. I can't tell you HOW many white cake recipes I have tried and been unsatisfied with... also LOVE that you're from Canada! Didn't even realize until reading the comments.. hello from Vancouver!
Can i cover this lovely cake with fondant??
Thanks
A thin layer. This is not a cake to stand up to a lot of weight.
I made this recipe for a mom to be as a gender reveal cake and she was thrilled. I made gluten free (a one to one blend, so just a direct substitution) although I used butter in place of shortening. I was unsure about how it would be but it was a major hit, she said it was delicious and everyone raved (even guests who 'don't like gf'). I found your chocolate chip cookie recipe a while ago and only use that recipe now, so you are 2/2. Thank you!
It took me a while to make this cake, mostly because the shortening in it made me nervous, but I finally made a birthday cake with this recipe and I’m so glad I did! It was perfectly moist but still fluffy, and it had great flavour. My 5 year old niece, who normally only eats the frosting, said that her favourite part was the “inside.’ So I’d definitely say it was a success! I frosted it with a chocolate buttercream. 5 stars!
This is the most amazing cake recipe I've ever tried. I'm "new" to scratch baking cakes and have gone though dozens of recipes. By far this is the best I've made so far. Thank you for the post!
Wat is the alternative to shortening..I'm not friendly to crisco.
Plz reply waiting to try this recipe.
Not for a pure white cake. Butter will result in a slightly darker colour.
My cake is in the oven as I am writing. The ingredients were an exciting combination and the batter was yummy! I typically bake and design a cake every week. My question is: Could you please describe the consistency of the extracts, oil and shortening? I whisked it with my Kitchen Aide for 5 minutes, tried a hand mixed with whisk, and by hand! My mixture resembled half and half. The house is 75 degrees no humidity. I ended up hand stirring the milk and dry ingredients...instead of folding? Please help this Caker!
So how was the cake in the end?
Thank. You. This is the recipe I have been looking for! I have been guilty of baking dense, flour-y tasting cakes, that are too dry, mainly because I have been cutting down the sugar in the recipes. I started researching WHY my cakes were not turning out and found that I needed to use cake flour and make sure my wet/dry ratios were in balance. After googling suggestions for days, I stumbled on this recipe and once I reviewed the ratios and ingredient list, I could see this was going to be a winner. So I gave it a test run tonight. SURE ENOUGH - it is light as air, moist, velvety and NOT TOO SWEET! I am uber-excited to use this recipe for my daughter's birthday cake next month. Will take a pic and let you know how it turns out!
I absolutely love this recipe! Always get rave reviews when I make it. I have a friend requesting an almond cake. Have you ever used almond extract or an Amoretto extract instead of vanilla?
I bake every day and have never been 100% happy with any vanilla cake I have made. I’m always trying new recipes and this one is AMAZING! I baked it in two 8” pans and filled it with a fresh strawberry filling and frosted it with dark chocolate frosting and I may say.....THIS WAS THE BEST CAKE I HAVE MADE SO FAR! (And I have been baking for over 30 years!)
Thank you so much for the recipe! I will be trying more from you very soon!
I loved your recipes, Very easy to follow instructions. And the flavor of each cakes is amazingly tasty. 2 of my favorite recipes are Lemon velvet with the red velvet these 2 is my favorite go to I put them together very tasty combinations.