Have you ever taken a bite of a beautiful white layer cake only to be disappointed by it’s rubbery texture and bland taste? With the proper ingredients and mixing technique, White Cake can be soft and velvety with a perfect vanilla flavor. Yes, even from scratch in your very own kitchen it is possible to make a melt-in-your-mouth white cake.
A lovely reader asked me recently how she could turn my Vanilla Butter Cake recipe into a white cake. She’d gotten some bad advice on the internet (shocking!) about making substitutions in a cake batter, so her first attempt at white cake was a failure.
VELVETY SOFT WHITE CAKE
yield: 16 SERVINGS prep time: 30 MINUTES bake time: 20 MINUTES total time: 50 MINUTES
Velvety, soft white cake made from scratch is easy to do. How you mix the cake makes a big difference. Find out why the reverse creaming technique is the way to get a white cake with a tender and moist crumb.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups (9oz, 252g) cake flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups (12 oz, 340g) granulated sugar, 1/2 cup set aside.
2 sticks (8 oz, 283g) unsalted butter at room temperature (see note)
1 cup (8 oz, 230g) sour cream at room temperature
1 tablespoon real vanilla extract
6 fresh large egg whites (7 oz, 196g), at room temperature (do not use pasteurized egg whites or they might not whip up properly)
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat the oven to 325°F convection or 350°F regular
Line two 8 inch cake pans with a circle of parchment paper or butter and flour the bottom of pans only. Do not butter and flour the sides of the pan.
Sift the flour, leavening and salt with 1 cup granulated sugar. Mix the dry ingredients on low speed for 30 seconds to distribute the leavening. With the mixer on low speed, add half the sour cream and toss in the butter a tablespoon at a time.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. With the mixer running on low speed, add the remaining sour cream and vanilla.
Increase the speed to medium and beat about 3-4 minutes until the batter lightens in texture and becomes aerated. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure there are no pockets of unmixed batter.
In another bowl, whip the egg whites on medium high until they form soft peaks. Turn the mixer to medium low and slowly add the other 1/2 cup sugar. Turn the mixer to medium and whip the whites to full peak.
Fold the whites into the base in 3 parts, folding just until there are no streaks of egg white.
Divide the batter evenly between the 2 pans and spread so it's level.
Bake about 25-30 minutes until the center of the cake springs back when lightly pressed or a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Cool at least 20 minutes in the pan and then turn out onto a cooling rack.
**THE CAKE WILL "SETTLE" A BIT AS IT COOLS. THAT'S FINE.**
Trim the brown edges off the cake, split each cake into two layers
Fill and ice with vanilla Italian Meringue Buttercream or your favorite icing.
NOTES
Room temperature butter is between 65 and 70 degrees. It should be slightly pliable but not soft and melting.
The assembled cake can be kept at room temperature for several days (unless it has a perishable filling).
Un-iced, the cake can be frozen for several months.