Description
A soft, tender three-layer vanilla cake with a plush, velvety crumb from cream cheese and buttermilk, frosted with creamy vanilla buttercream.
Ingredients
For the cake: 3 cups (342 g) cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (170 g) unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces (227 g) cream cheese, softened
2 cups (400 g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk, room temperature
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
For the vanilla buttercream: 1 cup (227 g) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups (480 g) powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk or heavy cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 325°F. Grease and flour three 8-inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.
2. Whisk the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
3. In a separate bowl or measuring cup, stir together the buttermilk, oil, and vanilla.
4. In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.
6. Add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk mixture to the batter in alternating additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mix just until combined.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the three pans and smooth the tops.
8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
9. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks and cool completely.
10. For the buttercream, beat the butter until creamy, then add the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla, and salt and beat until light and fluffy.
11. Spread buttercream between the three layers, stack them, and frost the top and sides.
Notes
Based on the published My Cake School Vanilla Velvet Cake method (cream cheese and buttermilk, oil, 325°F, two 9-inch or three 8-inch pans, about 25 to 28 minutes; this version uses three 8-inch pans), with quantities adapted from its sister White Velvet Cake (8 ounces cream cheese, 1 1/2 sticks butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups cake flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon each baking soda and salt, 1 cup buttermilk, 1/4 cup oil). The source did not give the vanilla velvet amounts in the information I could read, so the egg count, the vanilla amount, the buttercream and the 16-slice yield are estimates. Test the recipe and check the layers early.
Have the butter, cream cheese, eggs, and buttermilk at room temperature.
Nutrition is an approximate estimate per slice (16 slices, with buttercream).
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 573
- Sugar: 56g
- Sodium: 265mg
- Fat: 30g
- Saturated Fat: 16g
- Carbohydrates: 74g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 4g
- Cholesterol: 105mg