Again, from The Cake Bible, by Rose Levy Beranbaum. It really is hard to beat her cake recipes. But just because it’s from a book that has “Bible” in the title doesn’t mean that you can’t throw in some lemon zest if you want. Or some chocolate chips. I’m just saying…
Why make a white cake instead of a yellow cake? Well, sometimes a white-white cake is what you want. The flavor is more pronounced vanilla, because the yolks aren’t there to muddy the flavor. If you don’t like “eggy” cakes, a white cakes is the cake for you.
This recipe makes 2 9″ cakes. It is delicate and buttery and moist. Oh, my!
Pastry Chef Online Participates in Affiliate Programs. If you make a purchase through one of my links, I may earn a small commission. For more information click to read my disclosure policy
White Cake
Ingredients
- 4.75 oz . egg whites
- 8.5 oz . milk
- 2 ¼ teaspoons vanilla
- 10.5 oz . cake flour , sifted
- 10.5 oz . sugar
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 6 oz . unsalted butter , softened
Instructions
- Spray your pans with pan spray. Line the bottoms with parchment circles and spray again.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix on low to combine.
- In another bowl, combine egg whites, 1/4 of the milk and vanilla. Whisk lightly.
- Add the butter and the other 3/4 of the milk to the dry ingredients. Mix on low to moisten, and then beat on medium for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the remaining milk in 3 additions, beating for 20 seconds each time and scraping bowl as necessary.
- Scrape batter into prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake at 350 degrees, F, for 25-35 minutes or until lightly golden brown. A tester inserted in the center should come out clean, and the cake should spring back when lightly pressed in the center.
- Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out and reinvert to cool right-side up.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Nutrition
Join in Today!
I’m doing cupcakes in several flavors (vanilla, rose water, lemon, almond, and lavender) for a friend’s party and was considering using this recipe as my base, since I don’t need a full batch of each flavor. Do you have any recommendations for baking this recipe as cupcakes or flavoring suggestions?
Hey Dana! Since there are no egg yolks in the recipe, any fruit flavor will be very pure and bright. So aside from using something like rosewater, you can also do orange zest with 3 drops or so of orange oil, or use freeze-dried powdered fruits–raspberry and/or strawberry would be especially lovely–to flavor some of the batter. Cupcakes generally take 18-20 minutes or so to bake. If you have an instant read thermometer, check for 195Fin the centers. Hope that helps!
hi jennifer,I WANT TO MAKE THIS CAKE BUT WITH OIL BASE,HOW CAN I SUB. THE OIL INSTEAD OF BUTTER SAME AMOUNT OR WHAT? AND IN LOVE WITH YOUR RECIPES AND INFORMATION ..YOU MADE ME BAKING ADDICT LOOL..EASY LOVELY RECIPES..KEEP IT ON .
Hi, Nour! You can sub neutral oil, but use 3/4 the amount of butter called for. Note the only flavor your cake will have without butter is from your flavorings, so use the highest quality you can. Actually, consider turning this into a citrus cake with lemon and orange zest. The citrus flavor will shine through nicely!
I have noticed that using butter vs oil in a cake completely changes a TON! I think I prefer the oil based as it’s less dense, more fluffy and has way more moisture. I was wondering if you use both depending on the recipe and what you’re going for or do you have a preference? LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog!!!
Hi, Tasha! What a great question. I generally like to use butter in most of my baked goods because I love the flavor. Oil has its place though, for sure. For instance, if I’m going to make a cake that needs to be served chilled, I’ll use an oil-based recipe since oil-based cakes don’t get hard and dry seeming in the fridge.
So glad I found your site! I’m a lover of white cake…so much so that when I go to a wedding and find out that the cake is not white, I’m disappointed! I love an almond flavor. Do you usually see that in the cake or in the frosting only? I know almond is strong so I usually cut back when I use that flavoring vs. vanilla. I’ll have to see if you have a great almond frosting on this site. 🙂
Hey there; glad you found me! I would probably be more apt to add almond flavoring to the cake and leave the frosting vanilla. In the cake, you could probably find a recipe that utilizes marzipan or almond paste for an authentic almond flavor. Of course, a judicious amount of extract would work, too (you’re so right–almond is a powerful flavoring!)
I don’t have an almond frosting on the site, but if I were going to make one, I might use marzipan in it as well as almond extract. I might also think about steeping ground almonds in warm milk and then straining it out to make an almond flavored ermine frosting. When I want to come up with a new flavor, that is my cue to experiment and play! I hope it is yours too, and if you have questions, I’m happy to help if I can!
I tried this recipe and it’s great, but I changed the method of mixing. I was always taught to mix the butter and sugar first, slowly incorporate the eggs, then add a bit of flour mix., a bit of milk, a bit of flour mix., and so on. I think it comes out a little smoother and you don’t have to overbeat.
The two-stage mixing method yields a cake that doesn’t rise quite as high but that has a finer and more velvety crumb. I often switch up my mixing methods depending on the texture I want in my final cake. If you’ve never tried the two-stage method, do give it a try. You may be very pleased w/the results.
The method you are referencing, the creaming method, is probably the most prevalent mixing method for butter cakes, and I’m really glad that you are a confident enough baker to use the method that you know works despite what the directions state. Not many folks would try that! Glad you enjoyed the end result. 🙂
PS Here are my posts on both methods so you can decide the pros and cons for yourself: https://pastrychefonline.com/2008/11/03/the-creaming-method/ and https://pastrychefonline.com/2009/01/06/the-two-stage-mixing-method/
DO you do egg yolks instead of egg white for a yellow cake? Would there be any other changes?
Good questions, Annabella! The substitution isn’t as simple as adding in the yolks since using all yolks decreases the moisture, increases the fat and generally makes things much more tender. Here is the yellow cake formula I most often use. It’s also from Rose Levy Beranbaum. It makes 2 9″ cakes and 2 6″ cakes: https://pastrychefonline.com/2007/04/27/yellow-cake/
I tried this cake today and they came out of the oven with lots of holes and the batter looked curdly. I had the butter and eggs and milk at RT so I don’t know what happened. Is this normal for this cake to have lots of holes and spaces? Thanks
It sounds like an overbeating problem and that maybe too much gluten developed. Did you time how long you beat the batter both during the initial beating and the subsequent additions? Since this cake doesn’t contain the extra fat of egg yolks, it is especially important to not overbeat.
Sorry that happened to you, isurus9. Hope my explanation helps. 🙂
Actually you might forget that improper mixing yields to a curdly texture.
Very true–it also can have a lot to do with the temperature of the ingredients while mixing. Thanks for stopping in, Jake!