Who doesn't love a vanilla cake? We sure do and we guarantee that after trying our easy Vanilla cake recipe no other cake will compare.
3 dreamy layers of vanilla sponge cake, flavoured with Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract, infused with a dreamy vanilla syrup and coated in the fluffiest vanilla bean buttercream. We dare you to resist sneaking a bit before sharing with your family and friends.
Once iced, the cake is a blank canvas for you to let your creativity free; sprinkles, melted chocolate or leave it plain and simple. This cake is sure to be a crowd pleaser.
11 ingredients9 steps
Vegetarian
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, gas mark 5). Put some water in a cake tin or roasting tin and set in the bottom of the oven. Prepare three 7" sandwich tins by lining with baking parchment.
Step 2
Cream together the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon or electric hand whisk, until pale and fluffy.
Step 3
Add the eggs in 3 parts, beating well after each addition so that the egg is well incorporated. Add the vanilla. Sift the flour into the mixture and fold in lightly with a metal spoon, until the mixture is even. Add the milk and mix.
Step 4
Spoon the mix into tins and bake for 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
Step 5
Whilst the cake is cooling make the vanilla syrup by heating together the sugar and vanilla in a pan until all of the sugar has dissolved.
Step 6
Carefully poke holes in the top of your sponges and pour over some of the syrup allowing the sponge to soak it up.
Step 7
To make the buttercream; beat together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla bean paste until soft and fluffy. You can add a drop of milk to loosen the buttercream if needed.
Step 8
Layer the sponge with buttercream, then coat the whole cake in buttercream. Pop in the fridge to chill before adding an additional layer of buttercream. To get a smooth finish, run a pallet knife under boiling water before smoothing round the cake.
Step 9
Once your cake is smooth, decorate with your desired toppings such as melted chocolate and spinkles or leave plain & serve.
Ingredients
MetricImperial
For the Sponges
400gUnsalted butter (softened)
400gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
6Free range large eggs
400gAllinson's Self Raising Flour
2 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Extract
3 tbspWhole milk
For the Vanilla Syrup
100gBillington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar
1.5 tspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste
For the Buttercream
300gUnsalted butter (softened)
600gSilver Spoon Icing Sugar
1.5 tbspNielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste
Utensils
3x 7in sandwich tin
Mixing bowl
Paintbrush
Nutritional information per 148g serving
Energy 725cal
Fat 38g
of which Saturates 23g
Carbohydrates 88g
of which Sugars 70g
Protein 5.6g
Salt 0.33g
5 Baker Ratings
The vanilla syrup became a caramel for me, it was delicious, the subtle crunch really added a lot…. I don’t know what I did wrong but whatever it was, was good!!
Love this?
Definitely recommend baking separately instead of as one large cake, I may not have read the recipe properly… whoops… but apart from that it was DELICIOUS!!
