Vanilla Cake Mix

This homemade vanilla cake mix is easy to make with a few ingredients and stash away in your pantry for those days you want to bake a vanilla cake for dessert!

Prep Time: 10

Total Time: 10

Servings:

Ingredients

Cake Mix

3 ¾ cups (390 grams) cake flour , or 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
2 cups (400 grams) granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine sea salt

To Bake

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter , at room temperature
1 ½ cups (340 grams) buttermilk , at room temperature
1 Tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs , at room temperature
2 large egg whites , at room temperature

Instructions

Cake Mix

In a large bowl, combine 3 3/4 cups cake flour, 2 cups sugar, 1 Tablespoon baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Transfer flour mixture to a quart-sized jar and seal until ready to use.

To Bake

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line bottom of cake pans with parchment paper and spray only the parchment with nonstick cooking spray. Do not spray the sides of the pans.
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the jarred vanilla cake mix mixture. Beat in 1 cup softened butter on medium 1 minute, or until the butter is combined and coarse in texture.
Mix in 1 1/2 cups buttermilk and 1 Tablespoon vanilla on low 1 minute, or until combined. Beat the batter on medium 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl
Turn the mixer to low, and add 1 egg at a time until all 3 eggs in total are mixed in. Pour in two egg whites and mix on medium-high 30 seconds, or until the batter is smooth and a little runny. Pour the batter evenly into the pans and smooth out the tops.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes, or until golden brown around the edges and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool 5 minutes in the pans before transferring the cakes to a rack to cool completely.

Notes

Box cake mix: A typical box of cake mix has 3 1/2 cups. This recipe makes about 6 3/4 cups, so measure accordingly if swapping for a box.

Vanilla: Use a really good vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, since this cake relies heavily on its flavor.

Variations: This batter is enough to make:

1 9x13-inch baking dish (bake 45 to 50 minutes)
24 cupcakes (bake 30 to 35 minutes)
3 8-inch round cake pans (25 to 30 minutes)

Frosting: Freezing cake layers makes it easy to frost without losing a lot of the crumb, but isn't necessary if time doesn't allow. Two of my favorites are Classic buttercream frosting and Chocolate buttercream frosting.

Nutrition