You’ll want to make this moist french vanilla cake from scratch every day. Add this fluffy cake to your best cake recipe list because it’s sure to be a favorite.
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Hey there! Before you scroll, there’s lot’s of important stuff in the post!…including the FAQ section, which may answer any questions you might have about this recipe. Enjoy!
This french vanilla cake is super moist and it’s jam packed with french vanilla flavor, then covered in rich french vanilla buttercream.
When I was just a kid, I used to make cakes like a crazy person. I mean I was always in the kitchen making cakes. (I have no idea how I wasn’t a gazillion pounds.)
Back then, I made cakes from a box. It was easier for me and frankly I was impatient and just wanted to eat my cake as soon as I could.
I was very fond of the French Vanilla cake mixes. Nine times out of ten, I’d choose that flavor to bake. So, for this recipe, I really wanted to create a scratch version of that cake.
So why ‘french’ vanilla and what’s the difference? Well I really didn’t know. All I knew was that I really liked the flavor. So I did what I do best and decided to do a little research.
I’ll spare you all the details and just go with a summary here if you’re interested. So generally, types of vanilla are named after the places where they’re grown…Madagascar vanilla, Tahitian vanilla etc., but apparently that’s not the case with French vanilla.
French vanilla is actually a way of making a custard that gives it a rich, deeper taste. So, yes, it’s a flavor, but not in the same way as the other vanilla extracts. You get that flavor because of a method that is used to make the custard.
Well okay…I’m not gonna argue with science or history, but I’m just sayin’ that I can tell the difference. It’s subtle, but I knew what I was looking for and I knew there had to be a way to get it.
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Well I actually found a french vanilla extract that is Uh-mazing! I’m serious. I’m using it in everything now. Here is a link to it and I REALLY hope you can get it. French Vanilla Extract
You can make this recipe without it, but I think it’s SO good if you can get it.
I also used french vanilla creamer and a french vanilla pudding mix and that gives it a little extra french vanilla flavor, but doesn’t make it taste fake.
We’re covering this bad boy with french vanilla buttercream. We’re not skimping on the french vanilla…nope…might as well go for the gold, right?
The mixing method for this cake is the old fashioned creaming method. Nothing out of the ordinary here.
TIPS & FAQs FOR THE FRENCH VANILLA CAKE:
- This recipe calls for french vanilla pudding mix. Use the small box and use it dry. (I have not tested this recipe without it. If you can’t get it, just omit it. In theory it should still come out fine, but since I haven’t tested that, I can’t promise it.)
- You’ll need two small boxes of the french vanilla pudding mix. You’ll only use a small amount from the second box to make the buttercream. (You can omit this from the buttercream if you don’t have a second box.)
- This recipe calls for french vanilla creamer. Use the liquid creamer you get in the dairy aisle at the grocery store. If you can’t get this, just use half and half cream.
- This recipes calls for a specific type of vanilla extract for this cake. You can find it here: French Vanilla Extract It is very good, but if you can’t get it, just use regular vanilla extract in the same amounts. It won’t have that french vanilla taste, but it will still be good.
- Make sure your butter is room temperature. (Don’t microwave it to warm it up. Just set it out and let it come to room temp on its own.)
- Try to get the eggs as close to room temp as you can. Just set them out a bit before you start baking.
Ok, let’s get to the recipe. Don’t forget, there’s a video there as well to help.
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ITEMS & TOOLS USED FOR THE FRENCH VANILLA CAKE:
- Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer
- Flex Edge Beater Attachment for Stand Mixer
- 8″ Baking Pans
- French Vanilla Extract
Video:
Note About Recipe Measurements: I write recipes using volume (cups) measurements because here in the U.S., this is what people are more familiar with and I don’t want anyone to feel intimidated when baking. For metric/weight measurements, click the ‘metric’ button under the ingredients in the recipe card below. The weights are converted by a program, not me, and it’s just a best guess. I can’t guarantee that weighing the ingredients will produce the exact same results, since I test recipes using volume measurements.
Recipe:
Moist French Vanilla Cake from Scratch
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 3.4 oz small box dry instant french vanilla pudding mix
- 1 cup french vanilla coffee creamer (I get this from the refrigerated section. It's the creamer in the milk section, not the dry powdered creamer. This really pumps up the flavor and the moistness. See notes for substitution options.
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 2 teaspoon french vanilla extract (French vanilla extract adds a different type of vanilla flavor than regular extract, but if you don’t have it or can’t get it, you can use regular vanilla extract instead in the same amount.)
- 1 cup butter (slightly cooler than room temp)
- 1 ⅔ cups sugar
- 3 large eggs
For the buttercream:
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 tablespoon dry french vanilla pudding mix
- 2 cups butter (room temperature)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 7 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 teaspoon french vanilla extract (If you can’t get this, you can substitute with regular vanilla extract)
- ¼ cup french vanilla coffee creamer (If you don’t have this, you can substitute with cream or milk)
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Instructions
For the cake:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Grease and flour two 8″ round cake pans and set aside.
- In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and small package of dry instant french vanilla pudding. Whisk well and set aside.
- In another bowl, add the french vanilla coffee creamer, milk, oil and french vanilla (or regular vanilla) extract. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter and mix on medium until smooth. Add in the sugar and mix on medium and then on medium high for several minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs one at a time and mix on medium just until combined. Only mix until the egg is just incorporated. Try not to over mix. If your eggs are super cold, your batter may look a little curdled at this point, but just keep going.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again on medium, just until everything is incorporated.
- Alternately add in the flour mixture and the liquid mixture. Starting and ending with the flour mixture. (Add in ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix on medium just until combined. Add in ½ the liquid mixture, mixing only until combined. Add in another ⅓ of the flour mixture, mixing only until combined. Add in the last of the liquid mixture, mixing only until combined, then the last of the flour mixture and mix until combined.)
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again until well combined. You only want to mix until well combined, which is about 15 seconds. Mixing for several minutes is too long for a scratch cake.
- Divide batter into the prepared pans. Batter will be quite thick so just spread it around evenly in your pans.
- Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 55 – 60 minutes. The cake will be a little darker than the normal golden brown. Insert a toothpick somewhere in the middle and a few moist crumbs should stick to the toothpick.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely before adding buttercream.
For the buttercream:
- In a small bowl, add the milk and the two tablespoons of dry french vanilla pudding mix. Whisk well and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter well for a minute or two on medium/low to medium speed.
- Add in three cups of confectioner’s sugar and the salt and mix on low until incorporated and then medium until well mixed.
- Add one tablespoon of french vanilla creamer and mix on low, then medium until incorporated.
- Add the last four cups of confectioner’s sugar and mix on low until incorporated and then medium until well mixed.
- Add in the milk and pudding mixture plus the vanilla extract and mix on low until incorporated, then on medium until well mixed.
- Check the consistency. If it’s too thick, add another tablespoon of the french vanilla coffee creamer and mix again. You may need to add more cream, or milk to get the correct spreading consistency.
- Once you reach the consistency desired, beat on medium speed for a couple minutes until fluffy, then spread onto cake.
Notes
- Per a comment left on this post, try using half vanilla and half hazelnut creamer to get the French vanilla flavor. (Thanks to Dena for this suggestion.)
- You could also just replace the creamer with half & half cream, heavy cream, or whole milk.
Nutrition
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Jackie
Hi
I could never figure out what room temp or slightly room temper mean. Can you help me out with that.
Kara Jane
Jackie, as far as butter goes, you just want to be able to make a dent in the butter with your finger, but it isn’t all melty and super mushy. It needs to still be a bit firm, just not super firm and cold. Generally I’ve found that if I grab my sticks of butter and cut them into slices then just leave them out on a plate, it will come to almost room temp at a little over an hour. (Generally if the house is around 73 degrees.) This will vary if your house is hotter than that or colder than that.
Tina
I have never been a dessert maker but I looked at this recipe and added sour cream for 1/2 of the milk. I also made up my own recipe for caramel fudge, consistency nice and soft and mixed it in with two packages of cream cheese, 2 pieces of alpine white bark, some brown sugar, Eagle Brand SCM and french vanilla. The secret IS the french vanilla and the cake itself was the best I have eaten. The caramel cream cheese icing was also better with the french vanilla. This is a very flavorful cake and my favorite!
Kara
Hi Tina. Thanks so much for sharing what you did…that sounds wonderful! I’m so glad it turned out great and really glad that you loved it! 🙂
Sandra King
This is the absolute best French vanilla cake recipe! I LOVE it! My family loves it and is the only one they request for special occasions! I use a blackberry filling with it and it is soooo good!!! I also love how it cuts clean without a lot of crumbs.
Kara Jane
Oh Sandra, this just made my day! 🙂 I’m so glad you and your family love it and that blackberry filling sounds amazing! Thanks so much for your wonderful review.
Ayanna Dillon
I have made this cake 4 times it js delicious!!! And a crowd pleaser.
I have a question for you, could you use this same receipe to make a strawberry cake and just swap out the fench vanilla flavorings with strawberry flavors?
Kara Jane
Yay! So glad you like it! You could try it with the strawberry flavors, I’m not sure it would be strong enough, but it would be worth a shot!
Jackie
Hi
Do you really need that much frosting for a 2 layer cake.
Kara Jane
I am a frosting crazy person. ? I tend to make a bit more than needed so I can pipe borders or just have extra if I need it. But if you don’t feel like you need that much you can probably get away with making about 2/3 – 3/4 of the amount of frosting. If you don’t like buttercream much at all, then you might get away with just making a 1/2 batch and giving the cake a really thin coat.
Tere
Hi, I can’t wait to try your cake recipe, was wondering if this would be also a good cupcake recipe, it sounds delicious I’m looking for something so moist and have yet to find it out of all the cake recipes on the Internet plus I’ve had an extra moistness, your sounds amazing, ,most recipes or rather bland and blah and I always add more flavoring and can’t wait to try this
Kara Jane
Hi Tere, I have not tried this one out as cupcakes, but it should be fine. To use this recipe for cupcakes though, I would preheat and back at 350 degrees F and start watching for doneness at around 20 minutes or so. I also have a few other recipes if you’re just looking for an all around good vanilla or white cake. I’ll add the links here for you: Favorite Vanilla Cake: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/favorite-vanilla-bean-cake/ Moist White Cake: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/moist-white-cake/
Tere
Kara Jane, OK so I made these cakes today , I made 36 inch rounds and six muffin size cupcakes.. I ordered the French vanilla flavoring however I have not received it yet but I used Totonacs plus I added some princess emulsion And I always add extra vanilla and flavoring anyway. I couldn’t wait to try the cupcake, the scent was amazing, Still warm and so good. However tomorrow will be the test day I’m getting ready to make your frosting and will see how moist the cakes are tomorrow but I am so pleased thank you for offering such an amazing moist cake, fingers crossed it will still be as moist tomorrow however I did use 2 tablespoons of amazing coconut oil which smells like coconut and I added one additional tablespoon of vegetable oil.They did turn out a little darker than normal but such an amazing flavor thank you so much Kara Jane I’ll let you know how they turn out tomorrow….SO EXCITED
Kara Jane
Oh wonderful! I hope you love it and that it stays moist enough for you! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Aly
Hello, I am hoping to try this recipe and I was wonder if you know how many cups of cake batter this makes? I’d like to try it out in one of those large cupcake cake pans.
Kara Jane
Hi there, I don’t know exactly how many cups of batter it makes, but it’s enough to fill two, 8 inch round cake pans, one 13×9 inch pan or a bundt pan. I’m guessing if you’re making one of those giant cupcakes, then it might take one and a half recipe batches. The internet says it needs 6 cups of cake batter to fill a giant cupcake pan and looks like a regular cake mix makes about 4 cups, so I’m just guessing about a recipe and a half.
Mehreen
Hi
I would like to know if I can substitute the creamer with something else please?
Thanks.
Kara Jane
Yes, there should be a note in the recipe card section, but you can replace it with half & half cream, heavy cream, or whole milk. It won’t give you as much french vanilla flavoring as the creamer will, but it should work.
Jennie
I need A recipe for a yellow, or white cake to use as a birthday cake. My pan is 12 X 18:X 2 and I will need to remove the cake ,from the pan to decorate. Do you have a recipe that would not be thin and would work in this size pan. You make such lovely cakes but I don’t see one recommended,for,my size pan. I use your site so often and I know your recipes are successful for me. Thank you kindly.
Kara Jane
Hi Jennie, you can use really any of the recipes that you like here, you’ll just need to make extra batter. For that sized pan, I would probably make a recipe and a half of batter and that should be enough to fill the pan. It’s also helpful to use a heating core in the middle of your pan. That will help it bake evenly since it’s a large pan.
Anna
My mother-in-law loves strawberry buttercream frosting with french vanilla cake. Any suggestions on how to transform this buttercream frosting recipe into a strawberry one?? Thank you! Can’t wait to bake this cake for her!
Kara Jane
Hi Anna, good question. I would probably just use my other buttercream recipe (I’ll link to it here for you) and then add some pureed strawberries or strawberry jam. (You don’t want to add too much though as it will make the buttercream consistency too thin.) You could also perhaps add in a teaspoon or two of strawberry jello to get some extra flavor if you want to try that. If you do that though, you may want to dissolve the jello in a very small amount of water first. I hope your mother-in-law loves it! Oh and here is that link to the other buttercream: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/vanillabeanbuttercreamrecipe/
Anna
Thank you so much!! One last question, are the calories you have listed for the entire cake?
Kara Jane
The nutrition info is supposed to be for each serving. It’s for a serving of cake and buttercream. It seems high, but I use a program that calculates it for me, so I can’t guarantee it’s 100% accurate…it’s really just a close estimate. I went back in and recalculated to make sure and got the same result. It does seem a little high to me though.
Kathy
I’m just curious if this is a light moist cake because from your description of how thick the batter is and how long it takes to cook, it seems more like a heavy, dense bundt cake.
Kara Jane
Hi Kathy, I would say that this cake is a bit more dense than a cake mix cake. But generally I find that to be true of most scratch cakes. Although I’m sure there are some who would disagree with me on that, but that’s okay. I still feel like it’s on the lighter side for a scratch cake though and I find it to be quiet moist. You could certainly bake it in a bundt pan if you wanted to do that, but I find that it makes a good layer cake. I do use the creaming method with this cake, so that helps to make the texture as light as possible. I hope that helped.
Mica
Hello, I love this cake recipe, it’s become a family favorite. I am wanting to try making it a chocolate cake, how much cocoa powder do you recommend using?
Kara Jane
Hi there, I wouldn’t recommend changing this one to a chocolate cake since you don’t want to just add cocoa powder, you’d still have to change a couple other things like adjusting the flour and the leavening ingredients and possibly the butter/oil. It would take some testing as there are other factors that go into a cake with cocoa powder. I would recommend trying out my chocolate butter cake. It’s really good and has good reviews. It’s moist and it’s still a scratch cake. Here’s the link for that one: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/chocolate-butter-cake/
C.B.
I’m making my first wedding cake this weekend (SO nervous). I have tried 3 other vanilla cake recipes that were all dry. This was the only recipe that came out moist and the flavor is delicious!
Are you able to post the weight for each ingredient? Or do you think if I use a conversion chart it will still come out alright? I just don’t trust measuring cups because some can be slightly different.
Thanks!!
Kara
Hi C.B., So glad you like the cake! I write the recipes using cups, but I understand that some would rather weigh the ingredients because it’s more accurate. There’s a button you can click under the ingredients list that can convert it for you…I’m guessing that’s what you’re referring to. I don’t know if it’s 100% accurate though. It’s just a program that converts it for me. I really think if you measure the flour correctly though, it should come out the nearly the same each time. Just make sure you’re not packing the flour down into the cup when you measure. The best way to do it is to spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then level it off so that it’s not packed down and ultimately doesn’t add too much flour. I’m sure you already know all this, but I thought I would share anyway. If you want to experiment, the next time you make it, just measure the weight and if the cake turns out perfect, then you know the weight for the next time. Hope this helps.
Evelyn
Can you use cake flour with this recipe or should you stick with AP?
Kara Jane
You can use cake flour, but make sure to alter the amount as follows: Use 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of cake flour for every cup of all-purpose flour called for in the recipe.
Kayla Cappo
Hi there! Haven’t tried this recipe yet but hoping you can answer my question. My sons first birthday is this month and I am using the wilton 3D sitting bear cake pans, the large and the mini. Will this recipe work well with those pans and could I mix this recipe with a pound cake recipe? Looking forward to your reply, thank you!
Kara Jane
Hi there, I really wouldn’t mix this recipe with a pound cake mix. I have no idea how that would turn out and I’m not sure what the benefits of mixing it in would be. This cake is a heavier cake and I can’t say for sure whether it would work with those pans as I haven’t tried it but it’s a pretty sturdy cake though. Hope this helps!
Kayla
Thank you! I saw many people who used the bear molds mixing a pound cake and pudding box cake mix to make it really thick so it sits without breaking. So wondered if I should do the same here but wanted to ask first. The French vanilla I ordered should be here Monday so excited to give it a go!
Kara Jane
Oh gotcha. Yeah, this one already has a pudding mix added so I don’t think adding another would do any good really. I feel like this cake is pretty strong, but just haven’t tried it in the bear molds. I hope it works! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Tina G
This is my go to for a French vanilla cake. I follow the recipe exactly as written and always get delicious, predictable results! This cake has a golden exterior that is not dry, but holds up to the scraping when it comes time to frosting, so it is my go to for semi-naked cakes.. I get compliments every single time on the flavor AND how moist it is. It is dense enough to hold up well to stacking, but not dry and unpleasant. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes!
Kara Jane
Thanks so much for your wonderful review…I’m so happy you love it! Now I think I need to get you to write all my recipe summaries for me…you’d do a great job! 😉
Autumn
Hey I’m sure we’re to use unsalted butter since we’re adding salt but I just wanted to ask to be sure. Thanks
Kara Jane
Yes that’s correct.
Andie
Making this for my sons wedding next month. How do you do it in tall cake pans? I tried a tall 10 inch and it NEVER cooked in the middle despite using one of those central core things (2 plus hours!). Also, can I freeze this cake with icing on it, and for how long? Thanks for such a great recipe!
Kara
I’ve never really baked in those tall cake pans. I don’t know how a cake could bake through if the pan is 10 inches tall. You’d have to lower the temp to get the middle to bake and by the time it would be done, it would probably be super dry. I normally use two-inch tall pans. The heating core thing is mainly used when the cake pan is a larger size around…like over 10 inches round…not necessarily tall though. My best suggestion is to use pans that are two inches tall…I have noticed on the British bake shows that they use a lot of the super tall pans. That’s just not something we do a lot of here, so I don’t have any advice on making that work. I just think using the 2-inch tall pans will give you a moist cake.
You can freeze the cake layers. I do that all the time. Just wrap each with plastic wrap and foil, then freeze. Here’s my tutorial on how I do that if you’re interested: https://iscreamforbuttercream.com/freezing-cakes-and-cupcakes/
As far as freezing it with frosting on it already, I think it’s possible, but I usually don’t do that. If you do that, you’d probably need to place the frosted cake inside the freezer for about 20 minutes (like a flash freeze) just to harden the icing up a bit (so the wrappings doesn’t mess it up) then cover it well with plastic wrap and foil and freeze. Once you take it out to defrost, you’d need to remove the wrappings before it fully defrosts or you could pull the icing off when you pull the plastic wrap off. There are pros and cons to both options I think.
I personally just tend to freeze the cake layers and then add the frosting once they’ve defrosted.
Becky
I have made this cake twice. I used gluten free measure for measure flour the second time (I have a granddaughter that is gluten sensitive and I have found that if I stay away from gluten, my arthritis doesn’t flare up). I could not tell the difference.
I didn’t have the French Vanilla cream and used the 1% fat milk in my fridge and topped it with chocolate frosting. This is the very best gluten free cake I have tasted. It will be my every time go to for cake. Thank you for the recipe.
Kara
So glad you liked it, Becky! And thanks for letting me know that the gluten-free flour worked. That’s great to know and helpful for others if they need to make it gluten-free as well. Thanks again for the wonderful review!