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slice of one bowl vanilla cake on a plate

The Best One Bowl Vanilla Cake

Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: One Bowl Vanilla Cake
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 448kcal
Author: Kara @I Scream for Buttercream
This easy one bowl vanilla cake recipe is super quick to mix together because you'll just use one bowl and it comes out moist and delicious.
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Ingredients

  • 2 ⅔ cups all purpose flour
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (room temp) (2 sticks)
  • 2 tablespoon vegetable oil (or canola oil)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt)
  • ½ cup milk (use whole milk if you can get it)
  • 3 teaspoon vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste if you can get it)
  • ¼ teaspoon almond emulsion (optional)

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
  • Grease and flour two, 8 inch round cake pans and set aside.
  • Set the butter out and allow it to come to room temperature. It must fully come to room temperature. Don't melt it though. (You can cut it into chunks on a plate and it will come to room temp quicker.)
  • In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and whisk together.
  • Add the chunks of butter to the dry mixture and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until you get a course, sand-like texture.
  • Add the oil and eggs and mix at medium only until just incorporated. It'll be thick at this point and you don't have to keep mixing until it's smooth right now.
  • Add the sour cream (or yogurt), milk and extracts and mix at medium speed only until incorporated.
  • Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix again just until it's all incorporated.
  • Do not over-mix. (Mixing for several minutes is too long.) Just mix until all the ingredients are well incorporated. Batter will be on the thick side.
  • Pour into prepared pans and smooth level. Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 45 - 50 min.
  • Cool on a wired rack, in the pans, for about 10-15 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto the racks and allow them to cool completely before covering with buttercream or freezing the layers.
  • The tops of these cake layers will flatten out as they cool.

Notes

This cake does not need to be kept in the refrigerator, unless you've added perishable filling or frosting. This cake can be frozen for up to a month if wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil.The vanilla bean buttercream recipe is delicious on this cake.
Nutritional values are an estimate and are for the cake only and does not include the icing or filling.
Make sure to check out the TIPS & FAQs for this recipe in the blog post.
*This recipe card may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition

Calories: 448kcal | Carbohydrates: 56g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 92mg | Sodium: 136mg | Potassium: 195mg | Sugar: 34g | Vitamin A: 670IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 93mg | Iron: 1.6mg