White cake is enduring favorite for brides for their wedding cake. It has the best of both worlds – egg whites make the batter light and oil makes the cake moist. What’s not to love?!
Traditionally, almond flavoring is used in white cake but we’ve substituted it for vanilla extract because it appeals to more people. If you want to keep the cake as white as possible, use a clear vanilla extract if you can find it.
For more flavor pairings, see our Frostings & Fillings page here.
There are two sets of white cake recipes below. The first set makes two x 2″ deep cakes for each tier, while the second set is for two x 3″ deep cakes for each tier, depending on how tall you want your cake to be.
(Note: We would highly recommend using baking strips on your cake pans when going into the oven also. This prevents your cake from “doming” in the middle which has to be cut off before filling and frosting your cakes leading to a lot of wastage and your cake tiers being flatter as a result. They are well worth the investment but if you are in a pinch you can use old towels soaked in water and wrapped around your cake pans before putting them in the oven.
(Note: one stick of butter = half a cup. Also, canola oil can be substituted with vegetable oil in this recipe.)
White Cake Wedding Cake Recipe/White Cake Recipes for Different Pan Sizes (2 x 2″ deep pans)
| Cups | 6" | 7" | 8" | 9" | 10" | 11" | 12" | 13" | 14" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canola Oil | 3/8 | 5/8 | 3/4 | 1 | 1 1/4 | 1 1/2 | 1 3/4 | 2 | 2 3/8 |
| Egg Whites | 1 3/8 | 2 | 2 1/2 | 3 3/8 | 4 1/8 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 1/8 |
| Clear Vanilla or Almond Extract (tsp) | 2 | 2 1/2 | 3 1/2 | 4 1/2 | 5 1/2 | 6 1/2 | 8 | 9 | 10 1/2 |
| Milk | 1 1/4 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/4 | 3 | 3 5/8 | 4 3/8 | 5 1/4 | 6 1/8 | 7 1/8 |
| Granulated Sugar | 1 1/4 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/4 | 3 | 3 5/8 | 4 3/8 | 5 1/4 | 6 1/8 | 7 1/8 |
| Baking powder (tbsp.) | 1/2 | 3/4 | 1 1/4 | 1 1/2 | 1 3/4 | 2 1/4 | 2 1/2 | 3 | 3 1/2 |
| Salt (tsp) | 1 | 1 1/2 | 1 1/2 | 2 | 2 1/2 | 3 1/2 | 4 | 4 1/2 | 5 1/2 |
| Cake Flour | 1 7/8 | 2 5/8 | 3 3/8 | 4 3/8 | 5 1/2 | 6 1/2 | 7 7/8 | 9 1/8 | 10 5/8 |
| Temp. | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F |
| Baking Time (mins) | 20-30 | 20-30 | 30-35 | 30-35 | 35-45 | 35-45 | 40-50 | 40-50 | 45-55 |
White Cake Wedding Cake Recipe/White Cake Recipes for Different Pan Sizes (2 x 3″ deep pans)
| Cups | 6" | 7" | 8" | 9" | 10" | 11" | 12" | 13" | 14" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canola Oil | 5/8 | 7/8 | 1 1/8 | 1 1/2 | 1 7/8 | 2 1/8 | 2 5/8 | 3 | 3 1/2 |
| Egg White | 2 1/4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 1/4 | 7 1/2 | 9 | 10 1/2 | 12 1/4 |
| Clear Vanilla (tbsp.) | 1 | 1 tbsp +1 tsp | 1 tbsp +1 1/2 tsp | 2 tbsp +2 tsp | 2 tbsp + 21/2 tsp | 3 tbsp + 2 tsp | 4 tbsp | 4 tbsp + 2 tsp | 5 tbsp + 1 tsp |
| Milk | 2 | 2 5/8 | 3 1/2 | 4 3/8 | 5 1/2 | 6 1/2 | 7 7/8 | 9 1/4 | 10 3/4 |
| Granulated Sugar | 2 | 2 5/8 | 3 1/2 | 4 3/8 | 5 1/2 | 6 1/2 | 7 7/8 | 9 1/4 | 10 3/4 |
| Baking Powder (tbsp.) | 1 | 1 tbsp +1 tsp | 1 tbsp +2 tsp | 2 | 2 tbsp + 2 tsp | 3 tbsp + 1 tsp | 4 tbsp | 4 tbsp + 2 tsp | 5 tbsp + 1 tsp |
| Salt (tsp) | 1 1/2 | 2 | 2 1/2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Cake Flour | 3 | 4 | 5 1/4 | 6 1/2 | 8 1/4 | 9 3/4 | 11 7/8 | 13 7/8 | 16 1/8 |
| Temp. | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F | 350F |
| Baking Time (mins) | 25-35 | 25-35 | 30-40 | 30-40 | 35-45 | 35-45 | 40-50 | 40-50 | 45-55 |
White Cake: Method
First of all, don’t over-mix. It’s a surefire way to make the cake turn out too dense because you’ve overworked the gluten. Follow the directions and add the flour last. Fold it in, and that’s it. Stop once it’s combined. If you are using a stand mixer, this takes no more than a few seconds.
- Preheat your oven to 350F.
- Grease and line the base of your cake pans.
- Whisk the egg whites in the bowl of your stand mixer until stiff peaks form.
- Into a separate bowl, sift your flour and baking powder. Add the sugar and salt and combine.
- Whisk the oil, milk and vanilla or almond extract in a jug.
- Add milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
- Using a spatula, fold in the egg whites.
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Pour the cake batter into the two cake pans and bake at 350F for 30 minutes approximately. Because ovens vary so much you will need to check your cake for “done-ness” by inserting a cocktail stick/toothpick into the center of the cake. If there’s any “wet” cake batter still on the cocktail stick it needs to cook some more. The cocktail stick should just have a few cooked crumbs attached to it when you take it out.
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Leave the cakes to cool for 30 minutes before turning them out onto a cool rack to cool completely.
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