Amazing Vanilla Buttermilk White Cake

I have to admit, when it comes to birthday cakes, lots of times I'll just doctor up a cake mix and call it good. Never again. After having this cake I am forever spoiled. I wanted a tall cake that would bake up thick and stand up to being moved and decorated. This cake was not only easy to decorate but was seriously one of the best, if not the best vanilla cake i've EVER had. It was so moist and the vanilla flavor was out of this world. In fact, I am already plotting ways to make it again. I just can't say enough good things about this cake. I can't wait to give Holly's other cakes a try.

Vanilla Buttermilk Cake

from Sky High Triple Layer Cakes

For the cake:

4 whole large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 tsp of vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup of buttermilk

3 cups of cake flour

2 cups of sugar

4 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

8 ounces of butter at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of three 8-inch cake pans. Line with parchment paper and grease the paper.Place the eggs and the yolks in a medium bowl. Add the vanilla and 1/4 cup of buttermilk and whisk all the ingredients well. Set Aside.Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a mixer; whisk to blend. Add the remaining buttermilk and butter to the dry ingredients and with the mixer on low speed, blend together. Raise the mixer to medium speed and beat until light fluffy; 2minutes.Add the egg mixture in three additions, scrapping down the sides of the bowl after each addition. Divide the batter among all the pans.Bake the cake layers for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Turn out the cakes onto a wire rack and remove the paper from the bottoms. Cool completely.

*I made mine in a 9 x 13 pan. If you do this just allow extra baking time.*

Below is the frosting I used. I think it highly contributed to the reason this is now one of my new all time favorite cakes.

Frosting:

from My Kitchen Cafe

1 pound cream cheese at room temperature

3 sticks butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed, cream together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla and almond extracts. Add the confectioners' sugar and mix until smooth. This frosted a 9 x 13, a 9 in. round and 24 cupcakes. It makes A LOT!

I'm not by any means a great decorator but one tip I found that really helps is to freeze the cake (to get it really cold) before you decorate it. This was the first time I've tried it and it worked really well. It was also much easier to cut and there were a lot less crumbs.

Posted by: Sallie