I’ve wanted to make a white on white cake for a long time. Many so-called “white” cakes are actually yellow; this one is falls clearly in the off-white, cream range – and that was my interest in making it. I know you might be thinking, “But it’s so … vanilla.” And it is, and I think that makes it elegant, even if it falls short of sexy. It’s also delicious, though … so, don’t loose sight of that. Although the frosting is soft, light, and just the right amount of sweet, you could supplement it with a filling, or abandon it altogether, in favor of something of just about any flavor.
As much as I’m not a fan of cake and ice cream, this cake goes exceptionally well with it – I love this cake with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.
For the CAKE
5½ oz. (1 cup) bread flour
4½ oz. (1 cup) cake flour
1½ tsp baking soda
1½ tsp baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
10½ oz. (1½ cups) sugar
8 oz. egg whites (from 8 eggs)[a]
8½ oz. (1 cup) buttermilk
½ oz. (1 Tbs) vanilla
Although it’s tempting to ignore the prep, I suggest taking the butter out to soften and separating the eggs before embarking on the recipe’s directions.
- Butter and flour two 8″ pans.[b] Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- Whisk bread and cake flours, baking soda and powder, and salt until well blended – speed 2 (out of 10) for 30 seconds; set aside. Cream the butter and sugar until very pale – almost white – and fluffy, ramping up to speed 4 and eventually upping it to speed 6 for a total of 9 minutes, pausing twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Stir together milk and vanilla. Add the flour and milk mixtures to the butter mixture: the flour in 3 additions and the milk in 2, alternating between them, beginning and ending with the flour. Set aside.
- Whisk the eggs to stiff peaks. Fold them into the batter.
- Bake until the cakes test dry, 20 minutes.[c] Cool for 15 before turning out onto racks.
For the FROSTING
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
4 cups confectioner’s sugar, or more, to taste
3 Tbs heavy cream, or more, to taste
Beat the butter and cream cheese until fluffy, about 2 minutes on speed 6. Beat in salt and vanilla. Beat in sugar. Beat in cream.
Notes:
- If your egg whites don’t measure up, supplement by adding sour cream, yogurt, or saffron oil to the batter. If they measure over, don’t sweat it. Having said that, though, measure out 5 eggs and weigh them before cracking the 6th.
- I don’t find parchment necessary for this cake, however if you use dark-colored pans – which absorb more heat than light-colored pans – you may find that the cakes seem to want to stay in the pans. OK, first things first: always use a plastic knife (or a similar non-scratchy utensil) to free the cake from the sides of the pan before your first attempt to turn the cake out. You should do this all the time, automatically, no matter what kind of cake you’re making. Having done that, if you tip the pan and you sense that the cake doesn’t seem to want to come away from it, you can give it a gentle shake or two, but if that doesn’t work, don’t resort to violence. Escalating the situation will only cause the cake to resent you and split itself into unseemly pieces. Instead, turn one of your stove’s burners to its lowest setting, don a pair of oven gloves, set the cake pan onto the burner, and push it back and forth (to keep the heat distributed) at a leisurely-to-medium pace for about 8 seconds. Remove the pan from heat and the gloves from your hands and try again. Repeat as necessary. Soon enough, you’ll sense the cake loosening from the pan and it will come out nice and whole. Crisis averted. Unnecessary parchment avoided.
- If there is a secret to making this cake, it’s nailing the baking time. The window between underdone and overbaked is measured in seconds. Ideally, your first test should come out almost, but not quite dry. After that, check again every minute or so until the tester comes out dry. If you miss this window, and your initial test comes out dry, there’s no way to know how long ago it reached this point, and odds are you missed the window. In that case, infuse the cake with a simple syrup. Don’t sit there, wondering if it’s dry. It is. Infuse it! This isn’t something to get bummed out over. You could use this opportunity to add even more flavor: anything from the obvious (vanilla) to the exotic (rose water) to the sinful (booze).
White on White Cake
Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! In doing research for this post, I relied on Cooking with Carly, Joe Pastry, and Martha Stewart. I also spent some time lusting over some photos of the most beautiful, whiter-than-white cake I’ve ever seen, only to discover that its recipe uses tons of egg yolks, and could never produce the cake in the photographs. It’s this low regard for truth that brings our society to its current nightmarish state. I had considered photographing this cake with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but that was a lot of white, even for me, a blonde-haired Midwesterner. Plus, “white on white on white” sounds too much like the current republican battle cry. Trust me, this cake will not make you wonder if maybe you died and went to hell and just haven’t realized it yet.
Thank you, Kesor. This content was not solicited by anyone, nor was it written in exchange for anything.
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I don’t bake cakes. But I wanted to see your cake, and it’s very pretty. Honestly, I don’t even eat cake. Looking at me, you know I eat something, but it’s mostly cheese. Not sweets. I even pass on cake at weddings, although they used to be pretty shitty. Now people are using better bakers.
Mimi recently posted…Tomato Mushroom Risotto
So true – I’ve had few wedding cakes that were very tasty – which is why we served a cheese tower instead of a wedding cake at our wedding.
Nice looking white on white cake. I’ve never been a cake and ice cream person either. Separate they’re fine, although I’d likely go for the ice cream. White cakes are popular here, put they would have a powder sugar dusting instead of frosting and usually jam of some type in between the layers. Your sound far more decadent and tastier.
Ron recently posted…Fall in Skåne, Mårtensafton & Rotfruktsgratäng…
Yeah, this is the first cake I’ve ever made that seems to deliberately go with ice cream. I’m sure jam would be fantastic in between these cakes, by the way.
This cake looks every bit as wonderful as your more complex recipes! I would add some berries and whipped cream, but ice cream is good too! One of my colleagues mentioned that cake testing should always be done with a wooden tester and not metal, the metal will not give an accurate reading. Go figure.
Eva Taylor recently posted…Hungarian Crackling Biscuits (Leveles Töpörttyus Pogása)
That’s interesting – I’ve used both, but never thought about the difference between wood and metal. Anyway, thanks for the berry idea! Why did I not think of that?
I love the tender and smooth crumb of this white cake…and the cream cheese frosting is definitely a winner.
angiesrecipes recently posted…Jujube Spelt Streusel Bars
Thanks, Angie!
I love vanilla! I would seriously pick a vanilla cake over a chocolate cake almost every day. And adding in a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream? Yes, please. In fact, I bet adding some scraped vanilla bean seeds to the frosting here would be pretty amazing! I’ll gladly polish off any leftover you have of this cake, Jeff.
David @ Spiced recently posted…Pork Chile Verde
Great bean idea! I wish you lived nearby – I’d bring you a slice or two!
These are my favourite types of cakes. Two layers sandwiched between each other with a lovely iced frosting. Simple and tasty. And brilliant with a cup of tea!
Yes, perfect for tea!
While I’m a huge chocolate lover, I also love vanilla. This cake looks dreamy! And that frosting — it’s mouth-watering. Lovely.
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It’s a great white on white cake. I do love ice cream cake. I bet this cake taste wonderful with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.
It does! Thanks, Dawn.
A good all butter white cake is essential and nothing plain about it. And I’ll take the ice cream if you don’t , ha ha.
Thanks, Dahn!
Wow, look at all those whipped egg whites- no wonder your cake looks so fluffy! And getting some advice from ‘Joe Pastry’- well, your cake must be perfect. By the way, I had a look at your pumpkin pie cake that you did 5 years ago- it looks delicious!
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Are you also a Joe Pastry fan? I love his work. I wish he were still posting, but I’m glad he left his site up – I consult it frequently. Thanks for the pie comment. I served it at a huge Thanksgiving, but into individual rounds and topped with caramel and whipped cream, and it went over so well that I now feel I can bring nothing else to Thanksgiving dinner. I’m debating that exact issue right now, in fact.
This looks wonderful! And you really want your cake and icing to be slightly different shades so you can see the contrast. Good stuff — thanks.
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Thanks, John!
Though I am a chocolate on chocolate lover-hah-I’m sure I could handle this white on white cake. Bite by bite!
Thanks, Abbe!
Sometimes being a little vanilla is a good thing…just like your cake.
Karen (Back Road Journal) recently posted…Bordeaux And Saint-Emilion, French Wine Country
I couldn’t agree with you more, Karen. Vanilla, when it’s good, can be really good.
As a cook I like to tackle showy cakes once in a while. As an eater I much prefer simple cakes with recognizable flavors. Like this one. GREG
Thanks, Greg!
mmm. . . it looks delicious. I’m definitely a fan of white cakes. This is the first time that I’ve ever heard them called white on white cakes – but I like that name. It makes them seem more elegant.
Thanks, Sheryl. I kind of made up that term, but it seemed appropriate.
white on white ! love this treat. You guys are genius in frosting making. The photo of the cake itself describes how moist the cake and rich,creamy the frosting is.
It was a really good frosting – thanks Priya. A wise person once told me that we don’t become who we want to become, we become who we have to become. I have a strong dislike for super-sugary frosting. I want flavor and texture, but not overt sweetness. I guess that has forced me to do a lot of research into making frostings!
I would like to eat such delicious cake with pleasure
Thanks, Iza!
That texture is just gorgeous, such a delicious looking cake!
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Jan 2, 2023
I made this cake, with icing, exactly as posted for a friend’s birthday and it was absolutely amazing! It’s been a long time since I’ve baked a cake, but since retiring, I’ve decided to do a bit more and what a great beginning! The texture is every bit as substantial (for lack of a better word) and lovely as it looks in the picture. Our guests could not get over how delicious the icing was. I will make this again and again!
I am so glad and amazed to hear that! Thank you!