Vanilla Layer Cake

Before you start

This birthday-style vanilla cake gets its plush, velvety crumb from the reverse-creaming method: the butter is beaten into the dry ingredients first, coating the flour with fat before the liquids go in. That limits gluten, so the layers come out tender and flat-topped instead of domed. Butter brings flavor, a little oil keeps the crumb moist after refrigeration, and buttermilk adds tenderness and a faint tang that makes the vanilla taste brighter.

The frosting is Swiss meringue buttercream: egg whites and sugar warmed over simmering water to 71°C (160°F), whipped to a meringue, then beaten with soft butter. It is silky and far less sweet than a powdered-sugar frosting. Temperature is the key decision for both parts; room-temperature ingredients for the batter, and butter at about 18 to 20°C for the buttercream.

Ingredients

• Cake300 g (2½ cups) cake flour
• 300 g (1½ cups) granulated sugar
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp fine salt
• 170 g (¾ cup) unsalted butter — softened, cut into pieces
• 240 ml (1 cup) buttermilk — room temperature
• 60 ml (¼ cup) neutral oil
• 4 large eggs — room temperature
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• Swiss meringue buttercream150 g (about 5 large) egg whites
• 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
• Pinch fine salt
• 340 g (1½ cups) unsalted butter — softened to about 18–20°C, cut into tablespoons
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease the pans, line the bottoms with parchment and grease again.
2. In the mixer bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the paddle on low, add the butter a piece at a time and mix until the mixture looks like damp sand with no visible lumps of butter, about 2 minutes.
3. Whisk the buttermilk, oil, eggs and vanilla in a jug. Pour in half and beat on medium for 90 seconds; this builds the structure. Scrape the bowl, then add the rest in two additions on low, mixing just until smooth.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, about 650 g each, and smooth the tops. Bake for 28 to 33 minutes, until the tops spring back and a toothpick in the center comes out clean.
5. Cool in the pans for 15 minutes, turn out onto racks, peel off the parchment and cool completely.
6. For the buttercream, whisk the egg whites, sugar and salt in a heatproof bowl set over barely simmering water. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture reaches 71°C (160°F).
7. Transfer to the mixer and whip on high with the whisk for 8 to 10 minutes, until a stiff, glossy meringue forms and the bowl feels cool to the touch. Switch to the paddle and add the butter one piece at a time on medium. It may look curdled; keep beating until silky, then beat in the vanilla.
8. Level the cake layers if domed. Place one layer on a plate, spread with about 1 cup of buttercream, add the second layer upside down, then apply a thin crumb coat. Chill for 20 minutes and finish with the remaining buttercream.

Tips for success

• Weigh the batter into the pans so the layers bake in the same time and stack evenly.
• If the buttercream looks soupy, the butter or meringue was too warm; chill the bowl for 15 minutes and beat again. If it looks lumpy and curdled, it is too cold; warm the outside of the bowl briefly and keep beating.
• Wrapped, cooled layers can be frozen for up to a month. Frosting them semi-frozen gives fewer crumbs.

Substitutions

Cake flour

Use 260 g all-purpose flour plus 40 g cornstarch, sifted together. The crumb is slightly less fine but still tender.

Buttermilk

Thin plain yogurt with milk to buttermilk consistency. Regular milk works if you omit the baking soda, though the cake is a little less tender.

Swiss meringue buttercream

An American buttercream of 340 g butter, 480 g powdered sugar, 3 tbsp cream and vanilla is quicker and sweeter, with a firmer crust.

Variations

Vanilla bean

Scrape the seeds of one vanilla bean into the sugar for the cake and rub them in before mixing.

Berry filling

Pipe a buttercream dam around the bottom layer and fill with 150 g thick raspberry jam before adding the top layer.

Troubleshooting

Dense, gummy layer at the bottom

The batter was overmixed after the final liquid went in, or the ingredients were cold. Use room-temperature eggs and buttermilk and mix the last additions briefly.

Cakes domed and cracked

The oven ran hot or the pans were dark. Check with an oven thermometer, or wrap the pans with damp cake strips.

Buttercream will not come together

Temperature problem. Watch whether it is soupy (too warm) or curdled (too cold) and correct as described in the tips.

Storage

Swiss meringue buttercream holds at cool room temperature for a day. For longer, refrigerate the cake covered for up to 4 days and let slices sit out 30 to 60 minutes before serving so the butter softens.

Safety notes

Heating the meringue mixture to 71°C (160°F) cooks the egg whites; check it with a thermometer. Do not taste the raw cake batter. Contains wheat, egg and milk.