Better Than Basic Cake (with 6+ variations)

If you're looking for a basic cake recipe for beginners, look no further! In this post, you'll learn the only cake recipe you'll ever need and simple ways to adapt it to whatever flavor your heart desires. Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom for tips and tricks to help you tackle common cake problems like a pro!

For all the new bakers out there overwhelmed by the almost infinite number of cake recipes and variations, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: You only need ONE cake recipe.

That's it. 

Just one.

Seriously, just ONE, solid cake recipe is all you need to make almost any flavor your little heart desires.

And you want to know another secret? Today I'm sharing my go-to, (anything but) basic cake recipe and how to adapt it. 

So, why a basic cake recipe?

The idea behind this basic cake recipe is to give you a framework you can use to create your own, unique variations.

Although we start with a classic vanilla cake, the four variations we go through (carrot, chocolate, lemon poppy seed and strawberry) should give you a sense of how to adapt your recipe - whether you're adding extracts, fresh fruit, fruit juices, dry ingredients (like baking cocoa) or something else.

We'll also talk about balancing your dry ingredients, wet ingredients and fats so no matter how you switch things up, you'll still get that perfect, fluffy cake texture.

How to make this recipe

First, combine your eggs and sugar in a bowl.

Whip the eggs and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Personally, I like to use a stand mixer to do this as it allows me to jump to the next step while the eggs/sugar are being whipped, but a handheld mixer works just fine, too.

Second, whisk together the remaining wet ingredients.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, oil, vanilla extract and sour cream until the mixture is lump free. No matter how you may vary the ingredients later on, you'll always want to whisk together all the wet ingredients (aside from the eggs) during this step.

Vanilla bean variation: If you'd like to make this into a vanilla bean cake, you can add the seeds from one vanilla bean and reduce the vanilla extract by half during this step.

Third, stir together the dry ingredients.

In (yet another) bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt). As in the previous step, you'll always want to stir together all the dry ingredients, no matter how you may vary the recipe.

Fourth, combine all the ingredients.

Now that the eggs and sugar have been whipped and the dry and wet ingredients combined (separately), it's time to put it all together.

Alternating between dry and wet ingredients, add about half of the dry ingredients to the egg/sugar mixture. Mix on low (or by hand) until just combined. 

Add all of the wet ingredients and mix on low until just combined.

Add the remaining dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined.

Pro tip: Over mixing your batter can result in a cake that collapses after baking. To avoid this, mix your batter on low only and until the ingredients are just combined. 

Finally, bake your cake.

Bake your cakes in greased and parchment paper lined cake pans or lined cupcake pans at 350F. For cupcakes, bake for approximately 16-18 minutes and for three layers of 6" cakes, bake for approximately 30-35 minutes.

Now, you may be wondering, "Why use oil instead of butter?"

Unpopular opinion: Cakes made with oil are better than ones made with butter.

But wait! Before you click away in a butter-filled rage, hear me out.

In general, cakes made with oil tend to be loftier, have a more even crumb and tend to take longer to go stale than their butter-filled counterparts.

So why do so many bakers prefer butter? In a word: Flavor. Butter just tastes better in baked goods than oil does. HOWEVER, if your cake has spices, fruits or other prominent flavors, the flavor difference between the oil and butter is all but negligible. 

And because this recipe and each one of its variations already has a robust set of flavors, I prefer the fluffier, finer crumb that comes with using oil in place of butter.

Can I substitute butter for the oil?

Yes, but it will change the texture of your cake. If you'd like to use butter instead, simply substitute it for the oil at a one to one ratio.

Variations

Chocolate Cake

For this variation, add an extra ⅓ cup granulated sugar during step one (this will counteract the bitterness of the chocolate).

During step two, combine the milk and 2 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips and microwave for 50 seconds, or until you can stir the mixture smooth. The less you can warm the milk/chocolate, the better. Add the remaining wet ingredients but omit the vanilla extract and sour cream (the sour cream has approximately the same amount of fat as the chocolate, and we don't want the cake to get too dense).

In step three, replace ¾ cup of flour with ¾ cup baking cocoa. Continue the rest of the recipe as instructed above.

A note about red velvet: Red velvet cakes are essentially a vanilla cake with a little chocolate and red food coloring. To make this cake as a red velvet cake, simply follow all the instructions and measurements for the basic cake, but substitute 2 tablespoons of flour for 2 tablespoons of baking cocoa and add a few drops of red food coloring during step four.

Strawberry Cake

For this variation, we're going to start with an extra step. Before doing anything else, puree 1 pound of strawberries, and combine them with ⅓ cup sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook the strawberries, stirring occasionally, until all of liquid has cooked out (the consistency will resemble a really thick jam) and you're left with about ⅔ cup puree. Allow to cool to room temperature before proceeding with the next steps.

During step one, reduce the amount of sugar by ⅓ cup (we already added it straight to the strawberries). 

In step two, add the strawberry puree to the wet ingredients along with 1 teaspoon of strawberry emulsion (This is like an extract but even more potent and is available in most craft/hobby stores) in place of the vanilla.

During step four, add a drop of pink food coloring if you want an extra burst of pink color.

A note on other fruit flavors and canned purees: The above process works for most kinds of cakes flavored with fresh berries. Similarly, you could use the same amount of a canned puree, but you'd want to reduce the amount of milk to compensate for the added liquid in the puree (I recommend reducing the milk to ⅔ cup).

Carrot Cake

Before doing anything else, grate/shred ½ pound of carrots ( about 1-2 carrots, depending on size).

During step one, replace ⅔ cup granulated sugar with brown sugar (this will give you equal parts granulated and brown sugar). 

In step two, omit the sour cream (the shredded carrots are going to add a lot of weight and moisture to the cake, so you won't need the sour cream) and reduce the vanilla to 1 teaspoon.

During step three, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ¼ teaspoon ginger and ¼ teaspoon cloves.

Lemon poppy seed

Begin by grating 1 heaping tablespoon of lemon zest and juicing two lemons for ⅓ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice.

In step two, reduce the vanilla extract to 1 teaspoon, the milk by ⅓ cup, and add the lemon juice and zest to the wet ingredient mixture.

During step three, add 1 tablespoon of poppy seeds.

A note about making cakes with fruit juices: You can add any sort of fruit juice to this recipe, and can adjust the amount of fruit juice to suit your tastes. Just remember to adjust the amount of milk accordingly, and if you reduce the amount of milk you add by a significant amount, you should up the amount of sour cream by a tablespoon or two to compensate for the change in fats.

Flavoring a Cake With Extracts

Changing up your extracts can make for some really fun cake flavors. For the most part, you can substitute the vanilla extract in this basic cake recipe for any one of a number of extracts.

That said, some extracts, like peppermint, are naturally more potent. For these flavors, I'd recommend adding just 1 teaspoon for flavoring. The same would be true for emulsions, which are a more potent form of flavoring.

Fun fact: A funfetti cake is equal parts vanilla and almond extract. Simply add the flavoring during step two and fold the sprinkles in right before filling your pans with batter.

Coffee and Espresso Flavored Cakes

If you want to add a coffee flavor to your cakes, there are two ways to do it: Add strongly brewed coffee in place of part of the milk, or add a few teaspoons to a tablespoon (depending on desired strength) of espresso powder to step two (adding the espresso powder to the wet ingredients will give it a change to dissolve and will keep it from ending up as clumps in your cake).

Frequently asked questions

Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went in the comments below. Better still, snap a photo and tag it on Instagram with #thesimplesweetlife. I love seeing your creations!

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