This delicious cake recipe comes to me via my sister, who took a cake decorating class back in college. The talented woman teaching ran a successful wedding cake business and this was her go-to cake recipe. Though it includes a boxed cake mix, you’ll actually also add more bulk and flavor with additional flour, sugar, salt and extracts. This creates a tender, yet sturdy cake that feels home made, but still has a little bit of that classic box flavor that people know and love. The texture is much denser than a standard box mix- in a good way. It holds up well to decorating and is incredibly moist! This recipe makes two 8″ round layers (or 36 cupcakes.) While the basic recipe is for white cake, this recipe will work for any flavor with a few minor adjustments.
Ingredient Notes
- One boxed cake mix – While any brand will do, Duncan Hines Super Moist was preferred in the original recipe and it’s still my go-to. I’ve tried it with other brands and it hasn’t been as good. I’m using a white funfetti mix in these photos!
- Flour
- Sugar
- Salt
- Egg whites – This recipe calls for egg whites to keep the cake white. If you don’t care about the color, or you’re making a different flavor, use two whole eggs instead. (I used whole eggs in these photos and it’s usually what I do!)
- Water
- Vegetable Oil
- Sour cream – Use full fat sour cream for best results.
- Vanilla extract – If you are making a true white cake, consider getting clear vanilla from a cake supply store. If you don’t mind the color, regular vanilla works great.
- Almond extract – Almond extract elevates the flavor of white cake. It is also great in chocolate. If experimenting with other flavors, feel free to replace the almond with something else or leave it out completely.
How to Make Easy White Cake
- The prep is about as easy as it comes. With a standard from-scratch cake it’s important to do things like alternate wet and dry ingredients, but not with our half-home-made cake. Just whisk all of the dry ingredients together (I just use the whisk attachment on my Kitchenaid and give it a whirl) and then add in all of the wet stuff. Beat it all up and you’re set!
- If making cupcakes, fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and then pop them in the oven. For cake, grease and flour two 8″ (9 inch cake pans will work as well but your layers will be slightly thinner than my photos here) and divide batter evenly between them (a food scale is helpful here).
- Bake the cake, cool, and decorate!
One thing I really like is that you get really uniform raised tops on them. Perfectly smooth and round. Try our favorite White Vanilla Frosting or this amazing Chocolate one.
Flavor Options
- Chocolate – Use a chocolate cake mix and add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to your dry ingredients. Feel free to use two whole eggs instead of two egg whites. Chocolate is still super yummy with almond extract, but you can always swap it out with flavoring oils such as peppermint or orange.
- Spice Cake – Use a spice cake mix. Use two whole eggs and omit almond extract. You can sprinkle in some extra cinnamon, cloves, or other spices if desired, but it’s delicious even without adding extra. A little orange flavoring oil works great here as well!
- Lemon Cake – You know the drill: use a lemon cake mix and two whole eggs. Add some additional lemon flavoring oil if desired. This one is super yummy with blueberry filling and lemon frosting!
Frequently Asked Questions
My round cakes always get stuck in the pan. How do I prevent this?
Spray your pan with nonstick spray (or use butter or shortening) then cut a circle of parchment to cover the bottom. Grease the top of the parchment as well. Bake your cakes and then run a knife around the outside edge. Your cake should pop out beautifully and you can then peel the parchment paper off the bottom.
Can I make this ahead of time?
Absolutely! This cake works great made a day ahead of time, or you can easily freeze the layers.
Storing and Other Tips
- One great thing about this cake is that you have options after it’s baked. My sister wraps the cakes (removed from pans) in plastic wrap as soon as they are cool enough to handle in order to hold in that moisture. Once completely cooled, she pops them in the freezer overnight for easy decorating the next day (or later in the week).
- No need to freeze your cupcakes unless you made them several days early. If you aren’t ready to frost yet, simply cover and store on the counter.
- If you’d rather, go ahead and frost cakes or cupcakes as soon as they are completely cool. Cover and store on counter or refrigerator (depending on what type of frosting you use) until ready to serve.
Easy White Cake
No one will ever guess this impressive cake starts with a cake mix! A few additional ingredients and bulk and flavor, resulting in a sturdy yet tender cake perfect for decorating.
Servings Slices
Ingredients
- 1 box white cake mix I recommend Duncan Hines Super Moist
- 1 cup all-purpose flour 130g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- ¾ tsp salt
- 4 egg whites Egg whites keep the cake white. If you don't care, or you are making a different flavor, feel free to replace with 2 whole eggs.
- 1 ⅓ cups water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 cup full fat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract use clear vanilla if you want a pure white cake
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325℉ Prepare two 8" round cake pans by spraying with non-stick spray. Then cut a circle of parchment paper to fit in the bottom. Place parchment in bottom to stick to the nonstick spray and then spray again to coat the top of the parchment.
- To make cake, mix all dry ingredients with a whisk, then add wet ingredients. Beat for two minutes until fluffy.
- Pour into prepared cake pans. I've found the recommended baking time on the box to be a good starting point. Use that as a guide but keep and eye on your cakes, they will most likely take a little longer than the recommended time as all cake mix brands are different. Remove them when a skewer through the center comes out with moist crumbs attached.
- Cool cakes in pans for 10-15 minutes on wire rack. While cakes are still slightly warm, carefully remove from pans. I like to take a few paper towels to cover the pans and invert. TIP: Once cakes are out of the pans, lay two sheets of plastic wrap (in a “+” sign) and place a cake in the center and wrap up sides. Repeat with other cake. Allow to cool all wrapped up (it keeps the moisture from evaporating out). Once cooled completely you can also pop in the freezer on a cutting board to keep them flat. Once they are frozen, they are super easy to frost and defrost in about a half an hour.
- For cupcakes: fill paper liners 3/4 full and bake according to box directions.
Notes
- Chocolate – Use a chocolate cake mix and add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to your dry ingredients. Feel free to use two whole eggs instead of two egg whites. Chocolate is still super yummy with almond extract, but you can always swap it out with flavoring oils such as peppermint or orange.
- Spice Cake – Use a spice cake mix. Use two whole eggs and omit almond extract. You can sprinkle in some extra cinnamon, cloves, or other spices if desired, but it’s delicious even without adding extra. A little orange flavoring oil works great here as well!
- Lemon Cake – You know the drill: use a lemon cake mix and two whole eggs. Add some additional lemon flavoring oil if desired. This one is super yummy with blueberry filling and lemon frosting!
Nutrition
Serving: 1cupcake, Calories: 109kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 3g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 4mg, Sodium: 156mg, Potassium: 26mg, Fiber: 0.3g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 40IU, Vitamin C: 0.1mg, Calcium: 39mg, Iron: 0.5mg
Calories: 109kcal
Cost: $12
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
Questions & Reviews
how much chocolate or coco powder do i add for chocolate cupcakes?
Thanks
I just made this cake last night and it is the BEST cake EVER! I really wanted to try this recipe before I made it for a work party. I used a 10 in pan (3 in high) and this was the perfect amount of batter for one cake. After I made it I realized we had only 1/3 of a can of chocolate store bought frosting so I melted the frosting in the microwave, layered the cake and drizzled the frosting between the layers, then poured the rest over the top like a ganache and it was the perfect amount of sweet for the cake as the cake is amazing all on it’s own! Thank you!
My cupcakes just came out of the oven and they are so yummy, even without frosting! But, I am at high altitude and filling the liners 3/4 full turned out a cupcake that is 3″ tall! Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, but I don’t know what I did wrong?!? The ones in the picture are so cute and mine are just so humongous, I don’t know how I am going to frost them?
Super weird! I’ve never had that happen before. Maybe try adding an extra 1-2 tablespoons of flour next time?
Hi
i just tried your recipe and the cupcakes came out of the oven looking great but they are very fragile. and soft is that normal?
Thanks x
Love this recipe! I melted 8 oz of chocolate chips with a couple tablespoons of butter, then added one cup of the white cake mix and swirled that into the entire batter for a marble cake. It was amazing!
If you make cupcakes, do you still put them in the freezer?
You may still freeze cupcakes.
Do you like this recipe better than the one you used in the candy corn cupcake tutorial?
They’re different, so I use them for different purposes. I probably like this one for cakes and the other for cupcakes.
I used this recipe for my niece’s wedding cake and everyone loved it! I made a three tier cake and this recipe was perfect in texture and flavor and was fantastic for carving and stacking. I forgot to bring the almond flavoring with me, so I doubled the vanilla. I have been hired to do another wedding cake in May and the bride wants the exact same cake flavor so I will be using your recipe again. Thank you for a great white cake!
ps Try letting your cakes cool for five or ten minutes in the pan, then turn them out, wrap in wax paper, and let cool overnight. This holds in all the moisture as the cake cools. The cake will be super moist. YUM!
ok, I just noticed that my tip is in your recipe! please ignore my ps.
I’ve got a question about the tip for freezing the cakes. I’m so excited to use this recipe for a bday cake this weekend. I plan on making 2 9-inch rounds. I’m a newbie cake decorator and had planned to decorate the cakes the night before or of the party. So would I then freeze them, decorate once frozen then allow the decorate cake to defrost/refrigerate until used? Does this change when using a fruit filling?
I made this using a chocolate cake recipe for my son’s birthday cake yesterday, and wrapped in plastic wrap after only five minutes of cooling, just like you said. I was totally afraid the plastic wrap would melt, and that after I froze it that the plastic wrap wouldn’t come off, or that it would tear the cake. WELL, I never should have doubted an Our Best Bites recipe, because the results were BEAUTIFUL! Wrapping up the hot cake truly kept the moisture in, and then today when I unwrapped the frozen cakes, the plastic wrap came right off, not tearing any cake, and I got my first taste of delicious, moist, not-boxy tasting cake! Thanks for another fabulous, go-to recipe! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your recipes!!!
Hi there, I discovered your site by way of Google at the same time as searching for a similar topic, your web site came up, it seems to be good. I have bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
I want to make chocolate cupcakes for my son’s Birthday party on Saturday. Should I follow this recipe exactly, except use chocolate cake mix instead of white? Should I still add the almond extract? Thanks for your help!
Angela, I made the recipe with chocolate cake instead. You use 2 whole eggs instead of 4 egg whites. This is only because, when you make the white cake version, you’re trying to preserve the pure white color of the cake (hence no egg yolks). With chocolate, it doesn’t matter!
The first time I made the chocolate version, I used almond extract. It still tasted delicious, but almond isn’t my preference. I used vanilla instead the second go-around, and I loved it even more. But depending on your tastes, either almond or vanilla is fine!
These are by far the most DELICIOUS white cupcakes I have ever made! We are making them as part of a dessert bar for our parent’s 50th wedding anniversary in Lake Tahoe this coming weekend. I am wondering if you would suggest adding anything to this recipe due to making these in the altitude….it is about 8,000 elevation. Should we add extra flour?? Thanks for your help!
These were delicious! I made mini cupcakes for a baby shower and my son’s birthday and everyone loved them, even those who don’t like cake. Thanks for sharing.
I just made these as cupcakes using lemon extract. The best non chocolate cupcake ever!! I can’t wait to make these again. And thank you so much for your great tips for filling them, super easy and everyone was so impressed!
Do you think this will bake up ‘nice-sized’ 9″ cake layers?
Yep 🙂
This is now my go to white cake recipe! It’s so good and I have gotten great reviews with it.I did a lemon filling using 2C heavy whipping cream and folded in 1 can of lemon pie filing. So good!
It’s a little late, but his recipe is fantastic! I used it in a 12 week cupcake experiment. I substituted the almond for mint extract and added mini chocolate chips. A thin layer of mint cream and a thick piping of Andes Mint frosting on top and they were in the top three of everyone’s favorites! I’m making them again tonight!
Love this recipe!! Thank you soo much!!! Now I am the one asked to make the cakes:) LOVE you SITE!!!
Delina
I recently used this recipe to make a 5 tier wedding cake. It got RAVE reviews from all. Thank you SO much for a delicious and user-friendly recipe!
I know I'm late in the line-up of comments, but I wanted to tell you that I made this cake and it was really, really marvelous. It was so light and fluffy. I made it in 2 8-in. pans and put one layer in the freezer. I thawed it about two weeks later and it was still light, fluffy and delicious. I did change a couple of things–I used cake flour instead of all purpose because I had it and needed to use it up and I left out the almond flavoring because I didn't have any. I know it would have been just as good exactly as written.
I'll keep watching your blog to see if you come up with a chocolate version. Thanks for the recipe.
Future Mrs. Heim–I'm so glad they were yummy! I'd definitely freeze them until you need them.
Hope that helps! 🙂
YUM!! I just made these – they are delicious! The vanilla and almond extracts really make the flavor. I am using them to make your Tres Leches cupcakes…but I don't need them until Friday. I want to store the plain cupcakes and add the "tres leches" on Thursday night. Is it best to freeze them for a few days, or store them in a container on the counter at room temp?
Thanks for this great recipe. I made this over the weekend for birthday and the cake turned out great! Nice & moist and without that "out of the box" flavor.
Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Krista- unless you have time to test it out first, I definitely wouldn't try a new recipe for a paying client. But that's just me!
Wow, you got that up fast 🙂
A note on flavors: ANY flavor cake mix turns out great with this. The almond is a must, even if it seems weird (like in carrot cake). The great thing is that even with the chocolate mix, you don't need to add any extra chocolate flavor.
This is my favorite way to start a cake and I don't consider it a doctored cake mix… I just consider the cake mix one of the ingredients 😀
Alexis- I use a standard cookie scoop (ya know, the kind with the spring-loaded handle) to make it both clean and even. Works like a charm!
Looks dee-licious. I have a question, how do you get your cupcake batter plopped in without making a ginormous mess?
My daughter puts her cakes in the freezer too.. I think she will like your recipe. deb
Oh those are lovely. I'll have to give them a try soon. Thanks for sharing!