If you’ve been reading for a while, you may remember when this happened:
Well, in September, this happened:
We had a completely fantastic day with close friends and family, a gorgeous setting, and delicious food – including a homemade wedding cake by yours truly.
Nate left the decision of what kind of cake up to me (such a good husband), and in typical fashion, I agonized over it for some time. I wanted to include blackberries, as September is prime blackberry season, and most likely chocolate, because, well, chocolate. I did a trial run of chocolate cake, blackberry filling, and caramelized white chocolate buttercream, all of which were awesome separately, but together it was just too much. So I went back to the drawing board and came up with a vanilla cake with blackberry compote and chocolate ganache fillings, vanilla buttercream, and dark chocolate leaves as decoration. It ended up being pretty much perfect and completely delicious.
Thrilled about the cake layers (and about being married)
With a few previous wedding cakes under my belt, I knew what to expect in terms of time and effort, so the week before the wedding, I intentionally kept the other wedding-related tasks to a minimum because this was the one DIY project that I really cared about. I ran into a few little snafus – I had to stop to whip up another batch of buttercream in the middle of assembling the cake the morning before the wedding; it took me about three times longer than it should have to pick the berries I needed for the filling because it rained the week before the wedding and ruined most of the berries still on the vines – but because I had planned for extra time (my biggest piece of advice if you are making your own wedding cake), it was all good, and by around noon the day before the wedding, it was out of my hands and I could focus on getting married instead of on buttercream.
Focused on buttercream
Because a wedding cake has a lot of components, I’m going to break it down into three posts: the cake, the fillings and frosting, and the assembly and decoration. For the cake itself, I made a vanilla version of this extremely popular lemon butter cake, which is a fantastic recipe and great for a wedding cake. Many people have asked about a vanilla version and also for the recipe in weights, so I’m happy to finally be able to share both of these. 🙂
All photos above (except my ring and me decorating the cake) by Meaghan Konopaki.
Vanilla Butter Cake
Adapted from Cakewalk by Margaret Braun. Original yield is for two 10″ layers – I used this same amount of batter to make two x 6″ layers and two x 9″ layers, for a cake to feed about 40 people. This makes a very large amount of batter, so I made it in two half-batches to better fit my Kitchenaid mixer.
Preheat the oven to 325˚F (300˚F convection). Line the bottom of your cake tins (2 x 10″ round, or 2 x 6″ round and 2 x 9″ round) with parchment paper, then butter and flour the insides for extra insurance. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together until very light and fluffy:
2 cups / 454 g unsalted butter, soft
4 cups / 800 g granulated white sugar
One by one, beat in 6 large eggs, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl.
Finally, beat in:
2 tsp / 8 g vanilla extract
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean
Set aside.
In a large bowl, sift or whisk together:
5 cups / 600 g all purpose flour
2 tsp / 8 g baking powder
1 tsp / 6 g baking soda
1 tsp / 6 g salt
Have ready 2 cups / 454 g sour cream.
Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture in 4 additions, alternating with the sour cream in 3 additions.
Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl a few times while mixing and stir just until combined.
Dive the batter between the prepared pans (about 400 g for each 6″ pan, 950 g for each 9″ pan). Wrap the outside of each pan with a strip of damp towel to insulate it (this will help the cake bake nice and flat and even).
Bake in the preheated 325˚F (300˚F convection) oven for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown on top and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of each cake and invert out of the pans onto a rack. Peel off the parchment paper and allow to cool completely.
The cakes can be made up to 1 month a head of time and frozen until you are ready to assemble the cake. To do this, wrap each cake tightly in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil to completely seal out any air. Allow to thaw, wrapped, before decorating.
Congratulations!!
Wishing you both a lifetime of happiness and magic
You were a stunning bride and that cake is breath taking
Hats off to you for making it yourself, you did an amazing job
Thanks Sawsan 🙂
Oh my goodness. No wonder it tasted so good.
Congratulations! I used your lemon cake recipe to make my daughter’s 1st birthday cake last year. It was a hit. I covered it in fondant and decorated it. It was my first time doing this and I have you to thank. I wanted to use your recipes to make cupcakes and a small cake for a baby shower. Have you tried this before? Do you think this would work just as well and how long would you suggest baking the cupcakes? Thanks in advance!
Thank you, and I’m so glad you liked the lemon cake recipe 🙂
Yes, I think this would make great cupcakes (I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not). I’m guessing you could get 24 cupcakes and a 6″, 2-layer cake out of one full recipe of batter. Based on other cupcake recipes, I’d bake them for 20-25 minutes, maybe at 350˚F rather than 325˚F.
Should we make this recipie twice for the whole cake
Hi Aashifa, this recipe will make one 6″ round cake plus one 9″ round cake (2 layers each), OR one 10″ round cake (2 layers).
Korena, if I want to make the lemon butter cake recipe, how many batches do I have to make for a 3 tiered wedding cake (12″, 10″, 8″ layer cakes). How much batter do I put in each pan and is there a change in baking time based on the size pan? Approximately how many cups of frosting will I need?
Hi Linda, I’m just seeing your comment now so apologies for the late response! The lemon butter cake recipe as written makes a 10″ layer cake. For a 12″ cake, I’d do 1.5x the recipe; for an 8″ cake, do half the recipe. Just fill the pans 2/3 full – don’t worry about measuring the batter. You may want to use a cake heating core or flower nail to help the 12″ cake bake evenly all the way to the middle (http://rosebakes.com/how-to-use-a-heating-core-to-bake-a-level-cake/). Baking time may be a little longer for the 12″ cake – check it with a cake tester or toothpick at the suggested time and let it bake a few minutes longer if needed – but should be the same for the 10″ and 8″ cakes. For frosting amounts, here is a chart: http://www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com/wedding-cake-icing-chart.html – keep in mind that if you are torting your cake (ie, splitting the 2 layers into 2 layers each) you will need a little more frosting or other filling. I hope that answers your questions – good luck!
Korena, got your message this morning which I thank you for, but I made the cakes on Thursday and Friday, doing the recipe 3 times for the 12, 10, and 8 inch cakes. Everything turned out great. I added lavender to the cake mix, lavender syrup on the layers and lemon curd filling to the recipe at the request of the bride, so hopefully she will be pleased with the results. Doing candied lemon slices with lavender sprigs for decoration. Thanks again for the advise and most importantly, the recipe.
Glad you got it figured out! The addition of lavender and lemon curd sounds wonderful! Best of luck!
Korena,
I’m just wondering in you’ve ever done a marble version of this cake…
Hi Tessie, no, I haven’t… but I think you could do it pretty easily by adding some melted chocolate to half the batter. Please let me know if you try this!
You say convention oven. But would it cook the same in the home oven
Hi Anastaza, oops, I missed the word “oven” in that phrase – fixed now. You can for sure bake this in a regular non-convection home oven at the 325˚F temperature (the 300˚F temperature in brackets is for a convection setting if your oven happens to have it).
Hello! This cake is delicious, but while cooling it shrunk a little too much. What could have caused it?
Thanks!
Hi – the only thing I can think of is that maybe it was a little bit underbaked and it fell after it came out of the oven? I’m glad it still tasted good!
Hi Korena. What adjustments would I need to make for high altitude. I live at 5300ft. I tried the recipe as is 3 times and each time right before taking it out of the oven the middle of the cake completely sunk.
Hi Nancy, I don’t have experience baking at high altitude, sorry. A quick Google search gave me this article though: http://dish.allrecipes.com/high-altitude-cake-baking/ – it sounds like you need to reduce the leavener a bit and increase the baking temperature a bit. I hope you have better luck!
Is there no salt in the vanilla cake? I noticed there is salt in the lemon version but I didn’t see it here in the vanilla, did I just miss it or is it meant to have no salt?
Ahhh, good catch Emily – there is meant to be 1 tsp salt in with the dry ingredients! That was an omission on my part – I’ve updated the recipe now. Thanks!
good catch
I’m a little bit confused. Is the recipe, as written, for 2 – 10 in cakes or one? You mentioned in your write up that you cut the recipe in half, but then in the comments you say the recipe will make 1 – 10 inch cake. I would think, as written, it would be 2-10 inch cakes. I’m needing to make a 12 inch pound cake for a wedding cake next month and am wondering if the texture of this recipe is like a pound cake? Thank you for sharing and answering our questions.
Hi Lea, the recipe as written will make 2 x 10″ layers, which when stacked together, make one cake. It’s a lot of batter so I made it in my mixer in two half-batches. Does that make sense? The texture of this is similar to pound cake, but perhaps a little bit lighter. To make a 12″ cake (2 x 12″ layers, stacked together as one cake), I would do 1.5x the recipe as written. Good luck!
Thank you for the reply.
I am making this vanilla butter cake in a glass bowl, sort of like the bundt shape. I cannot get the wet towel to stay aroind the sides, will it still take the same without the towel around it?
Hi Paige, just skip the wet towel all together and keep and eye on the bake as it bakes – depending on how large the bowl you’re baking it in is, it may take a little longer to bake through to the middle. It may come out with a dome on the top (the wet towel trick helps cakes to bake perfectly level) but you can just trim it with a knife after it’s baked. Good luck!
Hi. What depth of cake tins did you use for this recipe? Thanks!
Hi Georgeanne, I used pans that were 2″ deep.
Hi there is there anyway i could substitute the butter for oil instead? And the sour cream is it a must?
Hi Lindi, I wouldn’t recommend substituting oil for the butter in this recipe, and yes, the sour cream (for its acidity and moisture) is a must. Are you wanting to avoid dairy? You could use vegan butter instead, and maybe try non-dairy yogurt (soy or coconut) in place of the sour cream. It won’t be exactly the same but would probably work. I’ve also used solid, room temperature coconut oil instead of butter in other cake recipes (not this one, however), so that’s another option that might work.
Could this be made chocolate?
Hi Becky, a chocolate cake is a different kind of animal – I wouldn’t suggest trying to convert this recipe to chocolate. But I have a couple great chocolate cake recipes to recommend instead: this is a classic devil’s food cake https://korenainthekitchen.com/2012/02/14/rebar-chocolate-cake/, this is a super delicate chocolatey one https://korenainthekitchen.com/2018/01/27/grandpas-100th-birthday-cake/ and this is a really delicious fudgey one that is also pretty sturdy and would be good for layers and stacking https://korenainthekitchen.com/2014/05/07/kades-birthday-cake/. Here’s a helpful resource for scaling recipes up and down to fit different sized pans https://food52.com/blog/13239-how-to-make-your-baking-recipe-fit-your-pan-size.
Hello would i be able to use 6×3 in pans and 8 x2 in for this recipe as long as I adjust the amount of batter in the pan? Would I just fill 2/3 of the way? Also, why is it recommended to wrap the pans in wet towels? Thanks!
Hi Nicole, the height of the pan won’t really matter – you can certainly use 6″ round pans that are 3″ high. Instead of filling them 2/3 full though (which, if you are using taller pans, will mean less batter for the 8″ round pans), I would just split the batter between all 4 pans and make sure it comes to an even depth in all of them.
The wet towels help to insulate the edges of the cake, which usually bake faster than the middle and can contribute to a cake with a round dome on top. The wet towel helps the whole cake bake more evenly and gives you a flatter cake, so you don’t have to trim it. It’s totally optional but it works pretty well!
This cake looks amazing! Is the sour cream one of the main ingredients and definitely needed? x x
Thanks! Yes, sour cream or something similar is definitely needed – you could use thick plain yogurt instead.
Hello. I was wondering how you would adjust this recipe for a large cake. For a 16″ and 14″ or for a 14″, 12″, and 10″ cake and the frosting?
Hi Stephanie,
Here is a great resource on how to scale up recipes to a larger sized pan: https://food52.com/blog/13239-how-to-make-your-baking-recipe-fit-your-pan-size
For frosting, here’s a useful chart the will give you the amounts needed for the different sized cakes: https://www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com/wedding-cake-icing-chart.html. The frosting recipe I used for this cake makes about 10 cups of frosting, to give you an idea of how much you’d have to scale the recipe for the larger cake sizes.
The cake looks great. They rose perfectly. Any high altitude help? I think I’ll try this recipe tomorrow. I have a wedding at the end of Nov. and they just want a simple cake. I’m a little freaked about it but figure I have some time to practice. I see it’s been a long time since you posted this recipe. But any help would be great.
Hi Kim, I have no experience with high altitude baking so I don’t have any advice to share, sorry. A quick Google search gave me a King Arthur Flour article on how to adjust cake recipes for high altitude – maybe this will help? https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
Good luck! I hope the wedding cake turns out fantastic 🙂
can you substitute cake flour?
I wouldn’t recommend it – cake flour and all purpose flour have different properties and act differently in recipes. But if cake flour is all you have, you could try it by using 1 cup + 2 tbsp cake flour for every 1 cup of all purpose flour.