I was wondering if anyone has a recipe for vanilla cake? I had my first request for half chocolate and half vanilla cupcakes (not both in 1 cupcake but 2 different flavors for guests to choose from). Anyways it dawned (sp?) on me that I was not even sure if there was vanilla cake or if people just call yellow cake vanilla cake. It seems so basic but I have actually asked some people and they kind of scratched their heads as well lol! thanks!

My "vanilla" cake is DH white cake mix....use the whole egg....not just egg whites.

Both white and yellow cakes can be called "vanilla," as long as that's the predominant flavor. The main difference, in general, is that white cakes contain egg whites and yellow cakes have whole eggs. There are exceptions, of course....my mil's favorite white cake has 3 egg whites and 1 whole egg, and my daughter makes a yummy vegan vanilla cake with no eggs at all.

Are you looking for a yellow cake or white cake recipe?

I will take both recipes if you have good ones. Thank you both for clearing that up for me. I was really annoyed that I didn't just know but it threw me for a loop! lol!!

Oh one more question as well. This might be a silly question but how do you make vanilla the predominant flavor? Do you just add more vanilla? Would you need to add less of something else if you did that?

My favorite vanilla cake is Sylvia Weinstock's yellow cake recipe:
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/FOOD/news/02/09/sylvia.weinstock/yellow.cake.html

For white cake, I've been using this:
http://cakecentral.com/recipes/2165/a-better-white-scratch-cake

I like to use a really good quality vanilla, but there's no need to add extra, unless you really like it that way! You could change the recipes by adding different extracts, flavorings, liqueurs, fruits purees, etc., and then they wouldn't be "vanilla" cakes anymore.

hth

I use vanilla paste to distinguish my "vanilla cake" from my white or yellow butter cake. I use Rose Levy's white cake recipe and use Nielson-Massey's vanilla paste ...you get the tiny vanilla seeds in the batter along with the accentuated vanilla taste.

i have never heard of vanilla paste. What is it and where can I find it?

There are many sources on line like sur la table. I'm fortunate to have a gourmet food shop about 20 miles away to keep me in supply. By the time I factor gas costs the shipping is about the same. It's not cheap but I only use it for wedding cakes and it's worth it.

I use this recipe for vanilla cake. It uses vanilla beans in addition to vanilla extract and is absolutely fantastic with a very strong vanilla flavor.

http://www.jasonandshawnda.com/foodiebride/archives/714

I was VERY disappointed in Sylvia Weinstocks recipe. Won't be trying it again. I'm still looking for a good, moist, yellow cake recipe.