The Best Vanilla Cake

The best vanilla cake recipe is something every curious baker spends plenty of time searching for. I’ve tried dozens over the years and have conducted many experiments, tweaking each recipe trying to get the result I want. This one is the best I’ve tried so far. It is quite moist and has a good density but not as dense as pound cake. I like the balance of texture that is achieved by using a combination of all-purpose flour and cake flour. It is important not to over measure the flour.
One essential ingredient in this recipe is real dairy butter; margarine just won’t cut it. I’ve used whipping cream in other recipes but this one gets a lot of richness from using undiluted evaporated milk instead. Finally, the vanilla flavoring is crucial. DO NOT use artificial vanilla flavoring! In fact NEVER use it! Use the best quality, real vanilla extract that you can find for real, exotically fragrant vanilla cake.


Ingredients
1½ cups cake or pastry flour
1¼ cups all purpose flour
2½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted.
4 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Sift together both flours, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
For this recipe it is very important to be sure to sift the flour very well before measuring. Flour that is too compacted can cause a denser, heavier cake. If you do not have a flour sifter, put some flour in a bowl and whisk it for a minute before spooning the flour into the measuring cup to measure. Do this for both types of flour in the recipe.
Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after every addition.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
Gently fold in the dry ingredients in three equal portions, alternately with the evaporated milk. When adding dry and wet ingredients alternately in any baking recipe, always begin and end with the dry ingredients.
Pour batter evenly into 2 well greased and floured 9 inch cake pans.
Bake in a 325 degree F oven for about 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Watch it carefully, you will not want to over bake this cake, as soon as the toothpick comes out clean, remove the cake from the oven and let it rest in the pans for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.



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