Easy vanilla cake

Easy vanilla cake

A moist cake drenched with vanilla syrup. Use as the basis for a range of fabulous celebration cakes

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 12

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 20 mins

Freezable

Method

  1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Grease a round, deep 20cm tin, then line the base and sides with non-stick baking paper.
  2. Using electric beaters or a tabletop mixer, beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and ¼ tsp salt together until pale and fluffy, then pour in the eggs, one at a time, giving the mix a really good beating before adding the next. Add 1 tbsp of the plain flour if the mix starts to look slimy rather than fluffy. Beat in the yogurt.
  3. Mix the flours; then, using a large metal spoon, fold them into the batter, followed by the milk. Spoon the mix into the tin and bake for 1 hr 20 mins or until well risen and golden - a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
  4. Meanwhile, make the syrup by gently heating 50ml water with the sugar and vanilla in a pan until the sugar dissolves. Set aside. Once the cake is out of the oven, leave to cool for 30 mins in the tin, then use a skewer to poke holes all over the cake, going right to the bottom. Pour the syrup over, letting it completely soak in after each addition. Leave to cool completely, then either wrap the cake well or fill and ice it. If you wrap it with baking parchment and cling film, the unfilled cake will keep well for up to 3 days, or in the freezer for up to a month.
  5. For ideas on how to decorate the cake and to try out some variations on this basic cake mixture, have a look at the 'Goes well with' recipes for Simple elegance wedding cake, Birthday bug cake and Summer celebration cake.
Try

A good, basic vanilla buttercream

Put 175g soft unsalted butter into a large bowl. Beat with electric beaters for a few secs until pale. Gradually add 300g sifted icing sugar, a spoonful at a time. Keep beating until mixture is pale and creamy. Beat in seeds from 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla paste. Makes enough to cover a 20cm cake. Will keep in fridge for 1 week. Bring back to room temperature and beat well before using.

PER SERVING

399 kcalories, protein 6.0g, carbohydrate 48.0g, fat 21.0 g, saturated fat 12.0g, fibre 1.0g, sugar 27.0g, salt 0.31 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, June 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 41-60

  • Binder photo t44snm

    04 October 2010

    t44snm commented on this recipe

    oh and vannessa80 the depth of the cake tin is quite important because the cake will obviously rise as you cook it! i think you will have to buy a deeper cake tin, or if your using sandwich tins split the mixture between the 2 and fill it as you would.hope this helps.

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  • Binder photo heypresto

    05 October 2010

    heypresto rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really easy and tasted amazing. It was still really fresh by day 3!

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  • Binder photo vanessa80

    05 October 2010

    vanessa80 commented on this recipe

    Thanks -t44snm. It sounds so good that I have to try making it - good excuse for a new cake tin!

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  • Binder photo Jocarla

    07 October 2010

    Jocarla commented on this recipe

    thanks t44snm, will give the recipe a go with cupcakes

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  • Binder photo torialldred

    16 October 2010

    torialldred commented on this recipe

    I have made wedding, birthday and celebration cakes for years and came across this recipe a few years ago...and havent used another one since, its perfect,....dense enough, but with the greek yoghurt, it gives it a light but moist flavour that all my clients comment on!

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  • Binder photo AnnahMiller

    20 October 2010

    AnnahMiller commented on this recipe

    I'm just getting ready to make this for a birthday. I'm using a square pan. Do I slice the cake for filling before drenching it (wouldn't it be too soft to lift off the slices)? Has anyone tried adding chocolate bits (or similar) or would they sink? My girl is asking for chocolate cake so I'm looking for something prettier on the inside without disappointing her wish. Any suggestions please?

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  • Binder photo AnnahMiller

    20 October 2010

    AnnahMiller commented on this recipe

    One more question: did your recipe really turn out a cake this "white" (as in the photo). Meaning, there's hardly any naturally browning from the baking process it seems.

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  • Binder photo Elz

    20 October 2010

    Elz commented on this recipe

    Mmmmm, this cake was really scrummy! I made it for a friends birthday and it went down really well. It was very soft and moist and was simply perfect, smothered in buttercream and filled with strawberry jam.

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  • Binder photo Natalie

    11 November 2010

    Natalie commented on this recipe

    I'm making this for a wedding next week, and I had a slight issue with the trial run; when I turned the oven off (I left the cake in the oven with the door open for ten minutes, as I'd been having trouble with sponges sinking), the cake sank and came away from the sides quite a lot, and ...in a weird 'waisted' shape, which meant I had to use a lot of buttercream on the outside to give it a flat edge for the fondant icing. Any ideas how I can stop this happening? I'd increased the ingredients by 80% to go in a 25cm tin, and used newspaper tied on with string around the edge of the tin to stop the edges cooking too fast. Also, does anyone know when you are meant to take the cake out of the tin? I left it in to cool completely, but not sure if this is correct, as the bottom was stuck to the greaseproof paper when I took it off. The cake tastes amazing though, and it was as white as it looks in the picture (but I used white caster sugar).

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  • Binder photo lyn

    21 November 2010

    lyn commented on this recipe

    Made this for my daughters 6th birthday. I reduced sugar by 50g in the cake because I thought that the syrup was going to make the cake too sweet, but it was not necessary. The cake was easy to cut into a flower. Next time will use recommended amount of sugar. The cake was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

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  • Binder photo dianet

    26 November 2010

    dianet commented on this recipe

    I am making this cake at this very moment for my sisters birthday. I've made 1.5 times the recipe amount and i'm making a 3 tierd stacked cake which i will coved with lots of buttercream. If the finished cake tastes as good as the batter think i'll be onto a winner!

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  • Binder photo Sam

    05 January 2011

    Sam commented on this recipe

    Delicious moist cake and this is the second time I have made it however I keep having problem of it 'peaking' in the middle. This has caused problems when icing as I wanted it flat on the top. Other than slicing a layer off the top does anyone have any suggestions of what I may be doing wrong??

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  • Binder photo Lucuma

    10 January 2011

    Lucuma rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fabulous sponge! I have tried different recipes but this is the best so far. For the filling I used caramel and chopped walnuts for 2 layers and raspberry jam for another layer...delicious!!!!

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  • Binder photo CupcakeLover

    13 January 2011

    CupcakeLover commented on this recipe

    Could someone advise me how tall/high this cake will be once baked, if using a 20cm tin? I need to bake a cake for a class and it needs to be 3 inches high! Appreciate the advise.. thank you..

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  • Binder photo Jenwastar

    13 January 2011

    Jenwastar rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made this cake for my sister's birthday last year and it was great! Went down a storm! Very tasty and very moist, but also very dense. I think all the baking-mad Moms at the party were quite taken aback by the fact it had 5 eggs in it (means nothing to me...I'm an amateur!) and it weighed a ton. In fact, I may use this recipe again this year but attempt to make a marbled chocolate cake with it as i find that marbled sponges are a bit too bland. Cupcakelover - the cake was MASSIVE...filled my cake tin to the brim and was easily 3inches high. I was able to slice it into three layers with ease. Hope that helps and that it rises to the occasion (...ha I made a funny...!).

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  • Binder photo CupcakeLover

    14 January 2011

    CupcakeLover commented on this recipe

    Jenwastar - thanks for the feedback! I'll definitely give it a go then :)

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  • Binder photo welsh lass

    26 January 2011

    welsh lass rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is the best victoria type sponge. Its moist and has an amazing taste. I do mine in two sandwich tins or convert into cupcakes. Its totally foulproof as I just throw it all into the magimix - quick mix. I aways use the vanilla paste (from waitrose) and a touch of rich vanilla essence just to give it a bit more strength. I use jam and a fresh double cream mixed with butter and icing sugar filling. A real winner!

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  • Binder photo emma**

    28 January 2011

    emma** rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Teenytinybaker

    30 January 2011

    Teenytinybaker rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    The syrup makes it beautifully moist, everyone absolutely loved it. It did make a rather big cake though, which was probably a good thing!

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  • Binder photo Michelle

    30 January 2011

    Michelle commented on this recipe

    I made this cake in a 10" round time, I did 3x the recipe but left out the milk and the cake was lovely and moist but was denser on the bottom than the top. Also, the bottom and sides cooked a bit too much. I've tried cooking it at a lower temperature for longer but it didn't make any difference. Any ideas how I can solve this problem?

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 12

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 20 mins

Freezable

Ingredients

  • 250g pack unsalted butter , softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 250g golden caster sugar
  • seeds scraped from 1 vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla paste
  • 5 large eggs , cracked into a jug
  • 85g plain flour
  • 100g full-fat Greek yogurt (I used Total)
  • 250g self-raising flour
  • 3 tbsp semi-skimmed milk

FOR THE SYRUP

  • 50g golden caster sugar
  • seeds ½ vanilla pod or ½ tsp vanilla paste
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PER SERVING

399 kcalories, protein 6.0g, carbohydrate 48.0g, fat 21.0 g, saturated fat 12.0g, fibre 1.0g, sugar 27.0g, salt 0.31 g

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