This is the best white velvet cake out there. It is a semi-homemade cake recipe, using a white, box cake mix as a base. There is then the addition of cake ingredients, including sour cream, which I believe contributes to this being the best white velvet cake recipe you will find.
Want another great cake recipe? Check out my red velvet cake.
The Best White Velvet Cake
Note: The best white velvet cake recipe was originally shared in 2012, but It has been updated for better photos and instructions for your convenience.
This is my go-to white cake recipe. It is super simple to make, yet it is far superior to any other white cake I have tried. Funny enough, I have been to parties of friends or family who have served white cake. I loved the cake and was curious about my rival, so I asked, “This is a great cake. Where do you get your recipe?” They then informed me that it was my cake recipe.
One reader who commented on Facebook sent me a picture of a wonderful Mickey Mouse cake she had made for her son. She had this to say, “I made my son’s birthday cake with your white velvet cake recipe layered with mocha frosting. Oh my goodness! This white velvet cake is hands down the best white cake I have ever had! Thanks for the recipe!” You will be glad you tried it too.
I have many people tell me that they are not really a cake person but love this recipe. Paired with my favorite buttercream frosting, you have a win. See below for more pairing options.
If you do try this recipe and love it as much as we do, I would love it if you could leave a review with a star rating. This helps Google recognize the recipe and helps other people find it.
Ingredients needed for this White Velvet Cake
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
How to Make the Best White Velvet Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare your pans or cupcake tins. Here is the best way to prepare a cake pan so your cake doesn’t stick. There are a lot of great cake-baking tips in that post.
- Mix the water, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla using the paddle attachment.
- Next, add the other four ingredients. Beat with a paddle attachment slowly for 30 seconds and then on high for 2 minutes.
- Add cake batter evenly to your cake pans or cupcake tins. One tip for getting even cake layers is to weigh your batter. Further, cakes bake more evenly with less of a mound if you use these cake strips (Amazon affiliate link).
- Bake at 350 on the center rack using the following time guide: 8″ or 9″ round pans or 13″x9″ rectangular pan 23-28 minutes, bundt cake pan 33-36 minutes, and 24 cupcake tin 18-21 minutes.
- To test for doneness, the cake should bounce back when pressed lightly in the middle. The cake is done when you see that bounce and when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Note: This makes 7.5 cups of batter, filling two 8″ pans over half full. I sometimes double the recipe, and the batter almost halfway fills 2 – 8×2″ pans and 2 – 10×2″ pans. That gives me a great 2 tiered cake with enough cake top to level off.
Cake tip: Before frosting, I always freeze my cakes. This helps lock in your crumbs and makes it easier to do a crumb coat. For more great tips, read this post.
What Pairs Well with White Velvet Cake?
There are so many delicious pairings with this white velvet cake. The possibilities are endless, but here are some of my favorites:
- My Tasty Buttercream Recipe
- Fresh Fruit like what is pictured here: blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries are some of my favorites. Here is how you can incorporate berries in frosting.
- Oreo Buttercream Frosting
- Different flavors of Pudding are a good filling. Here’s how to fill a cake with a soft filling.
- Custard fillings like the one found here.
- Peanut Butter Buttercream
- Coffee Buttercream
- Salted Caramel Buttercream
Recipe Card for this White Velvet Cake
The Best White Velvet Cake
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups water
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 box white cake mix
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare your pans or cupcake tins.
- Mix the water, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla using the paddle attachment.
- Next, add the other four ingredients. Beat with a paddle attachment slowly for 30 seconds and then on high for 2 minutes.
- Add cake batter evenly in your cake pans or cupcake tins. One tip for getting even cake layers is to weigh your batter. Bake at 350 on the center rack using the following time guide: 8″ or 9″ round pans or 13″x9″ rectangular pan 23-28 minutes, bundt cake pan 33-36 minutes, and 24 cupcake tin 18-21 minutes.
- To test for doneness, the cake should bounce back when pressed lightly in the middle. The cake is done when you see that bounce and when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow to cool for 15 minutes.
Notes
Want More Great Cake Content?
I am a self-taught cake decorator and baker. It has become a passion of mine and a very fun hobby. I am a student who is constantly learning and developing techniques. I hope you will take advantage of the things I have learned by reading my cake-making 101 and cake-making 201 posts (the second one is more about decorating with fondant).
Here are some more great recipes and resources:
Tasty Oreo Cream Cheese Frosting
Added to Cake Week 2012! can’t wait! Thanks for contributing
Hi Jodi. I was wondering since I don’t have the box, what tempature do you cook it at and for how long? I appreciate it. Thanks. Love your blog
Cook at 350 25-28 minutes cupcakes 15-17 check with a toothpick. Let me know how it turns out. Thanks!
How’d it turn out?
Hi,
I made this cake for my daughter’s birthday on May 15th. It came our great. I baked it in a 9×13 dish with the wet strips and it came out perfectly even. I have never had that happen. No leveling required. My husband loved the cake and even said he could eat it by itself. I plan to use this recipe from now on. Thanks for sharing.
I am so glad you had so much success. It makes me happy to know that things are working for people. Thank you so much for sharing.
So you just mix the wet ingredients – you don’t beat them?
Yup – That’s all you do. It’s a really simple cake.
Let me know how it turns out.
May I ask what size cake box.. as in how many grams of mix? I’m in Australia and I am not sure if it is just the standard? the cake look amazing and I’d love to make it but I don’t usually use cake mix,. I make things from scratch 🙂
I know – I generally make things from scratch too, but I love this cake. So many people have tried it and love it, so I just stick with what works. The cake boxes here are 18.25 oz (1 lb 2.25 oz) or 517 g. I hope that’s helpful. Let me know how it turns out.
Hey Jodi!
I can’t wait to try this recipe, but I have a couple of questions. Is there no butter or oil in this recipe? Also, what kind of flour is used, cake flour, all-purpose…?
Thanks for asking, and I’m so glad you are going to try this recipe. It has not butter or oil. The sour cream provides the fat needed, I guess. I just use all purpose flour. For some of my other cake recipes I use cake flour, but I’ve never needed to try it with this one. I don’t think this cake can disappoint. Let me know how it turns out.
Hi there! Can you say which kind of box mix you use? I’m hoping to find one that doesn’t have any dairy or egg products already in it. I have a really moist white cake recipe I like, but it has a large crumb and I found it’s not as pretty for layer cakes as one with smaller crumbs, which hold a better, crisper shape (mine kind of crumbles a bit and looks sloppy when you cut it–it’s really a cupcake recipe, and is great for that, but is not . Yours looks pretty great, so I’d love to try it!
You know, I just buy whatever is on sale. I really have wanted to have a taste test between the different brands because I’d be curious. It’s seemed to taste great no matter which one I’m using. I hope you enjoy.
Thanks so much for your reply! I think I’ll give it a try this weekend!
Tried your recipe and it turned out great, I don’t usually like cake but this was delicious!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
http://egrausefamily.blogspot.com/2012/08/rainbow-party.html
I’m so glad you tried it and had success. It really is a great recipe. Your daughter’s party looked fabulous. I’m so happy that my posts were helpful, and I really appreciate you linking back. Thanks so much!
Hi i was just wondering how many boxes you used for the rain bow cake?? 🙂
thanks so much 🙂
I used three boxes and 8 inch pans. Each boxade two of the colors. Hope that helps.
I am also wondering how many boxes you used for the rainbow cake and what size pans?
I used 8 inch pans and did 3 boxes. Enjoy!
Hi, would something like the Wilton food gel coloring work or only use the liquid? Thanks!
Oops, I meant to post this on the rainbow cake post, but I just saw you did use the Wilton gel. Sorry! 🙂
Hi, How do you use wet strips to make the cake even? And what are they? Thanks!
Hi! Sorry it took me a few days to write back. I’ve been on vacation. Baking strips are basically a strip you dip in water and pin to the side of your pan. It keeps the edge of the pan cool so that the edge doesn’t cook faster than the inside. It helps the center of the cake to not bubble up as high as the outside cooks faster. Here is a link to some on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000DDXL6/?tag=hyprod-20&hvadid=15468074019&hvpos=1o3&hvexid=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=960705251874054782&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&ref=asc_df_B0000DDXL6 Hope that helps.
Hi Jodi,
I’m in Australia and saw your recipe here and would love to try this recipe to bake a cake for my niece 2nd birthday. For the cake mix we have here generally ask for vegetable oil, do I not need to add any additional ingredients requested on the box but instead just add the additional ingredients you suggested? (In this case, like you mentioned in one of the post, sour cream replaced oil/butter?) Thanks!!
KC
Yup, you have it KC. Just ignore the box recipe completely. I hope you love it.
Thanks! Just wondering if this recipe is suitable for covering with fondant? Many thanks !!
Yup – it works great. I do most of my cakes in fondant, and this is my #1 white cake recipe.
I made this recipe for my daughter’s first birthday. I made six 8″ rounds – one in each color of the rainbow. I also had some left over for cupcakes (taste testing!) and it is delicious. So glad I found the link on Pinterest. Thanks!
What a beautiful cake, I want to make it for my daughter’s fifth birthday party. Could you give me the recipe for your fondant? What a great idea!
I made this for our Easter gathering and the cake was delish! I will be making this again for my daughter’s upcoming birthday!
Yeah! I’m so glad you loved it. We’re doing it for my daughter’s birthday this weekend too.
Have you tried using a box chocolate cake mix instead of the vanilla? curious !
I actually have tried, and it didn’t work as well. It was still edible but just not great. Really good question.
Your recipe says 1 boxed cake mix, the cake mix i have is betty crocker and it’s 16.25oz. I know betty crocker has downsized from 18.25oz. how many ounces does this recipe call for?
So interesting! I just checked the boxes I used, and they are 15.25 oz. I hadn’t paid attention until now. I wonder why there is a discrepancy. My Betty Crocker is 15.25 too. I have both Betty Crocker and Pillsbury. I hope that’s helpful. It’s odd though.
What kind of flour? All purpose or self rising?
Just all purpose. LEt me know what you think!
It turned out well I really like the cake it is fluffy and a good consistency I will be making the rainbow cake for my nephew’s party next weekend so glad I found your recipe it really is great!
I’m so glad you love it. Have fun making the rainbow cake. It’s a crowd pleaser. Thanks so much for commenting!