Skip to content

Top Navigation

Food & Wine Food & Wine
  • Recipes & Cooking
  • Drinks
  • Travel
  • Holidays + Events
  • News
  • F&W Classic
  • Video
  • Lifestyle
  • F&W Pro
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • F&W Classic Insiders this link opens in a new tab
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Wine Club
  • Podcast
  • Food & Wine Books this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Food & Wine

Food & Wine Food & Wine
  • Explore

    Explore

    • F&W Cooks

      F&W Cooks

      Food and Wine presents a new network of food pros delivering the most cookable recipes and delicious ideas online. Read More
    • Our 22 Best Crock Pot and Slow-Cooker Recipes

      Our 22 Best Crock Pot and Slow-Cooker Recipes

      Looking to amp up your beef stew but unsure where to start? A slow cooker can can take your comfort food to the next level. Read More
    • 50 Affordable Wines You Can Always Trust

      50 Affordable Wines You Can Always Trust

      We’ve assembled a list of 50 of the world’s most reliable, inexpensive wines – bottles that offer amazing quality for their price year in and year out. Read More
  • Recipes & Cooking

    Recipes & Cooking

    See All Recipes & Cooking
    • Chicken
    • Comfort Food
    • Breakfast + Brunch
    • Salads
    • Desserts
    • Vegetables
    • Pasta + Noodles
    • Chefs
    • Meat + Poultry
    • Soup
    • Appetizers
    • Side Dishes
    • Fruits
    • Seafood
    • Special Diets
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Steal This Trick
  • Drinks

    Drinks

    See All Drinks
    • Wine
    • Spirits
    • Coffee
    • Juices
    • Beer
    • Champagne + Sparkling Wine
    • Tea
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel
    • Wine Regions
    • Restaurants
  • Holidays + Events

    Holidays + Events

    See All Holidays + Events
    • Valentine's Day
    • Halloween
    • Passover
    • Hanukkah
    • Christmas
    • Gifts
    • Super Bowl
    • Easter
    • Thanksgiving
    • New Year's Eve
    • Holiday Entertaining
  • News
  • F&W Classic

    F&W Classic

    See All F&W Classic
    • F&W Classic Insider
    • Food & Wine Classic in Aspen
  • Video
  • Lifestyle
  • F&W Pro
  • About Us

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Your Profile

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • F&W Classic Insiders this link opens in a new tab
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Wine Club
  • Podcast
  • Food & Wine Books this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Recipes
  3. Desserts
  4. Cake
  5. Vanilla Cakes

Vanilla Cakes

By Food & Wine Editors Updated November 09, 2016
Skip gallery slides
FB Tweet
Vanilla Bean Cake
Vanilla cake is a birthday go-to, whether you prefer chocolate icing or raspberry buttercream. We like to punch up classic vanilla cake by using brown butter or salted caramel, and topping with crunchy, chocolaty peanuts or extra-rich chocolate buttercream. One of our favorite vanilla cake recipes was inspired by the signature dessert at Citarella in New York. The vanilla flavor comes from split vanilla beans, and the cake uses white chocolate both in the batter and as a topping. It's a truly luxurious dessert, and though the batter needs to chill overnight, there's just a handful of ingredients. Here, our best vanilla cake recipes.
Start Slideshow

1 of 6

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Yellow Layer Cake with Vanilla Frosting

Yellow Layer Cake with Vanilla Frosting
Credit: Fredrika Stjärne
Go to Recipe

This simple cake is perfect for everything from birthday parties to picnics.

1 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 6

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Vanilla Bean Golden Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Vanilla Bean Golden Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
Go to Recipe

These lovely, gluten-free cupcakes are flavored with both vanilla beans and vanilla seeds.

2 of 6

3 of 6

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Brown-Butter Layer Cake

Brown-Butter Layer Cake
Go to Recipe

Seattle chef Tom Douglas uses brown butter for an indulgent nutty flavor in this fun twist on a classic white cake.

3 of 6

Advertisement

4 of 6

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Vanilla Bean Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce

Vanilla Bean Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce
Go to Recipe

"I tried making this as an upside-down cake, which was a disaster, but then I realized I could just pour the caramel on top," Valerie Gordon says.

4 of 6

5 of 6

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Cream and Raspberries

Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Cream and Raspberries
Credit: © Quentin Bacon
Go to Recipe

Bill Yosses of New York City's Josephs (formerly Citarella) has a split personality. The flamboyant Bill, the boy-genius pastry chef, appeared at a local chocolate show in full 17th-century regalia. The geeky Bill, on the other hand, gets so sidetracked contemplating the differences between a peach cobbler and a peach betty for his book The Perfect Finish that they both burn in the oven. Bill's two sides make him push his desserts to the limit, whether he's adding black sesame powder to his meringues or doubling the butter in the delectable lemon curd that tops these cupcakes.

5 of 6

6 of 6

FB Tweet
Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Vanilla Bean Cake

Vanilla Bean Cake
Go to Recipe

This is a version of pastry chef Bill Yosses's signature dessert at Citarella Restaurant, in New York City. The batter needs to chill for at least 8 hours before baking, so plan accordingly.

6 of 6

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Food & Wine Editors

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 6 Yellow Layer Cake with Vanilla Frosting
    2 of 6 Vanilla Bean Golden Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting
    3 of 6 Brown-Butter Layer Cake
    4 of 6 Vanilla Bean Cake with Salted Caramel Sauce
    5 of 6 Vanilla Cupcakes with Lemon Cream and Raspberries
    6 of 6 Vanilla Bean Cake

    Share & More

    Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print
    Food & Wine

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Books from Food & Wine
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Sign Up
    MeredithFood & Wine is part of the Meredith Corporation Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Food & Wine. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.foodandwine.com

    Sign in

    View image

    Vanilla Cakes
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.