Vanilla Cake Lab126 recipes
← Vanilla Cake Lab

What goes into vanilla cake

The main ingredient list of all 126 recipes, with names merged so one choice counts once: unsalted and salted butter are butter, light and dark brown sugar are brown sugar, kosher and table salt are salt. Different flours stay apart. Frosting, glaze and other extras are counted on their own at the end.

In short

  • Nearly all vanilla cake recipes use butter (93%); 45% use oil, and 38% use both.
  • For leavening, 61% use baking powder alone and 35% baking powder and baking soda together.
  • For dairy, 39% use milk alone, 30% buttermilk alone, and 15% milk and sour cream together.
  • For eggs, 56% use whole eggs alone, 26% egg whites alone, and 7% whole eggs and egg yolks together.
  • 9% add coconut, candy or chips, 3% nuts and 3% chocolate; 84% add none of these.

The main choices

Each block sorts every recipe into one group by a single decision. Amounts are the median among recipes in that group, scaled to 300 g of flour, the size of a typical cake. The recipe named under each group is the one in it closest to the typical cake on every ingredient.

Butter, oil or both

Each recipe counted once, by the fats in its main ingredient list.

Margarine and vegan butter count as butter (1 recipe). Oil includes coconut oil (1 recipe).

Baking soda, baking powder or both

Each recipe counted once, by what it relies on to rise.

  • Baking powder only

    median 12 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: White Cake (lifeloveandsugar.com)

    61%78 recipes

  • Baking powder and baking soda

    median 11 g baking soda and powder · closest to typical: Best-Ever Yellow Cake With Whipped Ganache Frosting (biggerbolderbaking.com)

    35%45 recipes

  • Everything else

    2%3 recipes

Which dairy

Each recipe counted once, by the dairy in its main ingredient list. Butter is counted with the fats.

Whole eggs, yolks or whites

Each recipe counted once, by the parts of the egg it uses.

  • Whole eggs only

    median 171 g egg · closest to typical: Best-Ever Yellow Cake With Whipped Ganache Frosting (biggerbolderbaking.com)

    56%71 recipes

  • Egg whites only

    median 165 g egg · closest to typical: White Cake (lifeloveandsugar.com)

    26%33 recipes

  • Whole eggs and egg yolks

    median 156 g egg · closest to typical: Vanilla Layer Cake (completelydelicious.com)

    7%10 recipes

  • Whole eggs and egg whites

    median 199 g egg · closest to typical: Vanilla Birthday Cake (kingarthurbaking.com)

    5%7 recipes

  • Egg whites and egg yolks

    median 218 g egg · closest to typical: Yellow Cake Recipe (livewellbakeoften.com)

    3%5 recipes

A large egg is about 50 g out of the shell, a yolk about 18 g, a white about 32 g.

Which flour

Each recipe counted once, by the flours it combines.

Add-ins

Share of recipes that add at least one of each. A recipe can add several, so the shares do not sum to 100%. 84% add none of these.

  • Coconut, candy or chips9%

    sprinkles 9%

  • Nuts3%

    almonds 2%

  • Chocolate3%

    bar chocolate 1%

How often each ingredient appears

Share of the 126 recipes that list it at least once, for every ingredient in 5% or more of them. The median amount is among recipes that use it and give a weighable amount, scaled to 300 g of flour; for a flour, it is that flour's share of all the flour in the recipe.

  1. Granulated sugar100%

    126 recipes · median 320 g

  2. Baking powder97%

    123 recipes · median 11 g

  3. Salt94%

    119 recipes · median 3.2 g

  4. Vanilla94%

    119 recipes · median 11 g

  5. Butter92%

    117 recipes · median 179 g

  6. Eggs69%

    88 recipes · median 160 g (about 3 large eggs)

  7. Milk57%

    73 recipes · median 213 g

  8. All-purpose flour57%

    72 recipes · median: all of the flour

  9. Vegetable oil44%

    56 recipes · median 70 g

  10. Cake flour40%

    51 recipes · median: all of the flour

  11. Baking soda37%

    47 recipes · median 2.9 g

  12. Egg whites35%

    45 recipes · median 158 g

  13. Buttermilk32%

    41 recipes · median 244 g

  14. Sour cream25%

    32 recipes · median 153 g

  15. Egg yolks11%

    15 recipes · median 43 g

  16. Almond extract11%

    14 recipes · median 3.5 g

  17. Sprinkles9%

    12 recipes · median 92 g

  18. Water5%

    7 recipes · median 107 g

Toppings and extras

65% of recipes (82 of 126) list something beyond the main recipe: a frosting, glaze, filling, crumb topping, a boiling bath or a sprinkle on top. None of it is counted above. The most common extra ingredients, as a share of all recipes:

  • Powdered sugar52% (66)
  • Butter51% (65)
  • Vanilla42% (53)
  • Salt38% (48)
  • Cream27% (35)
  • Milk19% (24)
  • Sprinkles13% (17)
  • Cocoa powder12% (16)
  • Cream cheese7% (10)
  • Bar chocolate5% (7)

How the ingredients are counted

A recipe uses an ingredient when any line of its main ingredient list names it. Names are merged by the words in them, so “1 cup unsalted butter, softened” and “salted butter” are both butter, and a line that offers a choice (“walnuts or pecans”) counts as the first one named. Canola, vegetable and other neutral oils are one oil; coconut and olive oil are listed on their own.

Lines only for greasing the pan are left out. Lines for brushing, sprinkling or serving, and lines that belong to a frosting, glaze, filling or topping, count as extras.

Amounts come from the grams on each recipe page: printed by the source, or converted from cups and spoons with standard densities. Scaling them to 300 g of flour lets a small recipe and a double batch line up. Percentages are rounded down.