Some recipes are meant for celebrations. Others belong to the quiet rhythm of everyday life.
This is the kind of cake that sits somewhere in the middle — simple enough for an ordinary afternoon, but lovely enough to share when someone drops by for coffee.
It’s a single layer vanilla cake, made with pantry ingredients and real butter, the sort of recipe that used to live in handwritten notebooks tucked inside kitchen drawers. Nothing complicated, nothing fussy — just a soft, buttery crumb and the familiar scent of vanilla filling the kitchen.
Sometimes the best recipes are the ones that don’t try too hard.
This cake is one of those.
It can be used as a stand-alone one layered cake, or you can make a couple and make it a layered cake.
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup butter, softened
- ¾ cup sugar
- 2 large eggs (room temp)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ cup whole milk (room temp)
(½ cup of butter is equal to half of a large block of Kerrygold butter.)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease an 8-inch round cake pan, lining the bottom with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
In a separate bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar together for about 2–3 minutes, until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. This step helps create the cake’s tender texture.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
Next, add the flour mixture and the milk in alternating portions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix just until the batter is smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
Bake for 28–32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.
Before serving, dust the cake lightly with powdered sugar or spread with a simple vanilla buttercream.