Moist French Vanilla Cake Recipe from Scratch (2024)

4.69 from 70 votes

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: french vanilla cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

For the cake:

• 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 3.4 oz small box dry instant french vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup french vanilla coffee creamer (I get this from the refrigerated section. It's the creamer in the milk section, not the dry powdered creamer. This really pumps up the flavor and the moistness. See notes for substitution options.
• ½ cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoon oil
• 2 teaspoon french vanilla extract (French vanilla extract adds a different type of vanilla flavor than regular extract, but if you don’t have it or can’t get it, you can use regular vanilla extract instead in the same amount.)
• 1 cup butter (slightly cooler than room temp)
• 1 ⅔ cups sugar
• 3 large eggs

For the buttercream:

• ¼ cup milk
• 2 tablespoon dry french vanilla pudding mix
• 2 cups butter (room temperature)
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 7 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon french vanilla extract (If you can’t get this, you can substitute with regular vanilla extract)
• ¼ cup french vanilla coffee creamer (If you don’t have this, you can substitute with cream or milk)

US Customary – Metric

For the cake:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

• Grease and flour two 8″ round cake pans and set aside.

• In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and small package of dry instant french vanilla pudding. Whisk well and set aside.

• In another bowl, add the french vanilla coffee creamer, milk, oil and french vanilla (or regular vanilla) extract. Whisk well and set aside.

• In a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature butter and mix on medium until smooth. Add in the sugar and mix on medium and then on medium high for several minutes until light and fluffy.

• Add in the eggs one at a time and mix on medium just until combined. Only mix until the egg is just incorporated. Try not to over mix. If your eggs are super cold, your batter may look a little curdled at this point, but just keep going.

• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again on medium, just until everything is incorporated.

• Alternately add in the flour mixture and the liquid mixture. Starting and ending with the flour mixture. (Add in ⅓ of the flour mixture and mix on medium just until combined. Add in ½ the liquid mixture, mixing only until combined. Add in another ⅓ of the flour mixture, mixing only until combined. Add in the last of the liquid mixture, mixing only until combined, then the last of the flour mixture and mix until combined.)

• Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again until well combined. You only want to mix until well combined, which is about 15 seconds. Mixing for several minutes is too long for a scratch cake.

• Divide batter into the prepared pans. Batter will be quite thick so just spread it around evenly in your pans.

• Bake at 325 degrees for approximately 55 – 60 minutes. The cake will be a little darker than the normal golden brown. Insert a toothpick somewhere in the middle and a few moist crumbs should stick to the toothpick.

• Remove from the oven and cool in the pan on a wire rack for about 20 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool completely before adding buttercream.

For the buttercream:

• In a small bowl, add the milk and the two tablespoons of dry french vanilla pudding mix. Whisk well and set aside.

• In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter well for a minute or two on medium/low to medium speed.

• Add in three cups of confectioner’s sugar and the salt and mix on low until incorporated and then medium until well mixed.

• Add one tablespoon of french vanilla creamer and mix on low, then medium until incorporated.

• Add the last four cups of confectioner’s sugar and mix on low until incorporated and then medium until well mixed.

• Add in the milk and pudding mixture plus the vanilla extract and mix on low until incorporated, then on medium until well mixed.

• Check the consistency. If it’s too thick, add another tablespoon of the french vanilla coffee creamer and mix again. You may need to add more cream, or milk to get the correct spreading consistency.

• Once you reach the consistency desired, beat on medium speed for a couple minutes until fluffy, then spread onto cake.

*If you can’t get french vanilla creamer:

• Per a comment left on this post, try using half vanilla and half hazelnut creamer to get the French vanilla flavor. (Thanks to Dena for this suggestion.)
• You could also just replace the creamer with half & half cream, heavy cream, or whole milk.

This cake can be stored in the fridge for approximately 5-6 days.

Make sure to read the tips & faq section in the blog post for frequently asked questions about this recipe.

This recipe card may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.