What could be more beautiful than a vanilla cake layered with delicate, pink buttercream? Topped with a stunning peony, too? Dear Lord.
Peony Vanilla Cake
A stunning cake!
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS:
For the Cake:
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 213g
- 1 cup granulated sugar 200g
- 1/4 tsp baking soda 1g, heaping
- 1 tsp baking powder 3g, heaping
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter 176g, room temperature
- 3 egg whites room temperature
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup sour cream 120ml, room temperature
- 1/2 cup whole milk 120ml, room temperature
For the Buttercream:
- 1 lb confectioner's sugar 462g
- 2 sticks unsalted butter 228g
- 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream 120ml
- 1 tsp vanilla extract 5mL
- Food coloring if desired
- 1 Peony
- Floral tape
- 1 sprig of sweet pea flowers
Instructions
INSTRUCTIONS
For the Cake:
Butter and flour three 6-inch pans. I use damp cake strips on my pans for more even baking as well. Preheat oven to 340F.
Sift the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the wet ingredients together.
Add the wet to the dry and mix until combined. Divide the mixture evenly into the cake pans. I like to use a kitchen scale to measure for even layers.
Bake for 30 -35 minutes or until the centers are set and springy.
Let the layers cool in the pans for about 4 minutes, then dump each layer out onto a cooling rack.
For the Vanilla Buttercream:
Beat the room temperature butter until light and fluffy. Add the confectioners' sugar, vanilla, food coloring and heavy cream. Mix together until a desired consistency is reached. Transfer to a piping bag.
For the Assembly:
Pipe buttercream between the cake layer.
Cover the cake with a thin crumb coat and chill for a few minutes. Smooth out.
Once the cake has chilled, pipe buttercream on the outside of the cake. With a steady hand and work your way around the cake until it is completely covered with the buttercream.
- Using floral tape, prep the stem to be smooth. Add to the top of the cake.
Hi,
I dont have sour cream. Can i substitue for yogurt or cream cheese? Which is better? Thank you
Holud,
Plain yogurt is a great substitute for sour cream!
John
What do you do with the butter?
Liz,
Cream the butter with the confectioners sugar and heavy cream! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
John
Hi John!
Do you recommend using whole eggs on this cake instead of just egg whites?
Tessa,
I used egg whites in this cake! Hope that helps!
John
Hi John,
Could I add food coloring to this cake batter? I am supposed to make a rainbow cake for a friend and your recipe looks the yummiest-
Rebecca,
Absolutely! You could also make a big batch of buttercream and separate into multiple colors! Hope you enjoy the cake!
John
Hello! I’ was browsing through your delicious recipes and it seems that you use different flour/sugar ratios for the same liquid ingredients (3 egg whites, 1/2 cup milk and sour cream, 170 gr butter). Did I see it right? If so, this results in different cake textures, but always with good results, right? Also is it fine to use the beaten butter+ flour+liquids ou flour+iiquids and butter tecnhique?
Thanks! Greetings from Portugal!
Cecilia,
The liquids and dry ingredients are correct! For this recipe I whisk the wet and dry separately, then combine before pouring into the cake pans. If you heat up your butter to almost melted, it will combine with the liquids a little easier! Hope that helps!
John
Hi John i tried this recipe today the results were good however the conversions from cup measurements to grms seem to be off for example for the sponge recipes u describe the sugar 1 cup being 228g …..228g of the granulated sugar id more than i cup its more that a cup and a half i weighed it and it looked like too much so tried it in a cup ….im confused could you clarify please
much appriciated
Judith,
My measurements for sugar must have been off! My primary form of measurement is the U.S. metric conversion but I’m trying my hardest to get everything in grams too! Thanks for pointing that out!
John
Hi John,
Do you have a substitute for sour cream (no yoghurt in the fridge either). I’m about to try this recipe after watching some of your videos but don’t have sour cream on hand.
Thanks!
Jenna
Jenna,
Yogurt is my go to substitute for sour cream! You could maybe try crème fraîche if it’s available! Hope I could help!
John
Can I just this recipe to make fondant cake ?
Stephanie,
I never use fondant on my cakes, so I don’t have a lot of experience! As long as you chill it before, it should be totally fine. Hope you love this delicious recipe!
John
Hello! Is this a 6×2 or a 6×3 pan?
hana,
I think it’s a 6×3 but I don’t fill the pan to the top when baking!
John
I am wanting to use this recipe and technique. However, I noticed your instructions are for a 6” cake and all I have are 9” cake pans. What would you recommend for the same results with a three-layer 9” cake?
Tiffany,
You can use 9inch pans for this recipe, but I would triple it!
John
Is this cake dense a light and fully? I am worried that the sour cream might make it super dense and heavy 🙁
Ammara,
The sour cream keeps the cake nice and moist! It should be fluffy!
John
Hi John,
Do you ever bake on convection? I’ve been noticing more even results with other baked goods but I’m new to cakes. Just curious if any of your bake times account for convection or if I’ll need to modify on my own.
Thank you!
Lauren
Lauren,
I always bake with a conventional oven!
John
Would you use this buttercream recipe to pipe flowers or is it too soft? Can it be changed to stiff consistency or do you use a different recipe to pipe flowers?
Carolyn,
You can definitely use this buttercream to pipe flowers! Don’t add milk or cream when you’re mixing it up! If it isn’t thick enough, just keep adding powdered sugar!
John
Thanks John hope to try this soon.
Hi John,
Do you bake on convection? If so, what’s the right temp?
Thanks!
Lauren
Lauren,
I always use a conventional oven when I bake!
John
Your video about the cake strips that references this recipe shows melted butter but this lists room temperature butter. Does it make a difference?
Add I reading correctly, to make 2 9″ rounds I would triple the batter recipe? If it makes 3 6″ as is why would you need to increase so much? Thanks
Jennifer,
I would triple the cake batter to be safe! Use the extra for cupcakes!
John
Would you say the texture & taste of this cake is “close” to a genoise cake? I love that kind of cake but it’s more demanding to make. Or, do you have another recipe here you’d recommend for that? A pic of a cut slice of this vanilla cake would be great. And for a two-layer 9″ cake, do I need to double the recipe? Your pics are gorgeous!! Thank you.
Arline Kay,
I don’t have a genoise cake recipe on the blog, but this cake is very fluffy and moist! I would double the recipe for two 9inch layers and use the extra for cupcakes!
John
Hi John,
If I only have 1 -2 pan in 6″ instead of 3 pans, do I have to increase the baking time?
Thank you so much for your useful information!
Have a nice day.
Koyi,
I wouldn’t overfill the pans with extra batter because they’ll dome! Bake two regular layers and use the rest for cupcakes or bake the third layer separately after the two are done! Hope that helps!
John
Hi
I love this recipe! It is the best vanilla sponge I have ever made. I’m looking for a chocolate version, do you have one?
Thank you!
Julie
York, England
Julie,
I’m so happy you like it! Check out my ultimate chocolate cake ! Or add 1/4 cocoa powder to this recipe the next time you make it!
John
This recipe looks great! If I were to make two tiers with this recipe – two 9 inch rounds + two 6 inch rounds – how much would I increase the ingredients? Would 1.5x be enough or should I double it? Thanks!! Also, I ordered cake strips today because of your YouTube video. I excited to bake with them this weekend! Thanks!
Trish,
I would actually quadruple the recipe! I know it sounds like a lot, but you can use any extra batter for cupcakes or mini bundt! Hope that helps!
John
Can I use two 9inch pans instead of 6
Udeeg,
Triple the batter!
John