This Homemade Vanilla Cake Mix is super easy to put together and store in your pantry for those days you want to put together a quick, delicious vanilla cake! Make several to keep on hand – or to give as gifts. I’ve even included a cute little tag you can print out with the ingredients and instructions for baking later!
We all have those times in life that are super busy and we need a little shortcut. Baking can even be one of those things we need a shortcut with. Though I love to bake and enjoy the process of putting everything together for a wonderful cake, there are times that I just want to grab a mix out of the pantry and have part of process already done for me.
This cake mix is perfect for those days!
The mix includes flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. All your main dry ingredients really. Just combine them in a bowl and add them to a well sealed mason jar and you’re all set! It’s a fair amount of mix, so I used a 32 oz size mason jar. I had to do a little tapping of the jar on the table to get everything to pack down so could I fit it all. 🙂
Once your mix is ready, feel free to download and print the cake mix tag to add to it so you have the ingredients list and instructions handy when you’re ready to bake it. It’s a straightforward mix, which is perfect for a cake mix. No need to cream anything – just combine and mix together!
It bakes up into a lovely and super moist vanilla cake! I love how simple it is to make and the 9×13 size is great for something quick, easy and transportable if you feel like sharing. 🙂 Is there anything better than a quick, easy cake to get your fix?
More Cake Recipes
- Moist Vanilla Layer Cake
- Easy Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting
- Moist Vanilla Cupcakes
- Easy Moist Chocolate Cake
- White Cake
Homemade Vanilla Cake Mix
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 32 minutes
- Total Time: 42 minutes
- Yield: 14–16 Servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Homemade Vanilla Cake Mix is super easy to put together and store in your pantry for those days you want to put together a quick, delicious vanilla cake!
Ingredients
DRY INGREDIENTS FOR CAKE MIX
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all purpose flour
- 2 cups (414g) sugar
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
WET INGREDIENTS TO FINISH CAKE
- 1 cup (240ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (240ml) hot water
Instructions
1. To make the cake mix, combine the dry ingredients and mix well.
2. Add the dry mix to a large sealable container. I used 32 oz mason jars. Seal and store until ready to make. Print the tag with ingredients and instructions to add to the jar.
3. To finish the cake, preheat oven to 350°F (176°C) and grease a 9×13 inch cake pan.
4. Add the milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract and eggs to a medium sized bowl and combine.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry cake mix and mix until well combined.
6. Slowly add the hot water to the batter and mix on low speed until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed to make sure everything is well combined. The batter will be very thin.
7. Pour the batter into the greased cake pan and bake for 28-32 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs.
8. Allow the cake to cool and frost it with the Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Slice
- Calories: 462
- Sugar: 50.3 g
- Sodium: 209.2 mg
- Fat: 20.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 66.6 g
- Protein: 4.5 g
- Cholesterol: 40.8 mg
Enjoy!
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Just wanted to complement you on this recipe! It was quick and easy and very forgiving. I mixed the dry ingredients after sifting well and used half, storing the remainder. I just wanted an 8 inch round cake to serve with some fresh berry compote a neighbor brought over. Of course, I only used half the wet ingredients and I did use melted, cooled butter instead of oil. Also, I forgot to heat the water! However, it turned out beautifully! It was the perfect volume for a 8 inch cake pan. It was dense and rich but very moist. The best part? I made it after dinner one night and left it on the counter in a Tupperware cake box. My husband was locking up the house before bed, saw it on the counter and thought I forgot to refrigerate it. The next morning I saw it in the refrigerator and immediately thought it would be dried out. However we ate it that night and the consistency was perfect and moist. My husband can’t stop talking about how much better it is than a box mix, which I always use unless it’s a birthday or holiday. But, never again will I use a box mix! This recipe is much better and just as convenient!
I’m so glad to hear it worked out well and that everyone enjoyed it!
I just made this and it is soooo good!! Thank you so much!! So moist and yummy it doesn’t need any frosting! Also mine took 40 minutes to bake – probably the type of pretty dish I was using.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
This looks absolutely lovely, I am wondering how I would be able to break it down to just make a small cake for one? I sometimes get a craving and bake like crazy and then once I have had the first slice the rest of the cake remains in the fridge for weeks and I end up throwing it away. Can I break this down to one serving to space it out and eat when the craving comes;)
You could try cutting the recipe down, but one serving would be extremely tiny measurements. I would see what math makes sense to break it down to and make that amount. It’s probably gonna be more like a handful of cupcakes.
Question. If you put all this and store it in your pantry could you make just a few cuocakes at a time instead of the entire jar? What would you think the breakdown would be of the additional ingredients? Say 4-6 at a time? If it won’t work then that’s ok but sometimes you just want a few not the entire 12 or 24 that would be in the mix.
Thank you
I imagine it would be OK, you would just need to do a little math lol. If you use about a fourth of the dry ingredients, that should give you roughly 6 cupcakes. So you want to make sure to measure that correctly and then use a fourth of the wet ingredients. I hope that helps!
After combining everything do you need to bake immediately or can it wait? I am making 2 6” cakes but only have 1 6” pan
It should be fine to bake them one at a time.
Wish I could post a picture…I knew I was in trouble when the mix came out looking similar to pancake batter but I’m about half way thru baking now and I have a raised dark brown rectangular bubble in the middle while the rest of cake isn’t cooked 😂 I followed recipe at all parts so fingers crossed just glad I’m using this for cake pops anyways
It’s definitely a very thin batter, so that sounds correct. I hope it turned out well!
Mine did a dark brown rectangle in the middle too!
Do you know if substituting applesauce for the oil will work. We don’t use Vegetable Oil and this cake looks amazing. I really want to make for my daughter birthday. Any suggestions or help?
I don’t know. I haven’t tried it. I’m sorry!
Use avocado oil.
Good recipe, very useful for many occasions. Ive cut the sugar down about 20% to suit my tastes. Im using it as a plain base for matcha cupcakes with good success.
Just curious on what I can use instead of Vegetable Oil. We no longer use it and I usually use applesauce with the box mix. I really want to make this fir my daughter’s birthday. Any suggestions?
Use one large can of pumpkin. It’s really only super great with chocolate but it makes dreamy 😍 chocolate cake!
Hello!!! Can I use a Bundy cake pan for this receipe?
I haven’t tried a bundt pan for this cake, but you could try!
Hi I was wondering if I had to use milk? Or could I use something else or maybe more water?
I’ve heard people having success with buttermilk, but I haven’t tried, so I’m not sure. Sorry!
Hello I was jist wondering if I can use less oil than that or do I need to use the exact instructions? Plz reply soon since im making it right now.
Would you be replacing it with something else? It’s usually safest to follow the recipe as written, but you could always try changing it up.
Just have to say your vanilla sponge is a life saver, used your recipe for my rainbow cake. It was perfect.
Awesome! I’m so glad you found the recipe helpful!
Hello, hello!
I was just wondering how long this would the mix last shelved in the Mason jar?
It should last for at least a month.
Hey, I want to make a neopolitan cake using the cake mix, can u help out here . I want to divide the cake into 3 different pans/layers but im not sure how i would flavor one layer chocolate the other strawberry and the last one vanilla can u please let me know how to do it and how much to put of the certain ingredient? I would very much appreciate it
Thank you
Is this an old family recipe, one you’ve doctored, or one you found?
It’s a recipe I altered from this chocolate cake for a vanilla version, which had been requested quite a bit.
These cupcakes are amazing!!!ive made them three times and everyone loves them
Can you easily make this cake a chocolate one? Or just the frosting? Just curious to how much cocoa I would need to put in
Here’s the chocolate version of this cake.