This Vanilla Almond Cake is a light, fluffy snacking cake with a delicate nutty flavor that perfectly complements its sweet, moist crumb. Topped with a smooth, creamy whipped cream cheese frosting, it offers a perfect balance of sweetness and tang, making every bite feel indulgent, yet light. The subtle almond flavoring elevates the classic vanilla taste, making it the perfect dessert for any occasion.
After baking this Vanilla Almond Cake, I brought it in to share with my co-workers, and it was a hit! Everyone who tried it absolutely loved it. The almond flavor shines through, but it’s not overpowering; just the perfect hint. Paired with the silky smooth whipped cream cheese frosting, it’s the ideal cake to enjoy with loved ones, at birthdays, or alongside a cozy afternoon cup of tea.
I used my Vanilla Cake Recipe for the base, and the light whipped cream cheese frosting is truly the cherry on top. Once you make this cake, it’s sure to become a new favorite!
If you love almond-flavored cakes, try my Cherry Almond Cake or Raspberry Almond Cake.
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♥ Why You'll Love This Recipe
Vanilla cake - I've made this base cake so many times, from a delicious Vanilla Sheet Cake, to simple Vanilla Cupcakes! It's the perfect base recipe for absolutely any type of cake you want to make.
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting - The frosting is an absolute DREAM! It's SO smooth and silky and incredibly light. It's lightly flavored with almond emulsion, which gives a delicious nutty flavor. You'll be obsessed from the first bite.
Easy and simple - We all love an easy cake, right? Just whip it up in one bowl and then frost it! It's so simple to make and you'll be making this one on repeat.
Snacking cake - I LOVE snacking cakes, especially if they're single layer! Small? Check. Delicious? Check. Simple? Check. Try my Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting for another delicious snacking cake!
📝 Ingredient Notes
A full list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions are located in the recipe card at the end of the post.
Vanilla Almond Cake
- Flour: I have made this cake with bread flour, cake flour, and all purpose flour. The bread flour was a mistake of me not paying attention to what I was grabbing from the pantry, but I'm glad I tried it because it made me see that it wasn't the type of flour I wanted in this cake. Cake flour didn't turn out as well as I would have thought! I loved the texture with all purpose flour the best!
- Butter: Creaming butter and sugar together gives the cake an airy and light texture. Make sure it's softened to room temperature.
- Oil: Use any kind of neutral oil. I alternate between vegetable or light olive oil. Whatever I have on hand.
- Eggs: I use whole eggs + eggs whites. Make sure to only use 2 eggs + 2 egg whites. By leaving out 2 yolks, the cake comes out more fluffy.
- Leavenings: Both baking soda and baking powder are used. The acid from the buttermilk activates the baking soda, but baking powder is also essential for a fluffy and risen cake.
- Buttermilk: I love what buttermilk does to cakes. It creates a beautifully moist cake!
- Almond Emulsion: I don't buy extracts that contain alcohol, so I tend to buy non-alcoholic vanilla extract. For other flavorings, I like to use emulsions. The flavors are very strong and they don't bake out once baked. If you have almond extract, use the same amount.
Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cream Cheese: Full-fat block cream cheese. Make sure it's cold out of the fridge.
- Heavy Whipping Cream: Make sure it's very cold and that your bowl is also very cold.
See recipe card for quantities.
🍴Special Equipment
Kitchen Scale: It's so important to use a kitchen scale for accurate results.
Baking Pan: My favorite 8 inch Square pan is from USA pan. It has straight edges, bakes evenly, and never fails. I highly recommend purchasing a good quality baking pan for your cakes.
Mixing bowls: I love using glass Mixing Bowls when making batters and doughs.
Mixer: You can use a stand mixer, or a handheld mixer to make the cake and frosting.
⇄ Substitutions
Oil - Use any type of neutral oil you have, like vegetable, canola, light olive oil, or avocado oil. Anything that won't come through in the cake.
Buttermilk - I personally don't suggest substituting since I think buttermilk substitutions aren't as great as the original. But if you have to, add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to regular whole milk.
✨ Variations
Frosting - You can leave out the almond emulsion if you like. Or switch up and use a regular cream cheese frosting, or even plain vanilla frosting. You could add flavorings to the frosting and make it a chocolate frosting or strawberry frosting.
Berries - Serve this cake with some berries on top or on the side for added freshness! It would go so well.
Sizing - This cake can be made into cupcakes, which will yield 12 cupcakes. You can also double the recipe and bake it in three 8 inch pans for a layered cake or in a 9x13 pan for a sheet cake.
𓎩 Step-by-Step Instructions
A few instruction photos to help you nail this recipe every time.
Prep
Preheat the oven to 350℉ / 178℃
Grease & line an 8x8 metal baking pan with parchment paper and set aside.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and whisk until combined.
Cream butter & sugar
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could also use a hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, light in color, about 3 minutes. Then add the oil and mix for 30 seconds.
💡 Hint: Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature to help the batter mix properly.
Add eggs & vanilla
Add in the eggs + egg white, vanilla extract, and almond extract, and beat well until completely combined.
Alternate dry & wet
Sift in half the dry ingredients and slowly mix, then add all the buttermilk and mix for 20 seconds, then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. You don't want to over mix this batter.
Bake
Pour into the prepared pan and bake in the middle rack of your oven for 20-25 minutes (start checking at 20 minutes). A toothpick inserted should come out clean. Let cool before removing from the pan or frosting.
Make the frosting
In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could use a hand mixer), beat cream cheese until smooth, about a couple minutes. Add the salt, almond extract, and powdered sugar and beat until completely combined and smooth, with no visible lumps.
Pour in the cold heavy whipping cream and beat until the frosting has thickened up, about a minute. When removing the whisk or beaters, the frosting should keep its form and not be runny at all! Stop once you reach this firm stage.
Frost the cooled cake and enjoy. Make sure to keep this cake refrigerated.
💬 FAQ
Yes, you can leave it out for a plain vanilla cake!
Yes! Absolutely. Double the recipe then divide the batter into 3 8-inch pans and bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
If you don't have buttermilk, you can make a quick substitute by adding 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to your milk. Let it sit for about 5 minutes before using it in the recipe.
Once frosted, this cake should be refrigerated. Make sure to store in an airtight container.
💡Pro Tips
Measure Flour Correctly - As always, with any recipe, use a kitchen scale, as it is the best form of measuring your ingredients. If you don't have a kitchen scale, fluff your flour, scoop flour with a spoon into a measuring cup and level off.
Room temperature ingredients: When called for, it's always best to use room temperature ingredients. This helps the ingredients mix together properly.
Line pans: Prep your pans with parchment paper at the bottom, and grease your pans to make sure the cakes come out in one piece.
Correct pan: Make sure to use the correct type of pan. Baking with metal pans yields better results.
Don't over mix: Once dry ingredients are incorporated, stop mixing.
Don't over bake: Start checking the cake at 20 minutes to ensure you don't over bake.
Make Ahead: You can make the vanilla almond cake layer in advance. Just make sure to wrap it tightly and refrigerate it. If you plan to make it ahead by more than 1 days, I suggest wrapping it tightly with saran wrap, then aluminum foil, then placing it in the freezer. Let it thaw in the freezer overnight when ready to use.
❄ Storage
Room temperature: This cake can be stored unfrosted in an airtight container at room temperature.
Refrigerator: Once frosted, the cake must be stored covered, in an airtight container for 4-5 days. Let come to room temperature before eating.
Freezer: Unfrosted, you can wrap the cake in saran wrap, then aluminum foil and place in the freezer for 2-3 months. Defrost in the fridge over night.
📖 Recipe Card
Vanilla Almond Cake
Equipment
- 1 8x8 baking pan
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 whole egg room temperature
- 1 egg white room temperature
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1¼ teaspoon almond emulsion (or extract)
- 1¼ cups all purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup buttermilk room temperature
Almond Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
- 4 oz. full fat brick cream cheese cold, straight from the fridge
- 1 cups powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon almond emulsion or extract
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream very cold
Instructions
Vanilla Cupcakes
- Preheat the oven to 350℉ / 178℃grease and line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper and set asideIn a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and whisk until combined.1¼ cups all purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could also use a hand mixer), cream together the butter and sugar until smooth, light in color, about 3 minutes. Then add the oil and mix for 30 seconds. Add in the egg + egg white, vanilla extract, and almond extract and beat well until completely combined.6 tablespoon unsalted butter, ⅔ cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoon neutral oil, 1 whole egg, 1 egg white, 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Sift in half the dry ingredients and slowly mix, then add all the buttermilk and mix for 20 seconds, then add the remaining dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated. You don't want to over mix this batter.1¼ cups all purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, ½ cup buttermilk, 1¼ teaspoon almond emulsion
- Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Almond Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (you could use a hand mixer), beat cream cheese until smooth, about a couple minutes. Add the salt, almond extract, and powdered sugar and beat until completely combined and smooth, with no visible lumps.4 oz. full fat brick cream cheese, 1 cups powdered sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon almond emulsion or extract
- Pour in the cold heavy whipping cream and beat until the frosting has thickened up, about a minute. When removing the whisk or beaters, the frosting should keep its form and not be runny at all! Stop once you reach this firm stage.1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Frost the cooled cake and enjoy. Make sure to keep this cake refrigerated.
Andrea S. says
The frosting is such a winner in this cake! I used almond extract and not the emulsion, which I've never heard of but now I'm curious, so I'll try and buy some. It was a light and fluffy cake and the frosting was so good. Thanks for sharing!
Carla A says
Thanks for sharing this recipe. It was easy and delicious.