This is the most Ridiculous Vanilla Cake. Seriously, it’s the softest, most moist cake EVER – it literally melts in your mouth! A vanilla cake recipe topped with sweet icing and garnished with white chocolate chips… you’ve got to get in on this goodness.
A Super Moist Vanilla Cake
A few years ago I made a chocolate cake. It was insanely fudgy and soft, and I decided to call it ridiculous chocolate cake because… well… it was. And then I started getting requests for a Ridiculous Vanilla Cake, which leads us to today!
So, I present you with this soft, moist vanilla cake recipe with sweet vanilla icing. It’s made with boxed vanilla cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, tangy sour cream, and white chocolate chips. It’s truly the most tender cake out there, and it couldn’t be easier to make!
It’s topped with a simple 3-ingredient vanilla icing that you can whip together in no time, and more white chocolate chips, if you feel so inclined (I always do!). While this vanilla cake may not look like the most exciting dessert you’ve ever made, the flavor and the texture more than compensate for that – do NOT miss out on this incredible vanilla cake!
(For future reference, though, if you’d prefer to make a vanilla cake from scratch, use this homemade cake mix!)
Why You’ll Love This Moist Vanilla Cake Recipe
I never thought I’d be this eager to share a simple vanilla cake recipe, but here we are! This is why I’m such a big fan of this dessert:
- Incredibly moist. Made with sour cream, pudding mix, vegetable oil, and eggs, this vanilla cake is ultra-tender and moist.
- Quick and easy. It takes just 10 minutes to prep this cake for the oven – that’s all. After that comes the hardest part: waiting for the cake to be done so you can dig in!
- Perfect for any occasion. This vanilla cake is low-key enough to satisfy your everyday sugar cravings, but elegant enough to be the dessert offering for your next dinner party. It’s really up to you!
Recipe Ingredients
Let’s talk about what you’ll need to make this super moist vanilla cake recipe! Note that you can find the exact amount for each ingredient in the recipe card below.
For the Cake
- Vanilla Cake Mix: Use your favorite boxed vanilla cake mix.
- Instant Vanilla Pudding: Adds moisture and extra sweet vanilla flavor.
- Sour Cream: For every 1 cup of sour cream, keep in mind that you can substitute with 1 cup of plain yogurt, or 1 tablespoon of lemon juice (or vinegar) and enough cream to make 1 cup.
- Eggs: Bring these to room temperature before you add them to the batter.
- Vegetable Oil & Water: Both provide extra moisture so that the cake does not dry out while it bakes.
- White Chocolate Chips: If you really just aren’t a white chocolate fan, you can absolutely omit them from this recipe.
For the Icing
- Powdered Sugar: Sift your powdered sugar before starting on the icing to get rid of the clumps.
- Milk: For a thicker, richer icing, you could try substituting with heavy cream.
- Vanilla: Pure vanilla extract provides the best flavor!
- White Chocolate Chips: These are optional, for garnish, but I love adding them!
What Cake Pan Should I Use?
I have had my fair share of cake disasters while flipping a cake out of a bundt pan. It’s enough to make you cry! Along with greasing the pan heavily I use THIS PAN and literally have never looked back. I recommend this to SO many people and truly feel like it’s the best. I can’t say that I have had any issue with sticking since using this one.
That said, you can try baking this cake with an assortment of different pans. Please note, however, this is a denser-style cake, which I prefer in a bundt or tube pan style. But it will work in other pans too:
- 9×13 pan: Decrease your bake time to an estimated 30-35 minutes.
- 2 round 9-inch cake pans: Decrease your bake time to 25-30 minutes.
- For cupcakes: Decrease the bake time to 20-25 minutes.
How To Make a Moist Vanilla Cake
Here, you’ll find the basic step-by-step guide to making this easy vanilla cake. For the full set of directions, scroll on down to the recipe card below.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Liberally grease a 10-inch bundt pan with butter or shortening and lightly dust it with flour. Set aside.
- Mix the ingredients. In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine all the cake ingredients. Mix on low for 30 seconds until everything is combined, and then on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Stir in the white chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.
- Bake the cake. Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the cake is set. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert the pan onto a cake plate.
- Make the icing. In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Then, pour it over the cake.
- Garnish the cake. Sprinkle the cake with white chocolate chips if desired. Note – if you sprinkle white chips on the cake when it’s warm they will melt slightly.
Tips for Success
Even though this moist vanilla cake recipe follows a very simple process, I still have a few tips and tricks to share with you:
- Use the cake mix as an ingredient! Don’t follow the instructions on the box at all. Just use the dry cake mix as you would your flour, sugar, etc.
- Grease the bundt pan. Make sure you grease the pan HEAVILY especially if you use the white chocolate chips, as they might melt to the side of the pan and stick if it is not greased properly. You can use a baking spray, or grease the pan with butter or shortening and then lightly dust with flour or powdered sugar.
- Let the cake cool. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before inverting the pan onto a cake plate or platter. The cake is pretty soft, so it may fall apart if you try to invert it too quickly.
- Don’t worry if the cake crumbles a little when you remove it from the pan. If this happens, depending on how much sticks, know that you will be icing this cake and garnishing it with white chocolate chips. That will cover up a whole lot of imperfection!
Frequently Asked Questions
Anything that contains fat contributes to how moist the cake gets. In this recipe, that would be the sour cream and the vegetable oil.
The most likely reason that your vanilla cake turned out dry is that it was over-baked. To avoid this, try using the toothpick test. If you insert a toothpick into the cake and it comes out with moist crumbs (but not wet batter), it’s time to pull the pan out.
How to Store
You can store this vanilla cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. If you want it to last for a few more days, try refrigerating it.
Can I Freeze This Vanilla Cake?
Sure. I would recommend freezing it without the icing, and then whipping the icing together quickly when you’re ready to eat it. The cake can be frozen in an airtight container (or wrapped tightly) for 1-2 months.
More Vanilla Cake Recipes
Want to try out some more easy vanilla cakes? Check out these ones!
- Perfect Vanilla Cake (great for layer cakes!)
- Vanilla Cupcakes (perfectly domed cupcakes using the reverse creaming method)
- Tres Leches Cake
- Yellow Sour Cream Cake With Chocolate Frosting
Ridiculous Vanilla Cake
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
This ridiculous vanilla cake is so moist and tender. Made with sour cream and white chocolate chips, and topped with a sweet vanilla icing, it’s truly irresistible!
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 (15.25 ounce) box vanilla cake mix
- 1 (4 serving sized) box instant vanilla pudding
- 1 (8- ounce) container sour cream
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups white chocolate chips
For the Icing
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- white chocolate chips to garnish
Instructions
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Liberally grease a 10- inch bundt pan with butter or shortening and lightly dust with flour. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment combine all the cake ingredients. Mix on low for 30 seconds until combined and then on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Stir in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 50-55 minutes, until the cake is set. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then invert the pan onto a cake plate.
For the Icing
- In a medium bowl whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Pour over the cake.
- You can ice the cake when it’s warm or cooled.
- Sprinkle with white chocolate chips if desired. Note – if you sprinkle white chips on the cake when it’s warm they will melt slightly.
Notes
- This cake was originally posted in 2016 using 16- ounces of sour cream. I received a fair amount of comments letting me know you thought that produced too dense and wet a cake. I updated the recipe in 2021 using 8- ounces of sour cream. Wanted to include this note for those of you who enjoyed the original recipe!
- To store. Store this cake in an airtight container for up to 3 days at room temperature.
- To freeze. I would recommend freezing this cake without the icing, and then whipping the icing together quickly when you’re ready to eat it. The cake can be frozen in an airtight container (or wrapped tightly) for 1-2 months.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 613
- Sugar: 64.3 g
- Sodium: 523.4 mg
- Fat: 28 g
- Carbohydrates: 83.4 g
- Protein: 8.8 g
- Cholesterol: 77.3 mg
Want To Save This Recipe?
Find more recipes like this:
I made this cake, put it in the oven, and then sat down and decided to read the reviews. I got so nervous because I didn’t make any of the adjustments suggested in the reviews and saw some people had issues with the recipe as is. I followed the directions exactly and my family members loved it. They even texted me afterwards to make another one soon! Yes, it is rich and sweet, but the name sort of suggested that so for me there were no surprises.
This is an amazing cake – I tweaked a bit – I made a streusel filling with approximate 1/3 cup butter, 1/3 cup white sugar and 1/3 cup flour. I added 1 tsp of almond extract. I poured half my batter into a tube pan and then sprinkled in the streusel filling and then topped with the remaining batter. Baked for 55 minutes . after cooling I put on plate and frosted with powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Then I added semi sweet chocate shavings on top. Heavenly – my guests raved!
Love your tweaks!! Sounds amazing!
Hi. Anyone use this for cupcakes??
Just made this cake and it looks amazing and smells soooooooooooooo good!!!! I used the small box of French Vanilla Pudding,,, 4 eggs,,, 1 cup of sour cream and for the water i used 1/2 cup of Coconut milk and added 1 tsp of vanilla.. Baked for 60 minutes and cooled for 15 minutes. Fell right out of pan on to plate with no problem. Did not add chips to batter. Instead i topped cake with them and drizzled glaze all over.
Good to know that less sour cream helps!
I just made this cake today for the first time and it came out Great with a few changes. I took advice from a couple of other replys on here and only used 8 oz of sour cream… replaced the water with buttermilk and used chocolate chips instead of white… also dusted them with flour. That works BTW. l also added vanilla to the batter. Eating a piece now with a nice cup of Camille and lavender tea. Soooo gooood.
So glad you enjoyed! I need to retry this recipe with your changes!
I shared the cake with a few of my friends and they loved it. All wanted the recipe. Thanks Again..
Made a couple.more since then for friends. They loved it.
Wish I dusted chips with flour. Thanks
OMG another FABULOUS recipe from You!!!
I have made at least 20 of your cake & cookie recipes over the years, and have never had one that was just “okay.”
This cake was so moist and flavorful! My family LOVED it!!!
I used the 10 Cup Elegant Party Bundt Pan, ( minus 2 C batter) and baked it much longer, approx. 75 minutes!
I was hesitant that the 12 oz. White Chocolate Chips (2 Cups) would produce an “off” taste but this cake really had a GREAT Vanilla flavor and the white chips were not detectable!
Thanks for another Keeper!!! I will definitely be making this again!
It came out perfectly. I let cool two and a half hours before removing from pan. I used the icing from the ridiculous vanilla cake and added two TBS good cocoa powder and half and half instead of milk. Adding it until I had the perfect texture. Threw sea salt caramel chips all over the top.
Great idea, I almost used carmel chips
The recipe calls for sour cream and instant pudding, when you come to the direction it doesn’t tell you when to add those two ingredients
Add all ingredients and mix.
I have made this cake in chocolate using devils food cake and chocolate chips. The recipe I have calls for more oil and one more egg. It’s ridiculous good and it actually won at a baking cake contest. I tried doing it in the vanilla and it didn’t quite work- the chips sunk to the bottom and didn’t melt as nicely. I’m trying this recipe. I think it will be so good!!!
Dust your chips with flour . They won’t sink if you do.
Wish I would have remember to do, dust chips with flour. I did not read all of these before baked
HI — Would you be willing to share your recipe for the chocolate cake version?
It’s linked in the post! Or you can just search it using my search bar!
I believe it was too much sour cream. The cake texture was luke it wasnt done.
I used 8 oz. It was perfect. And also l used milk and another time l used half and half instead of water. It was delicious.