The Fluffiest All Butter 9×13 Cake
Because of how obsessed I am with this classic vanilla sheet cake that also uses oil, I wanted to see if I could create an all butter version that was just as good. Happy to say that I did it! This all butter cake is so incredibly fluffy (it went viral on tiktok after I shared it), yet light thanks to the addition of sour cream and how I cream the butter and sugar together. This is going to be your new go-to vanilla cake for all the birthdays, and parties in your life!
This butter cake has serious squish factor. When you take a piece you can squish it together and it will bounce right back, thats how fluffy and incredible it is. Like my vanilla bundt cake, it also has a deep vanilla flavor, rivaling anything that you can get from a bakery.
I topped it with my brown butter frosting – the more butter the better! But you can top it with literally any of my homemade frosting recipes, its such a good base cake to try anything from a basic vanilla frosting to something more exotic like coconut frosting.
As a trained pastry chef, I like a good challenge in the kitchen- making an all butter cake that was light, and not weighed down by ingredients was super important to me. Lemme show you how I made it and what I used instead to keep it moist and tender.
Frosting the cake
Make sure the cake is completely cooled before frosting. I like to let my cakes cool down for 10 -15 minutes in the pan, then flip it onto a wire cooling rack so it cools faster.
I use an offset spatula or even the back of a spoon to make the swoops and swirls, remember it doesn’t have to be perfect, have fun with it!
The Fluffiest All Butter 9×13 Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, 226g softened
- 1 ½ cups sugar, 300g
- 3 large eggs, room temp
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, 240g
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ cup whole milk, 60 ml
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream, 180g
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease + line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper.
- In a bowl of a stand or hand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, add the 1 cup butter, and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Cream on medium speed for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. Stop when the mixture is pale yellow, and pillowy.
- With the mixer on low-med, add eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.
- Whisk the 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp kosher salt in a medium size bowl or over a large piece of parchment paper.
- In a measuring cup add the 1/4 cups milk and 1 tbsp vanilla extract. Stir together then add the 3/4 cup sour cream. These are your wet ingredients
- With the mixer on low alternate adding the dry and wet ingredients to the butter mixture in 3's, starting and ending with dry. Mix gently until just combined.
- Spread batter evenly into the pan with a large spatula.
- Bake 30 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs.
- Cool completely before frosting with brown butter frosting
