White Cake Comparison

It's like a science lab around this joint lately (and you know how much science grates on my last nerve).  I've been doing a lot of tests on different recipes for the same foods to see which ones I like best.  I'm responsible for doing desserts for a few upcoming events and the last thing I want is to try and make something the day before the event only to have an epic fail on my hands... and based on the results of the tests I've been performing that would have been a distinct possibility!

I'm actually pretty proud of myself for approaching it this way.  Typically I just wing it and 90% of the time things go great, but the other 10% make my eye twitch.  Eye twitching is my subtle stress indicator (right after me getting super grumpy at CA - also very subtle).

The first test was on basic white cake.  I have a recipe I've been using for a while that I used to love but lately it hasn't been behaving correctly.  Maybe it's a different house, state, oven... whatever. 

My intention was to test 3 different white cakes... my old stand-by and 2 others I pinned on Pinterest after they proclaimed to be the best white cake ever.  When I looked at the recipes more closely I realized that one of them was exactly the same as the recipe I already had in my repertoire.  Therefore, today you get a comparison of 2 white cake recipes.

Cake #1 is the recipe I've been using for a while and it uses cake flour, whole milk, egg whites, vanilla extract, sugar, baking power, salt and butter.  Pretty standard stuff for white cake.

Cake #2 is similar but replaces the whole milk with buttermilk and swaps the vanilla extract for vanilla bean paste.  Cake #2 also has less butter in it.

The methods for mixing up the batter are different as well... #1 mixes all the dry ingredients with the butter and then adds all the liquid.  #2 mixes the sugar with the butter, adds the eggs and then alternates the dry ingredients and buttermilk.

To try to keep things consistent, I cut each recipe into thirds (I don't have nearly enough friends or coworkers to get rid of two full size batches of cupcakes - especially since this isn't the only flavor I made) and baked both cakes as standard sized cupcakes.

So, how did they come out?  First, let's talk about appearance.  To your left is Cake #1 and to your right is Cake #2.  I don't know what was going on with #1 but it's like it shrunk while it was baking and separated from the cupcake liners.  What?  I don't know why this happened but it wasn't pretty.

Next, let's address texture.  Both cakes were super light and fluffy.  The crumbs were delicate and moist.  Honestly, I think they were very evenly matched in the texture department.

Of course, we have to talk about taste.  Both of them taste really, really good.  Cake #1 was definitely more buttery, which I like.  CA thought this once was sweeter too but I disagree with that.  You could definitely tell that Cake #2 had buttermilk in it, but in a good way.  You get a nice tang when you first bite into it.  CA said it tasted like a biscuit but in the best, cakiest way possible (what?). 

The overall verdict???  I'm not entirely sure.   If I were making cupcakes again, I would definitely go with #2 since it's prettier which is sometimes important.  It's not important if it tastes gross, but if two things taste good and one is prettier the prettier one wins.  If I were making a cake, pretty wouldn't matter so much since you're trimming the layers anyway and I liked the buttery flavor of #1.



Soooooo... I think I'll keep both in the line up for different occasions.

Here are the recipes for you....  You're welcome.

Cake #1
Cake #2

The only adjustment I made was to Cake #1 - I left out the almond extract and increased the vanilla extract to 2 tsp.

Julie