Timeless Old Fashioned White Cake Recipes

There's a special kind of magic in classic Old Fashioned White Cake Recipes, a magic that transports us back to a time of handwritten recipe cards and the comforting aroma of baking wafting from Grandma's kitchen. These cakes are more than just dessert; they are edible history.

Born in an era of newfound refinement during the 19th century, the white cake became a symbol of elegance and celebration, gracing the tables of weddings and the most special occasions. Its delicate, snowy crumb and versatile nature make it the perfect canvas for any flavor of frosting or filling you can imagine.

This cherished collection gathers heirloom recipes from the late 1800s and early 1900s, each with its own story and subtle charm. From a simple, feather-light cake to a rich, multi-layered masterpiece, you'll find a recipe here to make any day feel like a celebration. Let's open Grandma's recipe box and bake a piece of the past.

Mom's Old Fashioned White Cake Recipes

Mom's Recipe Scrapbooks (c. 1920s)

Classic White Layer Cake

2 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup butter, or shortening
1 cup sifted sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Directions:

Prepare pan. Sift flour once, measure, add baking powder, and sift together three times. Cream shortening thoroughly, add sugar gradually, and cream together until light and fluffy. Add flour, alternately, with milk, a small amount at a time. Beat after each addition until smooth. Add vanilla; fold in egg whites.

Bake in two greased 9-inch layer pans in a moderate oven (375°F) for 25 to 30 minutes; or in single greased 8x8x2-inch pan, in moderate oven (350°F) for 1 hour.

Double recipe to make three 10-inch layers for a triple layer cake. Frost with your favorite frosting.

Old Fashioned White Feather Cake

1 scant cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup milk, 1-1/2 cups flour, whites of 2 eggs, 2 teaspoons baking powder, a little vanilla; cream butter and add gradually the sugar, then milk, flour, and baking powder; last the beaten whites of the eggs and vanilla. Bake in moderate oven (350°F) until done.

Farmhouse-Style Old Fashioned White Cake Recipes

Mary at the Farm and Book of Recipes (1915)

Good and Cheap Farmhouse White Cake

2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter and lard, mixed
1 cup milk
Add a few drops of almond flavoring
3 cups flour
2 teaspoonfuls baking powder
Whites of five eggs

Cream together the butter and sugar, add flour sifted with baking powder alternately with the stiffly beaten whites of eggs. The five yolks of eggs left from baking white cake may be used when making other recipes. (Bake in a moderate oven (350°F) until done).

Delicate Traditional White Cake

Sift together, three times, the following:

1 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar (granulated)
3 even teaspoonfuls of baking powder

Scald one cup of milk and pour hot over the above mixture. Beat well. Fold into the mixture, carefully, the stiffly beaten whites of 2 eggs. Flavor with a few drops of almond extract. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F), exactly as you would bake an angel cake.

This is a delicious, light, flaky cake, if directions are closely followed, but sometimes a little difficult to get just right. Double ingredients for layer cake.

Old Fashioned White Cake Recipe

The Settlement Cook Book (1903)

The Settlement Easy White Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring
Whites of 4 eggs

Mix and sift baking powder and flour. Cream the butter, add the sugar gradually. Add the flour and milk alternately, then the flavoring, and lastly cut in the whites of the eggs, beaten until stiff. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F).

The Alpha Phi Fraternity's Old Fashioned White Cake Recipes

The Eta Cook Book (1914)

Simple White Cake With Almond

Two cups sugar, one cup butter, whites six eggs, one cup milk, three cups flour, one teaspoon Royal baking powder. Flavor with almond. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F).—Eloise H. Crocker

Western White Cake With Lemon

Cream one and one-half cups sugar and one-half cup butter, one-half cup milk, two cups flour, one heaping teaspoon Royal baking powder, whites of six eggs beaten dry. Flavor with lemon. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F). —Grace D. Runyon

Answers to Common Problems

A Creative Serving Suggestion: White Card Party Cakes

Turn any white cake into a show-stopping dessert that looks as though it came from a professional caterer! This idea is perfect for card parties, a casino-themed night, or an "Alice in Wonderland" birthday.

Simply bake your favorite white cake from this collection in a 13x9x2-inch pan and let it cool completely. Cut the cake into neat rectangles, frost them with white icing, and then decorate with candy hearts and numerals of piped red icing to create the look of playing cards.

The Elegant History of White Cake

Compared to other homemade dessert cakes that enjoy a long history, white cakes only came into being during Queen Victoria's reign. The secret to achieving the best results from an old fashioned white cake recipe has always been to use the finest white flour and other ingredients.

Improvements in refining methods meant that white flour and white sugar had become commonly available by the 1850s, making it possible to have cakes with the lightest color and texture. However, the extra cost of the refined ingredients meant that white cakes were mostly made for special occasions by those who could afford them.

The whiteness of these dessert cakes came to symbolize purity, which accounted for their popularity at weddings, and their costlier ingredients reflected the prosperity of those serving them.

A Nursery Rhyme for a Special Cake

Over the Water

Over the water, and over the sea,
And over the water to Charley,
I'll have none of your nasty beef,
Nor I'll have none of your barley;
But I'll have some of your very best flour
To make a white cake for my Charley.