High Altitude Vanilla Buttermilk Birthday Cake
An incredibly light and fluffy white buttermilk cake that makes the perfect birthday cake or cake for any occasion.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 2 cups (432g) granulated sugar
- 6 (210g) egg whites, room temperature
- 2 ½ cups (672ml) whole buttermilk, room temperature
- 2 tsp (8g) vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 3 ¼ cups (390g) cake flour, spooned, leveled and sifted
- 3 ½ tsp (14g) baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
Buttercream
- 2 cups (452g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 cups (560g) powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp (9g) meringue powder (optional)
- 2 tsp (8g) vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2-4 tbsp (33-66ml) milk or cream, if needed
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 and grease three 8-inch round cake pans. Sift the flour together with the baking powder and salt and set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar for 10-12 minutes, scraping the bowl down every few minutes, until very light and fluffy and pale in color.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg whites, buttermilk and vanilla, just to combine. With the mixer on low, add the wet ingredients to the butter/sugar mixture and mix for 1 minute to combine; it will look lumpy/curdled. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the mixture, mix on low for 30 seconds, and then beat on medium speed for 2 minutes for a light and airy batter.
- Divide the batter between the cake pans. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the centers are done, then set the pans on a wire rack, cover loosely with a clean kitchen towel and cool completely.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the butter for 1 minute until smooth. With the mixer on low, add the powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt and mix until combined. Add the vanilla and milk, increase the speed to medium high and whip for 4-5 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally, until very light and fluffy.
- When the cakes are cool, run a knife around the edges, remove from the pans, and frost with the buttercream.
Notes
- It’s important for the egg whites, buttermilk and butter to be at room temperature.
- Cake flour is best in this cake. It makes a much lighter cake than all-purpose flour does. Be sure to sift the cake flour after measuring.
- I used Wilton Tip 1M for the piping on the cake.
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