Simple Cake Recipe (Easy & Delicious Vanilla Cake)
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When searching for a simple cake recipe, it doesn’t get easier than this deliciously moist vanilla cake recipe. All it needs is a few simple ingredients like cooking oil, instant pudding mix, egg, water and vanilla cake mix and you are on your way to the best simple cake recipe around.
When I think of simple things in life, I think of moments that may not amount to much from a monetary standpoint but are worth more than anything else you could own. That’s the way I feel about this simple cake recipe. It brings back memories of a time gone by. Sunday mornings sitting with my Granddaddy and watching him as he tried to teach me how to wiggle my ears! We would be laughing and eating this simple sponge cake Mama made. Life truly did seem much simpler then.
Speaking of simple things, let’s jump into making this simple cake. This easy cake recipe uses a cake mix to keep things simple. Then we add eggs, water, oil, and vanilla pudding mix to ensure it’s perfectly soft and moist, and bursting with vanilla flavor. Once you mix the ingredients together, pop the cake batter into a bundt cake pan and patiently wait for it to bake.
Then you can serve it however you like. You might want to keep things plain, whip up a simple glaze to go with the simple sponge cake, or add fresh strawberries and vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. I’ll leave that choice up to you!
Recipe Ingredients
- Cooking oil
- Egg
- Vanilla instant pudding
- Water
- Yellow cake mix
How to Make a Simple Vanilla Cake
Toss all dry and wet ingredients in a bowl.
Whistle or dance a bit because this recipe isn’t complicated so you can occupy your mind with more lighthearted pursuits.
Mix it all up for about two or three minutes, until well blended.
Now you can grease and flour your cake tin but I prefer to just spray the living mess out of it with cooking spray.
I’m a role model for laziness, I know, but doing it my way gives you at least another 45 seconds with your family :). See? I’m actually just promoting family togetherness!
Pour the cake batter into your bundt cake tin and bake it at 350 for about an hour. Check it at about the 45-minute mark.
Fortunately for me, I have little oven guards.
Let it sit in your pan for 10 minutes before turning it out.
How long should I let the cake cool?
10 minutes is the magic number in cakes.
You should always let cakes cool for that amount of time and they turn out so much nicer!
At this point, you can eat the cake plain, apply a glaze, or serve it this way, with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and fresh strawberries.
I love strawberry shortcake and a slice of this is the perfect foundation!
To learn how to make homemade whipped cream, see this post.
Storage
- Store the cake, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days. It will also last in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Alternatively, freeze the cake for up to 3 months.
Recipe Notes
- As mentioned, use this vanilla cake recipe as a base and you can top it or serve it however you like. Here are some serving suggestions:
- Ice the cooled cake with my 7-minute frosting or creamy chocolate frosting.
- Apply a vanilla glaze (find a simple recipe on my orange cake recipe post).
- Serve with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream and fresh berries, chocolate sauce, or caramel sauce.
- Simply dust the cake with powdered sugar.
- For a , add some frosting and pop some sprinkles on top.
- To make a , split the between two pans.
- You can totally use this to make a batch too. You’ll want to reduce the time to about 20 minutes though.
Recipe FAQs
Can I make this cake in a 9×13 pan?
Yes, you can make this homemade cake in any size pan you like. I just chose a bundt cake pan because I hadn’t made one in a while. But do whatever cranks your tractor. I am partial to a Texas sheet cake, as is evident here and here.
You may also like these other easy cake recipes:
Chocolate Pound Cake with Fudge Glaze
Chocolate Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting
Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Super Moist)
Ingredients
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix 3.4 oz
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup water
- 1/3 cup oil
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together with an electric mixer until well blended.1 box yellow cake mix, 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix, 4 eggs, 1 cup water, 1/3 cup oil
- Pour the cake batter into the greased bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to an hour.
- Let the bundt cake sit in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out.
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity.
— Charles Mingus
Submitted by Emily. To submit your quote, please click here! Thank you!
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Looks good, my friend!
Thank you Angela!!!
I just love the pic of the little girl – wating the cake – So Precious ~ and I cant wait to make his cake – looks awesome ~ thanks Ms Christy ~
Christy,
Do you know if this would work in 2 loaf pans? Any baking time difference?
I would like to print this recipe out, but there is not a PRINT button, would appreciate if you would make this a printable recipe. Thank you.
I have made the same cake for 30+ years and added one grated German Chocolate bar and a 12 ounce bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Chocolate Chip Pound Cake! My family loves it this way!
Hi Christy, whenever I make a box cake I add an extra egg and the instant pudding mix. Works like a charm. But this weekend I am making your Vanilla Wafer cake. We LOVE this cake. Everyone loves this cake. I stew some strawberries to put over the top and it is an over the top taste. Did you know that there is a white chocolate instant pudding mix, I like to add that to my vanilla box cakes, it doesn’t change the color of the cake but adds a little chocolate taste. And thank you so much for putting my pie picture on your facebook page. My friends were impressed and thought it was great of you to
include my picture. Thank you so much. I hope you and your family have a wonderful weekend.
I have a Pillsbury yellow cake mix on hand that says on the box that it includes “1 cup pudding” in the mix. Could i use this mix instead of Duncan Hines, and would you suggest still adding the box of pudding, as the recipe calls for? Thanks…this looks heavenly! : )
Wow! Can’t believe she hasn’t answered your question yet? I would like to know the same thing. I like Pillsbury better than Duncan Hines!
Hey Cindy,
As of right now there are 435,868 comments on my site so there is 100% chance of some slipping by without me seeing them to answer. 🙂 Sorry about that and thank you for showing me grace. I haven’t made this with the pudding in the mix cake as I just stick to duncan hines for this very reason (to add more pudding or not?) but if I were to try it I would still add the pudding. Keep in mind, though, that this is from someone who has specifically decided not to try it because it turns out so well as it is so if anyone does, please report back and let us know.