Mrs. Billett's White Cake

I was so hoping for better results as the recopies from this site are usually so so good.  The cake was dry, it did not raise well and was too dense.  I love dense cakes but this one just didn't cut it.  It was like something was missing and I checked the recipe twice and it was all in there it just was not good.

This recipe is not for someone who doesn't know how to bake. Like someone else said, it is much like angel food cake. You do have to wash the bowl after beating the frosting in the stand mixer or you will not get the eggs correct. I baked mine in the plastic bake ware and it went well. As for the frosting, I use store bought fondant and home made buttercream for the application of the fondant. If you have a good oven, fresh eggs and understand the principles of baking, you will love this. I think the people who didn't do well with it are not or may not have quality products. The oven makes a huge difference as does bake ware. I will never buy another box cake again. This was light and amazing and I know what is in it. 

 Hands down the best from scratch white cake mix I have EVER made! Tastes like a combo between angel food and white cake, with a sticky angel food top and tight, delicate crumb of white cake. I have taken to making it into cupcakes, sometimes using my own buttercream, sometimes Mrs. Billett's, and both get rave reviews from everyone. No one can eat just one cupcake - they are that good. I cannot believe anyone would give this a poor rating - it's not going to be soft like a box mix. No scratch cake will be anything like a box mix. This does tastes homemade - which is what makes it so wonderful. I have never had any trouble with this recipe. I use whole milk. Be careful not to stir the mix too much after adding egg whites and you should be fine. Trick to scratch cakes is not over-baking them. I have frozen the cupcakes with great results. Just a spectacular recipe! Mrs Billett, whoever you are - you're brilliant! My new go-to for parties and events. I get an steady 36 cupcakes out of this recipe - regular sized. I have made them for my step-son's graduation party, my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary, and my step-daughter's wedding reception - so I make at minimum 100 cupcakes at a time. I cannot say enough about this recipe - it's fantastic! 

This will be my go-to recipe for a white cake. It came out just as a white cake should. It was light, sweet, and moist enough.---My changes: I used all shortening instead of butter. I also used clear vanilla. I added a Tbsp of milk to make up for the water lost in not using butter. I was supposed to use two Tbsp, but I was cautious. Next time I will use the full two and maybe it will increase the cake's moisture a bit. I also used aluminum free baking powder. The shortening I used was high ratio (the one with the trans fat still in). I greased the pans with shortening and floured them with cake flour. ---The result: The whitest white cake you can possibly get. It looked like white bread. I trimmed off all of the brown from baking so that when the cake was cut into, all that was seen was beautiful snowy white cake. It came out just gorgeous! I used a crusting buttercream on top in lavender and smoothed it to perfection, with straight edges.I definitely recommend this recipe..... with alterations if you are looking to make a truly white cake.

This cake turned out so well! I have never met a white cake recipe this delicious. The cake turned out light, moist, and delicately spongy. I had been planning to use this cake as a base for a jell-o poke cake, but once I'd tasted the bit I'd cut off the top to level out the layers, I ended up using just one of my layers for a smaller poke cake and letting the other two layers go plain, with just a little whipped cream as frosting.

Much to my surprise, the jell-o didn't mask the deliciousness of the cake base in the small poke cake I made. The parts where the jell-o and the cake mixed turned out wonderfully custard-y, and the airy texture of the cake caused by the egg whites created lots of nice spaces for the jell-o to set into, making this cake an unusually wonderful base. After a piece of the poke cake and a piece of the plain white cake, I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite!

As many of the other commenters have written, I think the secret to success is mixing with patience. I didn't use a stand mixer and it turned out wonderfully, but it did take longer than the average boxed cake mix would. I ended up mixing just the sugar and butter together for over an hour! But in the end, there was no grainy texture like some people have mentioned, and I think a good, thorough mixing is responsible for that. Though this can be frustrating to think about, an equally important part of the success of this cake is not over-mixing it once the wet and dry ingredients go in, as that can ruin the texture and cause the cake to fall, and just barely folding the egg whites into the batter until there aren't any big clumps. 

If I was making this cake for a very sophisticated dessert, or using a very sweet frosting, I think I would use one and a half cups of sugar. It is deliciously sweet, but would seem even more delicate with just a little less sugar.

I like this cake, it's Versatile! By that I mean I made an error in the mix directions by not separating the eggs it was still good! The one thing when cold or refrigerated, it has a coaser texture & may not appeal to some, but still ok BUT at room temperature it's totally different, a much more tender soft cake!!! It depends on HOW u wish to use it! It's moist! I think people are SO use to Commercial store & Bakery Mix that have chemicals mixed in, consumers feel is MOIST, They've forgotten what a SCRATCH Cake taste like & more apt to say it's Dry!! (Some are, bt many are not) plus you MUST COVER /WRAP a SCRATCH Cake securely to me!! G'na

My family absolutely loves this cake. I found it in the Southern Living magazine and made it for Christmas. My family now requests it for birthdays. I can honestly say this cake is even better than any bakery cake I have ever had.

I really like this recipe and have used it several times. I do not use a stand mixer and have never had a problem , just add this dry ingredients slowly and be gentle with the mixing and the cake turns out really well.

I have even made this in the U.K. using self-raising flour and had good results that everyone loved.I also like the fact that it is not overly sweet. It also works with stiffly whipped fresh double cream with just vanilla added and this is spread over a thin layer of fruit preserve, my family like raspberry but it can be any that you prefer.

I'm a veteran baker, bit this cake literally feel into a pile of crumbs as I cut it to serve. I've never seen anything like it! I used only the freshest top quality ingredients ensuring each was at room temperature. There must be a typo - missing ingredient- in the recipe. Does Southern Living test the recipes? Such a disaster.

Made this cake for the Christmas holidays.  I converted it to a coconut cake by decreasing vanilla to 1 tsp and adding 1/2 tsp coconut extract and topping with a coconut flake buttercream frosting.  The cake was moist, dense, a bit heavy and still delicious - received great reviews around the table.  I suggest you never cut the corner by using prepared liquid egg whites, like in a carton.  These did not beat up properly, convincing me the cake would be horrible. But it wasn't.

Good white cake recipe. Nice and moist. I followed the recipe to the 'T' and it worked. Great textue and flavor. 

I used 1-tea vanilla and 1/2 tea Almond flavoring.

I will make this again.

WoW!  I made this cake as directed, only thing I did different was add the seeds from a vanilla bean and made a chocolate buttercream icing. My family loved it, this cake reminded me of a cake my mother used to make and it was my favorite. Instead of a layer cake, I put batter in a 9 x 13 pan, baked for about 35-40 minutes and it was perfect, so moist, light, and the flavor was out of this world.

Just made this cake, still in the oven!  LOL, forgot to write down, "beat butter"  I actually, my eyes wondered and went to "beat at medium speed"  I knew better, I kept thinking what is with all the liquid?  Milk, sugar, ets.  I think realized what I had done, everything else was measured out, so instead of tossing eggs, I started over!  Hope it turns out as this is one expensive cake!  Hope it turns out!  Timer just went off!

Did not care for this cake.  Tasted like flour and could have been a little sweeter.

Loved this cake.It was like an top notch bakery cake.You do have to follow directions as written.It is not difficult to make.I used recipe for buttercream frosting.I also made raspberry filling.My whole family loved it.I will make this for Christmas this year.

I found this to be the best white cake I ever tried. I used KAF brand best cake flour they sell, and added 1tsp almond extract. Fantastic flavor! The good quality cake flour made the texture very smooth-gave it a very fine crumb. It also freezes well; I make cakes for my lunch and so cut and wrap the slices for the freezer and it tastes just as good as fresh. No loss of texture either. Thanks for a great recipe!

Excellent cake, as has been said many times before :) I made it for cake balls for my mom's birthday, and using the Wilton's buttercream recipe for icing and milk chocolate bark coating, they were divine! To the user who gave this review two stars because the cake fell - that's your fault, not the recipe's. If this is your first cake, remember it's baking POWDER you want, not soda which can cause too much air to form, causing collapse. If you're using shiny metal pans, the temp needs to be higher. Don't overbeat your butter and sugar - again, you risk too much air. Don't underbeat your egg whites. Don't overbeat them, either. There's more reasons for collapse, but those are the major ones, so stick to those and you'll be fine. And don't give low ratings to recipes when it's your own fault you ruined it :D

I made this cake for the first time and the middle fell - followed all directions - what could have gone wrong - please help

This is absolutely the best "from scratch" cake recipe I've ever found. Although it is labor intensive, it's always light and fluffy. It also makes great cupcakes, too! Be sure to use cake flour (NOT all-purpose flour), and the freshest eggs and baking powder.

I made this cake last spring after seeing the recipe in Southern Living--my mouth was watering for three weeks before the party that I made it for! It was absolutely divine! Dense and moist and delicious--like a White Pound Cake. I did add a tad more vanilla (good, real vanilla) and the cake was not as white as the photo but I did not care. I made it with the Creme De Menthe icing---perfect! And I am making it all over again tomorrow for my daughter's 19th birthday--at her special request. Great cake!

My family raved about this cake and asked for it to make regular appearances at our holiday table. Even my devoted chocolate cake lovers asked for a second piece.

HELP! I made this cake and the layers didn't rise (less than 1/2 inch). I used a stand mixer and followed the directions to the "t'. My baking powder is about a year old, so that that could have been the problem. Maybe I should add a little baking soda??. Open to suggestions. Anyway, the taste was awesome. I'm going to try again for Easter.

THE. BEST. CAKE. EVER. I have made it several times and it is wonderful. Everyone loves it. I will make it over and over.

Very Very Dry Dence Cake...Was A Big Disappointment! Went In The GARBAGE....

This is an awesome cake. Exactly what an all white cake iced in buttercream should be.

A white cake should be soft and velvety. This one has a coarse texture and a doughy, floury taste. Very disappointing to waste so much time and butter on such a disappointing result. FYI, I am a professional baker so the results I claim are not from lack of expertise. Also, if you are wanting the extra white look of the cake in the photo you will need to use shortening rather than butter and clear vanilla.

This was THE worst dessert I have ever made. The cake was ehh (bland) and the icing was AWFUL...grainy, sugary...just an all around hot mess. I made the chocolate filling which was way too much for the very little amount you needed to spread in between the 2 layers. When all put together...it was so dreadful looking that I near threw the entire thing away. This was a HUGE disappointment for the amount of work it required. Thank goodness I also made an apple pie for Christmas dinner dessert. Would never try this again, not even with alterations..not worth the time.

Had to try this recipe and was not disappointed--I've had one small slice so far and will enjoy another tomorrow!! Has a flavor similar to a sugar cookie...i see lots of options for this cake and will try this recipe with a raspberry filling next time....lemon could be good, too :-)

We made this cake, actually 2 of them! My 13 year old daughter made the first one for a Christmas party, with some supervision from mom, then I made a second one. Both turned out beautiful and moist, best white cake I have tried, and I am an avid cook, 50 years of age who loves baking and has catered weddings, and all kinds of events, including making the cakes. We chose to make the alternative icing recipe in the December issue, the White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and the Mixed Berry Filling, and both were excellent! The only change I made to the frosting was to use frozen berries, including the strawberries, and added them in the pot at the same time as I was cooking the cranberries and raspberries. I did not chop the strawberries because I had frozen them whole, but cooking broke them down, no need to chop. This is a recipe you can trust, and it is the white cake recipe I will depend on from now on! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Made this cake today. My daughter loved it and gave it a 4 out of 5. I didn't really like it. I have to admit that I don't have a stand mixer and used a regular one, so that may be the problem. The cake was kind of bland and a little dry (I baked it the minimum amount of time listed in the recipe). The icing consistency felt too grainy. I would blame the icing consistency on my mixer, but I made a different buttercream frosting last night for cookies and it was really good. I don't believe it is too sweet but maybe just too much "vanilla" for me. Mixing it up with some of the fillings as suggested in Southern Living I think would be a good idea. I also think it would taste good with chocolate or strawberry ice cream. I'm giving it a 3 because I won't make it again, but (a) my daughter loved it and (b) I couldn't not follow advice about the stand mixer because Santa hasn't brought me one yet.

I usually do not like white cake, but this one was really good despite the fact that it's not my favorite flavor cake in the world. I made it for my parents' anniversary, and it turned out great! It was a cinch to make. The texture was perfect. I made it with the white chocolate buttercream frosting and while the frosting was good, the combination seemed a little too sweet. Normally if I have a sweet cake, I like to balance it out with a less sweet frosting. I would not make it again for myself, since as I said before, I do not like white cake. But I would definitely make it again for someone else in a heartbeat!

I made this for my family yesterday and they loved it. Yes it's sweet. It's cake. I can't understand the previous poster who complained about it it not being flavorful. We found it quite full of delicious vanilla flavor. Also, I used just the buttercream frosting with no additional fillings and still had frosting leftover so I don't understand the complaint that the frosting recipe needed to be increased. I will definitely be making it again.

I made this for my son's birthday, and everyone loved it. He doesn't like anything but white cake. One of my layers came out a bit lopsided, so the cake was, too, but once the pieces were cut, no one noticed. Mine had a lot of flavor because I used real vanilla extract made with tahitian bourbon. Regular vanilla extract hardly does anything. The frosting was not overly sweet, I'm puzzled why the other reviewer said that. We're talking dessert here--that's usually sweet, and it usually means lots of sugar! By the way, if you're concerned about sugar, in the cake, use xylitol instead and save the powdered sugar for the frosting. I would make this again--my neighbor was asking if I would make one for them!

Sickeningly Sweet I can only imagine adding two pounds of icing sugar frosting to this. I should have known when it called for two cups of sugar something was off. Cake turned out fine but I didn't use it. Made Blum's Coffee Crunch Cake instead. Similar recipe with less than half the sugar and better frosting. I have heard that people in the south like sweet things. Know I believe it. NOTE TO LADY WHOSE CAKE WAS NOT AS WHITE. Use clear vanilla instead of the regular kind. I have friends bring me some when they visit Mexico, although I am sure one could find it through a bakery.

I was at the dentist waiting in the lobby when I saw this cake on the front the Southern Living magazine. I could not stop thinking about this cake, and the berry filled version was especially mouthwatering! I bought the magazine just so I could make this cake. Well, I was terribly dissapointed. First off, the cake itself was sorely lacking in flavor. The texture was okay. I say add a little more vanilla to the batter to make it good. Second, the berry filling, You will need to cook down the raspberries first and strain them The seeds were not good in this filling. Also, you need to increase the amount of filling. They called for 1 cup each of strawberries, raspberries and cranberries. This was just not sufficient. You will need to double this. The frosting was flavorless. They say to add the whole bag of confectioners sugar. They are attempting to make a large batch of frosting. You will need to increase the butter by 1/2 stick and the vanilla by at least a 1/2 tsp if you want it to taste like anything. I plan to make this cake again, but I will be altering a whole lot about it.

Not sure what I did wrong, but cake seems a little dense and certainly not as white as the one pictured! The taste is out of this world delicious. Maybe my baking powder was old or maybe I stirred the egg whites too much into the batter? I will definitely make this again because the flavor is awesome!

this cake is perfect for a white winter wedding.