Try this Easy Vanilla Cake In A Skillet made with simple ingredients and baked in a cast-iron skillet with a crispy golden-brown crust and a tender vanilla cake on the inside.
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If you love vanilla flavor, you will find this cake filled with lots of vanilla bean seeds that create such a glorious flavor. Add a delicate sprinkling of powdered sugar and cinnamon, and top for some added sweetness.
I learned to bake in my grandmother’s farmhouse kitchen. She was busy, so recipes had to be easy and tasty. Her cast iron skillet had a permanent place on the stove. Needless to say, her Vanilla Cinnamon Skillet Cake was a staple, and I think it is the best recipe for a simple vanilla cake ever. It wasn’t fancy, but it was oh-so-good.
This small cake recipe is easy enough to bake midweek for a quick dessert; no layering or frosting is required, and you get six delicious slices.
Table of contents
Why use a cast-iron skillet for baking cakes?
- Cast-iron skillets hold and retain heat very well and allows for even baking, no matter if it is a cake, cobbler, brownie, or even bread. You will find the center of your baked goods is baked evenly throughout.
- Many times you can use the cast-iron skillet to melt or saute ingredients first before adding more toppings. No extra bowls or pans are needed. Just think of melting the butter and brown sugar for a pineapple upside-down cake.
- Nothing is better than a well-seasoned iron skillet that creates deliciously crispy bottoms and edges, not hard as a rock crispy, but a nice delicate crispy that adds a caramelized flavor to your baked goods, like the perfect crispy edges on brownies.
Check out this post on How To Season An Iron Skillet, just in case you need to get your cast iron back in shape or are buying a new one.
Lodge Skillets are my favorite, and this pre-seasoned 8-inch Cast-Iron Skillet is exactly what you need for baking this skillet cake. You don’t need a lid for cake baking, but for cooking in a cast-iron skillet, I would recommend the lid.
I hear you saying, ” What if I don’t have a cast-iron skillet? That’s ok because a lot of people don’t have them; after all, they are heavy pieces of kitchen equipment, so instead of a cast-iron, just use a 10′ cake pan, and you are good to go.
Simple ingredients
- Butter – Adds a depth of flavor
- Sugar – With the butter and sugar creamed together, you will get a nice buttery, tender crumb
- Milk – Acts as a sweetener; it adds moistness to the cake and creates a nice golden brown crust
- Flour – this builds structure to the cake
- Baking powder – makes the cake rise
- Salt – this adds flavor
- Egg whites – this will make your cake fluffy
- Vanilla Bean – flavor, flavor, and more flavor
- Powdered Sugar & Cinnamon – a little sprinkling on top of the cake for a sweet flavor
How to bake a vanilla skillet cake: Step by step
Step 1. The most important ingredient in this cake is the vanilla bean, and my favorite baking trick is to flavor the sugar. First, you need to cut the vanilla bean in half longways, splitting it into two pieces, and scrape the seeds with a knife.
Madagascar Vanilla Beans
Step 2. Next, measure out 1 1/4 cups of sugar, put it into a bowl, and add all the scraped vanilla bean seeds. Gently stir the sugar and seeds until the seeds are evenly distributed. Doing this helps release the oils in the seeds and evenly distribute them.
Step 3. In a large mixing bowl or a stand mixer, add the room-temperature butter and beat for a minute, then add the sugar mixture and beat for two more minutes until it is nice and fluffy.
Step 4. Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Step 5. Add 1/4 cup of milk to the butter/sugar mixture, and then add 1/2 cup of the flour mixture. Keep adding the milk and flour, scraping the sides of the bowl.
Step 6. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. For this recipe, we are just using egg whites. Lightly beat the egg whites to break them up, add them to the mixing bowl, and beat on medium speed until incorporated.
Step 7. Prepare a 10″ cast iron skillet or a 10″ cake pan. Next, pour the batter into the skillet/pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Begin watching the cake at 30 minutes for over-browning and doneness.
Step 8. Let the cake cool, then with a fine-mesh sifter, add the powdered sugar and cinnamon and dust over the top of the cake.
Cake baking and ingredient tips
- Why flavor the sugar? I use this technique when making my Lemon Bundt Cake, and Orange Bundt Cake and now use it when using nonliquid flavorings like vanilla beans, citrus zest, and lavender, for instance.
- Simply add the flavorings to the sugar and mix with a spoon or your fingers. Doing this releases the oil in the flavorings and flavors the sugar and it also incorporates the flavoring in a batter more evenly. I also used this technique to make a sweet topping for my Orange Cranberry Scones.
- Beating the sugar and room temperature butter until light and fluffy actually creates bubbles in the butter. This happens when the sugar is beaten into the butter and aerates the butter. These bubbles help make a baked product have a lighter texture with a more tender crumb.
- Do not overmix cake batter– Overmixing leads to a dense and chewy texture that isn’t delightful in cakes. This also applies to muffin batter, pie crusts, biscuits, and scones. These are items you do not want any of the elastic gluten development; that’s what you want in bread dough.
- When buying vanilla beans, look for shiny, plump, and moist beans. Here is a guide all about vanilla so you can learn about this amazing flavoring.
- How to store a vanilla bean: Wrap the bean in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 6 months.
- How to scrape a vanilla bean: Cut the bean open lengthwise, then split it to expose the seeds inside. Using the flat side of a paring knife, scrape the pod lengthwise to remove the seeds.
- What if I don’t have a vanilla bean – Vanilla beans are expensive and are not used in a lot of recipes so there are options. 1 vanilla bean = 2 1/2 teaspoons of pure vanilla or 1 vanilla bean = 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste. You can read about the different types of vanilla for other options.
Next time you crave a simple, delicious dessert, bake this luscious cake that lets the vanilla bean’s flavor and aroma shine. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
And if you like cake and ice cream, add a scoop of this Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream for a fall favorite dessert.
More skillet recipes
- Another delicious skillet cake is this Maple Apple Cake, filled with fresh apples and baked to a golden brown. It’s such a delicious fall treat.
- Bake this Cheddar Cheese Cornbread in an iron skillet to pair with soups and salads.
- Bake our favorite Upside Down Cake made with cherries and apricots.
Don’t forget to Pin it to your favorite dessert board.
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Recipe
Easy Vanilla Cake in a Skillet
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups AP flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 4 tsp. Baking powder
- 4 egg whites
- 1 Vanilla bean, seeded
- 1/4 cup Powdered sugar
- 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and spray a 10" cast iron skillet with cooking spray and dust with flour. Optionally you can use a 9" or 10" cake pan.
- Measure the sugar into a bowl. Next, cut the vanilla bean in half longwise then open it up and scrape the seeds out with the flat side of the knife. Add the seeds to the sugar and thoroughly mix together. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl add the room temperature butter and beat for one minute on medium speed.
- Add the sugar mixture to the bowl and beat for two minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy.
- Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder together.
- Add a 1/4 cup of milk to the butter/sugar mixture then add 1/2 cup of the flour. Keep alternating adding the milk and flour; scrape the bowl occasionally.
- Put the egg whites in a bowl and lightly beat to break up the whites. Add the beaten egg whites to the bowl and mix until combined. Do not overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared cast-iron skillet or baking pan. Bake for 35 minutes. If the top of the cake is getting too brown cover the cake with aluminum foil. The cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely.
- In a small sifter or fine-meshed strainer add the powdered sugar and cinnamon in layers then sift over the cooled cake.
- Cover any leftover cake with plastic wrap and keep on the counter for up to two days.
Notes
Want to try another skillet cake?
Maple Apple Skillet Cake features a moist vanilla cake topped with sweet apples that bake into the cake batter. This cake is moist and sweetly delicious.As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Nutrition
Have you ever run out of an ingredient while making a recipe? It happens all the time. Save this valuable guide on Recipe Ingredient Substitution so you never have to run to the store mid-recipe again.
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About Jere’
From learning to cook on a farm in Indiana to culinary school in California, my passion for food is never-ending. Turning on my oven to bake something for friends and family is my happy place, and I am glad to be here at One Hot Oven, sharing both sweet and savory recipes with all my baking friends.
I’ve never tried making cake in a cast iron skillet before but this looks so good, I’ll be giving it a try. I love the simplicity of using vanilla bean when baking. It will always be one of my favorites.
This cake is so fuss-free but adding the vanilla bean just takes it up of level.
You have brought up a very good details, thank you for the post.
The cake looks perfect and fabulous to bake for a special day. Yes, its definitely the best vanilla cake. Lovely!!
Thanks, it is amazing how such a simple recipe makes such a tasty cake.
Love this cake! Awesome with fresh sliced strawberries!
I agree, this cake is perfect with strawberries.
We love this cake, what a great recipe filled with the simple flavor from that vanilla bean. I love using the cast-iron skillet and this sponge cake came out such a pretty golden brown. So glad to find any easy to make cake that serves a small family an doesn’t require a ton of ingredients.
I love that you use real vanilla bean in this recipe instead of vanilla extract. I feel like the flavor is so much more intense and delicious that way!
I’ve made this cake with just vanilla extract and the vanilla bean really adds so much better flavor
This skillet cake looks truly amazing, so fluffy and delicious. I love using my skillet – it is amazing what you can do with it. This cake is on the list to making now fairly urgent. My husband will absolutely love it too. Thank you so much for sharing!
I love how much you make in your Grandmother’s skillet! I would never think to make a cake in a skillet. I really like the use of vanilla in this recipe too, I think it really makes a difference to the taste!
I truly love this skillet, it sits on top of my stove all the time.
Wowza! This cake has the perfect crumb and texture and looks so moist too! I’d love a slice or two with my morning cuppa! Pinned.
I agree, the crumb of this cake is perfect, nice and tender but not super fluffy.
Wow I have never used a skillet to cook a cake, but this looks and sounds delicious!
I don’t think I’ve ever baked a cake in a skillet, but it’s so genius!
This is gorgeous!! I love how you make this in a skillet and all the flavor in this. What a fabulous cake option. SO tasty.
It looks amazing! Using a real vanilla bean makes a huge difference. Also love that it’s made in a skillet, I need to try this wonderful cake soon.
I love using vanilla beans, those little seeds add so much flavor.
Sponge cake sounds so good right now, I might need to get one more thing to make this happen. We’re loaded on almost everything except the powdered sugar. This is one of the reasons I love collaborating with fellow food bloggers because you get to exchange creative Ideas. Thanks for sharing Jere!
I agree, that is why I love to read your recipes too. They are so different than what I cook and all your ingredients are new to me.
The recipe lists milk as an ingredient, but where in the instructions do you add it in?
Dang, I added that in the post instructions and left it off in the recipe card. You add the milk after you beat the butter and sugar. The recipe card is updated and I totally apologize for that omission.
This turned out OK. I just couldn’t follow the instructions regarding mixing as they were written because that’s just not how you mix to combine cake ingredients. I creamed The butter and sugar then added the eggs. I alternated adding the dry mixture and the milk in a few different batches until just combined.
The cake had a large crumb and tasted very buttery (which is never a terrible thing). My friend said she’d have wondered whether it was a cornmeal based cake based on the crumb alone.
Ak, I am sorry the cake didn’t turn out for you. Since this is a sponge cake make sure to add the eggs at the end of the recipe and that should help.