I would like a little more information. If you've tested many recipes over the years, it may not necessarily be your recipe, but other factors involved in making the cake. A plain vanilla shortened cake is pretty straight forward as far as recipes go.

1. Do you use cake flour? Low-gluten cake flour is going to give you better results than all-purpose flour. If you use King Arthur All-Purpose Flour, it has too much gluten (protein) to make a great cake.

2. How much time do you spend blending the sugar and fat? This is one area of cake making where people rush the process. First, start with "room temperature" unsalted butter, which is around 65-degrees F. (take the temperature with an instant-read thermometer). Beat sugar/butter on low speed first, then gradually increase the speed. Beating on a high speed can damage the air bubbles. It should take 5-10 minutes to cream the fat and sugar.

3. How do you measure flour - fluff (aerate) first and spoon the flour into the cup and sweep off with a straight edge, or dip and scoop? You can be adding several ounces of flour to the recipe just by how you measure it.

4. Are your eggs room temperature, or cold out of the refrigerator? Cold eggs will affect your final product.

5. How long are you mixing your batter? With the onslaught of jumbo stand mixers, people often over-mix cakes, which leads to short cakes with tunnels running through it.

6. What kind of pan/s are you using?

7. Do you preheat your oven? Check the temperature with an oven thermometer, not the magic "beep".

8. Never make your cake wait for the oven to preheat. Allowing the panned batter to stand too long after pouring, carbon dioxide and air will escape the resting batter, which reduces the volume and increases the coarseness of the cake's cells.

9. Testing for doneness. Cakes are nearing doneness when they start to "wrinkle" at the edge of the pan. They should be removed from the oven BEFORE a gap forms between the cake and the pan.

-Grainlady

Thanks grainlady, I know a lot of variables go into it so it's great that you outlined them. I have tried a variety of different recipes calling for different techniques. I always follow the recipes as written when I am trying them out.

I should also clarify that none of the recipes I've made have failed. They have ranged from good to very good, but none of them have been amazing, which is what I'm looking for. I have a baking business on the side and vanilla is the one flavor I haven't found a recipe that stands out from the rest.

1. I use whichever flour the recipe calls for - sometimes all purpose, sometimes cake flour. I usually use Softasilk or Swans Down for the cake flour and KA for the All-Purpose.

2. I follow the recipe. I've only tried one recipe with an extended creaming process, and while the flavor is lovely, I didn't care for the finished texture.

3. I scoop into the cup and then level off.

4. Usually somewhere in between room temp and cold. I should make a better effort to take them out earlier but I don't always remember.

5. After the creaming, I don't mix the batter long at all. Always low speed and just until incorporated. I often stop the mixer before it's all incorporated and fold the rest in by hand.

6. King Arthur 9 inch cake pans with a parchment liner

7. Yes I preheat and also have a thermometer. I also prefer to bake at 325.

8. Interesting about letting the batter sit. It's never sat for extended amounts of time but I never really considered that. Good info.

9. Usually doneness isn't an issue, though some recipes dome up badly so that the sides are done far before the middle. I have not had success with those strips that are supposed to help it bake more evenly. This is partly why I bake at 325 as I've found it allows the outside to cook a little more slowly and reduces doming.

Thanks!

Jerry made an outstanding vanilla ice cream, recipe I think by Alton Brown, that used a little bit of peach preserves in the recipe - I think a couple of teaspoons or tablespoons. When I have more time, I'll look it up for you. Anyway, the flavor of the peach preserves isn't noticeable at all, but it somehow boosts the vanilla flavor. The ice cream recipe also uses vanilla beans, which helps of course. I don't know if this could be translated into a cake recipe, but it might be worth a try.

Sally

I looked up the vanilla ice cream recipe, and it was 2 tablespoons peach preserves (not jelly.) Maybe that trick can translate into cake, or maybe not.

Sally

Are you using vanilla beans in any way? To flavor the sugar at least? I love hot milk cake and consider that a "vanilla cake" as it has no other flavor but I would look closely at the brand of vanilla you use and the way it is incorporated into each ingredient.

Thanks for the suggestions! Bumblebeez, I use the Nielsen Massey vanilla bean paste when vanilla beans are called for, and the regular NM vanilla when not. I have used the beans themselves in the past but I like the paste for convenience.

Hmm, I do like the hot milk cake. Maybe I will try doing the vanilla bean paste instead of the vanilla and see how it turns out. Thanks!