Someone wants me to make a white cake, but I wonder if they mean vanilla ... as you can see I have no clue. I' ve seen cake mixes for both flavors and they look diferent, but when I look at scratch recipes for white cake it always call for vanilla extract. Can anyone tell me the diference. Thanks Caixa

I always thought they were the same, but now I wonder, so here's a bump.

White cake calls for egg whites only, where as a vanilla cake (specifically FRENCH vanilla) uses the whole egg.

The difference lies in the yolk!!! The French Vanilla is much richer and dense than a white cake.

Some people use amond extract in white cake. I use vanilla so my white cake is vanilla. But white cakes don't use egg yolk, yellow cakes, which also use vanilla, do. The final comment is ask them if they want white cake with vanilla , french vanilla or yellow cake with vanilla.

Thanks for the info. This leads to the next question: what's the difference, then, between a vanilla cake and a yellow cake? More yolks/butter?

Thanks narie I will ask her wich kind she wants. I guess I prefer the one with egg yolk , but this cake is not for me

Look up yellow cake layers and moist vanilla cake under recipes. There is a considerable difference.

All I know is that DH classic white takes flavor better than the french vanilla.